Why won't Volkswagen contribute to the cost of an ESP/ABS repair on my four-year-old Eos?
I have just had to pay £1,365.46 to replace the ABS/ESP pump of my 4-year-old Volkswagen Eos, which has covered 27,500 miles only. The car was bought from a Volkswagen dealer in Cheshire and was just four months out of warranty. Up to that point the car had been serviced and MoT'd by them. The ESP light fault and subsequent pump replacement was carried out by a specialist garage close to my home. They bought the fault code data from Volkswagen.
Having looked at various websites such as yours it would appear that this problem is fairly common. According to the selling dealer, and speaking to Volkswagen customer service in Leeds, because I did not follow Volkswagen’s procedure of having a main dealer diagnose/repair the fault they will not contribute anything at all in reimbursement. I was thinking of changing my wife's car for a new Volkswagen Polo in the near future but that idea has now been well and truly binned.
I was not aware I had to follow Volkswagen instructions, as I understood that in EU law post-Oct 2003 my car could be taken to an independent garage of my choice and not to a Volkswagen dealership charging a mega hourly rate. The specialist garage I used is German Automotion in Lingfield who, in the past, have looked after a BMW I owned. Perhaps you can include any advice regarding the merits or not of legal action.
It's extremely common, not just on VAG cars, but also on small BMWs, Mazda 3s, Volvo S40s/V50s and much more rarely on the Ford Focus. Volkswagen’s policy seems to be to replace the module FOC on cars three or four years old that have been serviced exclusively by Volkswagen dealers, and to do the job at cost for similarly serviced four or five year old cars. Volkswagen asks anyone with this problem to first contact volkswagencustomercare@volkswagen.co.uk.
If you don't take that route, the independent cure costs £350 from www.ecutesting.co.uk or from www.sinspeed.co.uk plus removal and refitting of the ABS/ESP module. Had you checked my website or asked me first, that is all it would have cost you. Having failed to follow the Volkswagen procedure you have no legal rights to ask Volkswagen to pay for an independent repair.
If you don't take that route, the independent cure costs £350 from www.ecutesting.co.uk or from www.sinspeed.co.uk plus removal and refitting of the ABS/ESP module. Had you checked my website or asked me first, that is all it would have cost you. Having failed to follow the Volkswagen procedure you have no legal rights to ask Volkswagen to pay for an independent repair.
Answered by Honest John on
