VW Golf problems with Sills

suie1, Aug 26, 3:59am
Hi not sure where to ask this my son has bought a VW Golf CLI 1996 it had a new warrant when he bought it 7mths ago, my DH noticed that the sills were crushed but as it had a warrant thought it was ok.

But now my son can't get a warrant & the WOF place jacked it up after the Panel Beater repaired the sills & they have broken a big hunk off one side.

The WOF guy is saying it is structural rust but the panel beater said he never detected any rust. Then today when I took the car to get punctures (screws or nails in 2 of the tyres) the puncture repairer said that if the car is jacked up on the wrong points it does damage to the sills, he also said that once they are damaged the clear coat cracks off & rust sets in.

My question is, is the puncture repair guy right?
nzdoug, Aug 26, 4:07am
you use the jack points as thats where the car is meant to be lifted.
If you dont, your on a piece of the car that can get munted.
kazbanz, Aug 26, 4:20am
suie--The tyre guy is correct in that jacking a car up off a non jacking point can cause crush damage. If the metal is scratched then again yep it can rust.
Where Im confused though is the sequence you describe.
It sounds like it failed a WOF due to crushed sills
Then went to a panelbeater for repair. Then the repair has also been broken/crushed.
You don't mean that the sill was filled full of "bog" do you?
suie1, Aug 26, 5:29am
Yes you are right about the sequence of events.
Don't think it is full of bog as the Panel Beater report says pulled the sills down & retouched.

The WOF guys are saying that it is because the sills have rusted that it broke, but where it is broken is not the jack point according to the Tony's Tyre guy.
jmma, Aug 26, 5:33am
kazbanz, Aug 26, 5:44am
Ok so to explain it to you
The "sills" in a modern car are part of the structure of the vehicle.
( years ago they were there for looks.)
The part about "jacking point" is a bit of a red herring in that there can't be damage or corrosion to any of that sill area.
if the WOF guys say its rusty and damaged then I'd say they are most likely right.
I would take the car back to the panelbeater with the WOF check sheet
On the sill will be yellow crayon showing where the damage is.

Im sorry suie but this really is a case in point for doing due diligence.
A pre purchase inspection would have told you guys about this being an issue and would have saved you a fair bit of money and stress.
No point in crying over spilt milk but it is something to remember for future
suie1, Aug 26, 6:15am
Thanks KAZBANZ it sucks that people who are dishonest can get away with stuff because people trust them and the WOF issuers!
suie1, Aug 26, 6:16am
BTW no yellow crayon in sight!
kazbanz, Aug 26, 6:58am
Sorry to say you really only have two options
1) give it up as a bad decision and sell it.
2)get the panelbeater to fix it to the WOF guys satisfaction.
The only qualifier I'd put on that is that if when you show the panelbeater if he looks and says--hey this is safe as houses or a variation of the theme you might want to get a second opinion to be sure.
suie1, Aug 28, 7:14am
I have had 2 independent WOF issuers say the repair passes & they are happy with the panel beater re rust inspection & report.

Today my DH & I took the car for a re-test (after getting the Panel Beater to re-repair) and he would not even do the re-test because he said the Panel Beater has not gotten rid of the rust!

Also the panel beater had in the report about needing to use factory designated jack points & when DH challenged him on jacking it up on wrong place, he was totally silent!

WOF guy also failed it on number plate light (which was and is still working) Also failed it on front Fog lights not working (It doesn't have front fog lights & the rear one is working fine!) I think I know how much I can trust him!

We have now laid a formal complaint against WOF guy with LTSA.
pico42, Aug 28, 8:42am
Please let us know the outcome of that complaint, I would be interested to see how it ends.
kazbanz, Aug 28, 8:31pm
Im sorry suie I genuinely do not understand whats going on.
As Im reading it car went back to repairer and was repaired again.
The WOF inspector refused to reinspect the repair--Ie refused to even look at the repair work yet stated the rust was still there,
how can he know the rust is still there if he doesn't look?

From this point forward you can either
A) pursue this to the bitter end. I must say its the action I would take but them Im in the industry so would be asking very pointed questions/pointing out the obvious.
2)Take the car for a WOF elsewhere

That said I do wonder WHY the wof guy is being so "bloody minded"
Ie is the repair work simply not actually being done properly and he knows it.
suie1, Sep 25, 7:36pm
Hi no the repair work is top notch, LTSA have inspected the vehicle & have ruled out rust, the guy from LTSA said it is a really good wee car.

The guy spoke to the Tyre Specialist (where we went for WOF) & after speaking to him told him he had to give us a WOF. I took the car back & he was a man of very few words, issued the WOF without protest. Finally result. I have left a review on Yellow Pages.
kazbanz, Sep 25, 7:42pm
Suie--I would really love to know WHY he kept failing it.
Its unusual for someone to just refuse to issue a wof for no reason.
apollo11, Sep 26, 3:50am
I had a similar situation with rust in the edge of a sunroof. The WOF guy had had no issues with that spot of rust in the past, but had just come back from some sort of WOF training and was getting his ruler out. Anyway I took it to a panel beaters down the road, who put a small bead of weld in where the rust was and then ground it flat. WOF guy failed the car again because he said he could see porosity in the weld. Took it back to the panel beater who had screaming kittens and rang up and abused the WOF guy, and at that point I decided to change WOF providers. Car passed with no issues at new Garage.
suie1, May 1, 3:09am
Because he is pig headed, got it in his head there was rust, the LTSA guy did say it was probably in part due to the fact that the car was dirty everywhere else except where the repairs had been done.