61 New York smart Service Centers

A very bad experience - favored1

On a long distance road trip our 2004 Volkswagen Touareg broke down on a Friday in Maryland. We had it towed to a dealer in Virginia which was the closest dealer to a friend of ours where we would stay the night because we had no way to get home. The dealer was Lindsay Volkswagen of Dulles. They couldn’t look at the car until Tuesday, it took until Wednesday for us to find out what was wrong with the car. They claimed they were calling us and we didn’t receive any calls. We recorded our phone number numerous times with them (which was still not correct on the work order when we picked up the car). We were informed that both gas pumps needed to be replaced. We were quoted a price and told them to go ahead and do the job. When we picked up the car on June 24th 2015 the bill was significantly higher than what was quoted. The service advisor didn’t quote us the tax and the manager ended up waiving that. My husband asked them if the filter was changed when the gas pumps were replaced because we were concerned about contaminated gas. We were told “yes that is part of the pump”. We drove back to NYC that night. On August 30th 2015 I was alone in the car with our infant son and the car looses power as I’m driving down the highway. Thankfully I got off the highway safely before it died and once it stopped it wouldn’t restart. We had it towed to Bayside Volkswagen here in Great Neck, NY. We were called and told that both gas pumps needed to be replaced. We showed them that this was already done in June and were told by David Nosovsky that they don’t honor VW’s warranty from another VW dealer. He showed my husband a work order and if my husband had re-paid for the same job they would’ve replaced the gas pumps with no question. He stated that the invoice from Lindsay VW didn’t list the falange and that they always change it when the pumps are replaced. We called Paul Boots at Lindsay VW who called them and explained these are under warranty and that they should be replaced as such. Paul Boots also communicated to me that they don’t replace falanges and that it’s an up charge to the customer that isn’t necessary. David then calls my husband to have him authorize 5 hours of diagnostic testing to “make sure” it’s really the gas pumps. We refused to authorize such charges as it was $130.00 an hour for their time. The only manager available at Bayside that day was Charlie the parts manager who spoke with me and after researching the incident called and stated Bayside would eat the cost of the diagnostic testing. Calls were made to Paul Boots again and Jerrey Holloway at Lindsay VW. The next day I get a call informing me that it was a loose hose which they re-connected and that Lindsay VW was covering the cost of the work. Nothing was replaced. On Friday October 9th, 2015 the Touareg stalls in the middle of an intersection and failed to start again, with our family in it. It took 8 men to help push it out of the intersection into a safe place. We had it towed back to Bayside VW. When we got a call on Tuesday they informed us the gas pumps failed and one needed to be replaced. This time they would contact VW to cover it under warranty. They stated the falange HAD to be replaced and the cost was over $500.00. They stated it cannot be used again as the hose will not reconnect to it. I called Paul Boots at Lindsay VW and he stated they won’t be responsible for anything needing repair. I called the VW customer advocate line and got a case #. The next day I heard nothing so we called Bayside VW and negotiated that we would pay the part but not labor. They agreed. The VW customer advocate called late that day and stated that unfortunately they can’t hold Lindsay VW responsible for the work they did. Even though it’s obvious it wasn’t done right when the car died twice with confirmation of the same issue they “fixed”. When I picked up the vehicle, the invoice stated falange/filter. This is the part we paid for. There are no filters in the pumps. The Filter is housed in the falange. We were told this was replaced when we picked up the car from Lindsay VW and it was not. All of these problems occurred due to an insufficient repair. And the only person that has suffered is our family, being stuck twice when the gas pumps failed, having paid to tow it multiple times and being without our car for a week each time. No one has tried to right this wrong and I am utterly disappointed in VW service and workmanship.

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