dansmith Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 All, My cambelt broke while driving at 70MPH on the M4 last night. Firstly it's a pretty scary experience and considering my Golf MK4 has only done 30,000 miles very unexpected. I've just spoken to VW UK customer services and they have left me feeling literally sick. They aren't interested in my case because my car was not serviced within 12 months of the last service eventhough it has just surpassed the required mileage service. Apparently they informed the retailers in August 05 that the cambelt must now be changed after 4 years or 60 000 miles. Eventhough my car was serviced by a VW dealer after 4 years this was before August 05. I asked why they had not made any attempt to inform the general public and the said informing the retailers/delears was enough from their point of view. I have informed watchdog so hopefully this will be brough to the publics attention in due course. In the interim I hope that I can get this information to as many people as possible to prevent the huge cost that I'm about to endure of possible having to replace the engine. If anyone knows of any other forums or notice boards it would be worthwhile posting this info, please do. VW could make a killing out of cambelt popping all over the country just because they didn't think it neccessary to make any attempt to inform the VW owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustynuts Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 Dan, I think you'll find that the service requirements are:- 10k miles or 1 year (for fixed interval service) or as indicated by the on board computer or 2 years (for variable longlife service). If you or your car hasn't followed the required service / inspection routine then you are your own warranty. If it has followed the required schedule (and you stated that it hasn't) then VW will be more agreeable regarding the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansmith Posted September 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 For sure, but if sharing this saves one person from going through the same scenario it will be worth it! If they're a day over due for a service and the cambelt pops even if they've done just 20K miles VW won't be interested if it's 4 years old. My concern is that they've changed a very costly service rule without making any attempt to inform the general public and are happy with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustynuts Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 Nothing has changed without your knowledge which would have made any difference to your situation. You strayed outside of the service requirements for some reason, and the story ends there as far as VW are concerned. It may sound harsh, but if they say your car requires servicing every 10k miles or every year, then that's pretty much what they mean. I understand you're somewhat angry with VW, in the same way you'd be angry at a speed camera for taking your picture when you're only driving at 2 mph over the limit. VW Customer service have been known to look after customers whos engines develop problems outside of the warranty period if they've stuck to the service requirements, but they've got to draw the line somewhere. I apologise for sounding harsh and I hope you can manage to get your car repaired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpongpo Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 Got my MOT coming up along with a cambelt change at the same time. I informed the lady on the service desk that if it snaps when they do the MOT before the cambelt change then they are liable. She looked at me and said "You're joking aren't you?" I said "I wanted the cambelt done first and then the MOT but you insist on having it the other way so you can pay for a new engine if it snaps at 4500rpm" I think she got the message after a while of me keeping a straight face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bounce Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 [ QUOTE ] For sure, but if sharing this saves one person from going through the same scenario it will be worth it! If they're a day over due for a service and the cambelt pops even if they've done just 20K miles VW won't be interested if it's 4 years old. My concern is that they've changed a very costly service rule without making any attempt to inform the general public and are happy with this. [/ QUOTE ] I have to say although i had a lot of mucking about when i had my engine problems, my car had been serviced elsewhere and a couple of services were pretty late, i feel vw were pretty good with me with how far they met me moneywise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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