Gurnee Volkswagen

My visit to your service department (on Friday) was one of the worst auto dealership experiences that I can remember. Granted, I am very picky regarding my cars. However, the level of incompetence that I of the worst auto dealership experiences that I can remember. Granted, I am very picky regarding my cars. However, the level of incompetence that I experienced during & after the service visit would have upset most people. I was in for service for 3 things: 1 – oil change 2 – tire rotation & check low tire pressure message 3 – spongy & sticky brake pedal My bad experience started the moment that I drove into the service writer area. There was a gentleman standing in front of the service desks. As I drove in, he waved me around the right side of the cars that were parked in the bay. It was going to be a tight squeeze, but it didn’t appear to be an issue. However, as I drove around the other cars, a sign/banner on a steel post fell over onto my car. When I got out, I could see that the sign post had a large wooden base, with wheels on it. I couldn’t see the base from inside my car. My front tire obviously clipped the wooden base, causing the sign to fall. It left a small dent on top of the front right A-pillar. The man who waved me in said absolutely nothing. However, the service writer apologized, and made sure that I was alright. The service writer also immediately spoke to the service manager, who told me that they would have their paintless dent repair company take care of it (this week?). The service writer refused to put any notes regarding this incident on my service ticket. So, at this point, it’s my word against the service writer's. This incident could have been prevented if there was a competent person working in the entry bay to direct traffic. Anyway, I still expect to have the dent repaired by your dealership. I’m one of those people who religiously checks & maintains the air pressure in my tires. Not only that, I typically check the torque on the lug nuts after I have someone else touch the wheels. As I was driving into the dealership that morning, the low tire pressure light came on, with a message stating that the left rear tire was low. I brought this up to service writer, because I was hoping that the tire would be looked at when the tires were rotated. The service writer said “not to worry”, as this is all part of the rotation service. Well, apparently the person who rotated & checked the tires didn’t get the memo. All the tire person did was turn off the message. By the time that I got home, my car told me that it had low pressure in the front left tire. I checked the tire pressure, and it was already down to 24 PSI. The GTI door placard indicates that the tire pressure should be 39 PSI. The other 3 tires were 34 PSI. and under. So, not only did the tire person LET PRESSURE OUT OF THE TIRES, he/she didn’t bother to check the low pressure tire. I know that the pressure was out of the tires because I’ve been running them slightly higher than 39 PSI, since the temperatures are constantly dipping down below 10 degrees this time of year. But, the tire pressure isn’t really my primary complaint here…..although, it’s an annoyance. My real problem is that I found a large nail stuck in the tread of the tire, which the tire rotation person didn’t bother to check for. Rather than risk having another incompetent person work on my car, I chose to remove the wheel/tire myself, and to take it to a reputable tire shop and have them patch the tire. Simple enough, right? NOT!!! The lug nuts were SO TIGHT, that I struggled to loosen them with my 18” breaker bar. They must have been torqued on to at least 150 ft/lbs. If your service person had followed the VW standard, they would have been torqued to 89 ft/lbs, or something close. I was FRUSTRATED when I was trying to remove the wheel. Later that day (Saturday), I bought a 30” breaker bar so that I could loosen the lug nuts on the other wheels, which made it somewhat easier. I still had to lean HARD on the breaker bar to loosen the lug nuts. Your tire rotation person is not qualified to do his/her simple job, and should be fired. Now that I've taken care of it myself....All 4 tires are now inflated to the proper pressure, with the lug nuts properly torqued. Now for my brake pedal issue. The previous time that I brought my car in I complained about a spongy & sticky brake pedal. Of course, your technician told me that he was not able to replicate the issue. Whatever…..that's the response that I was expecting. However, last summer, I swapped out the brake pads myself, to reduce the amount of dust. I did not need to touch the brake fluid. After I replaced the pads, it was immediately noticeable that the pedal was properly firm (like it was when new), and the stickiness was no longer noticeable. So, my thought was that there was an issue with the fluid. Unfortunately, the sponginess & stickiness came back within a few weeks. This time, I brought up the issue again…..and, again, the technician said that the pedal feel was normal, and that the problem could not be replicated. However, I asked service writer to have the fluid replaced anyway. Now that the fluid has been flushed & replaced, the pedal is firm again, and the stickiness is gone. I’m not going to say that I know more than your technician…..but, he/she clearly does not know how a brake pedal should properly feel….particularly on a GTI. This is much more of an annoyance than a complaint. When I brought the car in with 7,000 miles the last time, the fluid should have been flushed at no cost. Now, at 14,000 miles, I knew that I was going to have to pay for it....and I'm glad that I did. At this point, I don’t know if I will ever return to your dealership….except to have the new dent removed. I simply cannot deal with incompetence, especially when servicing my cars. More