Volkswagen Golf Problems

It has a belt.

The industry is definitely moving towards using non-serviceable components and has been for many years. The theory is that they can better control repairs to the car by simply replacing a failed component rather than relying on the skill or lack of skill of individual operators. One possible way you could get the module at a cheaper price is to shop around specialist VW dealers, many of whom import parts directly from Europe and can offer them at a lower price. We haven’t had any other reports of this issue, but perhaps other owners could tell us of any problems they have had.

It’s clearly frustrating, but it’s a long way from being a “lemon”. VW found and fixed the problem with the brakes, so that’s done and dusted. The warning light issue is another issue and one that VW needs to fix. I would be firm towards the dealer and tell them to keep the car until they can guarantee the problem has been fixed. Leave it with them, don’t simply drive away in it and hope they have fixed it. Ask questions until you are satisfied they have found the fault and fixed it.

Under the Australian Consumer Law introduced in January 2011, a consumer can request a refund or a replacement for persistent problems if the car doesn’t do the job it’s supposed to do.

I would certainly get it repaired. Fixed it would be worth around $15,000, so it’s well worth fixing, but if you don’t it’s value would be severely affected.

Yours is not the first report we’ve had of this on the Golf, and on the surface does appear unusual. It’s quite common for cars to have drain holes in the doors so any water that does get into the doors can drain away and not accumulate in the door and potentially cause rust to occur. Check that the seals are not damaged and check the drain holes to make sure they are not blocked. If it is all in order there should not be a problem. It’s not something I would be concerned about telling a prospective owner, or that it could affect the resale.

Take it to an auto transmission specialist for an opinion and quote to rebuild it. You really shouldn’t have any trouble with a rebuilt gearbox if an experienced auto trans mechanic has done it.

You could try disconnecting the battery, and then reconnecting it, which will reboot the system, and it might eject the CD in the process. Other that you would have to remove the CD player and have a car audio specialist dismantle it and remove the offending disc.

Generally it was always felt that the air-conditioning of European cars wasn’t up to the task for Australia; that was because there wasn’t the demand for powerful A/C in Europe where the climate is generally milder. But when the European carmakers began to move on to the world market and export their cars to places like America where the demand for good A/C is very high they have improved the performance of the A/C systems in their cars. The cars you say have had good air are cars that are typically built for the US market, those you say don’t have good performance are not. A/C systems soak up quite a bit of engine power in driving the compressor and that has a greater impact on smaller engines than big ones, and again the cars you are critical of have smaller engines, so they will also probably run smaller compressors.

I would also feel ripped off and would be refusing to pay for it, particularly if it was done without my consent. Have the dealer justify their actions; it seems on the surface to be a case of over-servicing.

We haven’t had any reports of failures of the door locks you mention, but I would appeal to VW to reconsider its decision. You have reported a problem with the door lock, presumably that was while it was under warranty, so you have grounds to claim it should have been fixed under warranty.