Date:         Mon, 4 Sep 1995 11:58:20 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Frank E. Terhaar-Yonkers" <fty@mcnc.org>
Subject:      Update - Warranty on VW factory engines ...

Re: Warranty on VW factory engines - or are we always going to be at odds
with VWofA and the dealers?

Some of you may have seen my post last week about my new (10kmiles) 
less than 1yr old factory rebuilt leaking coolant from the head.

I bought the motor last year from VW specifically because of the 1yr
12k mile warranty.  Before purchase I asked (more than once) if the
warranty was still vaild if I installed it myself.  Not believing the
dealer, I also asked the same question of VWofA and was given an
unqualified "Yes".

Well, last week they tried to stick me with the $300 labor to redo
the head gasket.  The "logic" they used was that since I bought the
motor "over the counter" all that was covered was the parts.  I got
the runaround for 3 days until I demanded (of VWofA customer service)
an arbitration.  This escalated the call to someone higher up the
food chain who gave me the same party line.  After arguing with this
moron for another 1/2 hour I finally got his boss.  
I told him simply, that if all I had was a "parts warranty", I would
take out the defective "part", which according to my receipt is an
"engine" and he could give me a new one.  After a few seconds of silence
they decide to pay for the labor.

The moral?  You have to be a persistant bastard dealing with these people.  
This is not a friendly relationship.  They don't give a shit about us even
after spending $2500 on a whole new engine. 

Buyer beware ...

- Frank

\\\\////\\\\////\\\\\////\\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\
Frank Terhaar-Yonkers	
High Performance Computing and Communications Research
MCNC
PO Box 12889	3021 Cornwallis Road
Research Triangle Park,  North Carolina  27709-2889
fty@mcnc.org   voice (919)248-1417   FAX (919)248-1455
http://www.mcnc.org/HTML/ITD/ANT/HPCCResearch.html