Ooh, this is getting juicy
Yes, I am saying they don't care. With respect, the outcry on the coil packs was slightly different as they were failing either within or just outside the 3 year period - hence the expectation that VAG should do something and it was such a widespread
problem - even then, it was down to local garage goodwill in many cases whether you got it FOC or had to pay (experienced that myself on my S3 - completely different treatment from 2 local garages).
VAG are basically saying, then, that if you are Mr Average, doing 12,000 miles a year, have your car serviced at a VAG dealer as per the recommendations for 10 years, and the belt goes at 129,000 miles just before it was due to be replaced, then they will cover the cost of a top end rebuild?
But how many cars are treated in this way to full dealer service that far into their lives? How many cars even reach that sort of mileage being dilligently treated and everything stamped up. What about that time when the garage was really busy and you went 500 miles over the service recommendation. Surely VAG could argue that you didn't service the car 'as per the manufacturers recommendations?' and hence absolve themselves of any obligations they may have had?
Even if you had a personal car that you did big mileage in - my dad put 130,000 on an early Mk2 Golf GTi 16v in 3 years, you would still come a cropper under the other part of their warranty - i.e. the 60,000 mile limit.
Another example, a friend with an Alfa 156. Bought from new, only did about 8000 miles per year, serviced exactly to Alfa's spec. Cambelt schedule was 60k (from memory), it went in the mid 40's with the car 5 and a bit years old. He'd had it serviced and inspected just as he should - were Alfa interested? Nope. Would VAG be any different? Nope.
That is their ultimate 'get out of jail free' card in that they have a 3 year/60,000 warranty. i.e. anything happens outside those terms and conditions and there is no obligation for them to do anything - even if you have followed the maintenance schedule to the letter. Funny how that warranty also fits in with fleet terms.
Ultimately, you are quite within your rights to follow what VAG say to the letter, but if you fancy a fight with a faceless corporate giant who is more interested in making money for its shareholders than anything else (any PLC who says anything else is lying) then good luck to you. Did the coilpack debacle cause a long term
problem for VAG? I don't think so.
As an aside, here is what Honest John from the Daily Telegraph has to say about both variable servicing and timing belts:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=13
Here is the salient bit on timing belts:
...If the engine has a timing belt, change that every 3 to 4 years or every 40,000 miles, whichever comes first, unless the engine has no history of premature timing belt failures (Ford Zetec E and Zetec S engine timing belts generally exceed their design life of 80,000 miles, so can be changed at 6 years or 80,000 miles, whichever comes first.) Change the timing belt tensioner and any weeping camshaft or jackshaft oil seals at 80,000 miles (every second timing belt change for non-Ford Zetecs). VAG belts generally good for 60,000 miles. Early VAG 1.8 20v engines had water pumps with plastic impeller which can fail, throwing off the belt, so belt and water pump should be changed by 60,000 miles....
I think what we have confirmed in the earlier posts is that unfortunately some VAG engines do have a history of snapping belts prematurely. VAG don't publicly admit that, but I think enough people in the trade know about it by now.
Yes, I have contacts in the trade. My brother is the operations and risk director of the UK's largest car fleet, and has worked at a senior level for various other UK fleet companies over the past 10 years or so. OK, he isn't a mechanic so doesn't see what happens on the ground. But he, and his department, are responsible for ultimately deciding how much it will charge it's customers for leasing it's cars. Get that wrong and they can loose a fortune. Included in the complex algorithm used to calculate this are various things around the UK's economic performance, interest rates, inflation etc. together with base vehicle cost, anticipated servicing costs and other consumables such as brake pads, tyres etc. etc.
So if you can shave a few £100 of the servicing costs thanks to variable servicing or not having to change the timing belt, then the number the algorithm pops out with at the end will be lower, making that car cheaper for the end customer to lease, and hence meaning that manufacturer will sell more cars to the leasing company as the car is more attractive to the customer.
Some are bound to fail within the 3 year/ 60,000 mile period - in which case, VAG just have to pay up as they are covered under the warranty.
Reference the brakes. Most cars these days have brake indicator warning lights. Ultimately if a warning comes on and the driver chooses to ignore it until you get metal on metal wear, then that isn't going to be covered under the standard Ts and Cs of a lease. My brother's experience is that fleet cars are generally well maintained as people have paid for the service. If you've paid for full maintenance, why not use it? Why run round with the brake pad warning light on when you know you can get the whole thing sorted for free. If you've got your numbers right in your pricing algorithm, you'll account for the fact that some brake pads will be replaced early.l
In summary - who do you believe - the manufacturer who'll tell you anything to get you to buy their product; or the people on the ground who've got experience of how things actually work. That's the beauty of these forums - you can use the collective experience of many people to answer the question.
Finally, apologies if any of this has caused any offence to anyone. Just having a bit of a rant. Thanks for reading.
