| Address: | Sewri, Mumbai, Maharashtra |
Dear sir,
my VW Vento TDi AT is a wonderful car to drive and gives me great feeling of stability and safety since I bought it new in November 2017 from VW Downtown Mumbai.
In August 2020, I was returning late night from the office when the engine started vibrating abnormally as the road was wobbly. The glow plug light came on and so did the check engine light. I managed to drive the car in limp mode to my home 15 kilometers away on empty streets at 1:30 am in the night. The car seemed to have lost a lot of power and would not drive beyond 40 kilometers per hour. The the car had approximately 40, 600 kms on the odometer then.
I requested VW Downtown Service centre to collect the car from my home for checking but they gave me an appointment 2 days later and took the car away to the service center. I was informed by my service advisor that there was a fuel injector failure issue with the car. I was advised that the fuel injector for cylinder number 4 of the engine had failed and needed replacement. Since the car was under extended warranty the fuel injector was replaced without me having to pay for it. As per the invoice for the work performed by Volkswagen Downtown Mumbai, the description of work states "Injector removed+reinstalled".
A few days later (27th August 2021), I was travelling with my family from Mumbai to Ahmednagar, 280 kms away to attend my grandfather's first shraddha. The car broke down at Kalyan after driving 60 kilometers from Mumbai at 7 pm. Again the engine was vibrating violently and the car was not drive-able over 15-20 kmph. The glow plug light came on the dashboard. Towing the car back to Mumbai was very expensive so I switched off the engine and parked the car to consider my options. After about 30 minutes, I started the car engine to see if it still suffered from the malfunction. To my pleasant surprise the engine was firing normally and the glow plug light was off. I drove back carefully and gently to Mumbai over 60 kilometers hoping that the car would not break-down again in the dark in truck heavy traffic on Mumbai-Nashil highway. Luckily, the car brought me home without further trouble. I had to borrow my relative's car and set off for Ahmednagar early next morning to attend my grand father's shraddha.
Upon my return, I complained to VW Downtown Mumbai that the car was giving me the same kind of trouble again and the work was not done to my satisfaction. However, since the car engine was firing normally, they were not able to diagnose the issue. They kept the car at the service center for 3 days and test drove it but the engine issue did not happen. Finally, they checked the error log on the car engine using the scanner machine and realised that there was a fuel injector failure message that flashed a few days ago. I was informed that this time it was fuel injector number 4 that had failed. I was informed that the fuel injector would be replaced under warranty. As per the tax invoice provided to me on 3rd September 2021, the description of work performed by the service center states "Injector removed+reinstalled".
The car had been working fine since the work was performed. I was still nervous about the car being unreliable so I started using railway for long distance travels although I had a premium car parked in my garage, which is a travesty. I even considered selling the car but realizing that I would not get a decent resale value for the car since it is a Volkswagen, I decided to keep owning the car for city runabouts.
The month is April of 2022 and I decided to risk driving my Vento from Mumbai to Pune with my family, early on Good Friday. The car had about 40, 500 kilometers on the odometer. After scaling the Bhor ghat through heavy long weekend traffic, about 40 kilometers from Pune, the car started losing power. The engine started vibrating abnormally. The glow plug light came on the instrument cluster. I had a sinking feeling that my family and I were going to be stranded on the Expressway in scorching 40 degree heat looking for a tow truck. We were heading to Pune to attend my father in law's 60th birthday. The plan was going to be ruined. I drove the car gently towards Pune to get as close to a VW authorised service center as possible. The car was not going past 60 kilometers per hour. By the time I reach the toll booth, the car would not drive past 15 kmph. I stopped the car by the roadside and made a few calls to relatives to arrange for a tow truck and pick us up from Talegaon, near Pune.
About 10 minutes later, I fired up the engine and it started working normally. I continued on driving gently towards Pune city to get close to a VW Authorised Service Center. Luckily for me the problem did not recur and I did not have to take the car to the service center at all.
Upon my return to Mumbai I have sent the car for a diagnosis on the problem that I faced with the car engine performance on 21st April.
However, I am extremely disappointed that as a customer of Volkswagen, having paid near Rs 14 lakhs for this premium sedan I do not have any assurance that I can take the car for a drive to the neighbouring city without the fear of a breakdown. I hold Volkswagen India responsible for the harassment and the mental agony caused that due to the poor quality of the components on VW car that I own and the equally incompetent service provided by VW authorised serice center.
Please provide a resolution on how can I restore my peace of mind knowing that my car is likely to leave me stranded on the road anytime I take the car for travelling or even commuting to office?
Dushyant
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