Volkswagen Problems

It's always frustrating when you find yourself shelling out large sums of money on a car that you would think should be be bulletproof for the first period of it life. It's not like your car has done a million miles. I'm tempted to say that's the European experience. I would recommend that you find a good independent mechanic who specializes in VWs and take your car there.

The reputation of the Touareg is pretty good, but it will be much costlier to run because of its size and weight, particularly things like tyres.

I contacted VW Australia and got a result you will like. Spokesman Karl Gehling says: "We have been in touch with this customer and, based on his experience, we have offered to buy back his car. He has accepted this offer and plans to buy a new Polo GTI."

I would continue to use he same oil you've been using, I doubt that needs anything else and I wouldn't put a "thicker" oil in it. VW engines have a habit of using a little oil, enough to make it necessary to keep a constant watch on the oil level and keep it topped up, but it has only done 175,000km and is only using oil on the highway.

Volkswagen Australia spokesman Karl Gehling says: "Our customer care team has been in touch and arranged a loan car for her while we get her car in to address the issues she has raised. We will cover the replacement costs of her audio unit and have confirmed this with the customer."

It's impossible to be definitive, but there's every chance that the VW brand as a whole will be tarnished over this affair and resale values of all models, diesel or not, could slump significantly. The size of the loss will largely depend on what the company does to salvage the situation and restore consumer confidence. If I were buying a VW now I would use it as an opportunity to squeeze a better deal out of the dealer. Your dealer has already dropped the asking price, but I would go harder on the basis that the resale value will suffer.

The dealer appears to be reasonable and seems to be trying to fix it, even though you have doubts about what he is doing. Because of the history the dealer can't reasonably walk away from his responsibility, so you're on pretty safe grounds. But given that the warranty is about to expire I would sit down and talk to the dealer about what he would be prepared to do on an on-going basis if the car continues to give trouble.

That must be frustrating, but our consumer laws are pathetic and my feeling is that you have to be prepared to suffer considerable pain if you head down that path. VW is required to make a reasonable effort to repair the car, and it would appear that they are doing so. That they don't have parts on hand to fix the screen straight away is annoying, and they should be castigated for it. Give them a week or two to fix the glitch in the system and replace the screen before taking any action as to a replacement car or a refund. In the meantime keep a careful record of everything they say and do, so you have that if things turn nasty.