[buddha]

UplPosting on behalf of a friend:

My Jetta Highline AT given for service and minor repair to VW Capital's workshop was stolen by their night guard at around 3.30 am on 17th July 2016. My car registered in June 2012 had done only 15589 kms and was in excellent condition.

VW Capital initially tried to wriggle out of any responsibility claiming my insurance was adequate compensation. Now trying to fob me off with 2012 cars run more than 48000 kms claiming 2012 car with less than 16000 kms is not available in the market.

All complaints to VW elicits an automated response saying that my complaint has been forwarded to VW Capital for resolution. It appears both do not want to own up for negligent and deficient service causing huge financial loss to me. Shame that such a well known brand can treat their loyal customers in such a lackadaisical and uncaring manner. Shocking.

I am at the mercy of a well-known though uncaring company and their unscrupulous recalcitrant and venal dealer.

[RajaTaurus]

What about Police investigation of that security guard or is he still not traceable? This is sad and scary too. It is not something that can be hidden. And Capital offering replacement junk could mean they are somehow involved or have knowledge about its whereabouts.

[petrolhead_chn]

Originally Posted by buddha

Posting on behalf of a friend:

My Jetta Highline AT given for service and minor repair to VW Capital's workshop was stolen by their night guard at around 3.30 am on 17th July 2016. My car registered in June 2012 had done only 15589 kms and was in excellent condition.

VW Capital initially tried to wriggle out of any responsibility claiming my insurance was adequate compensation. Now trying to fob me off with 2012 cars run more than 48000 kms claiming 2012 car with less than 16000 kms is not available in the market.

All complaints to VW elicits an automated response saying that my complaint has been forwarded to VW Capital for resolution. It appears both do not want to own up for negligent and deficient service causing huge financial loss to me. Shame that such a well known brand can treat their loyal customers in such a lackadaisical and uncaring manner. Shocking.

I am at the mercy of a well-known though uncaring company and their unscrupulous recalcitrant and venal dealer.

I am sorry hear about the incident. It is so paining to read such instances. The moment they offer to replace car is evident that they have accepted their mistake. From hereon the outcome depends on how you pin them down with choice of words and persistence. Document everything - email, voice, text, etc.,

[SmartCat]

That's why I strongly recommend installing plug-and-play GPS trackers for cars. As long as would-be thieves are not aware of its existence, you will get your car back. It's not just your car being stolen, you can also find out if somebody is using your car for chores/joyride at the dealership.

My Honda already has Honda Connect. I'm considering the following options for my Suzuki -

AutoWiz.in
MaymyIndia DriveMate
TrakNTell.com

These devices cost around Rs. 7,000 plus Rs. 2000 per year as data charges, and are connected to OBD port all the time. Small price to pay for the security. You do get other "features" like Trip analysis etc - but all those are mostly useless.

Treat the GPS Tracker as an add-on cost to your insurance policy.

[GrammarNazi]

This is just terrible! I'd go bonkers if this happened to me!

And whats worse is that the dealers trying to fool an aggrieved customer!

I hope they've provided a loaner car till the issue is resolved to its logical conclusion.

EoD, its rather saddening to see this apathetic attitude from Volkswagen.

While the car is in a VW Service Station, its supposed to be covered by the dealers Service Center Insurance, NOT the owners car insurance.

As a service center, they are adequately aware of the safety precautions necessary to secure cars that might come in with defects in locks etc. Unless they've made necessary arrangements to adequately secure the car, they shouldn't have accepted to keep the car in their custody. And if they've accepted the car despite the nonexistence of such arrangements, then its their all-the-more duty to keep safe-custody of vehicles.

Since its already ~45days, I would advise your friend to file a lawsuit against the dealer claiming its a loss due to their negligence of not having safety precautions to keep the car secure enough to prevent such an incident.

[mijnoirhammer67]

When you hand over the car to them, they usually make you sign a letter stating the car is their responsibility. Ask your friend if he/she signed so and so. I always have my cars picked up from my place, so i always have it signed. In that paper, it should state the car becomes their responsibility. If the car is stolen and they are admitting it too, report to the police if not done already. Ask your lawyer and consult a lawful policeman on what your friend should do next. If this policeman is an ally, he'll tell you the best thing that can be done. Whether they are able to track it or not, you should file a lawsuit claiming damages. The aggravation they have caused your friend, the time and energy spent by him/her on this mishap should be compensated. It is completely unacceptable that such a thing has happened. Your friend should not settle for an older car, either they get them a brand new one or they pay back the amount your friend has paid for the car. Stolen property is an insurance'mans liability, but not if its stolen from the service centre.
Keep pestering and send them a official letter stating you have lodged a police claim. Inform the RTO and insurance company, and send them the police complain too. Along with the complain, send your RC too. Mail Volkswagen India, Capital dealers and also mail Volkswagen head office in Germany. ESCALATE THIS TO THE MOST ABSOLUTE LEVEL POSSIBLE.

If i were your friend, Id use all my means to shut this service centre down.

EDIT: I just re read it and saw the date, if its been 45 days and they haven't given him/her a new car yet. Boy oh boy, send legal notices. If your friend has to spend 1 lakh rupees to bring back his 15 lakh car, then bloody do it. They should have given him a new car already. If they can't find a new car, a loaner car has to be handed out. And not a lower model, a Jetta or more. The sterner you are, or your friend is, the more seriously this will be dealt with. Let this be an example for everyone out there.

[akshaymahajan]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_chn

Now that they lost a customer's car, they'd fear if that instance would recur to their 'dear' loaner cars and eventually they must have turned down the request or pretend they heard nothing the customer's request for a loaner car.

Now that we are on this topic, what happens if a loaner gets stolen from outside my house when i have it? I doubt my insurance covers that!

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_chn

Now that they lost a customer's car, they'd fear if that instance would recur to their 'dear' loaner cars and eventually they must have turned down the request or pretend they heard nothing the customer's request for a loaner car.

Even I felt so, but dealers need to be mature.

Its not like its never happened that a disgruntled customer takes the most expensive TD vehicle from their showroom, crashes it & walks away.

Even I was shocked when I read that such extreme things DO happen !

Because, if a TD car "develops a snag" & the car crashes, the legal liability is on the dealer (moreover it's almost impossible to prove that the drivers action was deliberate).

Why? Because after spending 20L & meticulously maintained his/her prized possession, for months together a person is stressed, quite possibly along with his family. Getting ridiculous offers from the dealer makes things worse.

Imagine the mental state of the person.

[vagabond128]

Originally Posted by smartcat

As long as would-be thieves are not aware of its existence, you will get your car back.

Just curious, how easy or difficult would it be for a professional car thief to find and disable GPS tracker?

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by vagabond128

Just curious, how easy or difficult would it be for a professional car thief to find and disable GPS tracker?

It's just a matter of finding where the OBD port is and pulling out the GPS tracker. For now, it's unlikely that even a professional car thief will look for GPS tracker in the car. Because only a microscopic percentage of cars are equipped with these.

Note sure if it helps - but if the GPS tracker is removed from the OBD port, you will get a notification on your smartphone.

[crdi]

It is good that the dealer has owned up and offered a replacement. That leaves some scope for a dialogue, unlike the kawasaki fiasco. They might be true about inability to find a low mileage car. However it will be difficult to compensate a well loved first owner car with a used one even if it is low mileage. Hope the parties reach an amicable settlement.

[sgiitk]

There are two issues - as per the waiver we all sign when handing the car over, we are responsible for any loss or damages. However, the car was nicked by their own staff, so the waiver may be tough for them to enforce. Also, if they nick it (staff is same as them) then why should I damage my NCB etc!

The other one is ethical and also of customer relations. Here they (dealer or VW) should recompense the customer to his entire satisfaction. I will say replace the car with a new one. We all love our cars, and will be extremely unhappy with an old one as replacement. Neither the dealer nor VW will go bust on this!

[drive_angry]

Originally Posted by smartcat

It's just a matter of finding where the OBD port is and pulling out the GPS tracker. For now, it's unlikely that even a professional car thief will look for GPS tracker in the car. Because only a microscopic percentage of cars are equipped with these.

Note sure if it helps - but if the GPS tracker is removed from the OBD port, you will get a notification on your smartphone.

You sir have really got me intrigued in getting one for myself. Please do share your experiences if you have got one already.

Also, if you don't mind me asking, where is generally OBD port located at? near the fuse box?

and, if a professional car thief manages to remove this device from OBD port, do we get last known location along with the removal alert as well? what if we are not connected to internet at time? thanks!

drive_angry

[humyum]

Originally Posted by drive_angry

You sir have really got me intrigued in getting one for myself. Please do share your experiences if you have got one already.

Also, if you don't mind me asking, where is generally OBD port located at? near the fuse box?

and, if a professional car thief manages to remove this device from OBD port, do we get last known location along with the removal alert as well? what if we are not connected to internet at time? thanks!

drive_angry

The OBD port is located at such a place that it's not easily visible to the naked eye in most cars so the chances of a thief seeing it are less and even if he did, he would not suspect people in India to have actually spent money and got a GPS or he would think its part of the car's working and if he pulled it out, the car would not work or sound an alarm.

OBD ports are generally located away from the naked eye and only someone who knows a particular car would get his hands on it at the first go.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by drive_angry

Also, if you don't mind me asking, where is generally OBD port located at? near the fuse box?

By specification, the OBD-II connector is required to be within 2 feet of the steering wheel. Typically its found below the dashboard on the driver's side.

Check out a4anurag's nice thread on OBD for more info: On Board Diagnostics (OBD) for Dummies (On Board Diagnostics (OBD) for Dummies)

Originally Posted by humyum

OBD ports are generally located away from the naked eye and only someone who knows a particular car would get his hands on it at the first go.

If a thief knows or suspects an OBD device is in use, he can very quickly check the port. But as smartcat said, only very few thieves would suspect such a device is in use for mass-market cars, so its unlikely they'll ever think of checking for this.