[Resolved]  Volkswagen India — volkswagen vento 1.5 tdi highline dsg

Without prejudice

Dear sir,
Sub: faulty flywheel in a less than three years old volkswagen vento 1.5 tdi highline dsg (Registration no. Hr 26 cm 7005) with below 30, 000 kilometres on the odometer

Ref.: complaint no. Ccr106079 lodged on december 11, 2017 at the customer care no.:[protected]

Thank you for your e-mail.

At the outset, for the umpteenth time, i would like to correct you that my name is “arnim agrawal” and not “arnimal agrawal”. Subject to correction, i think in a civilized society, the basic respect which we can give to others (Including customers) is to address them correctly.

I am arnim agrawal and i own the captioned car which recently broke down on friday, december 8, 2017 at around 9 p. M.in phase – ii, noida (Delhi – ncr). The car refused to get started on that evening despite multiple attempts. It is noteworthy to mention that the battery of this car was replaced about a year back in november 2016 by tanya cars, volkswagen, jaipur.

At the time of breakdown, the car was “almost” due for service as it had approximately covered 29, 200 kilometres and was due for the second service at 30, 000 kms. However, since the car broke down even before the second service actually became due, i was forced to take notice and report it to my nearest authorized dealer/workshop, viraj automobiles (“dealer”). Prior to breakdown, the car had been constantly creating an erratic clattery sound during idling (“khat khat khat”) as if the same were attributable to a ball bearing or fan belt issue.

Since the car refused to get started despite repeated attempts, the car was towed by a flatbed truck and dropped at the authorized workshop of viraj automobiles, sector 6, noida (Uttar pradesh) premises on saturday, december 9, 2017 around 6 p. M. Before leaving the workshop, at the behest of concerned service advisor, mr. Shanu tyagi (“service advisor”), i also had a positive discussion on buying an annual maintenance contract (“amc”) for the said car for the following two years.

As per my instructions, the car’s diagnosis and repair started off on the following day on sunday, december 10, 2017. Also, at the start of the day (Sunday, december 10, 2017), i verbally confirmed my interest in buying the amc to the service advisor named hereinabove.

As the day progressed, the concerned service technician, mr. Shanu tyagi (“service advisor”) informed me that they have diagnosed and resolved the problem which led to ignition failure. However, on my repeated follow-ups about resolution of the erratic clattery sound during idling, later on, the service advisor reported that the car’s entire flywheel will have to replaced at a cost of around rs. 51, 000 – rs. 60, 000/- (Cost of only the new flywheel).
Needless to mention, on hearing this, i was shocked beyond disbelief, that how could a car with less than 30, 000 kilometres on the odometer which is less than three years old develop such a serious snag in the very core/heart of the engine itself. It is noteworthy to mention that this car has almost entirely been driven in delhi – ncr and has never been subjected to rough treatment or use.in fact, i would like to call upon the senior management of volkswagen to physically inspect the car themselves and see how meticulously this car has been maintained in last three years of its ownership.

I consider it important to mention that i used to be very protective and attached to this car as i had bought it on my wedding back in january 2015. Even otherwise, given that this car is my second car and my first car is a fiat linea 1.3 emotion pack (Multijet), i was flabbergasted to see how could a european product with “solid german engineering” turn out to be so delicate and unreliable. Since i am a corporate lawyer with an mba degree from the u. K. (And have also had exposure to higher education in germany itself), as against korean and japanese car manufacturers, i have always had great regard and respect for european cars in general and german cars in particular.

Admittedly, this car is out of warranty as it does not have the protection cover of extended warranty. Nonetheless, since any car (Indian/korean/japanese/german/italian/french/american) is expected to perform trouble free until the first 100, 000 kilometres (Be it petrol/diesel or cng), i am deeply appalled to be a victim of such poor and crude engineering.

At the peril of sounding offensive and stereotypical, if i may add, the pride of “solid german engineering” seems to be a make-believe marketing gimmick as it has proved to be worse than even say a chinese product. Irrespective of subsistence or absence of warranty or extended warranty in my case, a fundamental engine part such a flywheel costing as much as rs. 51, 000/- - rs. 60, 000/- is expected to perform smoothly for at least 1, 00, 000 kilometres. Or even more without need of any major replacement or overhaul. This car has always been driven in urban areas, fed with pure, unadulterated fuel and has a clean service track record of regular maintenance with original spare parts at authorized volkswagen workshops. I do not think i need to tell you this but as it is volkswagen/skoda have a very negative image due to their high service costs/maintenance costs.
Even after rigorous follow-ups with the volkswagen customer care[protected] with mr. Moin pathan and mr. Pramod yesterday and today, i have not received any feedback or call from “volkswagen company employees”. I have been repeatedly and categorically been requesting for a call back from the company and not from any volkswagen dealer/workshop but my repeated escalation calls have been falling on deaf ears.

Initially, the service manager of the dealer, mr. Gaurav abbi (“service manager”) requested me to bear with them as they sought time to investigate the whole issue and get back to me with a possible solution.in his personal capacity, mr. Abbi has tried his level best to help me but due to the cold and mechanical behaviour or volkswagen company employees, he has not been able to help me much.

Finally, the service manager, mr. Abbi has reverted today and informed me that the best possible solution that they can afford me is to waive off 50% cost of the said flywheel (Costing roughly rs. 60, 000/-) from the total service bill. Effectively, this still means a financial setback of almost rs. 60, 000-rs. 70, 000/- net after factoring in my purchase of the amc. I also enquired with the service manager that although there has been no warranty coverage after expiry of the original warranty of two years, is it possible for me to pay a hefty sum and have the protection of extended warranty, but he has told me this is not possible post expiry of the original warranty of two years.

Although i know volkswagen/skoda cars do not enjoy a healthy resale value,
I have been feeling so cheated and betrayed with the whole ownership experience that i even asked the service manager to apprise me of the resale value of the car on as-is where is basis.

Given that volkswagen is not a luxury brand (When translated from german to english, it means ”people’s car”), i refuse to pay such a huge price for being an erstwhile fan/supporter of volkswagen. As i write this complaint, i am still waiting to hear from the dealer on the resale value of my car on as-is where-is basis without any further expenditures.

Since i already have a year 2009 midsize sedan (Fiat linea) which is open for your scrutiny on its maintenance by the undersigned during the last nine years, i no longer want to be attached to volkswagen (Or any of its group company cars), as it grossly cheats and belies expectations of quality, touted by its so called claims of “solid german engineering”. I am happy to wash off my hands completely from this car and brand forever and migrate to a smaller hatchback without any reservations – with the sole feeling of being cheated by volkswagen. Even otherwise, post the widely publicized and criticized us/european diesel emissions scandal of 2015, i do not think volkswagen has any reputation left for which it like to stand up and defend its goodwill.

On a general note, since i have been unwillingly and unfortunately harassed to such a stage of insanity and suffering, i would also like to offer some generic customer feedback. Although i bought this car on my wedding in january 2015 knowing fully well that it lacked rather basic features like automatic interior dimming mirror, power folding mirrors, cooled glovebox, push button start, sunroof, shark fin antenna, dead pedal and a touchscreen infotainment system (“creature comforts”) when compared to its immediate competition like the hyundai verna and honda city, like a matured car buyer, i decided to overlook these small omissions in the features in favour of “solid german engineering”.in fact, as you know, the aforesaid creature comforts are pretty much de rigueur/standard fare even in a far lower segment of cars viz. Maruti swift dzire, hyundai i20 etc. So much so, as on date, despite being considerably cheaper, even volkswagen polo and ameo carry these creature comforts which cannot be added to my car even if i pay extra money.

However, shortly after buying the car in january 2015, i was extremely disheartened and disappointed to see that volkswagen bit-by-bit decided to incrementally add the said creature comforts to its vento’s subsequent variants much to my chagrin. When one buys the topmost fully loaded model of a car for almost rs. 14 lakhs (On-road price), one expects the car to be the best equipped variant/model for at least a year. However, this is not the case with volkswagen which keeps updating its cars every few weeks (Not even months) when it faces stiff competition with its direct rivals who manufacture sturdier cars with far greater value for money with cheaper service costs.

On the whole, i have sworn never to buy and/or recommend a volkswagen group car ever in my life (Including skoda and audi).

As a corporate lawyer with exposure to higher education abroad (In europe), with folded hands and bent knees, this is my last call and request to your higher management to reach out to me with an acceptable solution. As of now, this car is lying under suspended repairs at the said dealer’s workshop as i will not take any further decision on it until someone responsible reaches out to me from volkswagen.

Can i please seek have this matter escalated to the service head (All india) with cc to mr. Patrik riese, managing director & ceo. I wish to seek kind intervention of the senior management of volkswagen india to mitigate my extremely negative ownership experience. Please let me have some senior person’s contact number from the volkswagen company itself (Based out of aurangabad/chakan/pune).

As a last resort, i would be compelled to resort to use social media for airing my genuine grievance and suffering at the hands of a tyrannical, arrogant and unreliable rogue brand like volkswagen. Needless to mention, i do not want to be pushed to a point of helplessness and frustration whereby i have to write to car magazines and initiate legal action against volkswagen.
For ready reference, you may also like to peruse through the legal action that

The above is without prejudice to my rights and remedies under the applicable laws, all of which are hereby reserved.

With zero hopes & lost regards,

A cheated & frustrated helpless customer

(Arnim agrawal)
E-mail: [protected]@yahoo.com