EGR issues, am I covered under extended warranties

[NewtoVWT6]

Hi, I recently bought a 2017 VW T6 204PS BITDI DSG having owned a caddy van for many years, fault free.

Over the Christmas holiday just gone I experienced the engine management light coming on and the vehicle kept stalling, I managed to take the van to my local mechanic who I’ve used for years who plugged it into his equipment and diagnosed the EGR valve was at fault, he reset the light and then it drove fine for another 2 days, then same light came back on.

My mechanic suggested as the van is fairly new I should take it to a VW garage as he believes these EGR valves had issues with and VW are replacing them as an act of goodwill.

I spoke to my genuine commercial VW garage about the fault code, they agreed that VW are replacing faulty EGR valves as an act of goodwill.

This garage made the suggestion that I took the van to a closer approved garage as the van was stuck in limp mode and VW would need to see this fault code on their own machine before taking the word of my local mechanic.

I did this and was seen last Thursday.

The van went in to be looked at for the engine management light/ EGR fault and yet the garage came back to me with multiple jobs they claim need doing other than the initial fault.

When I took the van in I was told immediately that the fault was linked to glow plug number 3, this was before they’d ever plugged it in or inspected the van.

I left the van with this garage all day. I received a text message a few hours later with the most appalling video of my van up in the air with a mumbled person attempting to talk over the sound of the radio playing in the background, this garage are claiming I need to spend around £1300 on repairs before they’d even consider looking into an EGR fault.

They did highlight in their report that EGR valve was inconclusive and could possibly need a cooler and bracket at £2383, plus £1300 of extras.

Apparently they did a software upgrade on the ECU which will correct the fault on the EGR valve.

I was then bombarded with them trying sell me the extended warranty on the van at £839 for 2 years cover Inc serving and Mots.

Has anyone else experienced this, is the extended warranty worth it, would the EGR valve/ cooler be covered.

Any input would be much appreciated. Thank you

 

[cgtmiles]

I have extended warranty (all in package) and apart from the services and MOTs (which I makes it sort of worth it alone) I wanted the warranty to cover these sort of possible expensive engine issues. One day these issues will kill the van when it gets old and they become uneconomical but until then I hope these at least will be covered as with the camper conversion, lowered springs etc I believed that not much else would be covered. Having said that I’m currently sitting at VW getting a ball joint with excessive wear replaced (found at service 2 weeks ago) under warranty which I was surprised they accepted but think that the fact that it’s only got 20k miles on it probably helped.

If you consider the all in then make sure you buy when they have a deal on. I think you can get it with up to 25% off which makes the servicing side of the deal even better. I guess you will need to complete all the work recommended to get it though.

I hope you get the issues sorted without too much expense!

 

[Loz]

I think they mean that you need to have the repairs done before it qualifies for the all-in-one (which I think is great value). I pay £34/m for mine.

If you recently bought it, then I would go back to the dealer you purchased it from with the list of issues identified and ask them to fix it..

 

[cgtmiles]

I pay £34/m for mine.

Me too, but you don’t seem as bitter about it as me, knowing that waiting a few weeks could have saved me £10 for 2 years!

 

[jimc91]

I would expect them to flush the erg and change the front erg pipe for free as a minimum, this is what Croydon did for me (and changed glow plug 3) and I guess you’re at Tonbride which is part of the same group. The all in plan is good as it spreads the costs of mots, services and you get Vw assist breakdown cover. As pointed out above you will probably need the things fixed before they will give the cover but you could get this done at your local garage cheaper

 

[NewtoVWT6]

Hi thanks for your responses so far, I live near canterbury (Kent)

The initial garage I phoned was JCB of Ashford as they’d previously done all the servicing work and Mot before I purchased the van, they suggested I took it to an approved garage that was closer to me.

I purchased the van from a private seller just over a year ago, the previous owner gave me all the paperwork/service logs for the van, including pictures of a pipe that was replaced on the EGR valve under VW warranty, I’ll work out how to upload it shortly.

 

[NewtoVWT6]

This is the service plan that’s been suggested I take up At £839, would it likely to cover replacing EGR Valve and a cooler or the flush, thanks again

 

[t6blo]

you get Vw assist breakdown cover.

No, I believe it is provided by the AA - according to the paperwork when I took out All-in plan on my van recently.


Also worth mentioning is the 30 days cooling off period.

If your van hasn’t had a warranty in place prior to taking out the All-in then you once setup you have to wait 30 days before you can claim - assume this is to prevent people with pre existing faults taking out the plan and then immediately claiming for something that was an issue before they took out the plan.

 

[Pauly]

Problem with the warranty is the van needs a clean bill of health before you can take it out so VW will want you to get all the work done before it starts

 

[CAB]

I took out the all-in-one plan, and the EGR light came on (for the second time so far, first time was at 1 year old).

VW Manchester Trafford Park did an EGR flush, but when I picked it up they said it was done under 'VW goodwill' rather than the warranty, although I had checked when I took it in that it was covered

Make of that what you will!

 

[oiu82]

Same story EGR light, VW Heathrow did EGR flush and change the front erg pipe.

 

[Perfectos]

I took out the all-in-one plan, and the EGR light came on (for the second time so far, first time was at 1 year old).

VW Manchester Trafford Park did an EGR flush, but when I picked it up they said it was done under 'VW goodwill' rather than the warranty, although I had checked when I took it in that it was covered

Make of that what you will!

Do VW consider the EGR and associated as part of the Exhaust system ?

if so it’s not covered under All in warranty

if they don’t consider it part of the exhaust system it should be covered.

attached is a copy of the “ All in warranty “ Terms and exclusions, I cannot see anywhere a specific Exclusion regarding the EGR system

 

[Jonwm]

Not relevant to your initial post, but don't worry too much about the health check, I made the mistake of taking my 2016 60k mile van in for a Glow plug and DSG fluid change in November, the health check was 5 minutes long basically saying my van was scrap and the quote came to £8,820!!

They have recalled it for some software updates again as it hadn't seen a VW garage prior to me having it but I don't hugely trust the VW network if being honest and although its booked in for a few weeks time I'm getting it done in the hope it gets rid of the persistent P20EE EML light permanently on!

 

[Perfectos]

I took out the all-in-one plan, and the EGR light came on (for the second time so far, first time was at 1 year old).

VW Manchester Trafford Park did an EGR flush, but when I picked it up they said it was done under 'VW goodwill' rather than the warranty, although I had checked when I took it in that it was covered

Make of that what you will!

Here is VWs response to my question: ”I am thinking of purchasing an All in service plan, but I have a query as far as cover exclusion.
Can you advise if the EGR system (valve and fixed pipe work ) is covered under the terms of the “All in service plan “ against faults or if it is specifically excluded ?”

a very straight forward request for which I expected a straight forward and clear answer (Yes or No)

Answer from VWCV :

“Thank you for your recent contact with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles regarding the All-in Warranty.

Please accept my apologies for the delayed response to your email.

I am delighted to learn that you are interested in purchasing the All-in service plan.

In regards to your query, I would recommend that you get in touch with your local Volkswagen Van Centre. They will be able to best advise on this and give recommendations necessary, as we are unable to advise on financial products from here at Customer Care.

Contact details for all our Volkswagen Van Centres can be found using the link I have provided below:

Find A Volkswagen Van Centre Near Me | VW Vans

I hope you find this information useful. However, if any further help is needed, you may contact us using the details below.

Kindly be advised that you may receive a survey about the service that I have provided. I would be grateful if you have the time to complete this, as it will help me to provide the best experience possible

Kind regards”


I conclude from that that VWCV won’t specifically tell the customer if the EGR is covered by it’s All in warranty prior to taking out the product !
Apparently the dealer will be able to advise, despite the dealer having to refer all claims to VWCV for acceptance !
How the hell is the customer supposed to know what is and is not covered prior to a claim ?
Transparent, open and honest as usual with VWCV!

 

[Jonwm]

I complained about my excessive health check and got told that all dealers are franchised and can do, say or quote what they want, I wouldn't expect a straight answer from the dealer to be honest.

 

[DXX]

Transparent, open and honest as usual with VWCV!

They don’t need to be transparent and open, customers are climbing over each other to buy their products.