I'm wondering if anyone else has had experience with not being notified by Volkswagen of outstanding recalls on their vehicle? My car was included as an affected vehicle under a recall issued in April this year. I hadn’t heard about the recall from VW. A few weeks ago, the fluid leaked and the car wouldn't clear first gear (the exact issue described in the recall). Anyone else had similar experiences?
Yep first owner of vehicle and no change in contact details.
It’s about 7 years old.
Ending up hearing about it after the car failed after a fluid leak and had to be towed. Local independent mechanic recommended we tow it to the dealer as there is a recall that related to the exact issue. That was the first we heard of it.
Yep that’s the one. Issued in April but we received no communication about it from Volkswagen. We had to have the car towed a few weeks ago because of damage suffered as a result of the recall not being performed.
Wondering if others have had the same experience…
@Muzeeb: Nope they didn’t. None were available as they’re booked in advance for regular service appointments. I was only informed of this after I had requested one. I guess having your car towed in counts for nothing from a service perspective.
@TheWineFamily: Bam. Thank you very much good sir.
Also, is your VIN on the list in the link provided by pegaxs above?
@TheWineFamily: That's good of the independent guy to know it was a recall. Many of them wouldn't have and would have just quoted you on replacing it. (maybe they had prior experience, or rang to order/check the part and they told him it was subject to recall.)
@pegaxs: It was certainly very honourable of him, I think he's deserving of a nice bottle of wine. He claims he see's similar issues with Volkswagens all to often unfortunately.
If you haven't already updated your ownership details you can update it here.
Otherwise you can always check for recalls by VIN number.
Those are both useful links, thanks for sharing. I am the original owner of the car, so unfortunately that doesn’t explain not being notified in this situation.
I got a call, email and text from Audi a couple of months ago for a recall (unrelated to the one I think you're referring to). They're owned by the same group as VW so I would think that they use the same notification processes.
I'm pretty sure I saw the recall you're referring to a little while ago in the papers and online. It seemed like a huge deal when it was first announced because it covered quite a few vehicles across all of VAG's brands. Plus it's the second time they've issued a recall relating to the DSG.
Have they got all your info? They can only contact you if they know who you are!
Oh wow I definitely didn’t receive any of that. This issue is actually unrelated to the DSG, although we’ve had that done in the past. Transmission has been replaced three times in 8 years.
Transmission has been replaced three times in 8 years.
Oh geez… that sounds like a nightmare! The DSG is the reason I thought long and hard before buying. I first had to accept the fact that i could be up for thousands if something went wrong outside of warranty!
From my perspective, I can say never again will I buy a Volkswagen. 3 transmissions, car has cut out dead on 3 occasions in circumstances similar to the case in Melbourne where a woman died, towed to dealer twice, turbo failure and 2 recalls.
Best of luck with the car! When they work, they’re a beautiful car to drive. When they don’t work, well good luck dealing with VW is all I can say.
I have never had the call. But did get a letter in post… came after I sold the car tho. From audi btw, not VW.
How soon after the recall was published did you get a letter?
Now that I'm looking back at it, I just noticed that this recall is dated 18 August 2020. I went back to my emails and I got my first notification from Audi on 14 July. I ignored the email at the time because of the lockdowns/restrictions. Then in September, I received a few text messages to remind me and eventually a couple of calls.
I got it fixed last week.
@bobbified: Lol. Mine was long ago when dual clutch was an issue. Took me a couple of complaints that dsg get stuck in neutral for them to replace the mechatronic.
Rough engine idle was never diagnosed. But the erratic idling engine speed is definitely not normal even for cold winter.
Few other friends also had various issues with their audi. (Including one engine replacement) So far the few of us ditched the brand despite the car itself is nice to drive and make a good daily shopping trolley.
@[Deactivated]: It’s like a boat… second best day is the day you buy it, best day is the day you sell it.
@TheWineFamily: No. We still rent VW/Audi on our trips. Fiat too. Unlikely will own one again. Japanese cars came a long way in terms of quality and been happy with them.
Oh yea. It was 2013 when the recall ocurred. Roughly a month after I sold it.
@TheWineFamily: Over the stage of ego inflation with European cars. The badge is really nothing special these days.
At one given stage, family parties were like euro motor shows from Audi A1 to 911 along the street.
Things moved on. Most are back to Toyota/Lexus. Some are having Initial D nastalgia with cars from early 1990s. Kid you not, a good sample of those cars are actually more expensive than the Audi RS shopping trolleys.
@[Deactivated]: Mine has been good so far. But my plan is, as soon as anything major even looks like it's about to happen to mine, I'm getting rid of it.
@TheWineFamily: I've actually got $10K set aside for a new DSG if shit hits the fan. I still love the car and I don't want to get rid of it unnecessarily. It's 5 years old and still worth about $40K so I'll at least get something back if I get rid of it.
I think for voluntary recalls, they can do sweet FA about contacting the owners. Apparently a few notices in the paper are enough (who reads a physical newspaper these days?)
For government sanctioned recalls (eg Takata), they go through motor registry data to identify the current owner and send them a letter. They may also email or txt.
I don't think you should ever expect a phone call. It's just too imprecise.
Too much to expect a letter though? The hazard caused by this issue is described as serious injury to occupants of the vehicle or other road users. Yes the Takata airbag is objectively more dangerous and includes the word death as part of the hazard, but surely serious injury warrants an email…
surely serious injury warrants an email
Yes, I agree with you that is does, but there's probably no legal obligation for them do so.
Go inside kmart or ikea and have a look at their notice board for product recalls - both companies have so many death trap products at any given time, but you don't expect a call from either one, do you? Yes - they could probably take a good guess at the purchasers of a product from their loyalty schemes, but they don't.
With a car though, where the ownership hasn’t changed, there’s no excuse for not being able to make contact.
With a car too, the consequences are potentially more extreme than a toddlers bicycle. A car can pose a risk to the driver but also to other road users and pedestrians.
ownership hasn’t changed, there’s no excuse for not being able to make contact
Ownership information isn't a barrier to contacting people affected by a recall, especially for cars. This information is easily available through a motor registry.
The barrier is the time and expense of contacting people and obviously if you contact them, the manufacturer will have to make more repairs.
With a car too, the consequences are potentially more extreme than a toddlers bicycle.
I don't disagree with anything you're saying. It's just consumer protection laws in this area are generally messed up.
Ikea paid out millions to settle class actions over toppling drawers. Did they bother to contact any owners? Nope.
My parents had an issue before. They only found out when they encountered the issue and the mechanic informed them about the recall. They bought it new and were the only owners.
I wonder how many others are in the same situation…
I just received a car recall notice. It's not Volkswagen. I purchased the car privately, 2nd hand and haven't bothered to update any contact details with the dealer or manufacturer.
The letter was delivered to my business address, so it looks like they got the data from the RMS.
They also ask you to sign a declaration, in case you're no longer the owner of the vehicle.
I'd say the recall the OP was subject too, just wasn't very critical.
Are you the first owner of the vehicle from new? Is it a new-ish model or 10 years old? How did you end up hearing about it?
Is it actually a recall or a service action/service bulletin? (Recalls are things that could cause death, ie; Takata airbag, service action is known issue, but not important, ie; loose air filter housing clips.)