You don't have to look far in this section to see that it wasn't that long ago that I was shopping for a new vehicle. Unfortunately, I'm now trying to get it repurchased by VW under lemon law provisions.
The Atlas I bought last year is on its 4th time in the shop at the dealer for the a/c going out. Today is the 24th day it's been in the shop on this 4th fix attempt, and its 53rd day (and counting) in the shop since I purchased it last March. When I spoke to the dealer last Monday, I was informed that they agree that there's a leak, but they've tried everything they know to find it and haven't been able to so far. They even were working with some tech guys at the home office of VW, doing some Google consultations, and nothing worked. Supposedly, someone from VW is supposed to fly in to try and troubleshoot in person. The first time it went in for this issue, last April, they couldn't find the leak and thought the factory just sent it with low refrigerant. The second time it went in, they told me it was a bad evaporator core. The third time it went in, they said it was a bad O ring. My gut tells me none of these things were ever the leak source.
On top of this, an issue with the front sensor has been happening. It happened once over the summer and immediately corrected itself, so I just thought it was part of the safety system doing its thing. On our trip to FL last month, it went out about 1/4 of the way into the road trip. It disables the cruise control when it goes out, and it went out for the entire trip. I had pics of all of the error messages, but the dealer's service dept could never duplicate this in the shop.
To add insult to injury, the day before I brought it in last month, one of my fog lights went out. My last vehicle was 8 years old when I traded it in and it never had a light go out!
I haven't spoken to the dealer service dept in a week and a half and they didn't return my call yesterday, but the home office of VW is working on lemon law paperwork and said they'd keep in touch every week until we have a decision. They said it could take up to 6 weeks! They are also aware that while I've been given loaners for much of this, the terms for the loaners make it unsuitable for when you consider the time frame. i.e. I can't take the dog to the vet for her annual checkup and shots in said loaner. They also know that I was stuck driving my Atlas without a/c in 100+ degree heat for about 1.5 weeks in August because I was waiting on a loaner...and that it was my attempt to try a different dealer's service dept. Said other dealer gave their last loaner away to the guy in front of me, even though the service rep called me the day before and told me he'd set it aside if I could get in at 7am the next morning.
I've already reached out to the lender covering my loan to see what info they'll need from me if I'm successful, but has anyone else been through this and have any tips for lemoning a vehicle? Is there anything else I should be doing? Anything else you can think of?
The Atlas I bought last year is on its 4th time in the shop at the dealer for the a/c going out. Today is the 24th day it's been in the shop on this 4th fix attempt, and its 53rd day (and counting) in the shop since I purchased it last March. When I spoke to the dealer last Monday, I was informed that they agree that there's a leak, but they've tried everything they know to find it and haven't been able to so far. They even were working with some tech guys at the home office of VW, doing some Google consultations, and nothing worked. Supposedly, someone from VW is supposed to fly in to try and troubleshoot in person. The first time it went in for this issue, last April, they couldn't find the leak and thought the factory just sent it with low refrigerant. The second time it went in, they told me it was a bad evaporator core. The third time it went in, they said it was a bad O ring. My gut tells me none of these things were ever the leak source.
On top of this, an issue with the front sensor has been happening. It happened once over the summer and immediately corrected itself, so I just thought it was part of the safety system doing its thing. On our trip to FL last month, it went out about 1/4 of the way into the road trip. It disables the cruise control when it goes out, and it went out for the entire trip. I had pics of all of the error messages, but the dealer's service dept could never duplicate this in the shop.
To add insult to injury, the day before I brought it in last month, one of my fog lights went out. My last vehicle was 8 years old when I traded it in and it never had a light go out!
I haven't spoken to the dealer service dept in a week and a half and they didn't return my call yesterday, but the home office of VW is working on lemon law paperwork and said they'd keep in touch every week until we have a decision. They said it could take up to 6 weeks! They are also aware that while I've been given loaners for much of this, the terms for the loaners make it unsuitable for when you consider the time frame. i.e. I can't take the dog to the vet for her annual checkup and shots in said loaner. They also know that I was stuck driving my Atlas without a/c in 100+ degree heat for about 1.5 weeks in August because I was waiting on a loaner...and that it was my attempt to try a different dealer's service dept. Said other dealer gave their last loaner away to the guy in front of me, even though the service rep called me the day before and told me he'd set it aside if I could get in at 7am the next morning.
I've already reached out to the lender covering my loan to see what info they'll need from me if I'm successful, but has anyone else been through this and have any tips for lemoning a vehicle? Is there anything else I should be doing? Anything else you can think of?