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2013 Golf R Badly Damaged by VW Dealership! Rear Drivetrain Destroyed

pdxa4

Longtime VW/Audi owner
There is nothing special about dealerships or the guys that work at them. Do your own maintenance. You will be more critical of your own work, more concise, and take more care to do things properly than a dealership or any shop technician ever will.

Exactly, after all these are then "highly trained" technicians who don't know how to correctly drain and fill the differential.

For a low volume car such as the R it is better to do maintenance by oneself, or else go to a good quality local independent VW/Audi shop.
 

Green_GTi

Ready to race!
When I get home (up in Sierra Nevadas fishing? The car is at home) I'll get underneath with a light and look again. From the photos posted, it looks to be high, and on the drivers side. Am I right?

Sent from the ether.
 

Green_GTi

Ready to race!
Exactly, after all these are then "highly trained" technicians who don't know how to correctly drain and fill the differential.

For a low volume car such as the R it is better to do maintenance by oneself, or else go to a good quality local independent VW/Audi shop.
Ingolstadt West couldn't find it on my car, and they didn't know where to change the fluid. I had to leave without having them do the service.

Sent from the ether.
 

pdxa4

Longtime VW/Audi owner
When I get home (up in Sierra Nevadas fishing? The car is at home) I'll get underneath with a light and look again. From the photos posted, it looks to be high, and on the drivers side. Am I right?

Sent from the ether.

The filter itself is on the other side(passenger), the haldex controller and drain and fill holes are on the drivers side.

Take a good look at the link I posted earlier.

It's tight under there, so you should put the back up on jack stands to get a safe look underneath.
 

pdxa4

Longtime VW/Audi owner
Ingolstadt West couldn't find it on my car, and they didn't know where to change the fluid. I had to leave without having them do the service.

Sent from the ether.

That was a wise idea to leave. Better to research it independently first.


Unfortunately due to the dealers not being trained properly there are too many reports of the haldex system being incorrectly serviced and thus issues like the OP had.
 

Zach L

VR junkie
Unfortunately due to the dealers not being trained properly there are too many reports of the haldex system being incorrectly serviced and thus issues like the OP had.
The OP's issue is not a matter of training; it's a matter of carelessness and the rushed environment in which dealership technicians do their work. No amount of training will change that. Again, do maintenance yourself. You will do a better job.
 

Green_GTi

Ready to race!
I just ordered the filter from ECS. Will I need to add any more fluid when I change the filter?

Sent from the ether.
 

pdxa4

Longtime VW/Audi owner
The OP's issue is not a matter of training; it's a matter of carelessness and the rushed environment in which dealership technicians do their work. No amount of training will change that. Again, do maintenance yourself. You will do a better job.

When I say not being trained properly refers to them being competent.

That failure is on them, the dealer and VW of America. It's about procedures, training, and suitable time allowed for tasks.

VW already had a bad enough reputation (prior to the diesel scandal) with their dealers. Doing incorrect service on their "sporty" more profitable cars just erodes that trust even more. Even us enthusiasts have issues with them, imagine how the general public feels about the brand.


I'm a guy that works on my cars at home, if something is beyond what I can do then I always bring it to a trusted independent shop. I avoid dealers whenever possible, even under warranty.
 

pdxa4

Longtime VW/Audi owner
I just ordered the filter from ECS. Will I need to add any more fluid when I change the filter?

Sent from the ether.

Ok cool.

Yes you will have to add new fluid as some does get lost during the change.

Most of us drain the haldex fluid first, then perform the filter change, after that then fill up with new fluid.

In my case after I drove it around for a bit, I rechecked the fill level again to be extra safe.
 

Zach L

VR junkie
When I say not being trained properly refers to them being competent.

That failure is on them, the dealer and VW of America. It's about procedures, training, and suitable time allowed for tasks.

VW already had a bad enough reputation (prior to the diesel scandal) with their dealers. Doing incorrect service on their "sporty" more profitable cars just erodes that trust even more. Even us enthusiasts have issues with them, imagine how the general public feels about the brand.


I'm a guy that works on my cars at home, if something is beyond what I can do then I always bring it to a trusted independent shop. I avoid dealers whenever possible, even under warranty.
I agree with everything said.

All of us are capable of making mistakes when we're rushed enough, even things we do routinely without any issue. I just think the rushed environment is a reality for the profit-driven dealerships and don't expect any change. Dealerships have always been like this and have always made these kinds of mistakes. I assume it will only get worse due to increased competitiveness, especially in the difficulty sales environment VW is surely to be in over the next several years. Dealerships are going to be relying on service departments for income as much as they ever have.
 
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