Buy all your VW California Accessories at the Club Shop Visit Shop

Rodent damage

B

Behindthelens

Messages
3
Location
Devon
Vehicle
T5 SE 140 4Motion
Hi I know this was discussed a few years ago, but rodents got into our camper before Christmas and have done extensive damage. The van was being used regularly at the time so it hadn't just been sitting on the drive.
The insurance company, Admiral, have been fantastic, but the VW garage has been a nightmare. We waited 5 weeks for them to take the vehicle in. A further three weeks for the work to start and the quote has changed at least five times. They have now had the vehicle for 5 months and at the point when we were due to have it returned, they now say that they have found damage at the front of the vehicle as well as at the back, I have no idea why that wasn't assessed when they carried out their initial investigation. The upshot is that they will give me no date as to when we will have the van back, they will not prioritise the work and have admitted their engineer may only work on it for 1 hour a day. They are implying that it could well be into July or August before we get it back. This means we will have been without it for nearly 9 months. We have holidays booked, where we will lose a lot of money if we cancel. I have now run out of patience. Not sure what my next steps should be. Annoyingly, it wasn't one of the insurance recommended garages as they didn't have space and I wanted to use my tried and trusted repair shop. What a mistake that was.
 
Oh dear that sounds terrible. The first thing that occurred to me is how are you going to stop in recurring? Was it parked in a garage our outside?
 
I'm sure i read somewhere that to make vehicles recyclable at the end of their life they have started using different materials for cable insulation unfortunately it is attractive to rodents. sorry to hear of your problems.
 
Hi I know this was discussed a few years ago, but rodents got into our camper before Christmas and have done extensive damage. The van was being used regularly at the time so it hadn't just been sitting on the drive.
The insurance company, Admiral, have been fantastic, but the VW garage has been a nightmare. We waited 5 weeks for them to take the vehicle in. A further three weeks for the work to start and the quote has changed at least five times. They have now had the vehicle for 5 months and at the point when we were due to have it returned, they now say that they have found damage at the front of the vehicle as well as at the back, I have no idea why that wasn't assessed when they carried out their initial investigation. The upshot is that they will give me no date as to when we will have the van back, they will not prioritise the work and have admitted their engineer may only work on it for 1 hour a day. They are implying that it could well be into July or August before we get it back. This means we will have been without it for nearly 9 months. We have holidays booked, where we will lose a lot of money if we cancel. I have now run out of patience. Not sure what my next steps should be. Annoyingly, it wasn't one of the insurance recommended garages as they didn't have space and I wanted to use my tried and trusted repair shop. What a mistake that was.
I'm afraid I have no words of solace to offer. Modern vehicles with their extensive electronics are a minefield when the electrics have been damaged by rodents. The visible damage can be repaired but more extensive damage might have been caused by short circuits and it involves repair then diagnostics then repair and so on. The fact that you elected to go with a garage other than the insurance recommended repairer weakens your hand somewhat.
You could see if the Insurance company has any influence to expedite the repairs or contact VW UK customer Services or the Managing Director of the Garage Company.
 
Oh dear that sounds terrible. The first thing that occurred to me is how are you going to stop in recurring? Was it parked in a garage our outside?
I know. It is a real worry. It is parked in our driveway in a rural environment. Will have to do some extensive research when or if we ever get it back.
 
I'm afraid I have no words of solace to offer. Modern vehicles with their extensive electronics are a minefield when the electrics have been damaged by rodents. The visible damage can be repaired but more extensive damage might have been caused by short circuits and it involves repair then diagnostics then repair and so on. The fact that you elected to go with a garage other than the insurance recommended repairer weakens your hand somewhat.
You could see if the Insurance company has any influence to expedite the repairs or contact VW UK customer Services or the Managing Director of the Garage Company.
Thank you. I appreciate your input as to what is involved in repairing a vehicle after this damage. We didn't elect to go with our own, the insurance company were unable to find anyone. There seems to be a lack of skilled technicians able to work on these vehicles.
 
Thank you. I appreciate your input as to what is involved in repairing a vehicle after this damage. We didn't elect to go with our own, the insurance company were unable to find anyone. There seems to be a lack of skilled technicians able to work on these vehicles.
The trouble is many modern day mechanics just do what the computer says, replace this replace that without any genuine understanding and a computer only tells you what it has been programmed to tell you. With rodent damage there maybe a multitude of damaged wires and short circuits creating known and unknown/not programmed faults so lacking any indepth knowledge your average garage auto electrician just follows the computer.
If the Insurance company is picking up the bill I would ask them to put pressure on the garage as the longer it takes the more they may have to pay. Next , the CEO for the garage and then VWUK, as they are responsible importers of a vehicle that their Dealerships appear incapable of repairing in a timely fashion.
 
I know. It is a real worry. It is parked in our driveway in a rural environment. Will have to do some extensive research when or if we ever get it back.
I had ABS wires chewed in the wheel arches. I think by foxes. Expensive replacement and then happened again with a repair the second time. I then wrapped the wires in chilli tape from EBay. Quite a job but so far no reoccurrence.
There are quite a few threads on how to stop this. I think there are sound repellents and lights etc.
 
Back
Top