2001 Volkswagen Jetta (complaint numbers 30291114,30343786 and 03092183)
Our 2001 Jetta started clicking and blowing white smoke. We called the dealership and they said it was the turbo and would be covered under warranty. We towed the car to them on May 19 and they did replace the turbo.
However, they advised us the vehicle needed a new engine because it was still clicking. They said it looked like we had not been changing the oil which is why the engine was clogged. The service department then gave us the run around for a few months.
Eventually we learned the original mechanic that replaced the turbo was no longer employed by the dealership. The manager was supposedly out of town for one week and we had to wait to speak with him. They wanted oil change receipts, which we provided. We received not one phone call from VW for the 3 months they had the car. Finally they told us they were waiting for a VW rep to come inspect the car. We waited for several weeks but no rep ever showed up. Hallmark refused to give us the rep's name or phone number and so did VW.
The mechanic told us the Turbo replacement was denied by VW and they ate the cost. He told us they would not do any more work on the car. On July 09 we had the car towed from the dealership. We took it to our home and covered it with plastic due to the passenger window falling into the door. That was recalled but we couldn't drive the vehicle to get it fixed. The battery died and the interior deteriorated due to the weather.
On 07-28-03, I called 800-822-8987 (VW customer service) and spoke with Nekia Ataman around 3pm. Nekia told us they were waiting for 6 more oil change receipts but nobody had told us that. She said she would contact the service manager for an update and call me back. No call back.
I Contacted Hallmark to find out why we were not informed that VW was waiting on us. They couldn't find that ANY oil change receipts were sent to VW because they lost the ones we provided. We provided them again.
I spoke with Rocky Henderson (owner/operator of Hallmark) who said he would look into it. There was no response after that initial phone call.
I went to VW and spoke with the new service manager, Donnie Fielder.By now, the second mechanic was no longer employed by Hallmark. The new service manager told me they had just replaced a guys engine that had the same problem as ours. He said they messed up and replaced it under warranty no questions asked and later decided he had not changed the oil.
He said they could not afford to pay for another engine and would not touch our vehicle. I took the car to Alternative Imports on Charlotte Avenue. Sam (A.I.) said the turbo going bad is what gunked up the engine making it look like the oil had not been changed. He found broken parts of the turbo throughout the engine. He also found that VW did not properly complete the turbo replacement. Sam fixed the window, I bought the part.
I contacted a lawyer who said our case had merit but he required $3000 up front and said it would take about 2 years to fight this case. Now, over a year later, we ended up spending $4,800 to replace our engine with a used one.
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