car towed...

[Dr Mordrid]

When the polycarbonate lenses on the Grand Caravan clouded over it was because the UV protective layers, inside and out, had degraded. Oxidization etc. The UV from the lamps (big source!) and sun then attacked the polycarbonate.

I removed the lenses, then wet-sanded both sides starting with 1000 grit and worked to 4000 - sanding and washing with distilled water. Polished them with plain toothpaste and a microfiber cloth, but polishing compounds are good too. Replacement UV coating: Sylvania Headlight Restoration UV Block Clear Coat.

Take your time.

[VJ]

I'm abroad for an extended time; my girlfriend is using the car and for sure there is no time to do that. It also would not fix the electrical problem, which is the cause of it all... I'm just annoyed by the fact that the previous fixing did not tackle the problem and due to that we again have expenses.

[UtwigMU]

There is one shop down in village that will polish and lacquer lamps for 25€ each - in Ljubljana they want 50 per lamp. They do it in around 2h. Did it on my previous Polo and also on mother's car.

It was same with my Polo - pretty much 1000-1800 for repairs every year. This is why I drive the lawnmower now.

[VJ]

There is one shop down in village that will polish and lacquer lamps for 25€ each - in Ljubljana they want 50 per lamp. They do it in around 2h. Did it on my previous Polo and also on mother's car.

Yes... but if a brand new lamp turns cloudy in 2.5 years, there is more going on; it is a known side effect of some electrical problem so that needs to be sorted out.

Still, we will write to VW Poland, as we are really not happy with the previous time it was "fixed": from their reaction now, it appears they knew of the underlying electric problem but decided not to inform us and just charge for the lamp.

It was same with my Polo - pretty much 1000-1800 for repairs every year. This is why I drive the lawnmower now.

We are not at such a high level per year, but I'm keeping an eye out... how much repair costs should you endure on an old car. And it is not just the cost, but also the fact that you cannot use the car when you need it.

My girlfriend's father got rid of his Fiat Doblo when it started to have more and more defects (but they were much more fundamental: brakes, rust , ...), luckily it was a common model that is quite sought after for parts. My father got rid of his Renault 25 (20 years ago) after about 12 years when every couple of weeks something broke. Now more recently he got rid of his 18 year old Volvo 850 as he feels that if he would not buy a new car now, he will never buy one. There was nothing wrong with that car, so in retrospect we probably should have swapped cars. But living in different countries would have resulted in additional taxes, and what-not (quite a mess, I've been through it), so we never really considered it.

[UtwigMU]

Lol, my father is on his 2nd "if he would not buy a new car now, he will never buy one" car.

[VJ]

Well, my father is 74 and he tends to do a long time with cars (if the car allows for it - the Renault did not). He got an Opel Mokka (two years ago or so), which personally I would not get: it is quite bulky/massive for what it is: inside space is not more than in my Polo but just feels big to drive. And the seats are less comfortable than in my 15 year old Polo! I feel there are better options in that category. Of course, one of the arguments for him was the price they gave for his old car as a promotion: well above the market value so in way accounting for a huge discount. That combined with the fact that they don't use a car much made the price an even bigger argument.

[VJ]

Well, lamps replaced and the car was picked up yesterday. Upon arriving home, my girlfriend noticed there was water in one of them, so she called the garage.

Today they checked it and the lamp will have to be replaced again (at their cost of course). The explanation is that the lamps are not made much anymore and the ones that are in stock sometimes go bad. There is now a chance that this is also what happened to the previous replacement lamp.

So just a heads-up regarding this: it is not because you buy a new original replacement part that it is of the same quality as the same part at the time when the car was new.

So if that is the deal with replacement parts, we really should start looking to get a new car in the next couple of years.......

[VJ]

And on the way back from the new lamp replacement, another ignition coil failed...

When one coil failed previously, the mechanic on site said it was the coil for the fourth cylinder. The car was then towed to a dealer, who said it was the one for the third cylinder and replaced that one. So now the fourth one failed. My girlfriend's mother (who picked up the car) was quick on her feet to say that it was the fourth coil that failed and as a result they did not charge for diagnosing the problem.

I also now learned that the bad lamp they installed was not the only bad lamp they had. From the lamps they ordered, several were bad. So check properly if you need to buy one!

So in the last few weeks we had subsequent visits to the dealer for:
- coil replacement
- lamp issue (complaint at first dealer)
- lamp issue (show to our regular dealer)
- replacement of lamps (they did not have the part) + fixing of bottom engine cover and wheel well
- replacement of lamps (they put bad ones)
- drop off car with coil issue
- pick up car after coil issue

So 7 visits in a very short time, with 4 regarding the same stupid lamp problem...

[UtwigMU]

On my Polo GTI I had problem with spark plugs and cables which caused the car to enter safe mode. I replaced all cables and spark plugs with original ones then and the problem went away.

Let me give you example with starter. Sometime when car stopped it wouldn't start - the starter would not turn at all. At first I replaced battery (it was due anyway). Then I took car to authorized VW Service partner for some overhauls including air conditioning, I mentioned the starting problem. When I picked the car, the bill was 1000 EUR.

After that my friends from Central Asia where they have different sense of distance came to visit. They said: We're coming close by, can you come pick us up in Austria (500km, 5h drive). I picked them up, we traveled around Slovenia and Italy for two days. Then I needed to drop them off in München (another 500km 5h drive). As we stopped on Austrian highway rest the car wouldn't start after getting back in.

I said: let's have a cup of coffee/tea and then see if car will start, if not we will look for solution. After the car started I managed to get to Munich and start the car to get out of paid parking lot on train station, I also managed to get back home. After getting back home next day car wouldn't start no matter what. I borrowed a car from mom to go work and after 3 days or so, tried starting again. Nothing, nada, zilch. I called assistance from insurance company and had lunch. When assistance came, car of course started. Ended up replacing starter at another garage with a used Bosch starter which cost aroun 180 EUR. I gave very bad review to authorized service after VW contacted me.