Rick Case Volkswagen

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I am writing about Rick Case Volkswagen service department Unfair & Deceptive Acts & Dishonest practices. My son’s car was taken in for adjustment on clutch and ended up with the transmission being taken apart and then diagnosed with worn out clutch.

5/25/15 - We took my Son’s Golf R to Rick Case VW for overnight drop off for service on 5/26/15. Detail of service requested was outlined on the form provided for overnight drop off. Clutch petal was starting to feel lose and request for adjustment was made as well as tire rotation.

5/26/15 - Service rep, Justin, called in the morning to my son and advised that the tires would be rotated first, and then they would take a look at the clutch issue. Justin said he would call back to advise situation with the clutch. Did not receive a call back from Justin and so my son called him, however service depart had already closed.

5/27/15 - Justin called my son in the morning to say they could not determine the problem with the clutch and he needed my approval to crack open the car to diagnose and repair the issue. He said this process would take 8 hours and he would call my son back. My son called at 4pm and Justin advised they still could not diagnose the issue.

5/28/15 – My son called Justin at 11am and he said they still were not able to diagnose the issue so they took the transmission apart to research further and said he would call back as soon as he had some news. Justin called at 3pm to say the issue was a worn out clutch due to driver abuse and the cost to repair was estimated to be around $2,800 plus tax. He said he needed our approval to begin repair. My son got very angry and told him not to touch the car. My son contacted me, who in turn I called Justin to find out what was going on. I asked to speak to a manager but Justin declined and said they could negotiate the price of the repair.

Justin insisted the issue was due to a worn our clutch from driver abuse however we disagree for the following reasons;

1-The car has 34,000 miles and there is not a reason for a clutch to wear out at that mileage.

2-If there was driver abuse then the tires on the car would be worn before the clutch, however the tires are the original tires and are in new condition.

3-If the issue was a worn out clutch, why did it take 3 days and the dismantling of the transmission to determine it.

4-A simple test of the clutch can be performed by starting the car in 2nd or 3rd gear and see if the clutch holds. We had performed this test before taking it to the dealer and that is why we requested an adjustment/linkage of the clutch petal.

Our family has owned 7 VW/Audi's over the last 30 years and driven each well over 100K miles and have never had to replace a clutch. The clutch on this car was not worn out by driver abuse and I don't believe that the clutch was worn out at all. I am not sure of the reason for the dishonesty on the part of the service dept. I have always thought of Rick Case chain to be a very reputable organization. I want my car back in perfect working order like I brought it in. It is a specialized car and we take very good care of it and take it to a dealer to get the highest quality of service. All I got at Rick Case was a dishonest advantage of and I have little confidence that they can put the car back together and have it run as well as before..