Cv Joint & Cv Boot VW Passat?

Question

One of the Cv boots of my Passat 2004 is broken. The dealer said the Cv boot is not cover by the power train warranty because only the Cv joint is cover; so how could it be possible the Cv boot is not considered an essential part of the Cv Joint? Which VW office can help me clarify this? Who should i contact to? Does any one how to deal with this issue to force dealer to replace the Cv boot?

thanks for your comments.

Answer 1

I agree it is stupid. They want the axle to break, so it can be covered.

lets see here, that axle will only break when in motion, you driving the car, potential accident. So they are going to pay for a tow bill, and an axle. They did the same thing to my friend, his car had a small oil leak, they said that it's not covered but if the transmission goes out they will cover it.  

Answer 2

get phone # and address of district or zone manager...be polite...call and write... kind of unreal because the CV joint must b removed to replace boot....if u end up paying spring for a rebuilt joint...because as i always say " as long as u have it apart"

Answer 3

   I have had to respond to this question many times over the years at the VW service department dealership level.  So, I think I can answer the question, you probably won't like to response, but this is how it works.

     The warranty will cover internally lubricated parts; the concept is that CV boots are a wear and tear item as they have to flex in various positions to do their job.  Normally, CV boots only break from outside objects striking them; in normal use they ought to last at least 100,000 miles before wearing out.  In ideal cases, they may last the lifetime of the vehicle.  My own vehicle had 221,000 miles on it and has never needed CV boot replacement, but that maybe an unusual exception to the rule.

    The fact is that even under the normal 4 year / 50,000 mile warranty, wear and tear and rubber items aren't normally covered beyond 12 months or 12,000 miles.   In theory, if someone blew a heater hose beyond 12 months and 12,000 miles, but less than  4 years or 50,000 miles, the dealership would need to call the service zone representative from VW for approval to replace the hose.  As a practical matter, it was covered.  

    Wear and tear items are items such as, but not limited to light bulbs (except instrument cluster lights and headlight bulbs), brake and clutch linings, wiper blades, interior trim (seat covers, carpets, door grab handles (though in most cases VW has covered those in the past), floor mats, cracks in the wood veneer, (again in most cases VW has covered those), interior trim finish, paint (requires factory approval at any time, at any milage ) rubber parts, etc....  Also adjustments (anything not requiring replacement of parts to function) are not covered beyond 12 months, 12,0000 miles.   Wheel alignment and tire balance are only covered at the time of dealer prep,  regardless of situation ( though approval within 1 month or 1000 miles is sometimes possible in special circumstances with zone approval).

   I realize that many items ought to be covered longer, but VW has often taken a black and white coverage approach.  Your dealer often has his hands tied; in the dealership I was at, if we sold you the car, we often did some of these as a goodwill to our customers, in other cases we contacted the zone and tried to get approval.  Failing that, if someone was a good service customer, we'd often do large discounts to try and accomodate our customer, but we weren't required to do anything.

  

    If you feel really strongly about the CV boot, you can ask to have the dealership contact the zone service representative and try and meet the person face to face.  I have to advise though, the zone representatives I known often do not want to deal with customers directly; usually they called the customer or had the dealership advise the customer to deal with the customer service line at VW of America.

     I wish that I could give you a better answer than this; my response comes from many years of dealing with VW all the way back to the days of the late air cooled VW's, so I know what I'm talking about.

      Best wishes always, a car nut.

    I realize that many items are not black and white in terms of wear and tear and what ought to be covered