8 week ownership thoughts.

[monkeyhanger]

You can't blame poor warranty coverage purely on VW, all the German marques offer only 3 years warranty, yet we keep buying them because they're nice to drive, even though reliability is distinctly average.

We have the EU to thank for that. Unlike the US, Australia, South Africa etc, the consumer laws we have in the UK and EEA/EU don't do a lot to protect the consumer from premature failure of big ticket items. They're big on safety though. There's no obligation for the companies to put their money where their mouth is and provide decent drivetrain warranties, and no market forces in operation (boycott etc.) so they don't.

These companies don't want you to keep a car 10 years, they want you to keep buying them every 3 years. I'm sure only offering only 3 year warranties is part of the plan to get you to replace every 3 years for fear of a big out of warranty bill (as is incremental inclusion of new tech).

[Cherry]

You can't blame poor warranty coverage purely on VW, all the German marques offer only 3 years warranty, yet we keep buying them because they're nice to drive, even though reliability is distinctly average.

We have the EU to thank for that. Unlike the US, Australia, South Africa etc, the consumer laws we have in the UK and EEA/EU don't do a lot to protect the consumer from premature failure of big ticket items. They're big on safety though. There's no obligation for the companies to put their money where their mouth is and provide decent drivetrain warranties, and no market forces in operation (boycott etc.) so they don't.

These companies don't want you to keep a car 10 years, they want you to keep buying them every 3 years. I'm sure only offering only 3 year warranties is part of the plan to get you to replace every 3 years for fear of a big out of warranty bill (as is incremental inclusion of new tech).

The model of 3-year change may change for EV. I did not subscribe to it.

I can and do blame VW for not rectifying the known issue with the accumulator in the mechantronic and not recalling UK cars.
I also blame them for a software update that increases EGR load compared to the initial settings and causes premature failure due to their emissions scam.
I blame VW for not informing customers what the software update did and allowing users to make an informed decision whether or not to carry it out.
I blame them for not warranting the EGR to 100,000 miles (as in USA) as opposed to 2 more years after the software update (2 years is useless to lower mileage users).

I hope the High Court awards huge compensation and a second class action regarding the mechatronic is launched.
The Americans got it right with compensation an option of buy back. UK government is weak. Now UK has left the EU, make VW pay!

I think the law needs to be changed for a mandatory 6 year warranty on all new cars or assumption that a premature parts failure within 6 years is an initial fault and must be replaced. An EGR should not fail before 100k miles. The mechantronic accumulator should not crack. If Kia can provide a 7-year warranty, why not others?

Buying an ID.3 is irrelevant to the above! I ordered on 9 Sep 21 (quoted 20-23 weeks).

[monkeyhanger]

The class actions/Litigation I have seen advertised on telly (for VAG, MB, BMW, Mazda and Fiat group) and urging you to join are literally suing for compensation for having owned said cars, no mention of having been out of pocket as a result. The vast majority of people didn't have any failures out of warranty attributed to dieselgate, and there were no residual value implications.

As a result, people in the action are generally seeking compensation for having had no monetary loss.

Not only that, if you've owned car X sometime between time Y and time Z, they're saying that you have a claim. You could have individual cars with 3 or 4 owners between Y and Z, and the manufacturer could therefore be getting hit multiple times for the 1 car. So many legal things wrong there.

On that basis I think these actions have a very high chance of failure here in the UK, where we're very clear that damages are compensatory and no financial loss = no compensation claim.

Successful mass litigation like siung banks for unfair charges were successful because people had actually taken a financial hit.

Chasing specifically because you had failures associated with the fix that you had to pay for are justified, but I'm not aware of any group chasing through the courts on that basis in the same way as the TV advertised class actions for just having an emissions scandal affected car.

Drivetrain warranties could and should be better as they are elsewhere, but then service scheduling would need to be maintained also. When the obligation to have a service done to maintain a warranty is gone, its amazing how neglected some cars are (including yours, not had an oil change in over 2 years) - should the car companies be adding extended warranty to a car that isn't being serviced to schedule?

[MattgID3]

My thoughts on home charger is that its a no brainer, assuming that the real range of the 56kw version is 200 mile for a company car il be able to claim 4 pence per mile (based on government advisory rates) for business miles so 200 miles would be £8, using home charge on octopus go at around 5p per Kw would be £2.80 for a full charge.
Most public chargers seem to be around 30p per KW so £16.80 plus connection fee, the pay back for me if the car is used regularly with home charger is really fast.
I currently have a diesal 2litre skoda superb which is costing a small fortune where 200 miles is around £20 plus the bik. Ill cover the cost of the home charger i bik savings alone over 3-4 months.
Just need vw to build the thing now.

[Cherry]

When the obligation to have a service done to maintain a warranty is gone, its amazing how neglected some cars are (including yours, not had an oil change in over 2 years) - should the car companies be adding extended warranty to a car that isn't being serviced to schedule?

My BMW was put on a 2 year or 20k service plan oil change (long life). Why would I need to change oil if I had covered less than half of this in 3 years?
Should a car covering 2000 miles a year need a yearly service or oil change or annual service? I do not think so. ID.3 is a 2 year schedule .

But, as for the Golf, no way should the EGR fail as it did well below 100k miles and no way should a mechatronic accumulator crack (which was know to happen and a recall in many countries). The mechatronic oil is sealed. VW put in the wrong type in at manufacture.

VW deserve to lose and have lost the first round in the UK. The court case will be heard next year at the earliest. Why settle in US? VW should be subject to punitive damages.
It's no win-no-fee, so nothing to lose an satisfaction if one wins. It will put a smile on my face.

[Utumno]

When the obligation to have a service done to maintain a warranty is gone, its amazing how neglected some cars are (including yours, not had an oil change in over 2 years) - should the car companies be adding extended warranty to a car that isn't being serviced to schedule?

I thought Toyota did this quite well recently - they scrapped their 5 year warranty and replaced it with 3 years … but if you have an annual/10,000 miles service the warranty keeps rolling year on year until 100k miles or 10 years.

Obviously they’re reinsuring the risk, but it’s still very customer friendly. Unless of course you don’t get a service done in which case no warranty!

[Cherry]

My thoughts on home charger is that its a no brainer, assuming that the real range of the 56kw version is 200 mile for a company car il be able to claim 4 pence per mile (based on government advisory rates) for business miles so 200 miles would be £8, using home charge on octopus go at around 5p per Kw would be £2.80 for a full charge.
Most public chargers seem to be around 30p per KW so £16.80 plus connection fee, the pay back for me if the car is used regularly with home charger is really fast.
I currently have a diesal 2litre skoda superb which is costing a small fortune where 200 miles is around £20 plus the bik. Ill cover the cost of the home charger i bik savings alone over 3-4 months.
Just need vw to build the thing now.

If a full charge is £2.80 on Octopus it maybe £5.50 on standard Econ-7,
For low mileage is Octopus worth it as day time rates may be higher? The standing charge is not low.
I switched away from Econ-7 to a single rate as my night usage was so low.
I plugged exact data in a spreadsheet and comparison site. I increased night time usage by 10% and then total usage by 10% and still a single tariff was lower cost for my profile.

Now the smart meters for a single tariff are not so smart as they do not give a night reading unless you have two rates, so one does not know what night usage is any more.
I am glad my smart meter install failed. I want to know my night usage and cannot with a smart meter on a single band tariff.

Now I have to revisit before the ID.3 arrives

[Cherry]

When the obligation to have a service done to maintain a warranty is gone, its amazing how neglected some cars are (including yours, not had an oil change in over 2 years) - should the car companies be adding extended warranty to a car that isn't being serviced to schedule?

I thought Toyota did this quite well recently - they scrapped their 5 year warranty and replaced it with 3 years … but if you have an annual/10,000 miles service the warranty keeps rolling year on year until 100k miles or 10 years.

Obviously they’re reinsuring the risk, but it’s still very customer friendly. Unless of course you don’t get a service done in which case no warranty!

I think this is fair enough if their service charges are reasonable. Does it include EV?
This beats Kia. Am I correct that Tesla do not require a service for their warranty?

Same as boilers....10 year boiler warranty is not free, £70 a year cost for a service (£700 for 10 years). My 30 year old boiler has never been serviced. Repair when broken.
Pay back time to replace is never as confirmed by numerous gas engineers! May be I will forced to have an over-priced heat pump!
May be every person should be given a Carbon allowance. Those who exceed due to large houses or flights have to pay extra. Large houses may have to use EV and smaller can use petrol cars. How about a Carbon tax on everything above your free allowance?

[monkeyhanger]

When the obligation to have a service done to maintain a warranty is gone, its amazing how neglected some cars are (including yours, not had an oil change in over 2 years) - should the car companies be adding extended warranty to a car that isn't being serviced to schedule?

I thought Toyota did this quite well recently - they scrapped their 5 year warranty and replaced it with 3 years … but if you have an annual/10,000 miles service the warranty keeps rolling year on year until 100k miles or 10 years.

Obviously they’re reinsuring the risk, but it’s still very customer friendly. Unless of course you don’t get a service done in which case no warranty!

Yeah, I thought it was a good move for the consumer when I heard through radio advertising. VW seem to be doing the opposite - I often used to buy the factory warranty extension to 5 years when buying a Golf etc new, but VW pulled it in 2018. Do they really lack confidence in their cars (probably not, Skoda and Audi continue to do it with the same parts used))? I'm assuming they think more people thinking to keep their Passat a little longer will now change at 3 years and not 5 with a warranty extension.

[monkeyhanger]

My thoughts on home charger is that its a no brainer, assuming that the real range of the 56kw version is 200 mile for a company car il be able to claim 4 pence per mile (based on government advisory rates) for business miles so 200 miles would be £8, using home charge on octopus go at around 5p per Kw would be £2.80 for a full charge.
Most public chargers seem to be around 30p per KW so £16.80 plus connection fee, the pay back for me if the car is used regularly with home charger is really fast.
I currently have a diesal 2litre skoda superb which is costing a small fortune where 200 miles is around £20 plus the bik. Ill cover the cost of the home charger i bik savings alone over 3-4 months.
Just need vw to build the thing now.

If a full charge is £2.80 on Octopus it maybe £5.50 on standard Econ-7,
For low mileage is Octopus worth it as day time rates may be higher? The standing charge is not low.
I switched away from Econ-7 to a single rate as my night usage was so low.
I plugged exact data in a spreadsheet and comparison site. I increased night time usage by 10% and then total usage by 10% and still a single tariff was lower cost for my profile.

Now the smart meters for a single tariff are not so smart as they do not give a night reading unless you have two rates, so one does not know what night usage is any more.
I am glad my smart meter install failed. I want to know my night usage and cannot with a smart meter on a single band tariff.

Now I have to revisit before the ID.3 arrives

Octopus daytime rate on Octopus GO is still pretty reasonable at about 15p a kWh.(mine still is) when all the other big guns are now pushing 18p.

Even at 6k miles pa, that's 1500kWh pa (at 4 miles per kWh) that could be charged at either 5p each (£75pa) overnight or 3.5× that on the current tariffs. Will someone with a marginally cheaper daily standing charge and no overnight cheap rate save you about £250 overall? Almost certainly not, but you'll gave to do the sums. EDF has just launched an Octopus GO beating overnight rate, but standard rate is 23p per kWh - no thanks.

[monkeyhanger]

My BMW was put on a 2 year or 20k service plan oil change (long life). Why would I need to change oil if I had covered less than half of this in 3 years?

It's 2 years or 20k miles, whichever is lower, not choose 20k miles and potentially give it 10 years between oil changes at 2k miles a year.

Long life oil isn't providing optimal protection indefinitely if you don't do the miles, it degrades with time and miles . If you do a lot of small journeys rather than a few big ones for your 2k miles pa, you'll be interrupting a lot of DPF regen attempts. Diesel being injected into the DPF system to burn and raise temp quickly ends up in the sump, diluting the oil. If I was in the market for an older model, I'd avoid a car with a dubious service history like the plague.

With a £20 VED and claiming 65mpg, I'm presuming you have a 2.0 lump probably around the 185-190ps mark. It would literally cost you £50 a year to change your oil (5.7l), filter and sump plug (assuming it's a 1 use plastic one most German cars have now).

[Cherry]

My BMW was put on a 2 year or 20k service plan oil change (long life). Why would I need to change oil if I had covered less than half of this in 3 years?

It's 2 years or 20k miles, whichever is lower, not choose 20k miles and potentially give it 10 years between oil changes at 2k miles a year.

Long life oil isn't providing optimal protection indefinitely if you don't do the miles, it degrades with time and miles . If you do a lot of small journeys rather than a few big ones for your 2k miles pa, you'll be interrupting a lot of DPF regen attempts. Diesel being injected into the DPF system to burn and raise temp quickly ends up in the sump, diluting the oil. If I was in the market for an older model, I'd avoid a car with a dubious service history like the plague.

With a £20 VED and claiming 65mpg, I'm presuming you have a 2.0 lump probably around the 185-190ps mark. It would literally cost you £50 a year to change your oil (5.7l), filter and sump plug (assuming it's a 1 use plastic one most German cars have now).

Correct an Efficient Dynamics auto diesel model (as Gordon Brown advised). I purchased without seeing or test driving. Negotiated the price, paid the main dealer and told him to deliver it to me. Cars are of little interest! 35 miles school runs x2 (70 miles a day) in the early days prior to lift share in an aging MX3 auto giving 28mpg persuaded me to upgrade. I more than halved my fuel bills. Now school runs stopped I am < 2k miles a year. Sold wife's Golf, needed to replace (did not expect a 4-5 month wait for ID.3). EV was the choice as congestion zones in London, Birmingham and other cities to follow and ID.3 was cheapest differential between ICE and EV and Golf size (look at Niro - £7k to £10k difference between ICE an EV and no front sensors on many models. Zero payback even for 8,000 miles a year!).

I am too useless to change oil myself!

The car will be as good as written off in a couple of years. Is it going to be worth a few thousand tops.
How does one check service history if it's on BMW computer? The private buyer who purchased the Golf plugged in a laptop with VAGCOM and was given receipts for EGR and Mechantronic warranty. He did not need the service history. He did notice low pressure for air-con (yet another failure in the car), did not care and purchased. Wife misses it. I am glad it's gone as so many issues and local VW garage would not even quote for mechantronic. Ended up calling recovery to take me 100 miles to a specialist garage who replaced for £750 and 2 year warranty compared to £2k VW quote.