hello and seeking advice

Hello and thank you for all the great info on this site. I'm looking for advice on how to work with a car manufacturer to fix a problem -- perhaps even a defect. I've posted in the VW Jetta forum and saw that others have the same problem as I do with our car... an interior odor often described as a crayon smell (apparently, it is from the carpet and sound absorbers). If you have Jetta and share this same problem, please look at my post. If you don't have a Jetta but have experience with working with a manufacturer to get a problem fixed, please share your best practices. So far, I'm in the early stages of researching and documenting the problem and writing letters to VW USA HQ. Thanks and I look forward to your advice.

Hello and thank you for all the great info on this site. I'm looking for advice on how to work with a car manufacturer to fix a problem -- perhaps even a defect. I've posted in the VW Jetta forum and saw that others have the same problem as I do with our car... an interior odor often described as a crayon smell (apparently, it is from the carpet and sound absorbers). If you have Jetta and share this same problem, please look at my post. If you don't have a Jetta but have experience with working with a manufacturer to get a problem fixed, please share your best practices. So far, I'm in the early stages of researching and documenting the problem and writing letters to VW USA HQ. Thanks and I look forward to your advice.

Hi dnw,

I have a few suggestions for you, but first I need a little more detail.

What year model and mileage does the car have?
Have you contacted a dealership?
You mentioned you wrote a letter to VW, but have you called
their consumer relations dept? (It's best to contact the dealership first before calling consumer relations.)
Did you buy it new or used?
Do you have it serviced at a dealership?

I'd be more than happy to see if I can help you get this resolved.

Jerry Christopher

p.s. As a former service director I have extensive experience with situations such as yours, not sure I can accomplish anything for you but certainly willing to help.

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for your email. Here's my situation:

What year model and mileage does the car have? VW Jetta 2001, 47K miles

Have you contacted a dealership? Yes, I contacted a dealership and they were the ones that diagnosed the problem (but, one that I already knew)

You mentioned you wrote a letter to VW, but have you called
their consumer relations dept? (It's best to contact the dealership first before calling consumer relations.)
I did call the consumer relations dept first, after getting the estimate from the dealer. They were very friendly, but not really wanting to help move my situation along, especially since this item not covered under my warranty. And, they say that carpeting is considered "wear and tear" and only is covered for 12 months/12K miles.

Did you buy it new or used? We bought the car used (less than 1 year ago) -- through a VW dealer and the car is considered "certified"

Do you have it serviced at a dealership? Yes, but not the one that we bought it from. Do you think we should go back to the original dealer?

Thanks, Jerry.

Diane Smith

Hi dnw,

I have a few suggestions for you, but first I need a little more detail.

What year model and mileage does the car have?
Have you contacted a dealership?
You mentioned you wrote a letter to VW, but have you called
their consumer relations dept? (It's best to contact the dealership first before calling consumer relations.)
Did you buy it new or used?
Do you have it serviced at a dealership?

I'd be more than happy to see if I can help you get this resolved.

Jerry Christopher

p.s. As a former service director I have extensive experience with situations such as yours, not sure I can accomplish anything for you but certainly willing to help.

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for your email. Here's my situation:

What year model and mileage does the car have? VW Jetta 2001, 47K miles

Have you contacted a dealership? Yes, I contacted a dealership and they were the ones that diagnosed the problem (but, one that I already knew)

You mentioned you wrote a letter to VW, but have you called
their consumer relations dept? (It's best to contact the dealership first before calling consumer relations.)
I did call the consumer relations dept first, after getting the estimate from the dealer. They were very friendly, but not really wanting to help move my situation along, especially since this item not covered under my warranty. And, they say that carpeting is considered "wear and tear" and only is covered for 12 months/12K miles.

Did you buy it new or used? We bought the car used (less than 1 year ago) -- through a VW dealer and the car is considered "certified"

Do you have it serviced at a dealership? Yes, but not the one that we bought it from. Do you think we should go back to the original dealer?

Thanks, Jerry.

Diane Smith

Hi Diane,

Sounds like you have at least covered the basics by contacting the dealership and cust assisistance.

I'm still a little unsure of exactly what's causing the odor itself, if it's a mechanical component that has some how leaked into the carpet then I don't see how they can say it's wear and tear.

They said it was the sound absorber? I assume that what they are speaking of is the material that's attached to the back of the carpet?

If that's the case then it's certainly not a wear and tear issue, and something that's out of the customers control.

If it's just the carpet due to unknown odors then perhaps they may be right.

Still--the manufacurers can do almost anything they want to assist customers, in automotive jargon it's refered to as Goodwill Assistance.

Meaning it may not be under warranty but they pay for the repairs as goodwill, just to help.

If I'm correct the vehicle came with a 2/24 warranty, then another 2/24 for the certified warranty, which if this is the case then you may be close to the expiration period. But since you've taken to a delaership then I don't beleive that's a major issue, especially considering they have already denied the repair.

I'd be curious to know what the dealership estimate consisted of, was it to replace the carpet only?

How much was the cost?

Here is a suggestion:

Read the warranty closely, this should be listed in your owners manual and see if states wear and tear and specifically the carpet.

(Considering it's a Certified VW, you were supposed to have an owners manual when you bought it)

If the dealership is unwilling to help, or can't for some reason then I would ask the service manager of the dealership if you can meet with the District Service Manager of VW.

I don't understand why the service manager didn't at least offer to call him/her on your behalf in the first place, I've done that many times. (Well actually I do know why they didn't)

They routinely make visits to the dealerships, usally once a month but varies greatly from the different manufactuers.

If successful in meeting (or at least a phone call from him/her)it's best to take a diplomatic approach and not a do this or else attitude.

DSM's deploy this type of reaction and are less likely to help. (I know this for sure--I've seen them say no to customers just because of attitudes, even when in my opinion they should have helped)

Explain the circumstances, if the odor is due to the sound absorber (as they call it) then how can this be a wear and tear issue? It's no fault of owner.

Also explain that you have your vehicle serviced at the dealerships ( doesn't matter which one) and make him/her beleive that you are a loyal customer.

They have to have a reason to help you--and the best one is future business, rather it be in sales or service.

If they believe that you are never going to buy another or have it serviced at the dealerships then they have no reason to help--other than they should it sounds to me like.

The DSM actually has more control than consumer relations in most cases, but if the dealership is unwilling to assist with a meeting then call customer relations back and ask to meet with him/her.

Don't bother trying to get the phone number to contact the Dsm yourself, it'll never happen.

As I said earlier, I'm still unsure of the exact nature of the cause, it appears to me that if it's the backing on the carper, especially since there are other complaints then this should be a warrantable item.

If they refuse to assist with 100% of the cost, then perhaps they will at least pay for the carpet, you pay for the labor or something of that nature. Been there done that as well.

Hope this helps,

Jerry Christopher
www.usedcarwise.com

Hi Diane,

Sounds like you have at least covered the basics by contacting the dealership and cust assisistance.

I'm still a little unsure of exactly what's causing the odor itself, if it's a mechanical component that has some how leaked into the carpet then I don't see how they can say it's wear and tear.

They said it was the sound absorber? I assume that what they are speaking of is the material that's attached to the back of the carpet?

If that's the case then it's certainly not a wear and tear issue, and something that's out of the customers control.

If it's just the carpet due to unknown odors then perhaps they may be right.

Still--the manufacurers can do almost anything they want to assist customers, in automotive jargon it's refered to as Goodwill Assistance.

Meaning it may not be under warranty but they pay for the repairs as goodwill, just to help.

If I'm correct the vehicle came with a 2/24 warranty, then another 2/24 for the certified warranty, which if this is the case then you may be close to the expiration period. But since you've taken to a delaership then I don't beleive that's a major issue, especially considering they have already denied the repair.

I'd be curious to know what the dealership estimate consisted of, was it to replace the carpet only?

How much was the cost?

Here is a suggestion:

Read the warranty closely, this should be listed in your owners manual and see if states wear and tear and specifically the carpet.

(Considering it's a Certified VW, you were supposed to have an owners manual when you bought it)

If the dealership is unwilling to help, or can't for some reason then I would ask the service manager of the dealership if you can meet with the District Service Manager of VW.

I don't understand why the service manager didn't at least offer to call him/her on your behalf in the first place, I've done that many times. (Well actually I do know why they didn't)

They routinely make visits to the dealerships, usally once a month but varies greatly from the different manufactuers.

If successful in meeting (or at least a phone call from him/her)it's best to take a diplomatic approach and not a do this or else attitude.

DSM's deploy this type of reaction and are less likely to help. (I know this for sure--I've seen them say no to customers just because of attitudes, even when in my opinion they should have helped)

Explain the circumstances, if the odor is due to the sound absorber (as they call it) then how can this be a wear and tear issue? It's no fault of owner.

Also explain that you have your vehicle serviced at the dealerships ( doesn't matter which one) and make him/her beleive that you are a loyal customer.

They have to have a reason to help you--and the best one is future business, rather it be in sales or service.

If they believe that you are never going to buy another or have it serviced at the dealerships then they have no reason to help--other than they should it sounds to me like.

The DSM actually has more control than consumer relations in most cases, but if the dealership is unwilling to assist with a meeting then call customer relations back and ask to meet with him/her.

Don't bother trying to get the phone number to contact the Dsm yourself, it'll never happen.

As I said earlier, I'm still unsure of the exact nature of the cause, it appears to me that if it's the backing on the carper, especially since there are other complaints then this should be a warrantable item.

If they refuse to assist with 100% of the cost, then perhaps they will at least pay for the carpet, you pay for the labor or something of that nature. Been there done that as well.

Last resort is to contact the local BBB, but this may have consequences as well, especially if it's against the dealership where you have it serviced.

If you do this I would explain to the service manager that it's not because of him/her but against VW.

Hope this helps,

Jerry Christopher
www.usedcarwise.com

p.s. I noticed that when researching for tecnical service bulletins on your issue there were a few complainta about pre mature passenger side airbag deployments and maybe even a recall.

Make sure the dealership or VW consumer relations check for any open recalls or campaigns for you. They both should have done this, but it doesn't always happen.

This is so helpful, Jerry. Thank you. We too are a bit uncertain as the cause of the odor, but they said that it was definitely the carpet and the sound absorbers. And, I've found many people online that are experiencing the same weird "crayon" odor... it's an unmistakable odor and funny that everyone calls it the same thing. As for the cost, they quoted me $2,145. I believe that was for both parts and labor, but I didn't inquire because my jaw was on the ground when I heard that. Funny enough, my dad called a VW dealer outside of Chicago where he lives and they told him $185 for the carpet (but didn't mention sound absorbers) and 4 hours of labor at $80 an hour. A far cry from $2K. I will look at my warranty more closely, but didn't think it had much wording in there to help my cause. The DSM route sounds like a good way to go at this point. I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks again.

Diane

VW did look up the recalls for us, but the airbag one wasn't mentioned. I'll inquire about that.

This is so helpful, Jerry. Thank you. We too are a bit uncertain as the cause of the odor, but they said that it was definitely the carpet and the sound absorbers. And, I've found many people online that are experiencing the same weird "crayon" odor... it's an unmistakable odor and funny that everyone calls it the same thing. As for the cost, they quoted me $2,145. I believe that was for both parts and labor, but I didn't inquire because my jaw was on the ground when I heard that. Funny enough, my dad called a VW dealer outside of Chicago where he lives and they told him $185 for the carpet (but didn't mention sound absorbers) and 4 hours of labor at $80 an hour. A far cry from $2K. I will look at my warranty more closely, but didn't think it had much wording in there to help my cause. The DSM route sounds like a good way to go at this point. I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks again.

Diane

VW did look up the recalls for us, but the airbag one wasn't mentioned. I'll inquire about that.

Hi Diane,

That sounds quite excessive to me for carpet only. Did they give you a written estimate? It should be on the repair order, if not I'd call back and ask for one. Needs to broken down with part#'s and cost.

I mentioned earlier that I looked for Tecnical Service Bulletins but could'nt find one, that doesn't mean there isn't one though.

I'd ask the service manager if there is.

(TSB=Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) are issued by vehicle manufacturers to help automotive technicians diagnose and repair problems reported by consumers and repair shops.)

You can also search here for one--but it requires an intial payment of about 25.00

http://alldata.com/recalls/index.html

There are numerous bulletins out on your vehicle--that of course doesn't mean that your Jetta is a lemon--I wouldn't worry about those other tsb's unless your vehicle seems to exhibit the problems described, even then they could be just minor issues.

If you have a copy of your estimate and or repair order and want me to look at it for you, I'd be happy to.

If so you can fax it to me at 318 449 3995 or even if you want to call and discuss it, 1 866 374 WISE (9473)

Jerry