Volkswagen: Disappointed!

November 06 2019

December 11 2022

I do not want to rant about one of the leading car manufacturers on the planet - they have made tens of millions of cars over the years, and as a result some are bound to have flaws. But I feel let down. My Golf is one of those flawed vehicles unfortunately. I bought it new in 2014 and it now has about 70K miles on the clock. Within 6 months or so from picking the car up from the dealership in Northampton, I noticed some clutch slip. It would shudder when pulling away, but not so much that it bothered or concerned me. 18 months later (2 years from new) and I am experiencing some serious 'shuddering' at times. I took the car to the dealership in Northampton and they were useless. A waste of time! So some time later, close to three years from new, I go to the Bedford dealership, who were wonderful! But without committing to removing the clutch and incurring a high cost, and with the onus firmly on me to prove I had a fault, I had to decide whether to proceed. So I left it. There was no way for me to have this fault fixed without me being at risk of out a bill of at least £1K. The clutch was clearly faulty and we are now well beyond any warranty, for what that was worth. Wind forward about 18 months and I now need a water pump replaced, among other things, and the car is 5 years old. And just for the record, it has been driven sensibly, no 'boy racing', and should be in far better shape than it is. I am not impressed, and VW need to do a lot to convince me to buy another of their cars.