VW Water Pump Class Action Noticw

General Discussion
1

Little backstory, I bought a used 2012 VW GTI at the beginning of the year, just under 100,000 miles. I took it in to get serviced/ oil changed, where I was told I needed a timing chain replacement and tensioner soon. I started looking this up, discovered there was a settlement for timing chains, posted a topic here and determined that since mine wasn’t part of the settlement, I figured my car is fine and the mechanic was looking for unnecessary repair, and moved on, no replacement.

The other day, I received a letter stating that my car is part of a separate settlement, this time regarding the water pump. I looked at that site, put in the VIN, and it is part of the settlement. When I looked through the letter, it says it only pays out for partial reimbursement if it’s under 100,000 miles, mine is now about 104,000 miles. It mentions an extended warranty, but there has to be proof of regular maintenance, which I don’t have as it’s second owner now, and I don’t think a carfax printout showing the maintenance activities would suffice, unless I’m wrong, and I think there’s a mileage restriction too.

So it looks like I need a new water pump, the questions I have are:

Is there a way of getting anything from the settlement since it’s over 100,000 miles now, even though it just went over not long ago?
The letter states an objection period before the court makes a ruling, would that give me anything?
How much does this cost, independent shop vs dealership?
Would said dealership be of any assistance here?
Does the repair involve taking apart the engine (I don’t remember if water pumps are entirely external or internal)? If it does involve taking apart the engine some, should I go ahead and replace the timing chain and tensioner due to the known issue with it, even though my car wasn’t one of them? Is there anything else that should go ahead and be done since it’s already being worked on?
Also, how do I know when it’s starting to go? I think I read it’s a plastic blade pump that starts going brittle and falling apart, does it make a certain sound or throw a code? I plan to drive it for an upcoming trip and need to know if it’s something incipient or not.

I know this is a lot of questions in one post, but any help is appreciated.

2

It looks like the water pump is driven directly from the crankshaft by its own rubber toothed belt. Water pump replacement is a 3.5 hour job on the 2L turbo engine , so quite a bit of work. I’m not seeing any obvious service bulletins related to the water pump. I think you may be a “leaner” meaning VW may or may not give you some help on this. No harm done to ask. Suggest to approach this as “I’m thinking I might want to buy another VW in the future so wondering if you could help me out a little on this problem I’m having”. Think like a flea market purchaser looking for a bargain.

I had heard at one time VW had some pumps using plastic impellers but I thought they had abandoned that by now.

3

Who do I ask, VW or the dealership?

I did call the 800 number on the letter, the operator, who I suspect is an oversees phone bank operator, said I didn’t have any recourse, but I’m still going to pursue if I can.

I had a 97 Ford Thunderbird at one time that had plastic components in the coolant system that failed as well, if I remember correctly, it was the piece by the exhaust manifold that failed. Seems like manufacturer like using plastic, but don’t make sure it can withstand the hot temps though.