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Rust on Roof


s2000king
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Why work in a VW dealer if you know nothing about the cars your dealing with.....drive me mad that's all!!! lol

With regards to the numbers, I know that quite a few more than 4 or 5 that have PM'd me in the past having had problems, but of course have not posted on the thread. Maybe 100 was a slight exaggeration on my front, but at least 20 or 30 people who have PM'd (like yourself)for help after being declined and I have advised then on the next step. I like your idea of the post on the front page to bring people forward and help in the quest for answers.

Still can't fathom why some dealers accept with ease and others don't considering they have all had the letter from HQ to say it is a well known problem. Baffles me.

Cheers, James.

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I've read a few pages of this thread... but not all 18! :o

I called in at the Gilders VW Bodyshop in Sheffield (Hillsborough) the other day.

The Lupo that I recently bought has rust bubbles on the roof.

The guy came out and took photos and paint thickness measurements and said he would send them off to VW.

Just waiting to hear the outcome now.

Fingers crossed.

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yours is basically identical to mine, my pics are on a previous page.

Yeh I saw man and is identical pretty much lol! Needs to get sorted soon, little thing is getting old!

Plus, considering it's not on the roof, more the whole side panel, that would be an effort to repair?

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it is an effort to repair, everyone seems to get it in the same places as us, on the roof bars and the roof panel, due to the slightly incomprehensible construction of the lupo where the roof is just a folded over part of the body, (look under the boot when open and see how it is actually a paert of the body, not welded together) the rust is in a very awkward place, the most comprehensive report i had back from a bodyshop was, that he would have to remove the windcreen to start, remove the roof strips, which would need replacing, than he would peel the roof back "like a tin can" and he wouls sand blast all the paint from the roof and the roof bar edges, then he would reweld and build up the rusted areas to completely eliminate any trace of corrosion, then it would all be repainted on the roof, and the roof pillars would be colour matched, slightly more expensive for my colour than yours for some reason as Tornado red is more expensive than flash red, then he would bend the roof back down again, and fix it in place again, then he would put new, sprayed roof strips in, then he would replace seals across the top of the windscreen and refit the windcreen. Then all done!

Cost for this £400 minimum proffessional job, £600 to have a job done that comes with its own corrosion guaruntee, (which vw would have to pay for if they had it done).

I also need to get my rear bumper and filler cap resprayed as the cap is fading very slightly and the laquer on the rear bumper has peeled in places along the lip making it look ugly :(, i will get this done at the same time as the roof, estimated cost about £150

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Sounds like a few problems, Dark stryder are you in Plymouth as well as you should go in with BEP to Murray and make it clear that it is quite obviously a problem!!!

Hope the others that have applied for a claim get it done and you don't have an issues as the others have had.

Cheers, James.

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Sounds like a few problems, Dark stryder are you in Plymouth as well as you should go in with BEP to Murray and make it clear that it is quite obviously a problem!!!

Hope the others that have applied for a claim get it done and you don't have an issues as the others have had.

Cheers, James.

The dealerships know it is a common problem, as admit vw too, however with me they insist that mine is due to lack of care, and that it was not reported as soon as it was found, when in fact the car is in immaculate condition, and i reported it on the same day i found it.

Going to the dealer again would make no difference, Dark Stryder is also in Plymouth, yes. He should go and start his own application for a repair, and if he is successful, i will have yet another person to help strengthen my case.

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Thing with VW is, my mum has had so many issues with them, from back in the day when she had VW's, they were always miserable, and sh*tty. Can see them looking at my lowered car, scraped bodywork, paint blistering on the roof, and not touching it for the same reason as you BEP, lack of care.

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But u saw mine in plymouth and my car was as it left the factory with no mods apart from induction kit, which they dont see when looking at the body work, only the most minor stone chip and mini scratches on the paint, only one tiny area of respray on the left side, barely noticeable not recorded in car history for sum reason, but not picked up on by vw, or me, only noticed by a paint expert, this is nowhere near the roof anyway. the upholstery is perfect, and only recently the laquer on the rear bumper has been peeling which is being resprayed over the next vew months.

There is no way they could claim lack of care, taunton vw sided with me and said that the warranty should be honoured, and vw uk overruled them.

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But u saw mine in plymouth and my car was as it left the factory with no mods apart from induction kit, which they dont see when looking at the body work, only the most minor stone chip and mini scratches on the paint, only one tiny area of respray on the left side, barely noticeable not recorded in car history for sum reason, but not picked up on by vw, or me, only noticed by a paint expert, this is nowhere near the roof anyway. the upholstery is perfect, and only recently the laquer on the rear bumper has been peeling which is being resprayed over the next vew months.

There is no way they could claim lack of care, taunton vw sided with me and said that the warranty should be honoured, and vw uk overruled them.

Really confused, i wonder what happened to that small thing called customer service???

Mine was accepted without even paint depth readings, just some crappy photos and was approved the next day by VW UK, so can't fathom what the hell is going on for a minute, will do some digging for you guys and see what i can come up with in between you trying as well.

Cheers, James.

Edited by s2000king
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But u saw mine in plymouth and my car was as it left the factory with no mods apart from induction kit, which they dont see when looking at the body work, only the most minor stone chip and mini scratches on the paint, only one tiny area of respray on the left side, barely noticeable not recorded in car history for sum reason, but not picked up on by vw, or me, only noticed by a paint expert, this is nowhere near the roof anyway. the upholstery is perfect, and only recently the laquer on the rear bumper has been peeling which is being resprayed over the next vew months.

There is no way they could claim lack of care, taunton vw sided with me and said that the warranty should be honoured, and vw uk overruled them.

Yeh just saying, if they're gunna' claim yours if of "lack of care" they definitely will for mine.

Will go and see VW after Xmas I think! Should mission down together and show them our rusting beauties.

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Surely your modifications and the costs of this on your car shows utter devotion and care to your vehicle, why would anyone who cares so much about the appearance of their vehicle neglect their roof?

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Has anyone had this done in the North East? What Garage did you use?

Garage makes no difference, VW UK decides, u go, the garage checks fro previous resprays, takes photos, vw uk replies with yes or no, if no, argue (like me)

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after mine went in a week ago i collected it today and it looks great

thanx for the info or i wouldnt have even known i was able to get it done for free

No problem, glad that the information was able to help you, shame it doesn't always get results at the moment...

Cheers, James.

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Hello,

another disappointing story for the thread from Sussex.

I've had my lupo 16v Sport two years and as soon as I noticed rusting in the channel, on the driver's side only and masked slightly by the private dealer who I bought it from, I reported it to caffyns at haywards heath. They arranged a VW south east area rep ( not a caffyns employee, they have been great with the car ) to inspect the rust. He said it was rusting from the outside in so was not claimable but he said he'd take some pics and report it and get back to me.In my experience if the person batting for you's not interested in your case then you're not going to get anywhere and sure enough I did get nowhere, I didn't get a reply at all.

Undaunted, well possibly a bit daunted, I went through this thread and made a note of all garages that have honoured a claim. I handed it to caffyns at, I think, service time earlier this year and included details of other garages that honoured the claim and my own photos of my car all on a cdr. Fate interevened and after I hadn't heard for a while I went to caffyns and by chance ended up parking next to another Lupo that was a year newer and the same colour. I looked at it and you won't be surprised to hear it had rust in the rain channel too in exactly the same places on the driver's side. This enabled me to say to caffyns that to me it looked that this was a fault blighting Lupos and not just a one off to me and that if they wanted to they could see another Lupo of exactly the same colour in their car park with exactly the same rust. Caffyns' service dept took pics and measured the paint thickness, to ensure it hadn't been got at I presume, and put a claim in on the same day.

I thought things were looking up but today the service dept at caffyns rang to say the claim has been turned down, by whoever it is that turns down these claims. The reason given to caffyns was that the rust was so noticeable in the photos that this must have been known a while ago and should have been reported by a previous owner. I think that means in their view I was claiming too late even though I am still just in the warranty period.

I don't think I want to give up now though, in fact the more I get knocked back the more I want to pursue a claim particularly as I have spent a fortune putting right a list of other things that blight our beloved Lupos including two broken window motors, a dropped driver's door hinge, two clicking door check straps, a stiff bonnet pull and a heavy clutch. I've also had all the servicing and air-con servicing done by caffyns who have been very helpful and looked after my Lupo very well.

I'd be grateful if someone could freshen the thread with details of who at VAG central to appeal to and I may go up to Sevenoaks which isn't too far away where I believe a warranty claim was honoured for roof rust.

I think VW claims department must be well aware of the Lupo's problem with roof corrosion by now and I can't help but think they are trying to avoid a flood of potentially expensive claims. Its a shame really as my Lupo's been great fun and never missed a beat and I really need to look for a bigger car now but my experience with VW head office customer care has rather put me off owning another VW in the future.

Just to reiterate, this isn't a pop at caffyns, they have looked after my Lupo very well and I always recommend them to other VW owners.

Cheers

Gaz

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Right, seems u are basically the same as me. Care for the lupo brilliantly, then let down by VW not honouring the warranty they set out. I started my case with the customer care dept, then i got transferred around a bit, then got some awful woman who even when we offered to drive the car hundreds of miles for her to see personally how all of it was in near mint condition, she refused to see it and remained adamant. We now have sent a letter to VW HQ, which we have had no reply from. So we are soon going to phone them to find out if they are going to reply to it or not. Then we are getting in touch with Watchdog so they can do a piece on it.

If i were you, put in a complaint to customer care, and go down the same route as me, then when undoubtedly it will have to go to watchdog, so i will make sure every lupo owner who has had this problem knows when it would be on so they can flood the phone lines and shame VW into paying up, maybe i could even get my lupo on TV!

I also have the complete support of VW Silver STreet in Taunton, who put my claim through several times, attatching that in their personal opinion the warranty should be honoured.

Also there is no reason for them to say it was reported later than found, as with both of us, as i reported on the day i found it, cant get sooner than that. +it makes no difference to the cost of the repair as they still have to have all the same stuff done.

-Roof peeled back, shot blasted, pillars too

-new parts welded into roof

-whole roof and pillar tops repainted

-new roof strips, need to be painted

-new seals

+same labour however much rust

They should honour all warranties that they sold with the cars, they make enough profit on them anyway to waste on veyrons.

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By all means count me in for watchdog BEP51, I do feel very let down by VW on this matter and consider they have yet to give me a good reason why my claim should be turned down. In the meantime I'll try an approach to VW customer care, whoever and wherever that is. My only regret is I didn't make a note of when I first spoke to the south east rep and make a note of his name as I suspect that will now be thrown back at me but, hey ho, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

cheers

Gaz

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