# Lemon Replacement experiences



## manny3118 (Nov 20, 2019)

Hey guys,

I purchased a new to me 2018 VW Tiguan SE 4 Motion in March--my first VW purchase. Truly a great looking car. Unfortunately, the car quickly developed a dangerous problem- an EPC light that would occur only at highway speeds. Living in Los Angeles, truly a scary experience. The car has been In the shop for 21 days after the last occurrence and 26 days total from date of purchase. Opened a case with VWoA this week.

Long story short, have any of you had buy back or replacement experience with VW? Not sure what to expect.

I'll update with my own experience once I get more into.


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## zackdawley (Oct 4, 2011)

Lemon laws are state specific

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk


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## Andy A (Dec 25, 2018)

VW bought back our 2018 Alltrack due to sunroof issues. In my experience VW bases buybacks in accordance to the lemon laws of your state, as zackdawley mentions. It was a lenghty process for us but favorable in the end. In our state it is 4 attempts or 20 accumulate "business" days. 
Before even taking it to VW for the first repair I contacted VW customer care to open a ticket. We reached the accumulate business days before the number of attempts. When the accumulate business days plus a few additional days were reached I filed for the buyback. From the opening of the first ticket in April 2019 and turning the car in to VW it was approx 4 - 5 months. Patience is a virtue. YMMV.


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## manny3118 (Nov 20, 2019)

Thanks for the info. Did they ever offer to put you in a different vehicle or were you adamant about a buy-back only?


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## Andy A (Dec 25, 2018)

manny3118 said:


> Thanks for the info. Did they ever offer to put you in a different vehicle or were you adamant about a buy-back only?


VW did not offer to put us in another vehicle but they did give us what were called loyalty dollars on another VW to stay with the brand. We really liked the Alltrack but were not willing to take the risk on another leaker so we ended up with a 2019 Tiguan SEL which was actually a little step up from the 2018 Alltrack SE. We were not adamant about a buyback per say, but we were adamant about it not being another Alltrack.
From researching, it was much easier for VW to offer a replacement vehicle if financed thru VW and within the same model, ie Tiguan to Tiguan , Alltrack to Alltrack, but not necessarily the same tier, SE to SEL etc, than a 3rd party financier. In our case we had used 3rd party financing so that loan has to be paid off and cannot be changed. 

On another note in our state under the lemon law there is a formula used to determine what is called fair use of the vehicle for the time that you have used it. Your state may or may not have this attached to thier lemon law.


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

manny3118 said:


> .....developed a dangerous problem- an EPC light that would occur only at highway speeds.......


How is an "EPC light" dangerous?


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## vwman53 (Mar 6, 2003)

Your initial comment is "new to me", so from that I infer that your Tiguan was pre-owned. Laws vary from state to state, but typically lemon laws and buybacks only apply to vehicles bought new. I would consult with an attorney to see if you have a case, most will do a free consult because the lemon law typically allows you to collect attorney fees as part of the settlement.


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

manny3118 said:


> .....purchased a new to me.....


This would not be a VW issue as it is not a new vehicle. Your possible issue is only with the dealer or VW warranty service.


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## manny3118 (Nov 20, 2019)

> Your initial comment is "new to me", so from that I infer that your Tiguan was pre-owned. Laws vary from state to state, but typically lemon laws and buybacks only apply to vehicles bought new. I would consult with an attorney to see if you have a case, most will do a free consult because the lemon law typically allows you to collect attorney fees as part of the settlement.


Yes, the car is used. I live in California, so the vehicle can qualify for lemon status so long as it is under manufacturer warranty.


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## manny3118 (Nov 20, 2019)

Update: Case sent to resolution and retention. Car has been in the shop for 31 days. RCM stated that delay in getting car back is related to Coolant Bottle. My guess is the leak may have affected some of the electronics.


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## Passatsquared (Oct 26, 2014)

VWOA replaced my 17 passat sel-p with an '18 tiguan sel-p rline 4 motion.

The a/c in the passat would whine through the dash vents at all times, and got louder the longer it was used. Shutting the a/c off killed the noise.

My car was in the shop for 4 times and 23 days total. They replaced:

All hard parts under the hood.
New control unit
Over charged the system
Under charged the system
Replaced all the pipes and hoses under the hood.

When they said the dash will have to be removed to fix it, I called vwoa and said that I met the fla. Lemon law requirements and that they need to make arrangements to get me into a new car.

I got a substitution of collateral in my loan. No new paperwork and everything I paid towards the 17 is applied to the new vehicle.

My choices:
'18 passat sel-p 1.8t. My choice of colors for $1500
'18 passat sel-p very. My choice of colors for $1500
'18 tiguan (see above). In orange, for $5500.

I chose the tiguan.

I ended up not having to pay anything, and got all service for the life of the warranty covered.

The negotiations took forever, and then 2 delivery dates were missed.
First one got me $1000 off and another months wait.
The 2nd one got me the remaining $4500 off and another 2 months wait.

For all that trouble, I contacted Mr Woebkin via email and got a response from his secretary. She gave me the maintenance package.

After the throttle fix (call vwoa and have the confirm the TSB applies toyour vin#. Make them put it in your account. Have dealer look up your account to see what vwoa says.) I can honestly say I am 100% happy with my car. APR power upgrade would be nice tho.


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## manny3118 (Nov 20, 2019)

Passatsquared said:


> VWOA replaced my 17 passat sel-p with an '18 tiguan sel-p rline 4 motion.
> 
> The a/c in the passat would whine through the dash vents at all times, and got louder the longer it was used. Shutting the a/c off killed the noise.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply-- glad it worked out for you. Did VW service your loan? I'm with BofA; hoping they don't have an issue with sub of collateral.

How soon after VwoA escalated to resolution and retention did they make replacement offers? Did they pick for you or did they ask for your input? I also find it odd they wanted you to pay out of pocket.

Finally, service rep mentioned delay in getting my car back is due to a backorder related to the coolant bottle recall. I hope this doesn't keep them from making a deal with me on a replacement, seeing as they may be protected under the law for that. So far, my car has had a defective LCD unit, an engine harness replaced, a now has a fried Body Control Module.


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## Superchud (Jul 3, 2018)

manny3118 said:


> Thanks for the reply-- glad it worked out for you. Did VW service your loan? I'm with BofA; hoping they don't have an issue with sub of collateral.
> 
> How soon after VwoA escalated to resolution and retention did they make replacement offers? Did they pick for you or did they ask for your input? I also find it odd they wanted you to pay out of pocket.
> 
> Finally, service rep mentioned delay in getting my car back is due to a backorder related to the coolant bottle recall. I hope this doesn't keep them from making a deal with me on a replacement, seeing as they may be protected under the law for that. So far, my car has had a defective LCD unit, an engine harness replaced, a now has a fried Body Control Module.


Just went through this with my Passat moving to a 2020 Tiguan SEL/4MO. Typically, VW handles all of this with your bank whether it's with VW Credit or not. They gave me some options but ended up going up a bit on the model replacement due to my Passat having features that weren't equivalent in the Tiguan SE. The process was long due to switching up in-between model years so I had to wait for the 2020's to get released. For me it was a 4 months end to end to get it resolved but overall VW took care of me and I continue to be brand loyal.


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## Passatsquared (Oct 26, 2014)

manny3118 said:


> Thanks for the reply-- glad it worked out for you. Did VW service your loan? I'm with BofA; hoping they don't have an issue with sub of collateral.
> 
> How soon after VwoA escalated to resolution and retention did they make replacement offers? Did they pick for you or did they ask for your input? I also find it odd they wanted you to pay out of pocket.
> 
> Finally, service rep mentioned delay in getting my car back is due to a backorder related to the coolant bottle recall. I hope this doesn't keep them from making a deal with me on a replacement, seeing as they may be protected under the law for that. So far, my car has had a defective LCD unit, an engine harness replaced, a now has a fried Body Control Module.



My loan is thru wells fargo. There is no problem with the sub collateral as the new vehicle is worth more money. It's a no brainers for them.

If you reread my post, I answered most of your questions already. The cost out if pocket was for depreciation and/or cost difference.

It is well worth it. You get a new vehicle, with a huge chunk of the loan already paid, with zero miles for a grand or two? 

In my case, I was into the passat for 22.5k plus tax and stuff out of pocket. $4500 more or $29000 total got me a $40k suv. That was pretty sweet. 
Them waiving the contribution portion meant I got my sel-p 4 motion rline for about $24.5k or so. 

Aside from the process taking too long, I have no complaints. Vw did the right thing and have earned my continued patronage.


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## Superchud (Jul 3, 2018)

Passatsquared said:


> My loan is thru wells fargo. There is no problem with the sub collateral as the new vehicle is worth more money. It's a no brainers for them.
> 
> If you reread my post, I answered most of your questions already. The cost out if pocket was for depreciation and/or cost difference.
> 
> ...


My replacement was more than the car I was replacing and I didn't have to pay anything, it was a straight collateral replacement with a vin swap on the loan. Maybe different things for different folks?


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## manny3118 (Nov 20, 2019)

Superchud said:


> My replacement was more than the car I was replacing and I didn't have to pay anything, it was a straight collateral replacement with a vin swap on the loan. Maybe different things for different folks?


Sounds like it; maybe mileage / state specific / time down?

In any case, I've been without my car for 50 days and counting now. Here's hoping I can get a favorable result.


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## Superchud (Jul 3, 2018)

manny3118 said:


> Sounds like it; maybe mileage / state specific / time down?
> 
> In any case, I've been without my car for 50 days and counting now. Here's hoping I can get a favorable result.


Maybe. I came from a 2018 Passat SE with 26k miles on it when I turned it in. I had oil consumption issues starting at 2500 miles and went through a ring/piston replacement and finally a whole engine replacement before going down the replacement path. Total downtime without my car (in a loaner) was probably close to 30 days total based on the work that was done on it.


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