Boosted reader Hans Ole had to pay DKK 70,000 until Monday this week for a new gearbox for a Volkswagen Passat GTE that is just three years old. When Boosted entered the case, the bill disappeared.
"Unfortunate experience with Volkswagen. Maybe something for you?"
This is how Hans Ole Andersen begins his email to the Boosted editors. Behind the words hides something of a nightmare with Volkswagen Denmark.
The importer has a good enough understanding of the frustrating fact that the gearbox in Hans Ole's just three-year-old Passat GTE has fallen off, and that after only 56,000 kilometres, but there is still a bill to be paid.
A new gearbox costs DKK 120,000, Volkswagen has stated. Right up until Boosted stepped in.
READ ALSO: Romanians are now Denmark's cheapest car with automatic transmission
– I am shocked that you can buy a car for almost DKK 500,000 and after such a short time and so few kilometers end up with such a huge expense.
– The car has been serviced at a branded workshop. So it must clearly be a fault in the gearbox that this sort of thing can happen. That VW does not recognize it is completely out of the question, says the owner.
Hans Ole didn't think there was much to do either. But now the bill for the 120,000 kroner, which was reduced to 70,000 kroner, has almost disappeared. Volkswagen will suddenly cover most things.
– They have decided to cover the entire cost, so I only have to pay for wages in connection with the replacement. A huge relief, Hans Ole writes to the Boosted editors.
Volkswagen has previously had problems with the automatic transmission, which the brand calls DSG. There has also been a lot of trouble with the gearboxes among Danish VW owners. So much trouble that VW had to launch large marketing campaigns.
The Boosted editors have asked Volkswagen in Denmark to answer whether problems of the kind that are on Hans Ole's car are reasonable after just three years.
Volkswagen recognizes that it does not look good. In any case, the gearbox should not be a problem after so few kilometres, believes Thomas Hjortshoj, PR manager at Volkswagen in Denmark.
– A situation like this is not the image we normally see on the Passat GTE. And certainly not on a car with that mileage.
– Since the car was bought and serviced according to the regulations of an authorized Volkswagen dealer in Denmark, combined with the fact that this type of fault on a Passat GTE with that mileage is unusual, Volkswagen Denmark and the dealer have chosen to get the customer into fashion and provide more kulance than the factory normally allows with a car where the warranty has expired, says the explanation.
However, Hans Ole Andersen is not the only Dane who has experienced the advanced automatic transmission with double clutches fail.
Media such as Bil Magasinet and Ekstra Bladet have several times described problems with the DSG gearbox. The seven-speed version in particular is problematic. To Ekstra Bladet, VW owners have, among other things, described how the gearbox has broken after just 30,000 kilometers.
Skoda owners who drove around with the same gearboxes had similar problems. And in 2013, the Volkswagen group had to change the oil in the gearboxes of 1.6 million cars for the same reason.
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