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Getting VW parts shouldn't be this difficult!!

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Rado16v:
Time for a rant...

Over the last few years I've been purchasing parts for our Mk5 GTI from many sources online such as ECP, CP4L, Autodoc, eBay... etc. Always buy genuine or better but I've always had the luxury of time.

Car broke down on Friday at wife's workplace, RAC diagnosed a faulty ignition switch and said they need to tow it. Had it towed home the following day and I tried to purchase a new ignition switch and relay as that can also be the cause of the issue.

I called my local dealer Saturday morning, they didn't hold either part in stock nor did any of the other branches in the franchise so would have to order it for next working day Monday. But they wouldn't order it without payment in person but I couldn't get down to them before 1pm when they close, then he had the cheek to say they don't take cash, card only... So why can't you take my card details over the phone? <banging head against wall>

Calles TPS, I know I know they no longer supply to the general public. I gave my friendly mechanics details and they said they have both in stock, great can I pick it up? No, we can only courier it out on Saturdays to his garage, but he's not open on Saturdays. Otherwise I have to make an appointment on Monday and only he can pick it up. An appointment?! These are car parts, not an MRI scan. Arghhhhhh, it shouldn't be this difficult to buy parts.

I needed to get the car on the road for Monday but it just wasn't happening. I ordered from the dealer Monday morning and it arrived today, Wednesday.

Parts fitted, it was the relay and not the ignition switch but I had broken the old switch getting it out, and all is well.

What a faff it's all been, I miss the old days of walking into a motor factor, the dealer or even TPS and parts would be there, I pay and I take them home and fit or have fitted. I don't know why VW make it this difficult.

End of rant.

pudding:
Love a good rant  :happy2:

I can actually see buying direct from the manufacturer becoming a thing, because dealers are an expensive middle man no one wants or needs.

On top of what you've already mentioned, it's just their attitude and apathy towards customers.  And it's not just VW, but most German brands! Walk into any new to you dealer, and the sheer level of ignoring and disinterest is simply staggering. Worse still, the parts desks have all be removed, so you have to ask..... if you can actually get one of the people pretending to be busy at their desk's attention.  It's pretty clear all they care about is new car sales, and even then you have to fit their preferred customer profile for them to bother their lazy arses with you.

To me, the whole future car landscape just feels like it's on the verge of being completely f'cked anyway  :grin:  Mainly because of the overhyped and rushed transition to EV cars.

All this big push to go EV by 2030 means charging stations need to be installed at a rate of 500 per day to meet the proposed numbers, and where's all that electricity going to come from?  Only 1 new Nuclear station on the horizon in the UK, and that will take 10 years to build.  We'll need at least another 5 or 6, minimum, to support the massive demand on the National Grid. And who is going to pay for building and maintaining the charging infrastructure? Tax payers? The same tax payers who only wish they could afford a £50K+ Tesla, or a £100K+ Taycan etc.  Yeah I know there are Nissan Leaf and Prius grade sh1t boxes, but no one wants that crap  :grin:

Meanwhile, ICE cars are continuing to be churned out in their 100s of 1000s. What will happen to all those when EVs are mandated?  And parts supply is an issue on them already, let alone in another 7-10 years!

Baaaaaah, it's all shat.  Keep your old cars people  :happy2:

doylebros:
The next part of the rub will be how much of the item you’ll need to buy, instead of the component part  - meaning you want a door part you have to buy a whole door instead of a latch or trim piece etc crazy days ahead.

skkane:
[rant]VWs been doing it for ~18 years now. I had the scratched up dsg surround trim, the rubbery stuff they use, and wanted to get a new one. Shouldn't have costed more then 20$ I presumed... turned out they don't even sell the damned thing by itself (even though it's easy to remove) and you have to buy the whole shebang.... leather, trim, golf ball shifter... all for the amazing price of 580 euros. They must be smoking crack up there. I ended up buying a can of Plastidip for 6$ and did it myself, looks brand new.

I looked at one of those "intermediary" mufflers since the previous owner decided to put straight pipes leaving only the final stock muffler.. it was unbearable. What did vw charge for the middle resonator intermediary muffler? ~1100 eur, I bought the same from a local breaker for 35$.

They are totally nuts with the spare parts OEM prices. It's like they forgot the god damned rust bucket (have lovely sills on mine, just had the TDI redone and now I have to do the whole thing again on the ED30), arabian nights headliner falling on ones head thing they made was built 18 years ago.

Wank3rs[/rant]

shail:
Ive had similar from my dealer when I've gone in.  I now email them and find the service much better, as I just pop in to pick it up when ready.

I once went into Audi to buy a part for my Golf, which nearly melted the brain of the guy I was dealing with, he kept asking if I was sure I wanted a Audi part!

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