[incrementalg]

Hey all,
Current Audi and VW owner and I'm getting the runaround from a dealer regarding service history questions. Dealer from where I purchased a used Passat says they cant' get full service history and can't or won't tell me a damn thing about the car.

I actually got the history from the dealership who performed the work initially, so I'm not in need of the info, but I'm wondering if there is any validity to what the dealer says about not having access to the history.

With Audi, I can get the history from any dealership so long as I have the VIN. Isn't the same true of VW? If so, what gives with a dealer not providing it?

Thanks!

 

[dschwarz]

I don't know, but i'm interested to find out the answer. Why not try a different VW dealer? Or even an Audi dealer.. just call em and see if they'll print it out and fax it to you.

 

[StuartQF]

My experience has been that they can pull it up, they just can't give it to you.
When I bought my Passat it had been on the dealers lot for a year, and they gave me the service history it had accumulated in that time, but couldn't give me anything before that, even though it had been serviced there all it's life.. Something to do with privacy of the previous owner or some such BS.. I ended up asking "Has it ever had x done? Yeah? Ok, when?" a lot....

I've heard of others on the whoretex having had the same experience

 

[uu8]

My dealer pulled up and gave to me full "warranty histories" on both my Passats no problem. Try using this wording.

 

[incrementalg]

Since I did get the info from another dealer, I'm not too concerned about it, but I'm really stuck on the rationale for a dealer holding back information that's relevant to the car they are selling. For example, how would I know if a 40k, 50k, or 60k service was performed and how would I know what service to perform next. People should know what they're buying and I wouldn't have purchased my CPO VW had I not obtained the history first.

I emailed VW about it this morning and will share their response once I get it.

 

[incrementalg]

So, VW got back to me and said that dealers can access only the service history done at their own shop. Hmmm...so if a dealer buys a lease return at auction are they not getting the history either?
Fortunately, the dealer that serviced my car while it was on lease was kind enough to give me the history.

 

[98greendash]

They are F'n with you. They have access to all info on service done at a VW/Audi dealership this is how they track down recall cars. Any service done at indy shops can not be tracked.

 

[incrementalg]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the dealership is simply intent on doing as little as possible when it comes to putting time and/or effort into customer service.

For anyone interested, the dealership is Quirk VW in Braintree, MA. I won't bother with a dealer review in this post, but maybe I'll do another thread.

 

[sshippee]

I worked at a VW/Audi dealer for many years. I havent been in the auto business in about 4 years but I will try and explain this the best I can. The dealer cannot, I repeat cannot get a complete service history on a vehicle. They can get a "history" of warranty repairs on a vehicle (and any maintenance done under "free" maintenance through VW). This will just have warranty codes and part #s, but no repair notes from the dealer. That being said if you know what dealer it was done at then you can call them and get more info. Now for example if someone buys a car for their 16yo son and he pounds the car to death and it needs 5 clutches in 30k miles (and alot of other problems) and they were all customer pay.....no service history will be shown on the warranty screen if you call a different dealer. All the service histories are not loaded on the VW computer, only the warranty jobs that dealers are asking for reibursement from VW on.
Now to the second part with the new privacy acts that have been put into law in the last 10 years if you call a dealer about a car they serviced previously they are legally not able to send you copies of old repair orders. The reason for this is it will have name, address, and phone numbers to the old owner, thus making them fall under the privacy act. When the privacy act was first instituted when I was working in the auto business I used to try and help when I could. If someone asked for old repair info, I would print out the RO and then tape a piece of paper over the owner info section and then photo copy it. Now when the person is asking for 15-20 ROs then it makes it very labor intensive. If it was a normal customer of our dealership then I always happily did it, but told the customer it would take a few days and I would mail it to them. When it was someone calling over the phone from across country then I would explain the whole situation and tell them I would try to get it done in my spare time and mailed out to them asap which would be a couple weeks at a minimum.

98Greendash...they track cars for recalls by warranty repair info in their system as well as information from DMVs across the country. My passat was never at a dealer since I bought it used and I received my last recall notice no problem. They only way they could have gotten my info is from my registering the car.

Hopes this helps.

 

[sshippee]

I should state that I am speaking of VW/Audi dealers. Not sure about some of the other manufacturers, but I would imagine they are all the same.

Now all that I stated above....even with the privacy act, I could give someone a list of the things done to a car at our dealership in the past over the phone as I was not giving out any owner info.

 

[incrementalg]

Thanks for the feedback. As a former VW guy, maybe you could answer this one?
Aside from the CPO checklist, do dealers do any regular maintenance on cars prior to putting them up for sale as CPO? (oil filter change...etc)

 

[sshippee]

I will say that completely depends on the dealer. All the dealers I worked at (VW and non VW) all did at least oil changes and "used car inspections". The VW dealer I worked at actually did a ton to the cars. Every car was inspected and then a list generated of repairs and maintenance needed. If the list was too long or too expensive based on purchase price then the car was sent to auction or sold to other wholesalers. If the car was to be retailed as a "front line" car then the list was done and car sold. If the cost of the repairs were close to a point where it wasnt economical then the car many times would sit on the lot and if sold quickly then the list would be completed before delivery. If the car didnt sell ina certain amount of time then it would be auctioned or wholesaled but at least the dealership saved on the list of repairs. Obvisouly being used cars small things that were just cosmetic were not always repaired. Those things were usually so obvious that the customer would see it before they bought the car.

 

[sshippee]

My suggestion to anyone buying a used car from a dealer to get the vin off the car and come back to the dealer unannounced and go directly to the service dept without talking to your salesperson. When at the service desk tell them you are looking at buying a certain car give them a vin and ask them if it would be possible to look at the original repair order. Tell them you would like to see the working copy not just a reprint of the invoice. Many times if you can look at the working copy of the repair order you can find notes the mechanic made on it. At the dealers I worked at we always had an inspection sheet the mechanic filled out. This would have a list of all repairs needed. That way you can see what was suggested and what was completed. Now when doing this always realize one thing...just because a mechanic wrote something up and it wasnt done doesnt mean its a bad thing. As a service manager I always told the mechanics to write the cars up like their moms where buying them. So if brakes were more then 1/2 wore then they would be written up. What would be completed was based on what the car was. For example: If a car was a year old had 12k miles and was selling for $20k then brakes just less then 1/2 should be replaced. If the car was 100k miles, 10 years old and selling for $5k and the brakes were just under 1/2 left (same as above) then they dont need to be replaced. There is plenty of brake left, but is all about what is acceptable to the average person for certain age, mileage, and price range.

 

[98greendash]

I worked at a VW/Audi dealer for many years. I havent been in the auto business in about 4 years but I will try and explain this the best I can. The dealer cannot, I repeat cannot get a complete service history on a vehicle. They can get a "history" of warranty repairs on a vehicle (and any maintenance done under "free" maintenance through VW). This will just have warranty codes and part #s, but no repair notes from the dealer. That being said if you know what dealer it was done at then you can call them and get more info. Now for example if someone buys a car for their 16yo son and he pounds the car to death and it needs 5 clutches in 30k miles (and alot of other problems) and they were all customer pay.....no service history will be shown on the warranty screen if you call a different dealer. All the service histories are not loaded on the VW computer, only the warranty jobs that dealers are asking for reibursement from VW on.
Now to the second part with the new privacy acts that have been put into law in the last 10 years if you call a dealer about a car they serviced previously they are legally not able to send you copies of old repair orders. The reason for this is it will have name, address, and phone numbers to the old owner, thus making them fall under the privacy act. When the privacy act was first instituted when I was working in the auto business I used to try and help when I could. If someone asked for old repair info, I would print out the RO and then tape a piece of paper over the owner info section and then photo copy it. Now when the person is asking for 15-20 ROs then it makes it very labor intensive. If it was a normal customer of our dealership then I always happily did it, but told the customer it would take a few days and I would mail it to them. When it was someone calling over the phone from across country then I would explain the whole situation and tell them I would try to get it done in my spare time and mailed out to them asap which would be a couple weeks at a minimum.

98Greendash...they track cars for recalls by warranty repair info in their system as well as information from DMVs across the country. My passat was never at a dealer since I bought it used and I received my last recall notice no problem. They only way they could have gotten my info is from my registering the car.

Hopes this helps.

My bad I should have stated "warrant repairs" sorry, and it is a combination of the 2 for recalls again I should have stated more clearly. By the way a VCI check list is quite inclusive. Thats how I got so good at MK3 reverse idler gears and V6 Audi reseals.

 

[VWGUY4EVER]

I worked at a VW/Audi dealer for many years. I havent been in the auto business in about 4 years but I will try and explain this the best I can. The dealer cannot, I repeat cannot get a complete service history on a vehicle. They can get a "history" of warranty repairs on a vehicle (and any maintenance done under "free" maintenance through VW). This will just have warranty codes and part #s, but no repair notes from the dealer. That being said if you know what dealer it was done at then you can call them and get more info. Now for example if someone buys a car for their 16yo son and he pounds the car to death and it needs 5 clutches in 30k miles (and alot of other problems) and they were all customer pay.....no service history will be shown on the warranty screen if you call a different dealer. All the service histories are not loaded on the VW computer, only the warranty jobs that dealers are asking for reibursement from VW on.
Now to the second part with the new privacy acts that have been put into law in the last 10 years if you call a dealer about a car they serviced previously they are legally not able to send you copies of old repair orders. The reason for this is it will have name, address, and phone numbers to the old owner, thus making them fall under the privacy act. When the privacy act was first instituted when I was working in the auto business I used to try and help when I could. If someone asked for old repair info, I would print out the RO and then tape a piece of paper over the owner info section and then photo copy it. Now when the person is asking for 15-20 ROs then it makes it very labor intensive. If it was a normal customer of our dealership then I always happily did it, but told the customer it would take a few days and I would mail it to them. When it was someone calling over the phone from across country then I would explain the whole situation and tell them I would try to get it done in my spare time and mailed out to them asap which would be a couple weeks at a minimum.

98Greendash...they track cars for recalls by warranty repair info in their system as well as information from DMVs across the country. My passat was never at a dealer since I bought it used and I received my last recall notice no problem. They only way they could have gotten my info is from my registering the car.

Hopes this helps.

+

Pretty much covers it. Over the last decade I was a service advisor for VW, Audi, Land Rover & Benz. Any dealer can give you the warranty repair history, but unless cash repairs were done at that particular dealership, that's all they can give you.