[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by kslives

I'm helpless coz this will not be covered under warranty (since it is a broken part) ...

Tell them Cow Excrement! What is warranty for, then, things that are still working perfectly?

We had this nonsense with Polo ventilator grills. Another example of stuff that is simply supposed to last the lifetime of the car. At least get a vastly reduced price from them. Or, preferably, a goodwill freebie.

If it has not been subject to unreasonable wear and tear, or some sort of mishap, of course they should replace it during the warranty period.

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by kslives

To add to what you wrote regarding your heater... I've had an issue with my car as well.

My rear electric sunblind just snapped all of a sudden and now the connector (plastic piece) on the side is broken. For no fault of mine, I'm helpless coz this will not be covered under warranty (since it is a broken part) and the cost to buy a new one is 40k! I'm looking for a solution to get this fixed so if someone has a solution, please let me know.

Also, just FYI.. The standard warranty on the passat was increased from 2 years standard to 4 years. I'm assuming you bought the car in early 2019, that's when I had bought it so you don't need to worry about warranty till 2023 (i have opted for extended warranty for 2 years as well).

I had faced a broken rear sun blind on my previous Passat. But that was after 4-5 years of owning it (a heavy rear end shunt + improper fix at the dealer had contributed to that). I left it in the up position till the time I sold the car. Mine too was just a broken clip for which they wanted to replace the entire mechanism for about 40k. It is shocking they do not provide the child part for such a fragile but crucial component.

Shoot a few mails to the higher-ups in the dealership + at Volkswagen seeking a proper explanation. You will need to push them hard to replace it under warranty if the part has failed / broken without any reason whatsoever.

I bought my car in December 2018 and ended up missing out on the standard warranty being changed from 2 years to 4 years. I have 2 additional years of paid extended warranty.

[kslives]

I have written to Mr Gurpratap Boparai (MD Skoda VW India) who did fwd the mail to their customer care team which ultimately sent the query to the Gurgaon dealership where I have already shown the piece and they said you will need to replace at your own cost :-(

Feeling quite helpless honestly! The part is for 43k and I’m in no mood to spend so much for a piece which is as small as a finger nail, that has broken coz of which I’m having to replace the entire sunblind!

I’ve written back to Mr Boparai, hoping he can intervene but I doubt I’ll see light at the end of this tunnel unless someone else can suggest an alternative.

[kslives]

Resolution/end result - after writing all these emails etc.. the VW Gurgaon workshop has agreed to fit a new part @ 25% of the cost. They were originally offering a 30% discount after my email to VW but I did not accept their offer. Just to save time and beat around the bush, I only proposed to pay 25% of the cost which still amounts to some 11k.

[kslives]

BTW - there is a new app that VW has come out with called Volkswagen Connect. Will it work on our cars? Presumably not, it's for connected cars I guess..

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by kslives

BTW - there is a new app that VW has come out with called Volkswagen Connect. Will it work on our cars? Presumably not, it's for connected cars I guess..
Attachment 2101942

Yep, it is for the connected cars tech and does work on our cars. Some of them have in fact purchased it. A dataplug that costs approx. 6-7k has to be purchased from the dealership and plugged into the OBD port. It logs the data which can be viewed from the app.

[kslives]

But I'd already received a dataplug from them when I bought the car and it works on a diff app which does provide you with basic info about your trips etc. Is this different? If so is it worth spending 6k on? What kind of info/features does it provide?

[fordfreak]

Wonder what is the point of having 2 separate apps (unless they're planning to switch over from the current one to the new one). I have the 'We Connect Go' app. It's so-so IMHO. It only works when the paired phone is physically present in the vehicle. The information presented is alright, but you don't get the option of remote monitoring / updates.

I find the Honda Connect app on my City to be much more useful in terms of vehicle location tracking + live trip updates. It allows me to keep an eye on my car's movements regardless of where I am.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by kslives

Resolution/end result - after writing all these emails etc.. the VW Gurgaon workshop has agreed to fit a new part @ 25% of the cost. They were originally offering a 30% discount after my email to VW but I did not accept their offer. Just to save time and beat around the bush, I only proposed to pay 25% of the cost which still amounts to some 11k.

Very glad that you got this result. It is not really good enough, but it is a lot better than nothing. Should not be necessary to nag VW/Skoda! But it is, and it can get results.

[kslives]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Wonder what is the point of having 2 separate apps (unless they're planning to switch over from the current one to the new one). I have the 'We Connect Go' app. It's so-so IMHO. It only works when the paired phone is physically present in the vehicle. The information presented is alright, but you don't get the option of remote monitoring / updates.

Agreed, not a great app!

[kslives]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Very glad that you got this result. It is not really good enough, but it is a lot better than nothing. Should not be necessary to nag VW/Skoda! But it is, and it can get results.

I know, now I feel that I could have negotiated more but honestly, I was running short of patience. It is always a tough task to get things out of VW unless you reach the absolute top! The part is currently in back order too, LOL!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by kslives

I know, now I feel that I could have negotiated more but honestly, I was running short of patience...

Look at it as having saved around 30k rather than having lost 11k.

[kslives]

So they replaced the sunblind today. Total cost including labor was 57k. Ended up paying 11k as I had negotiated with them.. Hopefully this problem will not occur again.

On another note, has anyone tried the new "My Volkswagen Connect" app? Is it compatible with our Passat? I can't seem to connect it..

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by kslives

So they replaced the sunblind today. Total cost including labor was 57k. Ended up paying 11k as I had negotiated with them.. Hopefully this problem will not occur again.

Glad to hear that your car is back to normal. These are obscene prices, which hopefully will not be a harbinger of the inflated ownership costs associated with the Passat. We are easily in the Big 3 territory here.

I shudder to think of the replacement costs for the adaptive suspension after a few years, or in case of a mishap.

[Vishesh]

Originally Posted by kslives

Well, VW and other car manufacturers usually keep coming up with software updates so was wondering if there are any such updates available for the Passat.

To add to what you wrote regarding your heater... I've had an issue with my car as well.

My rear electric sunblind just snapped all of a sudden and now the connector (plastic piece) on the side is broken. For no fault of mine, I'm helpless coz this will not be covered under warranty (since it is a broken part) and the cost to buy a new one is 40k! I'm looking for a solution to get this fixed so if someone has a solution, please let me know.

Also, just FYI.. The standard warranty on the passat was increased from 2 years standard to 4 years. I'm assuming you bought the car in early 2019, that's when I had bought it so you don't need to worry about warranty till 2023 (i have opted for extended warranty for 2 years as well).

I bought my Passat in Oct 2018 when the Connect version had been announced but not launched. Mine wasn’t the connect version though but the dealer told me it’s just an OBD ‘Connect’ dongle that is apparently the only difference between the regular and Connect version of Passat. The price of this new Connect variant was lower by 4lacs, but my car was already discounted higher than that.

I recently sent my Passat for a warranty claim job (March 2021) and I was told that standard warranty is still 2years and since I bought the extended warranty for 2+3years the repair would be done/or not done as per the T&C of the EW.

So are you sure the standard warranty was increased to 4years ? Also, since you bought the extended warranty, is your car now covered for 4+2years ?