More Volkswagen Tales of Woe - Facebook community survey results and some comments

There is a Facebook group that was started by a group of Malaysian Volkswagen owners who are extremely disappointed (to say the least) by the supposedly appalling after-sales service quality over at Volkswagen Malaysia. I am not surprised as I have written a couple or so times as regards how unreliable VW cars have been in recent years. you can have a look at the group here.



As a recap, it would seem that any VW with the DSG transmission and some TSI engines (mainly the smaller turbocharged direct injected 1.2 liter engine and the 1.4liter turbocharged and supercharged engine from the previous Golf TSI are in question). have reliability issues. The DSG suffers from the part that controls gearchanges or the mechanical-electronic (mechatronic) controller and the engine suffers from excessive engine oil consumption, more than a liter every two weeks is expensive if you know what I mean. I personally only recommend Volkswagens to my enemies and it seems appropriate to do so.

And so, I am now pleased to report to you a survey conducted by the chaps running the Facebook page - VW DSG 7 Defects Community. 163 people entered it and this folks, is what came of it:

About 163 people took part in the survey. Incidently the Facebook group mentioned herein had over that 1,200 Likes, so close to 15% took part in the survey. Most of them who took part were cars 2010 or younger and a majority were the Golf 1.4TSI and Polo 1.2TSI owners. More than half suffered DSG issues and about 11% suffered engine issues. Holy Crap. 

(Actual findings will be shown at a later date, after an event stated below)

On a personal note, I know of only two reliable VW owners. Both Polo owners, one a 1.2TSI and the other an earlier, very reliable manual, non-TSI Polo GTI  1.8 (which is in and out of the workshop due to the owner's ambition of making it into an extremely fast hatchback - and failing). I know of a two year old Passat owner who has has three batteries installed in his Passat - luckily under warranty as a Varta battery costs over RM1,500 from the dealer and has a serial number that HAS TO BE KEYED IN after the change. He also suffered initial DSG software issues and is contemplating of going back to his old Mercedes C-Class. I have driven a friend's Golf 1.4TSI Mk6 with DSG issues, which makes the car seriously bad in traffic. I have a friend who is close to a VW-Audi specialist workshop and he states that every week at least two VWs go in for a mechatronic controller change, that costs thousands. So, personally, my ratio of satisfied VW customers and those that are suffering (to some extent) is at 50:50. This is actually quite bad as Proton has less issues than this. (UPDATE -The Mk7 Golf TSI is a more reliable car than the Mk6 from what I information I have gathered from asking various people)

UPDATE (April 2016)- Since writing the article, I have to add that my brother in law runs a Polo 1.6 Sedan. No issues whatsoever at all. over the last three years. Another friend runs a Passat for over three years. He's had software changes to the gearbox, a change of fuel tank caused by a faulty pump assembly, two batteries but he is happy with the car which seems to be sorted out after the first two years or so. 

Speaking about Proton, Volkswagen is actually the Proton of Germany. I have said time and time again that if you bought a Volkswagen, translated from German as 'People's Car', is actually the entry level German car. Yes, you get better material quality, the dashboard and controls are all nice but in reality the company will treat you as buying a bread and butter car. You are not buying actual designer products here. You are buying highstreet fashion here at the very most. The service experience will be like any other non-luxury car out there.

What some of the insiders have told me is that the people over in VW (aside from being filled with corporate bureaucracy that is slow to react to change) is that they actually treat the car as basic or entry level. And with entry level this would mean entry level quality of servicing, parts and so on. You must tell yourself that YOU ARE NOT BUYING AN AUDI. You are buying the Proton of Germany. 

Like Proton, some of their products are indeed performance bargains (Golf GTI, CC, Scirocco) at the price offered and are very, very, very good to drive, but.... that is all fine and dandy IF they all work as they supposed to most of the time instead of checking in and out of the service center most of the time. Oh, and to rub it in even a defective Proton Preve is more reliable than a Golf TSI these days. Volkswagen seems to be worse that owning an Alfa Romeo. It's like participating in an unlucky draw instead of a lucky draw with VW these days. (Now add to this fact if you are a GTI owner...Do you think over 200hp is easy to make? Do yo think over 100hp/liter is easy to make? With great power comes great maintenance costs along the way)

Furthermore, note that VW Malaysia do not actually give 5 years of warranty. The last few years of their warranty is covered under an insurance company. If you suffer a warranty issue after the first two or three years, you send your ailing VW to the service center and you wait till they send over an insurance adjuster to decide whether the issue is covered under your warranty. I imagine an accident claims adjuster coming in and deciding whether a faulty part is faulty or otherwise. There is inexperience and there is the fact that the claim may take longer than usual because it relies on an external party. Yes, honestly, what the heck is this? 

Do you see Mercedes Benz doing that? Do you even see Honda Malaysia doing that? Both companies give 5 years MANUFACTURER WARRANTY (as of the date of this article in 2014). I do suggest you folks out there pay attention to warranty these days as cars nowadays are incredibly complex pieces of metal. Too complicated in fact. Do you know that any car made today may have more computing power and computers than the space shuttle? 

And as a conclusion, some VW owners in Malaysia are suffering. On two faults. One, because of shitty service protocols (which usually gets better due to more workshops and the staff more experienced with the cars in the long run) and a don't really care too much attitude and secondly, buying a highly priced Proton just because its German. If you went and bought a Proton Inspira 2.0P none of this shit would happen. It is as Malaysian as sushi underneath. 

Oh, by the way, the group intends to give a memorandum of demand to the MD of VW Malaysia next Thursday 13th March 2014 at around 12.00pm-1.00pm at the VW Malaysia HQ in Bangsar. I hope things happen after this. Good things. Nothing bad okay.