i30 Owners Club

THE GARAGE (SERVICE, MAINTENANCE & REPAIR) => GENERAL => Topic started by: AlanHo on March 01, 2012, 12:47:21

Title: Customer Complaints
Post by: AlanHo on March 01, 2012, 12:47:21
I was discussing fuel economy, dual mass flywheel reliability and DPF reliability with a VW service manager I chatted to recently.

He said that VW have had lots of problems with DPF's - but more often than not it was because customers had only used the car for short journeys and the DPF never had a chance to regenerate.  Dual mass flywheel problems were also exacerbated by poor gear changing and allowing the car to lurch.

He also admitted that the most common complaint from customers was fuel economy being well below the published data. But more often than not this was due to drivers wearing lead boots - or not using the correct gear to suit the driving conditions.

He said it was standard practice at the dealership when people complained about the DPF or fuel economy, and insisted that it could not be due to their driving style, to sit them down with a coffee, take the car to the workshop, plug it into the computer and take a print-out of the last 14 day's journeys.

He said that most customers were surprised and shocked to be shown that they had been regularly cruising at 90 mph, or accelerating wildly, or not using the correct gears, or just using the car on short journeys, or whatever......he spent a few hours every week trying to educate complaining customers that it was them and not the car at fault.

I must admit that I did not appreciate quite how much historical data is stored by some cars for diagnostic purposes.
 
Title: Re: Customer Complaints
Post by: Phil №❶ on March 02, 2012, 08:38:47

I must admit that I did not appreciate quite how much historical data is stored by some cars for diagnostic purposes.

The cops in USA is the info to hang you, in the event of an accident too.  :fum:
Title: Re: Customer Complaints
Post by: syecadelic on March 02, 2012, 14:10:05
Very interesting post. Would love to see that face drop on some customers when they see their driving style in black and white.

Yeah the ECU stores a lot of information about your driving, didnt realise it was so detailed tho...
Title: Re: Customer Complaints
Post by: Asterix on March 02, 2012, 21:24:12
Interesting Alan.

Also PSA have (had) same problems with the dual mass flywheel, as it is the same supplier of flywheels.

I haven't had any problems with my DPF so far, it regenerates now and then.

Can anyone tell if the flywheel in my 2008 CRDI is massive or dual mass..??
Title: Re: Customer Complaints
Post by: Doggie 1 on March 10, 2012, 11:53:51
Yes, it became very difficult at work to say you only reached, say 160 km/h during a high speed pursuit, when the data showed it was 200. :-[
Difficult to argue with.
Truth in calling became the norm as a result.........
Title: Re: Customer Complaints
Post by: succulant on March 10, 2012, 14:14:38
Its surprising and slightly worrying that they store that much detail :Shocked:
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal