Tag Archive for: Warranty

Volkswagen TDI Fuel Pump Warranty Extension ~ Audio Podcast Episode 79

Volkswagen TDI Fuel Pump Warranty Extension ~ Episode 79

Today we are going in depth on the warranty extension for common rail high pressure fuel pumps HPFP. This is a new extension that will cover certain Volkswagen TDI engines including:TDI Fuel System Failure

  • 2009-2012 Volkswagen  Golf
  • 2009-2012 Volkswagen  Jetta
  • 2009-2012 Volkswagen  Jetta Sportwagen
  • 2009-2012 Volkswagen  Touareg
  • 2012 Volkswagen Passat

To find out if your VW is covered under this warranty extension, call your local dealer and give them your V.I.N. they can look that up for you. Failure of these pumps has been happening since about 2011. One of the bad things about HPFP failures is the cost of repair. The entire fuel system is replaced when metal from the pump is pushed into the fuel system.

Join me today as we discuss:

  • Terms of the warranty extension terms
  • What vehicles are included in the HPFP warranty extension
  • The very strict criteria for HPFP warranty extension coverage
  • Fuel samples under the HPFP warranty extension
  • Modified cars under the HPFP warranty extension
  • What happens when a TDI is filled with GAS.
  • More pictures of HPFP failures
  • and more

Trouble viewing? Watch “Volkswagen TDI Fuel Pump Warranty Extension ~ Podcast Episode 79” on YouTube.

As always your questions and comments are very much appreciated. If you have a suggestion for a show topic, use the contact me form, or email me Charles(at)humblemechanic(dot)com. If you want to find out if your vehicle is covered, please contact your local dealership. If you give them your V.I.N they can confirm your coverage.

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http://youtu.be/b7zTExFVuVw

Factory Repairs VS Non Factory Repairs ~ Podcast Episode 34

Hey everyone! Today we are talking a look at the difference between a “factory car repair” vs a “non factory repair”. This is a really cool topic to talk about. Be sure to post your thoughts in the comments below.

When it comes to this type of thing, I come from a dealership mentality. But I also understand, that does not always equal the right way. I actually like to step out of the normal mindset. I think it makes me a better tech, and can be a little more fun. Not only that, it may work out even better for the customer.

Join me as we talk about:

  • Show schedule
  • What is a factory repair
  • Why factory repairs
  • A warranty mindset
  • The programming of a dealership technician
  • Headlight repair vs replacement
  • The influence of the parts department
  • Customer’s expectation at the dealer
  • Giving options
  • Let customers choose
  • Diesel Geek repair kits
  • And more

Having trouble viewing? Watch “Factory Repairs VS Non Factory Repairs ~ Podcast Episode 34” on YouTube.

As always, post your thoughts in the comments below. If you have an idea for a show topic, use the contact me form and let me know.
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Understanding Vehicle Warranties, Podcast Episode 25

Happy Monday everyone. I hope that you all had a great weekend. Today we take an in depth look at vehicle warranties. We focus on the manufacturer side of warranty. Dealing with car repairs under warranty is something I do a lot of. There are a lot of things that customers may not realize happen when a car is repaired under warranty.

Today on the Automotive Podcast we chat about:

  • Base car warranty AKA bumper to bumper
  • Powertrain warranty
  • Federal Emissions warranty
  • Corrosion warranty
  • What MAY be covered
  • What is probably NOT covered
  • Why a dealer will not “just fix it all”
  • Manufacturer tracking of repairs
  • Dealership chargebacks
  • Where to find warranty information
  • All about Buying an Extended Warranty

If you are having trouble viewing, watch Understanding Vehicle Warranties, Podcast Episode 25, on YouTube.

As always, your comments and questions are appreciated. BTW, what do you guys think of the new studio setup?

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Episode 9 Customer Pay VS Warranty Work

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Today on the Automotive podcast, we are talking about work! We dive into the differences between:

  • Customer pay work
  • Warranty work, from the manufacturer. Think bumper to bumper new car warranties
  • Extended warranties. This would be a warranty you purchase separate.

Many techs have a strong opinion about doing warranty work vs doing customer pay work on cars. There are pros and cons to both types of jobs. This is the Flat Rate video I mentioned in today’s show.

Show Notes:

  • Customer Pay repair jobs
    • Pros
    • Cons
  • Warranty repair jobs
    • Pros
    • Cons
  • Extended warranty repair jobs
    • Is this the best of both worlds?
  • How warranty work is good for techs sometimes.
  • When customer pay is NOT good for techs

If you are having trouble viewing the video on the blog, see it at Customer Pay VS Warranty Work on YouTube

As always, thanks for watching. What are your thoughts on customer pay repairs vs warranty repairs? I know many of you have strong opinions on this topic 😉

Have an idea for a show topic? Is there a question you have always wanted to ask a tech? Feel free to post them in the comments, or use the contact me form. I want to be sure I give you the types of shows you guys are looking for.

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The Truth About Car Dealer Add-Ons

What exactly do I mean when I say “add-ons”? When you buy a new car, you do the negotiating, agree on price with the sales person. Then you move in to the office with the finance person. That is where they try and sell you the “add-ons”. This is one of my favorite Simpson moments. Yep, here we go with the add-ons.

So today we are going to talk about the pros and cons of these “add-ons”. My dealer offers:

  • Wheel and tire insurance
  • Extended Warranties
  • Gap Insurance
  • Key replacement
  • Simoniz or other paint/interior treatment
  • Security Coding

Wheel and Tire Insurance

Out of all the extras that F+I people try and sell you, this is the best(in my opinion). This plan can cover damage to a wheel, and or repair/ replacement of a tire. If you hit a pot hole and bend a wheel, they will pay for repair or replacement. If a wheel face gets scuffed at a drive-thru the insurance company will repair or replace it.

The same goes for tires. In Shop Shots Volume 58, I posted a picture of a tire that was damaged by a nail. The tire required replacement. The customer had purchased the tire insurance, so she didn’t have to pay the $180 for a new tire. It only takes a couple of repairs to fully pay for this insurance.

BUY OR DON’T BUY: This is one that I say BUY! If your car has upgraded wheels and tires, it is a definitely buy.

Extended Warranties

This would be a warranty on mechanical failures of your vehicle. I have dug deep in to this before. You can read more about Buying an extended warranty for a car. Here is the short version. There are many factors that go into this decision.

  • Do you have extra cash on hand to pay for repairs?
  • Can you do repairs yourself?
  • Can you live with somethings not working like power windows, power locks, air conditioning?
  • What does the warranty cover?
  • Where do you have to take the car for repairs?
  • Is there a deductible?

These are some of the things to consider when thinking about the extended warranty.

BUY OR DON’T BUY: Maybe, but if you do buy it be sure to get the most coverage you can. I highly recommend reading the post I wrote about it.

Gap Insurance

This one is 100% case by case. Gap insurance covers the difference between what you finance on the car, and what the car is worth. Let’s say you buy a $20,000 car. If you finance all $20,000 you are immediately “upside down” with the car. That means you owe more than the car is worth. Remember your car depreciates the second you drive it off the lot. So now that car you just financed $20,000 on i worth $15,000.

What would happen if you totaled the car the next day? Your car insurance would cover the value of the car, but what about the other $5000. This is where gap insurance would be a smart choice. Also if you buy a car and roll negative equity from a trade in, gap insurance may be a good idea.

BUY OR DON’T BUY: If you buy a car smart with a big down payment, there is no need. If you will owe more than your car is worth, it could be a good move.

Key Replacement

This is actually new to me. This covers losing or damage to a vehicle key. While it is true that vehicle keys are VERY expensive, I don’t know about this one. Volkswagen keys run from $200-$300 to replace. That is not pocket change, but if we are smart and responsible with keys, there is no need for this.

BUY OR DON’T BUY: At this time I am saying do not buy. If I come across something that makes a good case for this, I will let you guys know. Until then don’t buy

Simoniz

Simoniz is the brand my dealer sells. There are other brands of detail products out there. Basically this is the “Scotch guard” and “Paint protection” packages. This type of thing is the typical snake oil in my opinion. Sure you could make a case for this being a good idea, but I am just not there. I think taking good care of your car and keeping it clean is important. I think that this may not be the best way.

BUY OR DON’T BUY: I don’t think that this is one I can recommend. The products may work, but again, this just seems like a snake oil type thing to me.

Security Coding

This is a system that codes the body panels of a car. We put little stickers on the doors and lids of a car. It is an anti-theft device. I am not going to spend any time on this. I do not see 1 benefit to this. Lock your car up, and if someone wants to steal it, they will. Do you really want a car back after it has been stolen? I don’t think that I would.

BUY OR DON’T BUY: Simple, do not buy! Done and done

There are most likely other add-ons that dealers off. Some are good and some are not worth your money. Remember, these are big time money makers for the dealers. Yes some of them are a great value, but if they didn’t make the dealer money, they probably would not offer them.

Well I hope that this post can help someone make a good choice about the extras that dealerships sell. If you know anyone in the market for a car, please share this post with them. In fact, this may be one of those posts that can really help a ton of folks from making a poor choice while under pressure from a finance manager.

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Having Realistic Expectations When It Comes To Your Car

I know that I have mentioned before, I try and spend time reading people’s posts in forums. I want to get the unfiltered opinion of how customers feel about their car. Sadly it almost always focuses on broken cars. I am actually fine with that. I get to hear about issues that I might otherwise not hear about.

There does come a point where I get really frustrated. It generally comes from statements like

My car is broken and it is only a year out of warranty.Then VW only offered me $1000 extra for a trade in.

Now, let’s break down that statement a little bit.

  • My car is broken
    Yes, all cars will break at some point
  • It is ONLY a year out of warranty
    Fact, it is out of warranty
  • VW offered me $1000 extra
    The manufacturer is offering to help

Let’s take just about any other product and see what you would get a year out of warranty.  A few years ago, the A/C in my house went out. It was just 4 months after the warranty went out. They told me that They would send someone out to give me a quote. They also said because I was out of warranty there was nothing that they could do. Believe me I pushed the issue as much as possible.  That repair set me back about $2500. Try holding out on fixing your home A/C in the middle of July. That ain’t happening. Would you be happy about making that repair? My guess is no(I was not).

So what is the point? There is a term called Mean Time Between Repairs. That basically means that failures are very predictable. In a machine with thousands of moving parts and millions of circuits running everything from safety systems to interior lighting, is it a shock that things will fail?

Then there is also the old saying “Never buy the first year of a model”. I am sure if you asked anyone that owned a 2004 VW Touareg this would totally agree. That is actually how my wife and I got our first dog. The customer had a 2003 Beetle Convertible. She works in dog rescue and was in the shop all the time with her Beetle. She was fostering a beautiful little brown dog named Brighton. Now that little girl is my FooDog.

Fast forward to the 2012 Beetle. VW is having issues with the windows. They are hitting pinch protection and not closing properly. It is a completely frustrating thing for customers. Having to screw around with the buttons until the window closes properly.

My overall point is this. Your car will break! It is that plain and simple. It might break under warranty. It might break 2 days out of warranty. If it is a reasonably time after the warranty, the manufacturer should help you out. But at some point your warranty will end. As much as it stinks, it will happen. Even if your warranty was 150,000 miles. At some point you will have a repair to make. The only thing we can do is prepare for it, and bite the bullet when it comes.

Oh, one last thing. Don’t think that I am saying manufacturers don’t have their part to play.

 

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New VW TDI recall

Are Recalls On Your Car a Good Thing Or Bad Thing?

New VW TDI recall

This is a new recall on the CR TDI cars. It is to help folks remember not to put gas in their diesel. This is what got the whole recall debate rolling

If you drive a VW, you know that at some point you will have an open recall. Even if you are not a Volkswagen driver, you still might have dealt with a recall or 2. But when is enough, enough? Lets take my Passat for example. It is a 2005 Passat wagon. It has had the following recalls.

  • Brake light switch
  • Install under body shield, and software update
  • Replace ignition coils.

Not too bad right? It is only 2 pretty minor recalls. Now, lets look at a Passat that is 1 year newer. You could be looking at the following recalls and updates.

  • Replace brake booster pipe
  • Install cover on wiper motor
  • Front seat airbag connector rewire
  • Steering column lock update
  • Intake manifold runner motor
  • PCV valve and breather pipe
  • Replace ignition coils

WOW no less than 7 recalls and updates. Is that too many? You can make a pretty darn good case for that. There are two ways we can look at the recalls.

That is a ridiculous amount of recalls
Just like I said, you can make a really good case about 7 recalls on a car. Does that mean that the manufacturer build a bad car? Well, in a sense, it does. Many of the recalls that I listed above were common repairs long before they were recalls. I rewired a ton of seat airbag connectors before that recall came out. We have been replacing the PCV valves on the 2.0t since it came out.

I imagine that it can be really frustrating for a customer. Imagine every other time you bring your car in for service, you have 2 new updates or recalls. I have seen that look on customers face. It is the “you have to be freaking kidding me, AGAIN” look.

I had a funny thing happen to me with the recall on my Passat. I brought my car into the shop for something. My service advisor( check out his interview on Behind The Wrench) said, “Hey man, you should throw those coils in while you got your car in the shop”. I didn’t really feel like it so I didn’t do it.

As my luck would have it, when I left that night, I made it to the end of the parking before my MIL starting flashing. Would you believe that the part that was on recall failed? I turned around and had to do the dang recall anyway.

At least they are taking care of the problem.
No car is perfect. If you think so, then I will gladly be the one to burst your bubble 😉 So every car has issues. How great is it that a manufacturer will take care of certain issues, free of charge. To be fair, I am sure that not all or those updates were voluntary.

I guess the main point here is really short and sweet. Be glad they are fixing something. It might turn out to be a proactive repair. If you have already paid for the repair, be sure to contact the manufacturer and try to get your money back.

So what do you guys think? Here are the questions to think about

  • What number of recalls is too many?
  • If you get a recall notice are you upset about it?
  • Do you get your recalls done right away?

Please let me know your thoughts! Also, if you have a mechanic that you love, please send them to the contact me page. I really want to get Behind the Wrench rolling again, but I need your help!

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Tag Archive for: Warranty

Customer Pay VS Warranty Work ~ Audio Podcast Episode 9

Customer Pay VS Warranty Work ~ Audio Podcast Episode 9

Humble Mechanic Podcast
Humble Mechanic Podcast
Customer Pay VS Warranty Work ~ Audio Podcast Episode 9
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The topic of paying for car repairs is not as simple as it may seen. There are so many sides to the story. You may also be wondering what “Customer Work” is verses “Warrant Work”. Why should the warranty charge or labor time be different than the customer pay? Does that mean the customer pays more than the warranty company? We will look at all of that and more.

Humble Mechanic automotive Podcast

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Join me today as we discuss

  • Customer Pay repair jobs
    • Pros
    • Cons
  • Warranty repair jobs
    • Pros
    • Cons
  • Extended warranty repair jobs
    • Is this the best of both worlds?
  • How warranty work is good for techs sometimes.
  • When customer pay is NOT good for techs
  • and more

Thanks for tuning in to the automotive podcast. I am really excited about the response. If you have an idea for a show, contact me via email, or use the contact me form!

Humble Mechanic automotive Podcast

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