Recently we came across a VW owner who shared his problem with his 1-year plus VW Passat B7. Mr Simran Singh discovered his parking brake has malfunctioned and could not disengage. So he had it towed to an authorised service centre (in this case, Wing Hin Autohaus in Balakong) for diagnosis and claims that after 1 1/2 months, he was informed that the central wiring harness needs to be replaced and it is not covered under warranty since it was caused by external factors.

Simran states that he was given three options at this point:-

  1. Pay RM52,882.98 to replace the wiring harness and the remaining 3 1/2 years of warranty remains intact
  2. The authorized SC will reconnect the wires under the supervision of Volkswagen Group Malaysia (VGM) technical team. Warranty would be void and repair fee to be borne by the owner
  3. Bring the vehicle to a 3rd party, non-authorised SC. Warranty would be void and repair fee to be borne by the owner

As a person familiar with various automotive brands, I am aware that what a car owner understands and what the service centre conveys may be different having personally experienced incidences where the service centre tells me one thing and was told something else when I called the brand’s careline. Misunderstandings are common, more so when tempers are high.

Many of us were shocked at the high cost involved in Simran’s case and it drew as many questions as 1MDB’s opaque operations. So in delving deeper into this case, here are the top 5 questions asked and the best possible answers we could think of.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions shared here are strictly my own and does not constitute as an official response from VGM or any party. It is based on a few hours consultation with “Dr Google”, coupled with a few decades of running a non-automotive related business , feedback from friends working in the automotive sector and a little bit of common sense. 

 

1. WHY SO EXPENSIVE? VW MALAYSIA CUT THROAT?

Not exactly. Simran wrote to Singapore VW asking for a quote and here’s the reply:-

 

IMG_5459

The quote that came back from Singapore Volkswagen was SGD9,600 – 10,000. Assuming the exchange rate for SGD is 1:RM2.95, even taking the maximum SGD10k isn’t as much as what Wing Hin is asking. So is VGM overcharging here? Not quite.

Malaysia Customs slaps a 25% import tax + 6% GST on any incoming part.

Singapore, in contrast only impose a 7% GST. That’s already a huge discrepancy.

And when you factor in our currency exchange, you’ll see why it’s cheaper there.

That said, it is still an ludicrous amount of money. In my research, I found that these wires are usually made to order and those who purchase must provide the vehicle identification number (VIN). You can’t just buy it off a hardware shop. Also, the Passat’s central wire harness is a single piece compared to other makes which may be sectional, making less expensive to replace. Don’t ask me why they designed the wires like that.

engineer

 

2. WHY DON’T JUST RECONNECT THOSE DAMN WIRES AND CALL IT A DAY? 

They could and it certainly wouldn’t cost 5-figures.

Unfortunately, not all damages are so easily diagnosed and when the vehicle’s on-board diagnostic cannot be relied upon, you’d have to do the repair sequentially to see what other components are damaged. For instance, you can’t tell what’s wrong with a smart phone without first replacing a faulty battery, can you?

In this instance, the wires are seen damaged from the outside. If it is indeed caused by rodents, there’s no telling how far down the line are damaged. Changing the whole wiring harness may be the safest bet but may not be the most economical solution.

Also, companies have strict SOP laid down by HQ that must be followed. In this case, such a damage would require the harness to be replaced, not reconnected. I work in a subsidiary company and I am very familiar with this policy where any form of ‘repair’ is seen as a ‘modification‘ and as such, factory will not cover warranty. It’s on the head of the local representative if things go wrong.

 

modification

Yes, you can be arrested if you drive with pliers instead of a steering wheel

 

3. WHY ISN’T THIS PART COVERED UNDER WARRANTY?

Warranties are there to cover against vehicle defects. In this case, it is not a defect but a problem caused by an external source. This also applies for owners who miss scheduled maintenance or gets their vehicle serviced by unauthorized workshops; If anything fails, the onus of proving the vehicle failed because of an inherent defect falls on the owner, not the manufacturer. And it’s not just VW – ALL vehicle manufacturers do not offer warranty coverage for such damage in warranty.

There were also some who claimed the wires are from China and as such, are susceptible to rodent attacks. If this were true, we’d be hearing more Passat failures than just this particular case. That said, a couple of workshops specializing in continental makes did share with me that they note rats seem to favor European brands more than Asian. No empirical data to back this up, I’m afraid.

Also, some mentioned that VGM was clearing old stocks and perhaps the animal attack occurred while it was parked in the warehouse. I’ve heard of tires needing change, batteries failing but rat-attack? Nope, and it should be pointed out that if this was true, there’s no way the vehicle can last so long on the roads.

mobility guarantee

 

4. THE VEHICLE’S WARRANTY IS VOID?

We all have that one friend who takes his fresh-out-of-showroom car immediately to a tires shop and upsize the rims to the biggest size possible. When asked about warranty, some of them couldn’t care less. After all, the only warranty sacrificed by the owner are wheels related such as suspensions, springs, etc. Nothing a few after market parts can solve.

Similarly here, not the entire vehicle’s warranty is compromised. At the worse case scenario, only those components directly related to the harness are affected but other things such as engine and gearbox still have their warranty intact.

IMG_3791

 

 

5. WHAT ARE OUR OPTIONS?

We all know after sales support isn’t VW’s strong suit at this point of time. Heck, I’ve been on the (bad) receiving end more than a couple of times and the worse part is some service centres don’t give due acknowledgement nor demonstrate sufficient empathy to us owners whenever our vehicle is down. VGM has enhanced its customer relation centre with its toll free number 1800-88-8947.

In other words, if you feel you’re unsatisfied with certain dealerships (ie promised to get back to you but never do), you may call this number which leads you to a  team of individuals who will follow-up on your behalf and keep tabs on the status of your vehicle repair. Do try to reach them only during business hours, though.

 

All in all, replacing the entire central wire harness is extremely rare because there are alternatives. Technical issues come in many forms and some cases don’t have a straight fix. Ultimately it is critical to understand the concerns of the customers and work from there. I hope Simran gets his car back soon (without selling a kidney, preferably) and VW Malaysia can improve on customer engagement.

Meanwhile, maybe I should get a pet snake and bring it along with me – heard they love rat snacks.

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kensomuse

Though working in a field completely unrelated to the automotive industry, kenso has always had an interest in dabbling into the automotive industry, particularly business related aspects such as sales, marketing, strategic planning, blah blah blah. You can probably find better sources of technical specifications elsewhere if you dig long enough in the internet as this blog talks about the real life ramifications of who, what, where, when and why of the automotive world and focuses on relevant information to potential buyers.

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18 Comments

  1. TY
    May 24, 2016 at 10:25 pm — Reply

    May I ask if you were in Sinram’s shoe. What will you do and why?

    • TY
      May 25, 2016 at 7:44 am — Reply

      If i were in his shoe i will 1st find alternative solution eg even drive in to singapore vg for replacement….after which i will eventually find an alternative vehicle for replacement.

  2. Elvis
    May 25, 2016 at 7:55 am — Reply

    He left his car for one and a half month there. This is the kind of service you can expect for buying this crap brand. They just dont care .

  3. Sam
    May 25, 2016 at 7:57 am — Reply

    R u willing to pay rm50k to replace the wire harness for just a 11/2 yr old car? That is bullshit

  4. Kelvin
    May 25, 2016 at 1:41 pm — Reply

    Lesson learned, VW is meant for rich people, I mean people earning 500K and above per year, someone who has a few cars at home then don’t bother with the price tag when repairing the car. Else, don’t buy VW.

  5. Wong Kok Nai
    May 25, 2016 at 3:28 pm — Reply

    The price is just ridiculous. Try to buy online if you know the exact part or you can get people to copy from the original.

    • May 28, 2016 at 8:58 am — Reply

      Just reconnect it la. Buying online doesn’t guarantee it’ll all work properly too

  6. thyeo
    May 25, 2016 at 7:25 pm — Reply

    i would take vag to consumer court. how come an UFO animal could bite the wires? shouldn’t they be concealed to the extent possible. I think got reasonable chance leh if you were the judge…

    • May 28, 2016 at 8:57 am — Reply

      You can as it is your right. But personally, I think the chances of winning would be slim

  7. MFH
    May 26, 2016 at 9:13 am — Reply

    This made me think twice to buy my cousin Golf Gti MK6.. Hurmm

    • May 28, 2016 at 8:57 am — Reply

      As mentioned, changing the whole wiring harness is rare. Go drive your cousin’s GTI more 🙂

  8. Wei
    May 26, 2016 at 6:30 pm — Reply

    The whole story seems making sense. But to VW should do a better job ensure cost effectiveness. Remembered someone mentioned his Lexus was also replaced with same part at the cost only 10K.

    You are telling people VW is better than Lexus by 5 times as we are paying five times the money to replace the same part. To translate in other word, the Lexus is cheaper car compare to VW.

    Thr car price tag is 180K and asking 50K for the part replacement. How much a Lexus worth and they only asking for 10K.

  9. May 27, 2016 at 2:35 pm — Reply

    if the news is right, then certainly some people might have badly chosen a new car.

    but if you see the date, the invoice was effective on 1st of April. certainly it is a bad april fool joke for the owner.

    • May 28, 2016 at 8:41 am — Reply

      Sadly, it was no joke as the quote did come from an SC and is validated. All other information, including the source from Singapore correlates to the information.

      If this was a joke, then it has backfired spectacularly on the brand with the amount of awareness it generated.

  10. Nari Bhullar
    May 31, 2016 at 11:19 am — Reply

    Internationally,VG have been known to lie; why not now a face saving excersize. Rats, pleaase VG explain how many rats could have done such expensive damage.

    I remember the old ad ‘if only everything in life was as reliable as a VG’

    I am certainly not getting one!!

  11. konphuse
    August 24, 2016 at 1:53 pm — Reply

    Ask yourself this, why would the rats/rodents bite on the wire in the first place?????

  12. calvin ng
    November 10, 2018 at 8:08 am — Reply

    this is business bro.if you make a good long lasting quality car who gonna buy your parts? simple as dat.

  13. Nabil Dev
    December 10, 2019 at 5:13 pm — Reply

    Seriously nonsense , Come la , Even a Proton cover 5 years of warranty include with the wiring where the car don’t even cost more than 100K , my cousin`s Inspira got issues after the tuned the car for more performance with unauthorized workshop and due to that the wiring which effected as well the ECU and without any hesitation Proton said they will cover it under warranty and the car was 4 years old.. but in this case you bought 100K over priced car and they can simply say its not cover under warranty.

    The central wiring harness effected due to their stupid engineering / design.and they have to cover that under warranty , let’s say Mr Singh replace it with 52K and after few months the same issue started and VW wants Mr Singh to spend another 52K

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