Think twice before purchasing a Volkswagen with a chain driven overhead camshaft engine - and this includes almost all VW engines, and some Audi engines. I am relating my experience here to alert others to the problem.
First, my Volkswagen was meticulously maintained and carefully driven for 52,000 miles. In that time it had 15 oil and filter changes - an average of once every 3300 miles - more than twice the VW recommendation. But still a engine mechanical failure at 52,000 miles (2,000 after the warranty ran out) resulted in major repairs. The “check engine” light came on indicating a fault detected by the “camshaft position sensor”. The VW authorized dealer diagnosed it as needing replacement of the timing chain and associated components - at a cost of over four thousand dollars (view itemized invoice below).
After the engine was torn down the intermediate sprocket was found to be badly worn - almost to the point of being completely rounded. The sprocket obviously was not properly hardened or heat treated so the failure began the day the engine was first started. It's no wonder the timing chain had jumped. A search of the internet shows this to be a known problem, although it usually shows up before 50,000 miles. So VW is well aware of it.
A call to Volkswagen Customer Relations for warranty help was denied. I then asked them if they could verify the extent of the failure; was it really that bad - did it really need $2500 worth of parts? They said no to this request too. They made it clear that the problem was mine and mine alone.
The VW response strengthened my belief that the expensive failure was a known Volkswagen engine problem. Properly lubricated, a timing chain should last for 200,000 miles or more. Only the weakest mind could believe that wear to this degree was normal. The sprocket was sadly defective from the day it was installed. If this were a rare failure they should be concerned and would want to determine the cause of the failure. But, if it were a common failure they would presumably be well aware of it and deny any interest or obligation, as they did.
On the surface the Volkswagen/Audi engineering seems to be equal to the best. But experience shows it to be a series of ill-conceived errors that are VERY EXPENSIVE for the consumer. Placing the apparently under-engineered timing chain at the rear of the engine required removal of both the engine and the transmission from the vehicle to service it. This greatly upped the labor bill. In addition, the charge for just the short-lived VW engine parts was devastating. $2532.62! And Volkswagen would accept no responsibility citing the fact that the vehicle was now out of warranty.
As if the mechanical problems were not enough, the vehicle was in the dealership service department for over seven weeks before the repairs were completed, most of the time waiting for parts.
This failure probably contributes to the Consumer Reports tables that generally rate Volkswagen vehicles much lower than similar competitive Asian vehicles. As CEO Jacoby was quoted in a May 15, 2008 USA Today article, VW "did a lot of things wrong" to earn a U.S. reputation as unreliable and costly to maintain. He also said, "our warranty costs are down considerably." I'm sure he's right - on both counts.
My experience prove the Volkswagen purchase to be a costly error. I have owned many different motor vehicles over the last 47 years. Some I liked more than others, but this Volkswagen is the first and only one that I have ever disliked.
After my experience I will avoid any Volkswagen or Audi product, especially since there are many vehicles out there with predictably much higher reliability and certainly no worse customer care. My VW has turned out to be a poor value - and Volkswagen has denied any responsibility.
John Rees
Blacklick, Ohio
Email: jerees@att.net
Update: I sent a email of explanation as well as a link to this page to Volkswagen of America CEO Stefan Jacoby (frequently spelled Stephen Jacoby in the media) and other executives. It was blocked by the lower level "Customer Care" people. I then sent it to Volkswagen of Germany. They forwarded it to the Volkswagen of America executive office. But, it was received by some lower level person who admitted that she "had heard" of the timing chain problem. However, she said that it was she alone who decided what Volkswagen of America CEO Stefan (Stephan) Jacoby and other executives would view. And she decided that they would not receive my email or view the web page.
Additional update: Ms Kathrene "Katie" Fox, the person who "had heard" of the timing chain problem, and who purports to be in the Volkswagen of America executive office, again called me to report that there would be no coverage of my defective sprocket, "until there is a recall...and that has not yet happened." She also reiterated that she did stop my communication to Volkswagen of America CEO Stefan (Stephan) Jacoby and other VW executives, but that she did send a summary of my summary - whatever that is.
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We have been speculating about just what a summary of our summary reported to the VW CEO looked like. Our best guess is: "Mr. Jacoby, our customer, Mr. Rees, has a web page about his VR6 engine problem. But actually it is a bad news and good news situation. The bad news is that another one of those timing chain sprockets that wasn't properly heat treated failed. That is bad. But the good news is that it was 2000 miles out of warranty, so we are off the hook. The even better news is that we sold him over $2500 worth of parts to repair it - all at a handsome profit." Now maybe that is not exactly what Ms. Fox reported, but then if she didn't send the web page, what might she have said. |
Further update: I have received a number of requests for photos of the badly worn sprocket. Unfortunately the dealer did not return it, even though I requested it. However, it does show up on a number of the photos I took of the engine when it was separated from the transmission on the work bench. One of the photos is displayed here, showing the new sprocket installed and the old sprocket on the workbench, both of which are further enlarged.