“Statutory rights are not limited to a set time period. Instead, they apply for the amount of time that is reasonable to expect, given the cost and quality of the item.
This means a consumer may be entitled to a remedy under their statutory rights after any
manufacturer’s voluntary or extended warranty has expired.
For example, it is reasonable to expect that an expensive television should not develop a serious fault after 13 months of normal use. In this case, the consumer could argue the item was not of merchantable quality and ask for it to be repaired, even if the manufacturer’s voluntary warranty had expired.”
Given that you are stating that no mishandling has occurred the question is will this part last for the reasonable life of a vehicle say 60k to 100k at an average use of 10k p.a. Clearly in your experience it did not. Similarly VW has had a history for hiding vehicle issues.
I suggest that you put your case clearly IN WRITING (never one the phone) and state that you expect a response by a specified time. Sate that the part would not have lasted for what it is considered to be a reasonable lifetime for the car - and that it was normal use.
I am afraid you will have to wear the time at the garage they need to look at the issue. If unhappy then talk to the ACCC.
Generally speaking a few years ago I was looking for a car, I went to VW and the sales attitude was such that I felt I could not trust them Subsequent VW gearbox and fuel consumption problems that came to light suggest a bad internal culture which seems to impact on servicing
Aside from the manufacturer warranty, a product needs to be fit for use. One would expect a critical component such as a petrol cover which needs to be secure for the safe operation of the vehicle would need to be “fit for use”. The ACCC has guidelines on this aspect of product failure, so even if the VW warranty doesn’t cover it, perhaps a claim could be made under this section. The "metal’ looks to be a composite material which have a tendency to break down under stresses of normal usage, which is why they are not used any more in critical components. Hope this helps - good luck. I’m 12 months into a claim with Holden for an Equinox drive line shudder and have finally reached the stage where a torque controller is to be replaced after all the hoops of cheaper “fixes” have been attempted and failed. I even discovered one of the “fixes” was to reduce tyre pressure by 15 psi which alleviated the problem somewhat but made driving unsafe. Of course it was denied when I raised the point, but it put Holden on notice that I’m alert to their shenanigans. Your issue is far more urgent and even if you decide for safety reasons to replace at your cost, a claim can still be made after you have remedied the problem for safety reasons. We need tougher consumer laws to cover car buyers. They are a disgrace.
A few posters have stated the broken cover is a safety issue. Note the OP photo appears to be the petrol cover door, which is technically cosmetic and not a safety issue. I could be corrected since I do not know how VW configures their petrol filler, but. However that does not mitigate the reality it should be robust and long lasting especially since it could be considered a body part. Imagine a boot cover or front wing randomly breaking from vibration and having the manufacturer attribute it to abuse. That technique might get its own name, a Volksy.
Looking at the area around that rough patch you can see very shiny surfaces. I wonder if that could have been one of the final pieces holding it together, and the rest a major quality failure?
Are VW trying to recover some of the millions$$$ they lost with the emission computer scandal?
Talk about a lack of good will and a lack of customer satisfaction practices by a company.
Buy it yourself and put it on, as suggested by one reader. You will probably save 2-3 hours labour charges for an item that takes 5-10 minutes to be installed!
Oh well, we need to expect this in today’s world unfortunately!
Whilst i would not touch a VW product with a barge pole, dodgy fuel cap flaps are not unique to them.
I see numerous late model Commodores around Cairns with the fuel cap flaps missing, whether they break off very easily or are very easy to break off to siphon the fuel tank.
As far as VW warranties go, in addition to their global emissions scandal. VW initially refused to recall vehicles they sold in Australia which they had recalled in other countries.
It may be a also be a design defect , rather than a manufacturing defect . In other words made perfectly to a poor design . This means that it is not fit for purpose as defined by Aust law (ACL) in my opinion.
Vehicle Warranties may have thresholds at the dealer level, this means unless it is a higher value fix where the OE manufacturer pays the dealer to fix the issue then for a small warranty claim the dealer may resist the fix, as it comes out of their pocket.
Know issues are fixed readily as the dealer is paid by the manufacturer and makes a profit on the warranty repair, so is keen to fix it.
I would refer the issue to head office . Manufacturers often have two accounts one for known issues and one for policy , which means they will pay to fix it , as a gesture of good will.
Drop it in for a 3 hour assessment…seriously…it’s a joy when car companies behave like such muppetts and sadly they have a long and distinguished reputation for it. Lexus were very good but sadly appear to have outsourced customer rels now so the downhill slide begins as evidenced by my last interaction with them.
Unfortunately all that the Australian HQ does in most cases when approached on issues such as this is refer back to the dealership which is really frustrating, and that’s if they even get involved. Ford Australia won’t have a bar of it in most cases even when the dealer is behaving very, very badly or there are well known issues the company refuses to discuss (oil cooler/engine and aircon evaporator failure in new Mustangs for example). I can only say that the folks at Ford Customer Care must be errr ‘carefully selected’.
It’s interesting that VW declared the cause as ‘force’ without being specific, but they often use obfuscation as a tactic. It’s a fuel filler door on a car, it should be robust enough to withstand a small degree of force without dropping its bundle and catastrophically snapping at the hinge. Since they’ve denied your claim they must be sure of their grounds, you might ask them for detailed reasoning behind their assessment and a realistic scenario, as there’s an onus on them to prove it is as they say it is. Do they think you got bored one day and decided to see if you could twist it off, or maybe you accidentally dropped a big box of groceries on it when you were refuelling, or maybe you improvised and were using it as a back board for a really tiny basketball ring.
Some good advice from others here too and it’s definitely worth Googling to provide them with similar cases of premature failure as it always looks good when you take it to small claims. VW will get sick of you and trot out the old ‘we consider the matter closed’ but it’s only closed when the relevant consumer tribunal says it is, and in my experience those tribunals can apply common sense in thick layers.
VW Australia’s final response…after I asked for their reasons why it was not covered under warranty…
_"I understand your point of view, however this is an exclusion for our vehicle warranty terms and something that Volkswagen does not cover. _
In regards to your request to seek assistance with your fuel filler flap please be advised, we are unable to concede to your request in this instance.
Whilst we can appreciate this is not the answer you are seeking, please be assured that we have taken your concerns very seriously. We thank you for the opportunity to comment and we trust this clarifies our position on this matter. This will be our final response in relation to this matter.
Please see attached below for Volkswagen’s Terms and Conditions."
I would seek redress at your State’s Appeals Tribunal and Office of Fair Trading. The Warranty cannot and they state does not remove your rights under ACL. I assume they are relying on Wear & tear, misuse or damage from an accident or similar, which when you go to a Tribunal they will need to prove the fault.
I had to laugh at your post…funnily enough, when I initially rang VW at Robina, I briefly described my “warranty” issue, and the person who answered the phone said…“well, you’d expect it to be under warranty…it’s not like you were playing tennis with it!”.
And your psychic 6th sense must have known their response…see most recent post…with their last line….“this will be our final response in relation to this matter”.
I have filed a complaint with the ACCC.
I have read through their warranty terms and conditions …not really clear to me which clause they were referring to!
One (@Suzique) possibly will also need to prove that the fuel cover flap didn’t come off through unreasonable use of the flap (exemptions of warranty).
The only real way would be have a materials expert be able to say, with certainty, that the failure was due to a materials fault. The costs of such would far exceed the cost to repalce the flap and would only be done if one is strong on principle and money was no object.
There is also a risk a materials expert may not be able to conclude the flap falling off was due to a material defect…which means the money would be spent to no avail.
@phb I agree that it may require further proof but the answer as it appears from VW seems incomplete as to their reasoning, and on reading their warranty documentation it is still not clear what grounds they are relying on to not cover the fuel cap. If they are saying it is a matter of not being covered under their Warranty terms and this absolves them from a failure to adhere to ACL this is a breach of ACL. If they are saying it was misuse, damage from a mishap or fair wear and tear they need to be able to cite the reasoning and then for them to say in the letter in response to @Suzique that this will be " our final response in relation to this matter" is not having any respect for the right of a consumer to take action under ACL and require a further response from their organisation. That line alone seems to be one of using a power tactic to dissuade any further action.
Happy to have brought some mirth to this situation. I’m not psychic but their BS power play tactics are boringly predictable (and purile). Definitely include that missive about not 'conceding ’ to your request (who the hell concedes to a ‘request’ anyway?) as an exhibit in your case so the tribunal registrar sees it and understands what sort of geniuses you’ve been dealing with.
You really must go to your state govt consumer affairs agency as they’re the first official port of call in these situations, the wait to talk to someone might be long but often these conversations can be quite illuminating and also put you squarely in the picture about where you stand. The best part is you’ll have solid advice on whether you have a case, and often the news is better than expected.
Make no mistake though these big dealership groups can be bloody minded for who knows what reason. I once attended a closed door hearing with a registrar and 3 reps from the main dealership that had rebuilt an engine that never ran correctly over a 13 month period and ended up blowing itself to pieces. I just wanted a refund for a large portion of the the build cost and labour but the dealer refused and said it was out of its 12 month warranty. The registrar looked at their spokesperson and said ‘this is a reasonable request, an engine must be reasonably fit for purpose for a period of over 13 months, do you understand that your losses might actually be greater if the matter proceeds to a tribunal?’ They said ‘yeah, nah, we’ll go anyway’. Awesome! My take was that they knew I’d win but they’d make it as hard as possible simply because they could. And guess what arrived in the mail within a week? Did you guess a threatening letter from a solicitor? Correct!
It’s the hypocrisy of these dealerships that really gripes me. One story when you’re buying and another when you have to deal with them afterwards. I feel like ditching the lot of them and parking a horse in the garage instead.
That might require dealing with a vet, and blacksmith and …
At least when all is going well with a horse you get something useful for the garden. The similar byproduct from a car dealer has little real value or benefit to the garden.
Given all the wisdom so far, it would seem fundamental to VW’s argument that they need to demonstrate how a force, load or misadventure caused the flap to fail on the moulded joint. As suggested previously, the pics you have shared appear to show no evidence of any impact or accident or force. Which leaves only normal use.
That’s great, and @grahroll and others have suggested the options for further action.
Assume you are aware the ACCC does not typically take on individual consumer cases.
Contact the ACCC for information about your consumer rights and obligations, and possible courses of action you might take. While we don’t resolve individual complaints, we will use the information you provide to help us understand what issues are causing the most harm to Australian business and consumers,
It is mind boggling just how petty and stupid these manufacturers and dealers are.
Obviously you are highly unlikely to ever buy VW again as well as a lot of your friends and family after you relate your experience to them.
And perhaps some of the readers of this forum, in addition to myself who would not touch a VW group product with a bargepole.
So just how much is a piece of jerrybuilt plastic going to cost VW in the end in lieu of simply doing the right thing and replacing it at no cost to you?
Correct…I’ll never buy VW again as I’ll never trust them to do the right thing. I was being generous with this purchase as I previously had a VW diesel Golf which is/was involved in their dieselgate affair. I’m either a slow learner or too trusting
As you say…I will tell all and sundry. I indirectly work in the car industry, as I work for a major infant car seat manufacturer which involves spending lots of time with new parents and their cars!
