Engine Splash panel

[morrismen]

Well, since the fitting of my clutch cable and centre section of exhaust, seems the 'mechanic' (if you can call him that) did not put the engine splash panel on the bottom of the engine bay back properly.

It should interlock at the front and the rear two screws should be tight when in place - neither were the case on my car when I checked underneath it yesterday!

If the front interlocking splash panel is not fitted correctly, the two screws at the back do not lock tight. Good job I never lost these - Good job I never lost the whole splash panel!!!

The only thing is I also noted that that the front sprung lug passenger side is broken off the fron of the splash panel, probably when said 'mechanic' undid the other side and dropped it down... I reckon the VW 'mechanic' must have done this as it's a new break in the panel.

So, I'll now be going back to the VW garage again to get a new splash panel under warranty too I hope

Is it just me, or is VW servicing and repairs really poor and costly to go with it?

[Si_GTi]

You really do seem to be having some bad luck with your dealer!!

I've not had any problems with the work done on my car as yet. If the work is done at a VW garage then the parts are covered by a 12-month warranty - at least they are on my bill(s). There should be a comment reading something like that near the top. Presumably this means that if they haven't repaired the car to the standards they should have then the work should be completed free of charge..?

[morrismen]

they're incompetent!

[ttaw2]

they're incompetent!

who are you with?

[morrismen]

They are going to have a look at it which is good. But they say they have a policy that any damage is reported to Service so they can fix it before returning to the customer, which tells me they are intimating that I broke off the corner lug

I explained that it was not fitted properly when returned and that the two screws were not tight and the splash panel was loose and knocking around, but this seems not to concern them. So, I guess I'll have to argue the case now.

If I had known VW services were this troublesome, I would have stuck with my old car!!!

[jon_poloV]

hi there i am from hertfordhire who do you deal with?

jon

[morrismen]

Well, I put the splash panel back okay they told me, but the lug must have been broken for a while in their opinion. Perhaps when I had the clutch cable replaced I said. Anyway, if i want a new splash panel replacement under warranty, then I need to negotiate with the salesman (who made the sale with me originally). So I'm debating whether to do this as it's all secured fine anyway and I don't want any more trouble with it really. Not supposed to say which VW dealer it is as I could be done for liable They've been a good bunch so far really with helping me out, so I'll leave it at that for now.

[mikegti]

That splash panel is a right pain to take off and put back again if you're lying on your back under the car!
Mine was also missing a lug but I did a bit of a repair with fibreglass.

The panel should also be held on with two bolts so it won't fall off (unless they forgot those too!)

[morrismen]

The bolts were in, but really loose. As I said, if the splash panel is not flushed and pushed home into its interlocking with the front bumper, then the bolts don't lock up tight. Mine were finger turnable = loose. So, I had it checked at the VW garage after lying on my back for 2 hours fixing it correctly and they said I have now fitted it correctly. They did of course apologise profusely - after all, I could have had a major accident if this had come off under the car! I thought better I do it rather than have an accident taking it there to be fixed by them.