VW’s aftersales service fails over a faulty new car

A month ago I bought a new Volkswagen Polo, which has broken down twice. The first time was on the day of purchase – the dealership kept it for a couple of days before declaring there was nothing wrong with it.

Last week it overheated on the M25. It was collected by VW Assistance, but this time the car ended up at a dealership in west London. Delays in examining it meant I was denied a replacement hire car.

The vehicle has now been repaired, but I have been told I’ve got to go to west London to pick it up, which is extremely inconvenient given I live in Guildford. Both VW dealers in west London and Guildford, plus VW’s main customer services, have essentially said “not our problem”.

Along with the hassle of having to go and collect it, we missed the first few hours of a concert we were travelling to – we’d spent £400 on the tickets – and had to spend another £100 on alternative travel.

I think new cars should work, but VW has implied it has no responsibility for the cars it is selling. AA, Guildford

That sounds appalling but, as I have said before, I’m constantly amazed at VW’s poor aftersales service. We have had a number of complaints from Audi customers recently along similar lines.

VW has now apologised. “On this occasion it is clear that we have fallen short of both AA’s and our own expectations. Our customer service centre has been in touch to apologise and to better understand where Volkswagen fell short,” it says. It has also agreed to refund all your out-of-pocket expenses. If it breaks down again in the next few weeks, get rid of it.

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