Fender Warranty

[Colonel_Mustard]

Anyone who is in the know about this stuff. What's the situation on the front fender rust/chipping paint issue on mk5s? Used 2009 rabbit. Paint chipped off top of both front fenders. I've read about this stuff before but looking for specific info. I assume it needs to come in and a procedure started with VW. Just wondering for a used car does it still apply and if it's worth doing that or just bring it to a paint shop.
Thanks

[VwFixxxer]

Talk to Lauren at work. She deals with all the paint claim stuff.

[matt877]

Mine wasn't covered. Long wait times to no resolution. Lauren called me and left a voicemail and told me. I returned her phone call for explanation, but didn't get her.

[yesbytd]

I was in recently to have Lauren take photos of my mk4. Was told it'd be covered.
waited a month and emailed her finally. Not covered.
She said it was due to lack of care. I was given a 1-800 # for vwcanada if I had more questions.

[GLI]

I had paint rub issues on my gli, initiated claim via bmvwa, never heard squat back from them or vw customer care. I didn't have the enrgy to chase it given my other 'warranty' claim experience .

[revlimiter]

I submitted a claim on my wife's MK6 Gti and never heard anything back so i inquired after a couple of months and was told it was resubmitted and never heard anything after that. Ended up trading the car in so someone else can worry about it. But in my opinion if there going to offer a warranty for 10 or 12 years they should make it a little easier on the customer. I almost think its done on purpose to make customers lose interest and just get the problem fixed on there own. I am not blaming the dealership for this its a common problem everywhere coming from VW itself. My claim was submitted and resubmitted in a time frame of over 6 months and i didnt hear anything back so anyone thats submitting a claim they better be prepared to wait.

[stockley.matt]

I had two of my front fenders replaced and painted, my driver side rocker repaired and painted, and my driver side rear quarter repaired and painted all under warranty. I spoke with Lauren initially about my front fenders because the paint was bubbling up due to rust underneath, and she went through my entire car found the other couple of spots. It took about a month for my claim to be processed through VW, and the appointment was booked by her as soon as she got word back. The only downfall was in Custom Automotive as they left my driver fender with a run in the paint. I was told to come back for wetsanding, but I am yet to do so due to scheduling.

[Colonel_Mustard]

Thanks for all the info guys. Probably quicker and easier to bring it to a shop and get them repainted.

[matt877]

Thanks for all the info guys. Probably quicker and easier to bring it to a shop and get them repainted.

Let me know if you do this. Not sure the route i'm going to go with yet.

[Danny]

The paint process is something we have little to know control over, VW is very sticky on what they approve or not under warranty. There is a new section on our website now under the "service" section, here you can start the paint claim process. Now customers must start by completing the online form and then this completed form is sent to us, with all the required info, then customers are booked for an appointment to have to car photos taken, customers MUST show up with cleaned vehicles. The idea of having them cleaning here is very difficult because it takes an enormous amount of time, and when people just walk in for a claim, it's over an hour plus the customer form online isn't done.

Once the photos are taken, they are submitted to the body shop for an estimate and once completed we send this VW for the results. Once a decision is reached by VW, it's binding and we have zero input or control over this, all we can do is relay the message and book a paint appointment should approvals be given.

The largest problem we run into are cars that have been in accidents or repainted, these of course are flat out denied because the paint and/or panels are no longer VW and of course they do not warranty somebody else's work. Besides this, rust that has been neglected or not acted upon (i.e. holes in car) are also refused, and we have a huge amount of people coming in for rock chips wanting this covered, these of course are not.

It's an amazing warranty, to think about the money they are spending on older vehicles and even newer ones is insane. There is no other company completing this kind of work. It's a long process, VW is still working out bugs on the new online system (previously is was monitored by two people using Microsoft Outlook) now a new database is used. Chris you can have the Jetta looked at for sure, but it will take some time for the results to arrive, just complete the mentioned form and that will start the process.

[Colonel_Mustard]

Thanks for all the info. It's on an 09 rabbit. Haven't seen it yet but it looks to be mostly flaking paint, not really rust. Same spot, top of both front fender lips. I'll be driving it back to Ontario so won't have that much time. May just have a shop fix it or start the claim up here. But as I'll be second owner, is that still ok?

[Danny]

Potentially, it gets harder as more people pass through the vehicle (mainly because people started buy bad vehicle, got VW to pay for rust repair and then they flipped it and made money from VW). There is a massive delay in Ontarior at the moment, these claims take a lot of time and work internally to process, so some dealers limited the amount of claims to one a week, or in that area (we do 3 a week). I know some dealers in the metro area have a 9 month wait to even get a claim started. I would contact somebody up there and try, if you don't want to wait it is most likely an inexpensive repair.

Drive safe.