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Disgruntled and frustrated at the woes of their vehicles and appalled at the poor after sales afforded by some authorized service centres, a group of VW owners gathered at Menara Volkswagen, headquarters of Volkswagen Group Malaysia to deliver a letter of demand to the Managing Director of Volkswagen Group Malaysia (VGM). The gathering of some close to 50 vehicles was organised by Mr Leon Loke, a Volkswagen vehicle owner himself and it took 2 weeks to organize via Facebook.

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Among the demands include:-

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  1. All transmissions and engines warranty to be revised from the present 5 years to 10 years and is extended to all new and presently owned vehicles.
  2. Warranty shall not be affected as long as the vehicle is serviced within a stipulated service mileage tolerance of 3,000km
  3. Volkswagen to replace the 3 years extended warranty (provided by insurance companies who, according to owners take far too long to approve warranty claims and find any ways and means to negate warranty and disavow any responsibility to replace any component that is normally covered under the full 5-years warranty.
  4. Volkswagen to provide a long term solution to the DSG 7, DSG6 transmission, engine failure and other unreliable parts (such as coil packs) and components, some of which are claimed to have been replaced as frequently as 3 times a year.
  5. No additional charges should be imposed to customers for parts related or indirectly to the warranty repair.
  6. Addressing the perceived discriminatory action with regards to the implementation of service recalls in other countries such as Singapore.

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Christoph Aringer, Managing Director of VGM mentioned that “Customer satisfaction is an integral component of Volkswagen Group Malaysia, as it contributes directly to the growth and development of our brand locally. Based on the feedback we have garnered from our customers, we are taking steps to increase the levels of service quality and customer satisfaction in order to meet the needs and expectations of discerning Malaysian drivers.”

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In line with this, Volkswagen Group Malaysia has recently announced that 20 authorised Volkswagen service centres in Peninsular Malaysia will open on Sundays from 9.00am to 5.00pm for maintenance service starting from 16 March 2014, providing Volkswagen owners with greater flexibility and convenience in maintaining their vehicles. Volkswagen owners only need to make an appointment a few working days before their desired service on Sundays in order to secure an appointment with their preferred service centre. The list of Sunday-open SCs are as follows:-

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No

Service Center

Contact No.

1

Volkswagen Georgetown 04 2826 333

2

Volkswagen Glenmarie 03 5567 0691

3

Volkswagen Ipoh 05 5063 133

4

Volkswagen Jalan Ipoh 03 6259 6669

5

Volkswagen Juru 04 5022 999

6

Volkswagen PJ 03 7960 0801

7

Volkswagen Sungai Besi 03 9236 2929

8

Volkswagen Skudai 07 237 9301

9

Volkswagen TTDI 03 7725 3303

10

CNB Auto Sdn Bhd (Klang) 03 3318 8526

11

CNB Auto Sdn Bhd (Old Klang Road) 03 7983 3226

12

CNB Auto Sdn Bhd (Tebrau) 07 3617 860

13

F.A Wagen Sdn Bhd (Alor Setar) 04 7301 846

14

F.A Wagen Sdn Bhd (Sg. Petani) 04 4411 006

15

Hicom Auto Sdn Bhd (Bayan Baru) 04 6408 808

16

Hicom Auto Sdn Bhd (Cheras) 03 9074 3702

17

Hicom Auto Sdn Bhd (Seremban) 06 6321 551

18

MHV Autohaus Sdn Bhd 03 4026 9200

19

N3 Auto Sdn Bhd 06 2822 422

20

Swire Motor Sdn Bhd (Puchong) 03 5882 7288

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Also earlier this year, Volkswagen has announced that “Within the framework of the continuous monitoring of vehicles in the field, Quality Assurance at Volkswagen AG has found that in vehicles with a seven-speed dual-clutch DSG gearbox (DQ200), electric malfunctions could occur in rare cases in the gearbox power supply if synthetic gearbox oil is used. This applies in particular if the vehicle is subject to a hot and humid climate, coupled with a high proportion of stop-and-go driving.

“Studies have established that using mineral oil will rectify this problem.”

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A large number of those who showed up today expressed disappointment at the dismal level of service rendered by some of the authorised service centres they had to deal with in the course of vehicle ownership. Complaints ranging from lack of service slots and requiring to wait weeks (thereby elevating the risk of voiding warranty), shoddy service with inappropriate parts and repair methodology, the lack of courtesy cars while their cars are stuck in the SC, damage sustained when the car is at the workshop due to carelessness are made loud and clear by owners who feel they are misled by the company’s promise of 5-years warranty with mobility assured. As VGM does not operate any service centres directly, the 3S dealer and SC network plays a crucial role in determining which way the customer satisfaction pendulum swings. Mr Aringer has given his assurance that the dealership network is being evaluated and improved with the implementation of an improved customer relations management system which would allow a vehicle’s history to be shared across the network.

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Sales of Volkswagen in Malaysia has suffered a 26% decline between 2012 and 2013 (Source) and it is a trend VGM cannot afford to allow to continue. So far, sales has improved in the corresponding months of 2014 vs 2013 and if Volkswagen wants to continue to regain its market share, it cannot afford to ignore grievances such as this. The scope of the complaints isn’t isolated and neither are they a single type; component failure, poor dealership performance and insurance warranty issues are as different as someone complaining that his engine, tires and radio isn’t working well. Individually, each of these issues require different approaches, with different levels of complexities to tackle. Having personally experienced the ups and downs of servicing woes of Peugeot and Volkswagen, I personally believe it is not impossible to change; just need a little bit of time, commitment and resources, all executed in a timely, organised manner. Everything starts with the dealers as they are the front liners. Being in sales for so many years, customer loyalty is never gained in the sales but in after-sales.

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At the end of the day, I firmly believe the angrier the client, the greater the chance of turning them into raging fans if the proper steps are taken to meet and exceed their expectations. All things considered, there is only one way to go after this: UP!

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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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9 Comments

  1. lowprofile
    March 14, 2014 at 9:39 am — Reply

    having a grace period of 3,000km to perform a service is just ridiculous. those people should just plan ahead and not assume that european marques operate like the japanese (my assumption is that most of them were previous japanese car owners).

    the rest seem fair enough until vw comes up with a permanent fix to the transmission matter.

    • kopite
      March 14, 2014 at 11:53 am — Reply

      Bro, I’ve called for a service appointment and was told the next slot available is in 3 weeks time! In 3 weeks, I might over shot my scheldule by 500km that that will void my warranty. If I were to book my appointment when I hit 12,000km that means I’m servicing too early. So, what’s your suggestion? Wait til the car clocked 14,800km and park at home til the appointment date?

      • March 14, 2014 at 11:58 am — Reply

        Locate another SC. Mine was due a few days ago …. managed to book a slot to service tomorrow morning but that call was made 2 weeks ago. Perhaps you can call and check which SC can do it earlier. Don’t take the risk, bro!

      • farq
        April 2, 2014 at 10:36 am — Reply

        Scheduling for service is within the owner’s control. Blaming it to others only shows your lack of accountability and sheer attitude of passing the buck around. It’s the same scenario when you’re planning to arrive an interview on time. Do you blame it on the traffic? Do you question whether you should leave 1 hr earlier and reach 1/2 hr early doing nothing? If you can’t manage a simple thing as sending your car service on time, I’m not sure what else you can manage in life.

        In summary, I agree that asking for a 3000km grace period is absurd. Do you ask for a 1 hour grace period when attending an interview? You will certainly lose the job even before you’re hired.

        • Eng Michael
          July 10, 2014 at 3:33 pm — Reply

          You comparison is illogic, job interview and service appointing?

          and you must have drive a VW before. All owner experience the same that can’t even get them answer phone call.

          Get yourself a VW, experience the pain before pretending hero.

  2. StevieG
    March 14, 2014 at 11:31 pm — Reply

    Hey Ken, wht’s your take on the mineral oil mentioned by VW would solve the dsg issue? Is it proven?

  3. arman
    April 7, 2014 at 9:40 am — Reply

    3000km grace timing might sound absurd but comparing booking a service slot to attending an interview is ridiculous. When people paid north of 100k, they expect some kind of service. what more when you are about to buy, the salesman refuted your claim of difficulty in getting to service your car. If your house is within 50km radius from more than 1 service centres, then you may the option of choosing.. What about those in Ipoh? Three times I went to the service centre and on all occasions, the bays were full, not to mention I had to make a return journey of 260km.. This is what holding me back from getting a volkswagen..

  4. Chris
    July 23, 2014 at 5:05 pm — Reply

    Volkswagen After Sales is ridiculously disappointing. I would not buy another VW unless their service improves.

    I have just get my car towed 4 days ago to TTDI branch service center because of coolant leakage. Until now, there is not even inspection done (forget about getting it fixed). All I got from them is asking me to WAIT, even the Assistant Manager was giving me such remarks. Hello, I paid 200k for such service? It looks likely that I will be without my car for minimum of 3 weeks and it may well go beyond 1 month. Absolutely unacceptable given that it is just coolant leakage which I believe can be fixed within days (if not in a day).

    This is what I get paying for 200k? Well, I guess proton & perodua can do much better than this. Shall VW pay for my car installment this month since they are ‘holding’ my car back for a month??

  5. Manikir
    September 15, 2014 at 2:21 pm — Reply

    The problem with VW is profit maximization and level of competency of Master Technician…U probably would be surprised that the Sales guy are better knowledged but again VW will fail if this short-term profit making attitude remains…

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