e-Golf dead day 1

[DasCC]

ok a bit of an exaggeration since the car still drives.

However day 1 into ownership the car will not charge. It charged fine into the morning however in the evening all I would get was blinking red. It would actually go from green to yellow a few times before flashing red and turning off.

The car was purchased on Saturday so I had to wait until Monday to have it looked at. Took them 4 hours to diagnose the issue and at first they told me that the car was fine :x I had to explain to them how the charging worked and that "no blinking red is not good", after doing more diagnostics and calling the EV support line they came to the conclusion that the on-board charger is dead. They don't have any inventory in the US and it will be a week+ to get the part, in addition to install time.

Until then I'm rolling painfully uncomfortable base Yaris

 

[JoulesThief]

ok a bit of an exaggeration since the car still drives.

However day 1 into ownership the car will not charge. It charged fine into the morning however in the evening all I would get was blinking red. It would actually go from green to yellow a few times before flashing red and turning off.

The car was purchased on Saturday so I had to wait until Monday to have it looked at. Took them 4 hours to diagnose the issue and at first they told me that the car was fine :x I had to explain to them how the charging worked and that "no blinking red is not good", after doing more diagnostics and calling the EV support line they came to the conclusion that the on-board charger is dead. They don't have any inventory in the US and it will be a week+ to get the part, in addition to install time.

Until then I'm rolling painfully uncomfortable base Yaris

What EVSE were you charging the car with? The 120V 1.3kwa trickle charger Delphi? It will not function properly and act up if your outlet does not have a neutral and ground wire that are fully functional. It might be your plug outfit. Take a video of your Delphi unit not working, and host it on a website and post it up here.

 

[DasCC]

ok a bit of an exaggeration since the car still drives.

However day 1 into ownership the car will not charge. It charged fine into the morning however in the evening all I would get was blinking red. It would actually go from green to yellow a few times before flashing red and turning off.

The car was purchased on Saturday so I had to wait until Monday to have it looked at. Took them 4 hours to diagnose the issue and at first they told me that the car was fine :x I had to explain to them how the charging worked and that "no blinking red is not good", after doing more diagnostics and calling the EV support line they came to the conclusion that the on-board charger is dead. They don't have any inventory in the US and it will be a week+ to get the part, in addition to install time.

Until then I'm rolling painfully uncomfortable base Yaris

What EVSE were you charging the car with? The 120V 1.3kwa trickle charger Delphi? It will not function properly and act up if your outlet does not have a neutral and ground wire that are fully functional. It might be your plug outfit. Take a video of your Delphi unit not working, and host it on a website and post it up here.

Its not the EVSE, I was using the Dephi, (Level 2 is going to be installed next week.)

I first thought (hoping) it was just the Delphi so I took it to a nearby Charge Point station. Still failed, when I took it to the dealer they hooked it up to their bosch unit and it failed.

I'll post a video when I get home. But essentially it goes from green to yellow along with clicking noises under the hood until it finally flashes red.

The reason they thought the car was fine is that when you first plug it in it will be green for about 15 seconds. So when the tech plugged it in and saw green he walked away thinking it was fine.

 

[Jlo]

Your experience must suck quite badly...

There's a post here somewhere of a fella who had the same misfortune, I hope your issue is resolved quickly and that it doesn't repeat. I recall that the fella who posted ended up getting reimbursed for all the payments as his issue surpassed the CA lemon law statures...you may wanna study those laws a bit just in case.

 

[DasCC]

Your experience must suck quite badly...

There's a post here somewhere of a fella who had the same misfortune, I hope your issue is resolved quickly and that it doesn't repeat. I recall that the fella who posted ended up getting reimbursed for all the payments as his issue surpassed the CA lemon law statures...you may wanna study those laws a bit just in case.

Ya- it really put a damper on the new car experience. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

My understanding with CA lemon laws is 3 attempts or 30 days out of service.

 

[JoulesThief]

Your experience must suck quite badly...

There's a post here somewhere of a fella who had the same misfortune, I hope your issue is resolved quickly and that it doesn't repeat. I recall that the fella who posted ended up getting reimbursed for all the payments as his issue surpassed the CA lemon law statures...you may wanna study those laws a bit just in case.

Ya- it really put a damper on the new car experience. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

My understanding with CA lemon laws is 3 attempts or 30 days out of service.

This is a prime example of what can happen when things go wrong, and compound it by what happens to service if you live out of state where VW sells these EV's? Who is going to work on it and fix it?

 

[DasCC]

Your experience must suck quite badly...

There's a post here somewhere of a fella who had the same misfortune, I hope your issue is resolved quickly and that it doesn't repeat. I recall that the fella who posted ended up getting reimbursed for all the payments as his issue surpassed the CA lemon law statures...you may wanna study those laws a bit just in case.

Ya- it really put a damper on the new car experience. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

My understanding with CA lemon laws is 3 attempts or 30 days out of service.

This is a prime example of what can happen when things go wrong, and compound it by what happens to service if you live out of state where VW sells these EV's? Who is going to work on it and fix it?

I could only imagine if you are in a non-EV state.

The dealer I went to does sell e-golfs (in small volume) and has a certified hybrid/ev tech but the service advisors were clueless.

 

[miimura]

The dealer I went to does sell e-golfs (in small volume) and has a certified hybrid/ev tech but the service advisors were clueless.

Even dealers who sell A LOT of e-Golfs have clueless service advisors. This is truly the worst part of e-Golf ownership - dealing with people who should know something about the car, but just don't. Nobody in the VW organization cares about training the front line people who come in contact with the customers. Once you get to an e-Golf specialist at VW Customer Service, they really do know what they're talking about though.

 

[JoulesThief]

The dealer I went to does sell e-golfs (in small volume) and has a certified hybrid/ev tech but the service advisors were clueless.

Even dealers who sell A LOT of e-Golfs have clueless service advisors. This is truly the worst part of e-Golf ownership - dealing with people who should know something about the car, but just don't. Nobody in the VW organization cares about training the front line people who come in contact with the customers. Once you get to an e-Golf specialist at VW Customer Service, they really do know what they're talking about though.

/\ True, and I can verify it's authenticity since requiring warranty work on my 1981 Jetta diesel coupe, in 1983. Nothing has changed in the VW organization, it's run by accountants, and cheap ones at that.

 

[DasCC]

Just got word from the dealer that they were able to source the needed part(s) from another dealership and got it installed yesterday. They are running diagnostics and fixing the rear spoiler trim that is loose. I just checked on the carnet app and am now seeing it actively charge

hopefully this will be the only issue for the next 35.75 months

 

[JoulesThief]

Just got word from the dealer that they were able to source the needed part(s) from another dealership and got it installed yesterday. They are running diagnostics and fixing the rear spoiler trim that is loose. I just checked on the carnet app and am now seeing it actively charge

hopefully this will be the only issue for the next 35.75 months

In other words, these cars are such slow sellers, VW cannibalized a new e-Golf to get the part they needed for you off a brand new car. I saw the same thing going on at Neftin VW, when the salesmen showed me a 2015 SEL that they had on the lot, and the whole rear trunk area and trim was torn apart and strewn all over the place inside the car.

Glad to hear you are up and charging again. How would that repair work out in a non e-Golf state, getting the part needed to get up and running again?

 

[DasCC]

Just got word from the dealer that they were able to source the needed part(s) from another dealership and got it installed yesterday. They are running diagnostics and fixing the rear spoiler trim that is loose. I just checked on the carnet app and am now seeing it actively charge

hopefully this will be the only issue for the next 35.75 months

In other words, these cars are such slow sellers, VW cannibalized a new e-Golf to get the part they needed for you off a brand new car. I saw the same thing going on at Neftin VW, when the salesmen showed me a 2015 SEL that they had on the lot, and the whole rear trunk area and trim was torn apart and strewn all over the place inside the car.

Glad to hear you are up and charging again. How would that repair work out in a non e-Golf state, getting the part needed to get up and running again?

I'm not sure if they did that. They made it seem like the part was in-stock at a bay area dealer. but they very well could've torn one apart to speed things up for me.

 

[DasCC]

Well the saga continues. Got the car back and as I'm leaving dealer alley get a bulb out warning. The right front turn signal is dead. LED DRLs are fine along with the LED headlights. The entire LED turn signal strip is dead. Took it straight back but the their EV tech was gone for the day. Looks like I'll be going back Monday. :x

 

[geoffc]

Charger failed on my new eGolf after 2 charges (see link below). Couple of suggestions. You should open a case w/ VW America so they can track the issue. They may also compensate you if it takes a while (greater than 1 week) to fix. Its also good to get a copy of the repair order so you have a record of exactly what was replaced.

http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=454

Good luck!

Geoff

 

[JoulesThief]

Charger failed on my new eGolf after 2 charges (see link below). Couple of suggestions. You should open a case w/ VW America so they can track the issue. They may also compensate you if it takes a while (greater than 1 week) to fix. Its also good to get a copy of the repair order so you have a record of exactly what was replaced.

http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=454

Good luck!

Geoff

You should basically always open a case with VW of America when the results are unsatisfactory, as well as always keep ALL OF YOUR REPAIR Orders, neat, in a file folder, to show the history of service of the car, in the event you need to file a lemon law case. VW is notorious for requiring a clean audit trail if you need to go after them for not honoring warranty work and keeping you in a car that's operational under warranty.

 

[JoulesThief]

Just got word from the dealer that they were able to source the needed part(s) from another dealership and got it installed yesterday. They are running diagnostics and fixing the rear spoiler trim that is loose. I just checked on the carnet app and am now seeing it actively charge

hopefully this will be the only issue for the next 35.75 months

Was this New Century VW in Glendale, CA that had to get the part for you?

 

[JoulesThief]

Just got word from the dealer that they were able to source the needed part(s) from another dealership and got it installed yesterday. They are running diagnostics and fixing the rear spoiler trim that is loose. I just checked on the carnet app and am now seeing it actively charge

hopefully this will be the only issue for the next 35.75 months

In other words, these cars are such slow sellers, VW cannibalized a new e-Golf to get the part they needed for you off a brand new car. I saw the same thing going on at Neftin VW, when the salesmen showed me a 2015 SEL that they had on the lot, and the whole rear trunk area and trim was torn apart and strewn all over the place inside the car.

Glad to hear you are up and charging again. How would that repair work out in a non e-Golf state, getting the part needed to get up and running again?

I'm not sure if they did that. They made it seem like the part was in-stock at a bay area dealer. but they very well could've torn one apart to speed things up for me.

When I was at dealerships Neftin VW, looking at an e-golf, one of the new ones was torn apart for spare parts to fix a white one in the service bay. When I was looking at 2012 Touareg TDI's, the black one at Parkway VW in Valencia, CA was torn apart too, someone had pulled the DEF pump, tank and heater unit out to fix a customers Touareg, supposed 3 week delay of spare parts from Germany.

So, just so you know, this is standard operating procedure for VWoA, canalibize new cars for parts... and it's 3 to 4 times the labor to do so, of which someone has to pay for, because VW doesn't stock enough spares, and instead doesn't even have a Just In Time spares parts program... they are not proactive, they are reactive to the need for spare parts, which pretty much sucks, if you are on the receiving end as the customer.

 

[DasCC]

Charger failed on my new eGolf after 2 charges (see link below). Couple of suggestions. You should open a case w/ VW America so they can track the issue. They may also compensate you if it takes a while (greater than 1 week) to fix. Its also good to get a copy of the repair order so you have a record of exactly what was replaced.

http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=454

Good luck!

Geoff

I opened a case the day I took it into the dealer. I do need to get a print out of the work order.

Was this New Century VW in Glendale, CA that had to get the part for you?

Not sure but don't think so. I'm an 1 1/2 hours south of SF so I assumed it was from a dealer in that area.

I never knew they would tear apart a new car.....

So do they put that car back together once parts are in stock and sell it as NEW? That would suck for that owner buying a new car that has been disassembled like that.

 

[JoulesThief]

Not sure but don't think so. I'm an 1 1/2 hours south of SF so I assumed it was from a dealer in that area.

I never knew they would tear apart a new car.....

So do they put that car back together once parts are in stock and sell it as NEW? That would suck for that owner buying a new car that has been disassembled like that.

Yep, that's exactly what they do, and call it a new car... but it is never the same as factory built. As a matter of fact, a Black Touareg I test drove but never bought from Parkway VW ended up being torn apart, and it was ironic that it showed up at the dealership the same day I was in for my 20k service, they were in for their 30k service. I remember, because I know how dog gone rare TDI Sport Touaregs are, they are pretty hard to find, compared to all the loaded Execs, Lux and Sport with Nav Touareg versions that VW made instead. Sport without Nav is the needle in the haystack. VW made perhaps 5500 Touareg TDIs, total for 2012, to sell in the USA.

 

[DasCC]

Yep, that's exactly what they do, and call it a new car... but it is never the same as factory built. As a matter of fact, a Black Touareg I test drove but never bought from Parkway VW ended up being torn apart, and it was ironic that it showed up at the dealership the same day I was in for my 20k service, they were in for their 30k service. I remember, because I know how dog gone rare TDI Sport Touaregs are, they are pretty hard to find, compared to all the loaded Execs, Lux and Sport with Nav Touareg versions that VW made instead. Sport without Nav is the needle in the haystack. VW made perhaps 5500 Touareg TDIs, total for 2012, to sell in the USA.

The dealer tech ran a few tests and determined whole right headlight housing has to be replaced. Maybe they can just grab the part from the car they already took apart