Unlike the Other Guys....

..These folks stand by their work!

Back in March I bought a used VW Jetta TDI.

Very used.

Ten years old with 375,000 km on it.

Having done my research on these cars I knew several things; they were reliable, great on fuel, and people who liked them, really liked them. Most of the people selling them were doing so because they had replaced them with a new VW.

A true testament to any car, repeat sales.

Anyway, I got a good deal because of the high mileage. (why don't we call it kilometerage?) The previous owner drove a regular route from Windsor to Montreal on less than a tank of diesel. 900 km.

The first thing I did was have the timing belt and water pump replaced. It was still within my budget, and left me worry free about that major cost.

Then it started.

The service.

It seems VW has a points program ala Air Miles. I received enough points on that first service for a free alignment.

An oil change at my local VW Dealer is about the same price as taking it to one of those in-and-out lube places. And I get a free car wash. I like these guys!

Given the age and usage of Otto (my Jetta's name), some blemishes were to be expected. The paint had peeled on a few spots, but there was no real rust. I fugured I'd just sand it down and spot paint the places.

That was until I found out about the warranty.

A colleague of mine has 4 VW's in her driveway. She told me that there was a 12 year warranty on the paint, and all I had to do was take it to VW to be fixed.

Yeah, right. Two of our previous vehicles had some parts with 'lifetime' warranties which to that manufacturer meant 10 years. A twelve year warranty on paint? For the second owner?

I say again; yeah, right.

So anyway, the next time I had Otto in for an oil change, I asked about the paint.

"Yes, we have a 12 year warranty," was the reply.

"No poop?" I was agog.

"No poop. Let the Service Manager have a look and we'll see what we can do."

So the S.M. comes out with a little gauge and looks at my car. A few spots had been painted before (that's what the little gauge did), and wouldn't be covered again. For the rest I had to have pictures taken, and submitted to head office for approval.

That was July.

So I fixed up the other spots myself, and waited to hear back from VW.

And waited.

And waited.

In late September I had given up on having my car fixed, and just a few days after M.D.B. mentioned that it didn't look like it was going to happen, the phone rang.

VW Canada approved the repairs.

No poop.

I had to arrange a convenient time with the body shop, and give them enough lead time to order parts.

"Parts?"

They weren't repainting the fenders, they were replacing them. 10 years old and almost 390,000 km and getting new fenders.

No poop.

I picked Otto up today. Not only did they replace his fenders, he got new door skins and new mirrors too!

No poop!

VW's warranty and service is awesome!

I have the feeling this wont be my last VW.

M.D.B is waiting for them to come out with a Touareg TDI

DJW

Unfortunately, they didn't accidentally paint my hood, which I messed up, and will have to do over.