Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 14:28:41 -0600
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: pll@unlinfo.unl.edu (Patrick Larsen)
Subject: Re: 91 Vanagon Recall!!
>Karl G Vochatzer
>03/24/97 01:15 PM
>I was told (last June) by VWoA that the "good will" program ended last May
>(1996), not this May (1997). BTW, VW will fight you to the end, and the
>end for me was the final word of the regional VW rep. So, start
>diplomatically sweet talking the rep, not the customer service person on
>the 800 #, and get all your ducks in a row before seeing them.
-Big ol' sniparoo-
My experience with this was somewhat different than described above. I
discovered a leaking head (91gl with 93k miles) in fall of 1996. I called
the VWoA customer service (1-800-822-8987) number and was assigned a case
number and customer service rep (his name was/is Robert Schoof). Robert's
directions were to take the van to the nearest vw dealer for a
'professional' diagnosis. Robert called the dealer to set it up (it was
free), and once the diagnosis was made, carried on covert discussions with
the service manager to determine their course of action. They didn't ask me
for any supplemental information. Robert called me the next day and informed
me that VWoA would pay for 50% of head gasket repair (and 100% for leaking
rear heater core). The whole process was very simple, and Robert was very
sympathetic, but be prepared to spend a lot of time on hold.
I still don't know the criteria used to determine compensation. I had just
purchased the vanagon a few months before from a used car dealer with about
90k miles on the clock. I don't know much about the history of the van (# of
previous owners, service history, etc.).
After reading many of the archived posts on this subject, it seems there is
a different experience from everyone who has gone through it :(
Pat
____________________________________
Patrick L. Larsen
Water Center/Environmental Programs
University of Nebraska
pll@unlinfo.unl.edu
http://www.uvm.edu/~plarsen/pat.html
____________________________________