I have a 2008 5-speed VW New Beetle with 41,000 miles on it. It was previously a lease vehicle.
When I first got the car, there was a serious problem with it stalling out all the time. The dealer had their mechanic work on it and they replaced an air-flow sensor and a valve, according to the documentation.
The car runs better now, but still stalls out when idling from time to time. The problem is especially evident when both the engine and weather are cold. But, of course, the problem is very intermittent.
Any suggestions as to the cause and how to get a dealer to fix a highly intermittent problem?
A 2008 car with 41k miles on the odometer should still have coverage under the manufacturer’s Powertrain Warranty.
Take it to a VW dealer and describe the symptoms, or–better yet–demonstrate the problem for them. It is their responsibility to diagnose the problem, and in fact, when doing warranty-related work, they will not accept a customer’s diagnosis.
Thanks VDCdriver. The car is still under the power train warranty, and I will be taking the car back in, probably tomorrow, since the check engine light just started coming on and the car sounds like it’s got emphysema right after it starts. After about two minutes, it smooths out.
While the mechanic might not listen to my diagnosis, I would like to go in having some idea what I should be hearing from the mechanic, so I’m not fed a line of complete hogwash. So, please, if you have some ideas as to what kinds of problems I might be looking at, please chime in.
Thanks.
[i] It was previously a lease vehicle. [/i] [b] Ouch![/b] Leased cars often have lived a hard life.