I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this. I'm particularly interested in people's experiences with dealers and VWOA with regards to the drivetrain warranty.
I was motoring over the nearly empty rural roads at about 60 mph or so, headed for a day of kayaking, when the car starts beeping and the check engine light comes on. I stop and shut off the engine as quickly as possible, but before that can hear what sounds like a cement mixer full of beer bottles. I figure this is less than optimal.
Next day, tow the car to the dealer. They determine that the timing belt jumped, and so the pistons and valves were interacting in an inappropriate manner. Today they'll pull the cylinder heads off "to see how the pistons look" they said.
What am I looking at here? The car is a 2000 B5 Variant, 59850 miles. Believe it or not, I was going to make an appointment this week to get the timing belt replaced. The service advisor said that in order to for the warranty to be in effect, I would have to show that I had performed the scheduled maintenance on the car. I had an independent garage do the 40k work, but since then I've changed the oil every 5000 miles myself. It's the one piece of maintenance I can do, and I'd much rather do it myself than let some Lube Monkey cross-thread the drain bolt. What does an oil change have to do with a timing belt tensioner anyway?
I figure there is no way the dealer can refuse to honor the warranty, but how likely are they to try? I am concerned that they may try to get by on the cheap by replacing the valves and leaving me with a damaged head, scored cylinder walls, etc. Is there a snowball's chance that they would supply a loaner car while doing this kind of work?
Your advice, suggestions and stories would be very welcome.
I was motoring over the nearly empty rural roads at about 60 mph or so, headed for a day of kayaking, when the car starts beeping and the check engine light comes on. I stop and shut off the engine as quickly as possible, but before that can hear what sounds like a cement mixer full of beer bottles. I figure this is less than optimal.
Next day, tow the car to the dealer. They determine that the timing belt jumped, and so the pistons and valves were interacting in an inappropriate manner. Today they'll pull the cylinder heads off "to see how the pistons look" they said.
What am I looking at here? The car is a 2000 B5 Variant, 59850 miles. Believe it or not, I was going to make an appointment this week to get the timing belt replaced. The service advisor said that in order to for the warranty to be in effect, I would have to show that I had performed the scheduled maintenance on the car. I had an independent garage do the 40k work, but since then I've changed the oil every 5000 miles myself. It's the one piece of maintenance I can do, and I'd much rather do it myself than let some Lube Monkey cross-thread the drain bolt. What does an oil change have to do with a timing belt tensioner anyway?
I figure there is no way the dealer can refuse to honor the warranty, but how likely are they to try? I am concerned that they may try to get by on the cheap by replacing the valves and leaving me with a damaged head, scored cylinder walls, etc. Is there a snowball's chance that they would supply a loaner car while doing this kind of work?
Your advice, suggestions and stories would be very welcome.
