Aallegra.138
net.vwrabbit
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!mhtsa!allegra!rdg
Mon Nov 23 22:51:56 1981
alternator bracket
The alternator bracket on my 1980 diesel rabbit cracked Saturday.
Only 30 months and 2 kmi old! The part, 068 199 351 A, costs about
$23. To make an otherwise long story short, the part appeared to
have contained a small crack even when the car was new, yet failed
after the warrantee had elapsed. (Figures, you say? Then read on...)
Pre-existing crack condition was evidenced by (1) rust appearing on
50% of the face of the cracked surface (2) the metal from an adjacent
weld had "wicked" into the cracked area (3) the normally exposed face
of the part displayed a rusted hairline crack along the actual break
and for a short length beyond.
I spoke with the service manager at the VW dealer. (Very
calm, mater of fact discussion of above facts.) He said "The metal
you point out from the weld is indicative of a GOOD weld, see how the
metal was actually penetrated?" I felt my problem and I were about
to be swept under the rug. However, I had earlier shown the part
to the guys at the BTL welding shop and they were convinced
that the part had originally contained a 0.5 inch hairline crack
when manufactured which was probably not readily visible, especially
after paint had been applied. I told the manager "I work at BTL
and have shown this part to our metallurgical lab. They also feel
that these indicate a very early hairline crack." "Where do you
have your car serviced?" he asked immediately. "At this dealership."
(In fact, my car had been in for a checkup 2 weeks earlier. Because
I had a coupon and the service team could find nothing wrong with
the car, the oil had been changed and I paid not one penny!)
He then went to his computer terminal, no doubt to check my record.
A minute later he returned. "We will give you the replacement part
free, ok?"
I was pleased to get the part without charge, although he probably
gave it to me for the "wrong" reason. Of course, such a part
should not have failed in the first place, but I can understand
how it might have occured. Otherwise, I'm very pleased with the
car and in this case, I feel that I did manage to get a deal which
is above average when it comes to working with dealer service&repair.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen <
[email protected]>
of
http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/
This Usenet Oldnews Archive
article may be copied and distributed freely, provided:
1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles.
2. The following notice remains appended to each copy:
The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996
Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.
