Complaint Review: Devon Hill Motors - Devon Pennsylvania

this vehicle is a 2003 jetta wagon,it was leased by me in sept 2003 at 726 miles i added over $700.00 worth of accessories, including floor mats cargo mats wind deflectors mud flaps. at this time i took it back as the right rear head rest was defective, also i mentioned that the seats were not as described in the Moroney sticker which is the sticker that describes what the vehicle was shipped from Germany with, note this vehicle was built in Wolfsburg, Germany, the seats were supposed to be heavy duty, with map pockets, these were not the seats that were on the vehicle. the salesperson Ian Welsh stated that this sometimes happens and it was standard, and i did not pay any extra. however it was found out later that they were supposed to have airbags in the seat backs. at this time i still dont know if i have those airbags.

to keep this simple, i brought the vehicle back to have them check on a noise in the drivers door. it was found that two of the three upper bolts holding the door on had nver been torqued and could be taken out by hand. which i showed the technician. the service manager wm.salerno stated that sometimes they come from the factory loose. i told him that how would they pass the assembly line xray scan, and that they had never been torqued to specs. i.e 25ftlbs. he gave no answer.

Later in this history i started to notice water leaking in through the right front stereo speaker, down and under the carpet. i took it back, the manager salerno said he would do a water check and that probably the water was coming in thru the sunroof drain, they kept the vehicle for several days returned it, and i found out it was still leaking. took the vehicle back they did another water check, this time. salerno said the leak was from the pollen filter. they kept the vehicle returned it and it still leaked. in that time salerno said the leaks were now coming in from the windshield wiper channels. they took out the wiper and channel in so doing the wind deflector was damaged and scratched and there were wrench marks on the wiper housings. which they refused to fix. the vehicle was still leaking where i said it was on the first trip.

salerno said they would do another test. keeping the vehicle for another week, i have pictures of the vehicle torn apart carpets mats, seats etc, sitting outside on a city street unlocked.

i picked up vehicle drove it out of lot for about 500 ft and saw water coming in under the speakers. i returned vehicle immediately to lot had the svc. mgt. salerno come out and showed him clearly the water on the carpet. and also scratches on the seat bumpers where it appeared they had been dragged across the floor, they were stryations marks, these are familiar to me as i am a retired police officer and have investigated many accidents when these marks have been made. salerno said to me in the lot that he did not give a F---about my seats, and this was in front of witnesses.

the vehicle was brought back into the shop this would be the fifth time for this problem. it should be noticed that during this time i started to notice a wear spot on the drivers seat bolster. upon inspection i found that a rough spot on the seat frame had been wearing through the seat cover. this was photographed and verifeid by the service writer bruce baynard, a v/w rep. jim wyler saw this the cover was replaced. now it should also be noticed that the orginal seat was not the seat that was listed on the window sticker i.e. Moroney sticker. also it should be noticed that before all this i had gone through the v/w consumer hotline, and when i told them that i had not received the correct seats, they stated that what ever is on the Moroney sticker is what the vehicle is shipped with. which led me to believe that somehow someone had switched seate prior to my leasing a new vehicle.

anyway during all this, i had noticed that the front bumper guard kept coming loose. upon closer inspection i found that the clips that hold this on, where not in place in fact the guard was only held on by 4 clips. devon hill ordered a new guard, and it had to be painted, and was replaced. but i had called v/w america and they stated that the vehicle could not have gone through final inspection xray with this problem, and that the guard was or had been replaced prior to my purchase or lease of the vehicle.

the water leaks continued, the vehicle was torn apart over 5 times by the dealership. i finally went to lemon law, kimmell and silverman. however at this time and it is almost a year, v/w refuses to acknowledge any manufacturer mistakes, and that devon hill motors could have solved the problems initially. i think that the service manager and shop formeman mayhave been ripping off the company and v/w by not doing the correct warranty work, and getting a kickback from someone.

I am in the middle now between v/w america and devon hill has lost there franchise with v/w, i am still missing three rear head rests that were left at devon hill before they lost the franchise to Fred Beans. repeated requests to devon hill who now only handle BMW have gone unanswered.

It should also be noted that the service writer bill baynard observed, bill salerno the svc.mgr. hand sewing a hand made airbag patch onto the seat covers that were put back on my vehicle. this was verified by other devon hill technicians, salernos response when questioned was "this is to cover ourselves or words to that affect." also the lemon law attornies appear to not be after devon hill, and as they have no further dealings with v/w america, i could be left with nothing. this is such a bazaar case. i am left with what should be still a new car, but it is so torn up from all the tearing out of carpets, seats, etc., it is worse than my 1993 dodge with over 100.000 miles. it is scratched , it creaks and moans. and it was new less than two years ago.

Lee

spring city, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.

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