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I thought what happened to me recently was worth a post on here.
I bought an 05 golf at Fifth Avenue Auto Haus on the 27th of September. At the time, it was supposed to have a coolant heater installed, but because of time contstraints, this was not possible (the car was delivered early
), so I had to come in a few weeks later. Now, when I asked 3 different salespeople about this heater, they all told me that it would work just as well as the Zerostart heaters that everybody on TDIClub is using (and that I have used in the past), so I agree to have one installed, and have the price of it included in the price of the car. Installation went off without too many problems, dropped my car off first thing in the morning, and came back to pick it up, nicely washed car, clean interior, etc. However when I get home to inspect their work, I find I can't open my hood. Turns out there is about a 3" long piece of hose jammed into my hood latch, after working it out with a screwdriver through the tiny opening, I finally get the hood to open. Everything seems okay, what a tiny little heater that thing is. Except, the only thing I don't see, is any way for the heater to be thermostatically controlled. Whatever, it must be internal somewhere, I let it go.
So, flash forward to last thursday. It was -17*C, and I work the night shift, so 1 1/2 hours before lunch, I head outside and plug my car in (planning a 7-Eleven run). I come outside at lunch time, and unplug the heater. I thought to myself 'Gee, it sure smells like coolant...' dismiss it as paranoia, and fire up my car. I don't even get out of the parking lot before I get a nice flashing warning light. I'm out of coolant..... I pop the hood, and it turns out the heater has failed, right around where the element enters the housing, and it has sprayed (not just dribbled, but sprayed) ALL over the front of my engine bay... Now I'm happy... I call roadside assistance (since I know I can't just top it up and go), and have it towed in. The tow truck was almost an hour late, but that went okay. At the dealership they assure me it was a freak incident, and that they will replace it under warranty. So, I get a ride to school, and a ride back to pick it up over the lunch hour, since they couldn't do it first thing in the morning for me. Now flash forward to tuesday this week. I am at work again, and decide that I should test this heater out while it's NOT -40*C, just incase it leaves me stranded, despite the fact that on my invoice, it says they tested it for proper operation.
I plugged it in at 12:45AM, came out at 1:45AM (Yes, I took off early for lunch, work was going badly), and since I didn't smell coolant this time, I unplugged it, and started it up, before I even put it in reverse, that damn coolant warning light came on again (blinking, with the dinger and everything, just like last time). I pop the hood, and guess what, it failed exactly the same way as the last one did.
Now I'm pissed.
I call roadside assistance, and have it towed to Fifth Avenue Auto Haus ASAP. The tow truck was again over an hour late (I was told estimated wait was 30 minutes, it took the tow truck driver 1:55 to arive), upon arrival at the dealership, the tow truck driver raises the back up just as high as he can, then since he can't get the chains on the back unhooked, decides to drop the front end off the dollys on his way around the car to try from the other side. *CRUNCH* goes my nose on the ground.... He was rude to begin with, and now this. Luckily, I can't see or find any real damage from it, but I haven't thoroughly investigated it, that's for tomorrow. I'm just pissed at this point. Once the dealership opens, I head in, and tell them that the heater failed exactly the same as the last one, and that I want it removed, and my money back, this is B.S. . I am told I have to speak with the service manager, who after trying to tell me 3 times that if I install my own block heater that it will void my warranty, he finally says that it's not up to him, but up to the salesperson or the sales manager. The manager was in first, and agreed to remove it and refund my money.
Now, Everything considered this situation was dealt with reasonably, however it's the service department that REALLY pisses me off. I had to speak with the service manager, who despite me telling him that it would be illegal to void my warranty if I installed my own heater 3 times, stuck to it, that they wouldn't do anything under warranty if I installed my own heater. I told him tough luck, and that Volkswagen Canada disagrees, and if I have to, I will take it to them. He then almost lectures me for 30 minutes about how great the heaters in europe are, and how the German's think we don't need block heaters, and a lot of other crap, just trying to distract me, or make me leave, or whatever. Look, if I was interested in a Webasto, I would have bought one, besides, it's not covered under warranty either.....
The moral of the story is, these dealership block heaters are NOT thermostatically controlled. They are damn-near glued together, so the element gets hot, then the pressure builds from the boiling coolant near the heating element (even though the coolant in the rest of the block is cold), and eventually all of the glue gets pushed out, and coolant pours all over my engine bay. Once there is no coolant around the heater, it's entirely possible for it to overheat and start a fire, luckily both times I caught it before this possibility occured. I lost my last car (86 porsche 944) to an engine fire as a result of an overheating block heater. I will not let this happen to my golf. Period. The Phillips/Narva Zerostart heater is thermostatically controlled, and protected against thermal overload, and is now about the only thing I feel safe with on my car. I will be installing one this weekend.
So, long story short, if somebody offers you a dealership block heater, don't walk, RUN away!!!
Sorry for the long rant, but I am feeling really disappointed in volkswagen quality control, and customer service at this point, and am starting to understand why some hard-core VW lovers have forsaken this brand.
To top it all off, I got a letter in the mail from VW canada last week, dated Oct 28, telling me my first payment was being taken out Oct 27.... Now THAT's early warning.......
I bought an 05 golf at Fifth Avenue Auto Haus on the 27th of September. At the time, it was supposed to have a coolant heater installed, but because of time contstraints, this was not possible (the car was delivered early
), so I had to come in a few weeks later. Now, when I asked 3 different salespeople about this heater, they all told me that it would work just as well as the Zerostart heaters that everybody on TDIClub is using (and that I have used in the past), so I agree to have one installed, and have the price of it included in the price of the car. Installation went off without too many problems, dropped my car off first thing in the morning, and came back to pick it up, nicely washed car, clean interior, etc. However when I get home to inspect their work, I find I can't open my hood. Turns out there is about a 3" long piece of hose jammed into my hood latch, after working it out with a screwdriver through the tiny opening, I finally get the hood to open. Everything seems okay, what a tiny little heater that thing is. Except, the only thing I don't see, is any way for the heater to be thermostatically controlled. Whatever, it must be internal somewhere, I let it go.So, flash forward to last thursday. It was -17*C, and I work the night shift, so 1 1/2 hours before lunch, I head outside and plug my car in (planning a 7-Eleven run). I come outside at lunch time, and unplug the heater. I thought to myself 'Gee, it sure smells like coolant...' dismiss it as paranoia, and fire up my car. I don't even get out of the parking lot before I get a nice flashing warning light. I'm out of coolant..... I pop the hood, and it turns out the heater has failed, right around where the element enters the housing, and it has sprayed (not just dribbled, but sprayed) ALL over the front of my engine bay... Now I'm happy... I call roadside assistance (since I know I can't just top it up and go), and have it towed in. The tow truck was almost an hour late, but that went okay. At the dealership they assure me it was a freak incident, and that they will replace it under warranty. So, I get a ride to school, and a ride back to pick it up over the lunch hour, since they couldn't do it first thing in the morning for me. Now flash forward to tuesday this week. I am at work again, and decide that I should test this heater out while it's NOT -40*C, just incase it leaves me stranded, despite the fact that on my invoice, it says they tested it for proper operation.
I plugged it in at 12:45AM, came out at 1:45AM (Yes, I took off early for lunch, work was going badly), and since I didn't smell coolant this time, I unplugged it, and started it up, before I even put it in reverse, that damn coolant warning light came on again (blinking, with the dinger and everything, just like last time). I pop the hood, and guess what, it failed exactly the same way as the last one did.
Now I'm pissed.
I call roadside assistance, and have it towed to Fifth Avenue Auto Haus ASAP. The tow truck was again over an hour late (I was told estimated wait was 30 minutes, it took the tow truck driver 1:55 to arive), upon arrival at the dealership, the tow truck driver raises the back up just as high as he can, then since he can't get the chains on the back unhooked, decides to drop the front end off the dollys on his way around the car to try from the other side. *CRUNCH* goes my nose on the ground.... He was rude to begin with, and now this. Luckily, I can't see or find any real damage from it, but I haven't thoroughly investigated it, that's for tomorrow. I'm just pissed at this point. Once the dealership opens, I head in, and tell them that the heater failed exactly the same as the last one, and that I want it removed, and my money back, this is B.S. . I am told I have to speak with the service manager, who after trying to tell me 3 times that if I install my own block heater that it will void my warranty, he finally says that it's not up to him, but up to the salesperson or the sales manager. The manager was in first, and agreed to remove it and refund my money.
Now, Everything considered this situation was dealt with reasonably, however it's the service department that REALLY pisses me off. I had to speak with the service manager, who despite me telling him that it would be illegal to void my warranty if I installed my own heater 3 times, stuck to it, that they wouldn't do anything under warranty if I installed my own heater. I told him tough luck, and that Volkswagen Canada disagrees, and if I have to, I will take it to them. He then almost lectures me for 30 minutes about how great the heaters in europe are, and how the German's think we don't need block heaters, and a lot of other crap, just trying to distract me, or make me leave, or whatever. Look, if I was interested in a Webasto, I would have bought one, besides, it's not covered under warranty either.....
The moral of the story is, these dealership block heaters are NOT thermostatically controlled. They are damn-near glued together, so the element gets hot, then the pressure builds from the boiling coolant near the heating element (even though the coolant in the rest of the block is cold), and eventually all of the glue gets pushed out, and coolant pours all over my engine bay. Once there is no coolant around the heater, it's entirely possible for it to overheat and start a fire, luckily both times I caught it before this possibility occured. I lost my last car (86 porsche 944) to an engine fire as a result of an overheating block heater. I will not let this happen to my golf. Period. The Phillips/Narva Zerostart heater is thermostatically controlled, and protected against thermal overload, and is now about the only thing I feel safe with on my car. I will be installing one this weekend.
So, long story short, if somebody offers you a dealership block heater, don't walk, RUN away!!!
Sorry for the long rant, but I am feeling really disappointed in volkswagen quality control, and customer service at this point, and am starting to understand why some hard-core VW lovers have forsaken this brand.
To top it all off, I got a letter in the mail from VW canada last week, dated Oct 28, telling me my first payment was being taken out Oct 27.... Now THAT's early warning.......
If it's smoken it ain't broken
FIRST TO MOD THE MKV 
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