I’ve had enough of main dealers

Paulro · Oct 8, 2022

My California went into Heritage main dealers in Bristol yesterday.
It was in for an interim service, oil, filter etc.
It was also in to have a fan issue resolved. Both fans running constantly from the turn of the key.
This happened in France recently with a loss of a/c too.
My code reader suggested ambient temperature sensor, and high pressure sender.
Anyway, with the service done I receive a call saying the garage are quoting 3 hours to find the problem. They think it’s a wire shorting and have removed the fuse no. 22.
Labour rate is £144 per hour. I asked if they had an auto electrician but they didn’t, just a technician.
I chose to find an independent.
In the meantime, after disconnecting the battery they don’t reset the windows and leave oil on the carpets and entry to the vehicle.
£144 per hour and they leave it like this?

ArunAlec · Oct 8, 2022

I think they like to leave a greasy “marker” like cats and dogs. Shows their territory.

Alied · Oct 8, 2022

And that’s why I travel from Bristol to Breeze in Poole. They left oily marks on my headlining.

rod_vw · Oct 8, 2022

Take it back and make them valet it and charge then £144 per hour for the trip to them and time spent waiting for the valet.

They think it's a builder's van and treat it so.

WelshGas · Oct 8, 2022

Paulro said:
My California went into Heritage main dealers in Bristol yesterday.
It was in for an interim service, oil, filter etc.
It was also in to have a fan issue resolved. Both fans running constantly from the turn of the key.
This happened in France recently with a loss of a/c too.
My code reader suggested ambient temperature sensor, and high pressure sender.
Anyway, with the service done I receive a call saying the garage are quoting 3 hours to find the problem. They think it’s a wire shorting and have removed the fuse no. 22.
Labour rate is £144 per hour. I asked if they had an auto electrician but they didn’t, just a technician.
I chose to find an independent.
In the meantime, after disconnecting the battery they don’t reset the windows and leave oil on the carpets and entry to the vehicle.
£144 per hour and they leave it like this?

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One of the reasons I use VW South Hereford. Dual Dealership, cars and vans all under one roof. Always returned in impeccable condition.

pjm-84 · Oct 9, 2022

Which fans do you mean? Having had a heater fan issue recently in my 2015 Cali, including loss of A/C. Both are now cured with a replacement fan (not VW) and a new resistor. Seems these items fail around the 5-7yr mark.

Defender90 · Oct 9, 2022

Paulro said:
My California went into Heritage main dealers in Bristol yesterday.
It was in for an interim service, oil, filter etc.
It was also in to have a fan issue resolved. Both fans running constantly from the turn of the key.
This happened in France recently with a loss of a/c too.
My code reader suggested ambient temperature sensor, and high pressure sender.
Anyway, with the service done I receive a call saying the garage are quoting 3 hours to find the problem. They think it’s a wire shorting and have removed the fuse no. 22.
Labour rate is £144 per hour. I asked if they had an auto electrician but they didn’t, just a technician.
I chose to find an independent.
In the meantime, after disconnecting the battery they don’t reset the windows and leave oil on the carpets and entry to the vehicle.
£144 per hour and they leave it like this?

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I have had exactly the same experience,I won’t be taking mine to the main dealer when it’s outside of the warranty and if the used price is less because of that so be it

Elmo3 · Oct 9, 2022

Yours is a T5? If so it’s years out of warranty. A main dealer is the last place on earth I’d take it. Find a decent local mechanic and an auto electrician.

flying banana · Oct 9, 2022

And this is why I service mine myself. And I know its done right and what oil is un the engine. As for the fans I woukd get a mobile diagnostics man out and then change the sensors it pinpoints or get an independent garage to do them.

66tim99 · Oct 9, 2022

Alied said:
And that’s why I travel from Bristol to Breeze in Poole. They left oily marks on my headlining.

I drive from London to Poole, make a weekend of it.

altvic · Oct 9, 2022

pjm-84 said:
Which fans do you mean? Having had a heater fan issue recently in my 2015 Cali, including loss of A/C. Both are now cured with a replacement fan (not VW) and a new resistor. Seems these items fail around the 5-7yr mark.

I think I may have the same issue. Could you post any details of the fix and costs? Thanks

Paulro · Oct 9, 2022

pjm-84 said:
Which fans do you mean? Having had a heater fan issue recently in my 2015 Cali, including loss of A/C. Both are now cured with a replacement fan (not VW) and a new resistor. Seems these items fail around the 5-7yr mark.

Radiator and a/c fan. Both running constantly.

pjm-84 · Oct 9, 2022

altvic said:
I think I may have the same issue. Could you post any details of the fix and costs? Thanks

Feel free to send me a PM to avoid hijacking the OP's thread

pjm-84 · Oct 9, 2022

Paulro said:
Radiator and a/c fan. Both running constantly.

3hrs for this.....yikes. Looks like they need a better Master Tech.

Bobby D · Oct 14, 2022

£144 a hour....lol. Are they better mechanics than a good mechanic or are you just paying for the fancy showroom and free coffee.

A main dealer is only worth using when under warranty...after that just find a good mechanic or garage. There are plenty of qualified people who know there stuff on these vans. £144 an hour I'd expect a service that was Lexus like.

Elmo3 · Oct 14, 2022

My absolutely brilliant ex army mechanic charges me £20 an hour. He can fully service the Cali in 2 hours.

TheWanderer · Oct 14, 2022

Sorry to hear about your experience. I’m responding as I too have had terrible service from Bristol heritage. It’s frustrating as I don’t have time to go elsewhere, however it’s getting to the point I’ll need to as they are a waste of space!

Examples - After a 3 month (yes three month) wait for a warranty appointment to correct all the electrical issues I had, I also asked them to sort out very low gas hob pressure. For the gas hob check, they couldn’t get someone qualified to come into their garage and so they made me arrange/ find a third party to get it checked and if it’s a warranty issue, they would cover it but only on their terms with the third party. It was all totally ridiculous and complicated and I felt forced to just get it sorted with the third party while I was there and had to pay out of my own pocket. Turned out to be a faulty regulator on the gas bottle - van was only a year old! If I didn’t just pay out of my own pocket to resolve the situation it would have taken multiple trips (over an hour each way) and waiting on reports etc. - total joke. Second issue, a headrest button malfunctioned so needed to replace it under warranty, they explained that I had to leave it for a while day to swap the headrest out (which they had already ordered in for me) utterly ridiculous suggesting it’ll take a day to swap a bloody headrest over.

Rant over. Avoid like the plague if you can.

andrew bazeley · Oct 15, 2022

Paulro said:
My California went into Heritage main dealers in Bristol yesterday.
It was in for an interim service, oil, filter etc.
It was also in to have a fan issue resolved. Both fans running constantly from the turn of the key.
This happened in France recently with a loss of a/c too.
My code reader suggested ambient temperature sensor, and high pressure sender.
Anyway, with the service done I receive a call saying the garage are quoting 3 hours to find the problem. They think it’s a wire shorting and have removed the fuse no. 22.
Labour rate is £144 per hour. I asked if they had an auto electrician but they didn’t, just a technician.
I chose to find an independent.
In the meantime, after disconnecting the battery they don’t reset the windows and leave oil on the carpets and entry to the vehicle.
£144 per hour and they leave it like this?

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Dreadful! I have mixed experiences of Heritage. I actually bought my gorgeous T5 in 2008 from their Westbury branch: they specialised in new and used VW commercial vehicles. After they closed a few years ago, I tried to get my car in to the Bristol branch (still officially VW Commercial) but they refused to take it!

Dyddi · Oct 15, 2022

Bristol Heritage - so sad to hear still no improvement over 10 years. Avoid like the plague. For all base vehicle work I can recommend Car Care Tetbury - always willing, always polite and helpful, conscientious and clean.

Lambeth Cali · Oct 15, 2022

I would find a decent garage for the van stuff and recommend getting a working knowledge of the camping stuff.
People’s advice about finding an auto electrician seems a good idea.

I love VWs. I have two, both 14yrs old. The Cali and a tornado red Gti. Getting cooler by the day. I suspect I will run both til at least 2030. They both run great. But the dealership servicing is largely shocking.

G3WRT · Oct 16, 2022

Paulro said:
My California went into Heritage main dealers in Bristol yesterday.
It was in for an interim service, oil, filter etc.
It was also in to have a fan issue resolved. Both fans running constantly from the turn of the key.
This happened in France recently with a loss of a/c too.
My code reader suggested ambient temperature sensor, and high pressure sender.
Anyway, with the service done I receive a call saying the garage are quoting 3 hours to find the problem. They think it’s a wire shorting and have removed the fuse no. 22.
Labour rate is £144 per hour. I asked if they had an auto electrician but they didn’t, just a technician.
I chose to find an independent.
In the meantime, after disconnecting the battery they don’t reset the windows and leave oil on the carpets and entry to the vehicle.
£144 per hour and they leave it like this?

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I am yet to experience this but in my recall (600 miles only) I took it to a garage in ipswich. I then understood there are two types of VW garages. This one is licensed to do engine like maintenance (software and door upgrade/changes in this instance) but have no idea of other stuff associated with a california. Presently I have no idea where to go for those. VW seem to have a rather ambivalent (incoherent) idea of how to service a Ca? It is bifurcated at best!

G3WRT · Oct 16, 2022

G3WRT said:
I am yet to experience this but in my recall (600 miles only) I took it to a garage in ipswich. I then understood there are two types of VW garages. This one is licensed to do engine like maintenance (software and door upgrade/changes in this instance) but have no idea of other stuff associated with a california. Presently I have no idea where to go for those. VW seem to have a rather ambivalent (incoherent) idea of how to service a Ca? It is bifurcated at best!

144 quid an hour.... jeeee. I shall enrol immediately.

Pure Worktop Protection · Oct 16, 2022

I too travel to Breeze in Poole from Bristol for servicing. Heritage are dreadful throughout, when I was looking to buy my second California 5 years ago, the salesman laughed and said they were as rare as hens teeth. Contacted Breeze & totally different experience, have bought 2 Californias from them now and just make a weekend of it when I need a service.
Also got completely ignored at Heritage when in the showroom looking at a GTI. Helped ourselves to coffee had a good look around the showroom model and walked out. Drove to Sinclairs in Swansea & bought one the same day!

Cali Phillip · Oct 16, 2022

Before this Cali we always had Skoda's, unwilling to pay the VW premium.
With the exception of one bad experience with a large Scottish dealership they have always had excellent service and customer service. Perhaps because once their product was poor and so they had to please their customers ?
The dealer I bought this van from was ok, price was good but its a huge motor group, as sounds often once the sales done communication becomes almost impossible, I ended up just turning up when passing.
Now thankfully we have a good dealer in Hawco Inverness on the basis of two routine services.
There's no excuse for poor customer service or poor workmanship and while mistakes happen its how they remedy the situation to restore trust that counts for me.

Ozzy Pete · Oct 16, 2022

flying banana said:
And this is why I service mine myself. And I know its done right and what oil is un the engine. As for the fans I woukd get a mobile diagnostics man out and then change the sensors it pinpoints or get an independent garage to do them.

I totally understand what you are saying regarding servicing your vehicle yourself but unfortunately this puts a black mark against you when it comes to selling. If you get a price for your vehicle with Full VWSH you get top price. Without a full service history you get many Hundreds £ knocked off.
If you sell privately then obviously the buyer can see you are genuine and you can show them all the receipts for materials. I’ve done the same, on the second Major service I bought all BOSCH filters and the specific oil for the vehicle. The third service I let my local garage do it to get the book stamped. I was quite happy with them and they charged me less for a major service than VW quoted for a minor one.

A thousand miles later (No miles because of Covid) but 18 months I changed the oil myself with specific VW oil because we were going to Spain. For a fifth of the price VW would charge for a minor service.
I’m not new to serving a vehicle and have done it for the past 55 years. Anything which needs special tools I let the so called Experts do it.

I’ve had enough of main dealers

Paulro

ArunAlec

Alied

rod_vw

Gone bigger.

WelshGas

Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.

pjm-84

Defender90

Elmo3

flying banana

T6 Ocean 204ps manual

66tim99

altvic

Paulro

pjm-84

pjm-84

Bobby D

Elmo3

TheWanderer

andrew bazeley

Dyddi

Lambeth Cali

G3WRT

G3WRT

Pure Worktop Protection

Cali Phillip

Ozzy Pete

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