I have a 2003 Polo 1.4 TDi and both wings have started to rust! Well to cut a very long story short VW are saying its not a paint issue but a mechanical one!!! I have argued that a wing doesn't move and after months of emails and vists to the dealerships they have offered a 70% contribution to the repair and I have to stunp up the remaining 30% which is almost £300!!!

Has anyone else had problems with corrosion that should be covered under the paint warranty? VW customer service will not give anymore towards this dispite several calls to them...

your inner wheel arches can actually cause this as they can vibrate against the wing taking just enough paint off to allow moisture and water to reach the metal causing it to rust

also vw only offer a 3year paint warranty from date of its manufacture so thats well and truly past if its a 2003 polo

I thought vw had 10-12 year corrosion

12 year corrosion warranty only applies when the anti corrosion coating under the primer starts to lift or bubble if anything else causes it then that warranty is void, applies to audi aswell and they treat it the same way

your inner wheel arches can actually cause this as they can vibrate against the wing taking just enough paint off to allow moisture and water to reach the metal causing it to rust

also vw only offer a 3year paint warranty from date of its manufacture so thats well and truly past if its a 2003 polo

Many thanks for the info on the wings mate. Yer its the inner parts that have gone and I'm suprised that this has happened. If VW are aware of this design fault they should take a leaf out of Toyotas book and extend the warranty to cover this issue as Mr T has done for the EGR valve and cylinder head gasket. I've had 2 new engines at a cost of over 13k FOC.

I was also under the impression that the car was covered under a 10-12 paint warranty! But it looks like it isn't... I have accepted there offer

your inner wheel arches can actually cause this as they can vibrate against the wing taking just enough paint off to allow moisture and water to reach the metal causing it to rust

also vw only offer a 3year paint warranty from date of its manufacture so thats well and truly past if its a 2003 polo

Many thanks for the info on the wings mate. Yer its the inner parts that have gone and I'm suprised that this has happened. If VW are aware of this design fault they should take a leaf out of Toyotas book and extend the warranty to cover this issue as Mr T has done for the EGR valve and cylinder head gasket. I've had 2 new engines at a cost of over 13k FOC.

I was also under the impression that the car was covered under a 10-12 paint warranty! But it looks like it isn't... I have accepted there offer

the paint warranty is for 3 years and corrosion for 12 years but like i said they don't class it as corrosion if its caused by something other than the anti corrosion layer lifting or bubbling on its own

they have yet to accept that the inner wheel arches liner can cause this and its even happening on mk6 golf, with the mk5 on some models to try prevent this they added a small layer of foam to the inner arch to protect it from rubbing away on the arch, not realising foam absorbs water and having wet foam constantly sitting on your inner wheel arch it will rust but they still dont class this as corrosion either

You'd think that the likes of VW would sort this out and put it right! Other marques would have done something about it and paid for there mistakes in manufacture! No way should this cost be born to the customer! Well done VW!!!.......... Not

merc had a similar prob a few years ago and basicly told cusstomers there was nothing they would do, the cars were around 3yrs old and the roofs,bonnets and door tops were spidering under the paint, aparently it was something to do with a metal treatment they took out to try save money, ha ha what a joke. have you owned this car from new?

merc had a similar prob a few years ago and basicly told cusstomers there was nothing they would do, the cars were around 3yrs old and the roofs,bonnets and door tops were spidering under the paint, aparently it was something to do with a metal treatment they took out to try save money, ha ha what a joke. have you owned this car from new?

As if these manufactures dont make enough money out of the sale of cars! My mate use to work for Volvo UK and got me a brand new V70 T5 estate for 12k! list was 24k cost to make just over 6k!!! Yer I've owned the car from new and the wings are original...

ok, just wondered with them agreeing to put some towards, to be fair I've been in the buisness for a long time now and its a very very generous offer from them. is it going into vw for them doing or are you having them done at an indipendant garage and then sending them the bill?

i only ask as it has been known for body shops to do a repair when they are suposed to fit new pannels, wrong,illegal i know but sady it does happen, dont think that because they are main dealer that your going to get the best job, we do sub work for, audi,vw,hyundai,mitsubishi,nissan,honda and were just a relitivly small indipendant shop but have a good reputation, goes to show what faith the guys have in there own shops.

last year we de-did a 2009 polo for a customer, it had been at a vw body shop in manchester (thats where it was sent even though customer was from leeds) and had a new wing,door,rear quarter and wheel and tyre, the customer came to us for us to check it over, we inspected it and were mortified at the leval of work, they had fitted a new wing and door but repaired the quarter and simply filled and re-painted the wheels, all the interior was covered in over spray to mention but a few things, the guy suied the body shop but last time we saw him all they were willing to pay were the expeces he had to pay us to rectify the job, no compensation,no apology at all.

when you have the job done make sure you request to see the old wings before the job is done that way you know they've been replaced

ok, just wondered with them agreeing to put some towards, to be fair I've been in the buisness for a long time now and its a very very generous offer from them. is it going into vw for them doing or are you having them done at an indipendant garage and then sending them the bill?

i only ask as it has been known for body shops to do a repair when they are suposed to fit new pannels, wrong,illegal i know but sady it does happen, dont think that because they are main dealer that your going to get the best job, we do sub work for, audi,vw,hyundai,mitsubishi,nissan,honda and were just a relitivly small indipendant shop but have a good reputation, goes to show what faith the guys have in there own shops.

last year we de-did a 2009 polo for a customer, it had been at a vw body shop in manchester (thats where it was sent even though customer was from leeds) and had a new wing,door,rear quarter and wheel and tyre, the customer came to us for us to check it over, we inspected it and were mortified at the leval of work, they had fitted a new wing and door but repaired the quarter and simply filled and re-painted the wheels, all the interior was covered in over spray to mention but a few things, the guy suied the body shop but last time we saw him all they were willing to pay were the expeces he had to pay us to rectify the job, no compensation,no apology at all.

when you have the job done make sure you request to see the old wings before the job is done that way you know they've been replaced

The work should (AFAIK) be getting done at the main dealer where I took the car into be inspected. VW customer services said that there would not be any dealer contribution as I've not had the car serviced at the dealer despite me having thousands of pounds of repair work carried out throught the years! Different dealers, but still I stayed with VW! I believe that this should be taken into account as they would have done if I'd have the services at the main stealers, but they dont... I have serviced the car myself using genuine VW parts always and either using Castrol EDGE (507 00 spec) or higher grades like Motul 300V doudle ester oils.

The guy with the 2009 Polo must have gone mad knowing what they'd done to his motor!!! very good idea mate to see the wings before the job is done. I might even ask them to keep them for me so I know for sure. Great heads up on that one mate :-)

Edited 16 January, 201214 yr by Mistermena

thats kinda what i ment, make sure you request to see the wings when you drop the car off so they cant fob you off with excuses like "the scrap lads have already been and taken them".

yea the guy with the polo was furious, he was a very picky person and only asked it be done right, he'd been back to the bodyshop 3 times about the quality of the paint finish and the over spray before he fetched it to us and we found that they'd repared not replaced the rear quarter, disgusting when you think it was an insurance approved dealer body shop

Many thanks mate... I will tell them when I take to car to the dealer :-)

I know this is an old post but i and many others have had the same problem with rusty wings . Check out this site to see just how common a problem it is and how devious VW can be http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthr...orrosion/page15