So did VW weasel out of having to recall cars with the timing chain tensioner issue?

Got my settlement info in the mail this week and confirmed my VIN is one of the 2011 GTIs affected. All I've seen for people who have not had any repairs to date is an extension of the powertrain warranty to 100K miles 10 years for problems related to the timing chain defect.

No recall? Guess you have to wait for your motor to blow up?

basically was my understanding.

I wonder if that warranty will cover any damage the tensioner/chain causes when it skips timing... they dont mention it only that the chain and tensioner are covered under warranty.

I have no way of knowing, but I'd guess it would cover any collateral damage. Since this isn't safety related there'd never be a recall. A warranty extension is much better than nothing.

Dawg82 said:

Got my settlement info in the mail this week and confirmed my VIN is one of the 2011 GTIs affected. All I've seen for people who have not had any repairs to date is an extension of the powertrain warranty to 100K miles 10 years for problems related to the timing chain defect.

No recall? Guess you have to wait for your motor to blow up?

Click to expand...

Yea and if it happened already and you're over a certain mileage they will only cover a certain percentage. If it happens at 100,001 you're just plain beat. Basically they dont expect anyone to keep their cars past 100k lmao very interesting.

notovicrious said:

Yea and if it happened already and you're over a certain mileage they will only cover a certain percentage. If it happens at 100,001 you're just plain beat. Basically they dont expect anyone to keep their cars past 100k lmao very interesting.

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They never really have. Ask owners of OG VWs and how much drivetrain upkeep is required to hang onto those cars past 10yr/100k miles.

You have to remember, this is a class action suit settlement directed by the courts, VW never admitted there is a problem.

Got the letter in the mail this week, I sent in my information. This happened to me ~3 years ago ago, was 51,000 miles and just over 5 years. Dealer didn't want to cover it, and were "nice enough" to just cover the labor. Still spent about 3.5k to repair the engine!! Good thing I kept the receipts, car is long gone now tho. Wonder if I'll get paid...

I guess these GTIs are now a poor-man's Porsche 996 with the IMS bearing...

Wonder what effect tuning up the motor (was considering APR1 since I was out of the original powertrain warranty) would have on cars with this original timing chain setup.

Dawg82 said:

Wonder what effect tuning up the motor (was considering APR1 since I was out of the original powertrain warranty) would have on cars with this original timing chain setup.

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I have a 2010 with the bad tensioner that has been APR stage 2 for the last seven years without issue. I'm religious with maintenance and recently had the carbon cleaning done fwiw.

I'm approaching the 10 year 100,00 mile cutoff; what's a ballpark price for getting a new tensioner?

From what the dealership told me in regards to the extended warranty, if they can trace a CEL back to the failure of the timing chain components then any damage cause by it will be covered. So you'll basically have to wait until the tensioner fails and wrecks the engine, then pay to have it towed to the dealership, then pay the dealership's outrageous diagnostics fee, all while hoping that VW won't pull some BS excuse to why they won't cover it.

Wouldn't a tuning package void the VW powertrain warranty?

Shoehat said:

I have a 2010 with the bad tensioner that has been APR stage 2 for the last seven years without issue. I'm religious with maintenance and recently had the carbon cleaning done fwiw.

I'm approaching the 10 year 100,00 mile cutoff; what's a ballpark price for getting a new tensioner?

Click to expand...

My understanding was any aftermarket tuning (whether just software or engine mods) voids the warranty.

Dawg82 said:

My understanding was any aftermarket tuning (whether just software or engine mods) voids the warranty.

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Yes. BUT, some dealerships (ahem, or their employees) are willing to look the other way for the business. I always put my car back in stock tune when it goes in for service, but I've got enough mods that if you were looking over my car you might think it's tuned.

AND, my ECU went bad at 12k and was replaced under warranty; took a week and they gave me a car.

BUT, you're right; my chain could go tomorrow and they could easily deny me.

I have an 08.5 GTi and recieved my letter in the mail.. i replaced the chain and tensioner due to mileage and known failure.. However, from what i understand i will not be reimbursed unless the tensioner failed?

Given I have 70K miles and 7.5 years on my GTI, I'm not expecting much from VW if the timing chain goes. Will be interested in seeing any answer to what the preventive maintenance costs.

I just got mine in the mail too, I’m going to read it over as soon as I get home.

<edit #1>

Its kind of late, but I managed to skim over it and a few things that I noticed right away. The most important thing is that this settlement has not been approved yet. According to page 8, section 19, the court will hold a fairness hearing at 11:00 AM on 11/19/2018 to either approve or deny the settlement. (More on this later.)



Additionally, this settlement seems like a contradiction. On page 2 it states,'Volkswagen has denied the claims and maintains the timing chains and timing chain tensioners function in a proper manner.'


So, they are NOT admitting to any problems with the parts in question, however they are offering partial reimbursement for out of pocket costs to damaged engines and an extended warranty for folks that haven't had the part fail and destroy the engine. Since the court has not approved this settlement, this is still time to change this as an extended warranty is unacceptable if you ask me. Either way, if you read page 7, there is a way of objecting the settlement altogether and I'm leaning on doing so. It's a stretch, but perhaps with more voices, we can get VW to admit fault, fully reimburse folks that paid out of pocket, and at risk tensioners fixed. (Thoughts on this?)

(I need sleep, but I'll try and read through this document more thoroughly tomorrow. I'm also going to find time to call the attorneys assigned to this case as well.)


<edit #2>

So I just called the claim's line and straight up said: My tensioner has yet to fail @ 78k miles. Followed by the question: Under this new extended warranty, can I bring my GTI into a dealership, have them inspect it, and replace the tensioner because it's potentially faulty? The answer given: It wasn't a direct yes, but because the warranty covers the tensioner in question, the claims representative said that VW 'should' honor the warranty and replace it if they find that it's faulty. Moreover, she advised that I call the dealership to confirm as this is a grey area in the settlement agreement.


My next step is to obviously call a dealer, which I will do either today or tomorrow if I have enough time.