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Need URGENT info on Sills

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 7:38 pm
by morrismen
Can anyone tell me what hydraulic ramp resting points are on the Polo GTI please?

I know there are two jacking points towards the rear wheels on the inner sills, but should these be used as points to raise the car when it's put onto ramps to raise the wheels whilst it's on ramps for instance :?:

I need to know this urgent please.

Thanks All. :)

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 8:16 pm
by mikegti
not sure quite what u mean...

are you talking about the two post hoists? the ones with 2 legs on each side that are aligned beneath the lifting points on the sill?

or the ramps with a cross beam?

the first is how mine was lifted yesterday when I had my new springs fitted.

what are you trying to do?

explains

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 8:25 pm
by morrismen
MikeGTI, thanks for the reply...

"are you talking about the two post hoists? the ones with 2 legs on each side that are aligned beneath the lifting points on the sill? " - think so, they swing under the car perhaps?

Seems the outer sills are quite soft from what I've seen... the jacking points are harder so if the car were raised on blocks on a ramp (platform- cross beam?) for the whole car to be raised, and if an engineer wanted to spin all four wheels, then I presume it should have blocks (rubber?) under the main jacking points, not under the outer sills, correct?

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 9:22 pm
by mikegti
ok I've not jacked up THIS car using the sills before, but after going out and looking with a maglite now, ...

the actual jacking points use the vertical seam on the sill as a locator so that the car doesnt slip off the jack. I think you're right that you shouldn't use the outer sills as they do look mostly cosmetic.

on my last car when using a trolley jack under the sills I used a block of wood on top of the jack, with a v slot cut out for the vertical seam to sit in.

if you're in a proper workshop then i'd have thought they knew what they were doing! there are normally special jacks for the drive on ramps - I wouldnt recommend having the car up in the air and wobbling about on blocks of rubber

hope that makes some sense?

Ugg...

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 9:49 pm
by morrismen
Yeah, cheers MIKEGTI, it's as I suspected. When the VW Dealer was looking into my steering column clonk on Thursday, it seems they did check all round the car as they said they had.

But, to do this they must have had it up in the air on a platform or cross ramp cos both of my outer sills have serious indentations where they lifted the car to spin the wheels. These are in the same places on each side in each outer sill - 6 inches from the back wheel level with the jacking point and 10 inches from the front wheel. :cry:

And, the dent under the drivers side front outer sill is deep enough that it even shows from looking at it side on, so the VW engineer must have sat in the drivers seat when it was up too!

God, I just don't know what the heck to do about this one... I am going to have to go back on Tuesday and show them what they've done - I can only think that it'll mean two new outer sills - This will be major work I know it. :x

What do you think I should do? I have to go back, but I'm thinking they've probably structurally damaged car now with these dents in the sills - wonder if it'll be a right off :?: :(

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 1:46 pm
by live2themaxuk
Mate i had this EXACT same thing. The muppets hadnt adjusted the jackpads to rest on the sills properly to the jack 'arm' hit the car side skirts skirts/sills before the pads touched the proper sill. It left some small indentations. Bearly noticeable but you can see em from side on just about. I complained and got £200. They said they could 'filler' over them, lol arseholes but i took the money. Ive been having to many problems with them im writing a letter to VW UK as we speak. They are hopeless and just have a blatent lack of consideration.


not happy

Jamie

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 5:49 pm
by cyhliu
Sorry to hear about this lack of common sense from a dealer and their 'highly specialised technicians', I think you should definately go and kick up a fuss, I hate it when dealers do things like this, makes me wonder why bother...you could get a hell of a lot better service with a specialised VW garage! Get some form of compensation...

Jamie, I'm wanting to write a letter too, I've got another thing wrong with the car and I'm waiting for it to be fixed and then I'll see if they have finally resolved the problem, if not then a letter will be finding it's way to VW Customer Services!

Yeah

Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:49 pm
by morrismen
Well, I had a word with a Motor technician who lives near me today and he came and had a look.

He recogns they have used a cross member platform jack and when they swung the arms under the car, they didn't adjust or have fitted any rubber pads on the lifters that go under the jacking points.

This meant the arms of the jack were the first lifting points on the car as they were resting on the outer sills.

I mean, this is so obvious that you would think that they would check the use of the rubber on the lifters all the time to ensure the arms had clearance to prevent this sort of damage! :?

Thanks for the compensation info Jamie... helps, but it really shouldn't happen... Filler will not fix the problem and will only allow an MOT inspection to fail the car when the filler is picked out.

I feel I should ask them to take the ***K*NG car back and get a refund - it's still under their warranty, and now it's no longer fit for purpose as far as I'm concerned. If it goes any further, then they'll surely get an even BIGGER bill for all the times it's been in and come back with even more problems, re the Pedal Box Recall problems they created. I may get an independant survey done by the AA to see if it's still structurally sound now and not twisted the frame etc as they write a 3 page report, and this can be used in evidence if it goes further - and I'll make this very public info too with the Car Magazines! This damage really is the last straw.

Clearly VW Dealers are B*OOD& useless. Perhaps you can sense my frustration here. :twisted:

Once I've spoken to them, I'm then going to call VW Customer Service and scream :!: :evil:

I'll let you know how I get on.

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:18 pm
by live2themaxuk
mate whats your e-mail. ill send you a copy of a letter im sending to VWUK im sick of it too dude

They did the exact same thing you had happen with the jacks + a whole lot more.


Jamie

Sent

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 9:56 am
by morrismen
I've PM'd you with it mate. I had words with VW Customer service yesterday. They were concerned and said they would try and assist me... Will wait to see what happens next...

Ugg

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 4:31 pm
by morrismen
VW Customer service called the VW Dealer and asked them to call me! Seems VW Customer service do not give compensation for their own VW Dealers mess-ups, and I won't be getting anything from the Dealer other than them fixing it for me and a free 3 cylinder 1.2 Plonka car. Oh well, seems VW Customer service have a few things to learn... I'll be calling them back directly. :roll:

interesting

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 4:50 pm
by morrismen
Well, here's the feedback... VW Customer service cannot help if a dealer does not offer any compensation. Seems like it's the blind leading the blind 8)

Another point is that any info you give VW Customer Service can be viewed by the Dealer on the same Customer reference computer system under your customer complaint log number, so the dealers can prepare their responses to you in advance - sneeky :shock:

So, beware if you tell VW Customer Service you think the dealer is s**t when they have your car in, as the dealer will know all about it!

Luckily, I am always very diplomatic, even if the twonkers damage my nice shiny GTI. :wink: