Horace's Caddy

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horace01
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by horace01 »

3 days and $1100.00 later I pick up the van from the mechanic to find this
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On a happier note I did manage to get the low washer level sensor connected to the cluster today. I still have to drill the hole for the sensor into the washer bottle but it's wired up and coded with VCDS. Ill be driving around with that indicator light in my face until next weekend I suspect......
2007 Caddy 1.9 TDi 77kW BLS: R32 Wheel w/ paddle shifters : MK6 Golf GTi seats : Dynamat & carpeted : Reverse camera : Eonon GM5153 head unit : Avant Garde M220 18x8" Et 42 wheels :V-Maxx Xxtreme coilovers & rear shackles Gaz rear shocks : Mapped by DNA Tuning

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torque777
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by torque777 »

How the hell has that happened? I can understand one mark, but loads of them?

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Kimtins
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by Kimtins »

Gutted for you @horace01 looks like someone has dragged something along it, I remember having very similar marks all along my old caddy from a careless nephew pulling his brick trolley too close to van! I successfully sued his parents lol!

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Barbel330
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by Barbel330 »

Not good. Looks like it should polish out though?
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Gresley
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by Gresley »

Sorry to see those scratches. I presume this was done whilst in the garage. I had some bad damage on my van after collecting it from a VW van centre. They did pay for it but they certainly didn't tell me about it. Now I always take detailed photos of the bodywork after dropping off and closely inspect it before driving away. hope you get it sorted one way or another.
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horace01
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by horace01 »

WARNING LONG WINDED RANT FOLLOWS

My mechanic is a good bloke. I have been going to him for a good number of years now. In the past when he thought he had scratched my van he pointed it out right away. On that occasion it was actually existing damage that he hadn't noticed before. I've had a respray since then....

I spoke with him yesterday. He has gone through his security footage for the 3 days the van was with him to check none of his guys have caused the damage. Apparently the van was on the host for the 3 days and not moved.

Because he had it for three days he did have it washed by the local hand car wash place across the road. He is now saying he thinks they must have caused the damage.

My mechanic is under instructions not to wash my van. I personally spend too much time detailing it to let anyone else wash it and install swirls and scratches. I would especially never use a hand wash joint who will wash a muddy vehicle then drag the same dirty sponge across a $100,000 Audi.. IMHO the people working in these places are not paid to give a shit about the quality of their work. They are paid to wash a many vehicles a they can in a short a period as possible.

Anyway I now have to meet my mechanic at the hand wash place tomorrow.

The scratches on the side strips will mostly polish out. The clearcoat on them is pretty thick as they were resprayed when I had the front bumper done last year. Unfortunately the scratches on the body are through to the undercoat!! These will require far more work to get right.

I haven't even started on my rant as to why it took the mechanic 3 days and 6hrs labour to change my fuel pump. $370.00 for the fuel pump I can deal with. $25.00 for the seal I can deal with. 5 hours labor is taking the piss. He says it took longer but he only charged me for 5. Why did it take you so long I asked. His excuse was that they couldn't find the fuel leak. I had told him I suspected either the send or return line nipple on the pump was cracked. This is what usually fails on them. Rather than dropping the tank he and his assistant removed the back half of the exhaust and the heat shielding around the tank to see if they could spot the leak. Are you (OOOh look at me, I can curse) kidding me? Why would you not just drop the tank I asked...... "well we didn't want to have to drain it and it gets caught on the filler neck so it's a bit of a pain to remove." This is where I nearly lost my shit. Um it being a "bit of a pain" is exactly why I am paying you to do it and not doing it on my driveway on ramps and jackstands myself!!

So after removing the heat shielding and exhaust they cannot find the leak but he does notice the big nut on the top of the tank that holds the pump in place is not quite tight enough so they tighten it up (how they do this with the tank still in place is beyond me as there is very little room to get you hand up there) they then refilled the tank and took it for a test drive (all whilst still on the hoist hmm seems something doesn't add up) and guess what, its still leaking....

Day two they drain the tank, using VAS to drain most of the diesel via the fuel filter, then they remove the tank. He runs a short hose from the send nipple to the return nipple and flip the tank over to look for leaks. No fuel is coming out... they put it on the bench and pull off the little piece of hose joining the two nipples and guess what, one of the nipple breaks off. I suspect there was a crack here and that's why it came away so easily. It could also explain why they couldn't see any leakage when they flipped the tank. My guess the fuel would only be leaking when the pump was pumping and there was enough pressure to force it through the crack.

Day three the new pump is fitted, the van test driven, washed and I collected it after dark.

I personally guestimate it would take me 3 hours to remove the tank, change out the fuel pump and refit it. That does not include getting it up on stands etc. or the time running around to source a new pump while driving around in a van that was leaking fuel. So I thought I would just get my mechanic to do it.

I am one very disappointed customer right now. At the moment I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt in regard to the scratches. To me, because of the a curved direction of them they do look like they have be done during the washing stage. I'm thinking the hand wash place will deny any responsibility. As far a I am concerned the damage happened whilst the van was in the care of the mechanic so the buck stops with him. We will see how I get on tomorrow I guess.
2007 Caddy 1.9 TDi 77kW BLS: R32 Wheel w/ paddle shifters : MK6 Golf GTi seats : Dynamat & carpeted : Reverse camera : Eonon GM5153 head unit : Avant Garde M220 18x8" Et 42 wheels :V-Maxx Xxtreme coilovers & rear shackles Gaz rear shocks : Mapped by DNA Tuning

Link to my build: viewtopic.php?t=19058" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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horace01
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by horace01 »

As expected the car wash joint is denying any responsibility.

Interestingly they told me all their pressure washers have rubber ends so they cannot scratch the paint if the accidentally touch the panels. I couldn't help but point out when watching their security footage of my van being cleaned that the lance that was being used didn't have any rubber on the end. I could even see through the office window out onto the lot that the lance had no rubber on it.

Still they denied any responsibility. Unfortunately the security camera really only showed the roof of the van and prooved to be useless.

My mechanic has been great. He has said he will pay for it to be sorted. Quite rightly he is pissed with the carwash place. Once I get a few quotes he is going to attempt to hit them up to split the cost. As he said he gives them $500-$600 week in washes, including a lot of high end Audi's (he is a VAG specialist). I suggested going forward he should get a mobile detailer with a good reputation to take car of his post service washes for him.

I took the van around to pro detailer to assess the damage. He actually pointed out a couple of other damaged areas ( I really should wear my glasses when checking my paint). Seeing these I'm now 100% convinced the damage wasn't caused by the mechanic.

So turns out there is only about 83-96 microns of pain and as the main scratches are down to the undercoat it's definately going to need respraying.

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2007 Caddy 1.9 TDi 77kW BLS: R32 Wheel w/ paddle shifters : MK6 Golf GTi seats : Dynamat & carpeted : Reverse camera : Eonon GM5153 head unit : Avant Garde M220 18x8" Et 42 wheels :V-Maxx Xxtreme coilovers & rear shackles Gaz rear shocks : Mapped by DNA Tuning

Link to my build: viewtopic.php?t=19058" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Barbel330
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by Barbel330 »

Image
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torque777
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by torque777 »

Jesus Christ what a disappointment.... I can understand your frustration

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horace01
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by horace01 »

Took it to my painter yesterday and my mechanics painter came to assess it today. Both have told me the whole RHS of the van and front bumper will need repainting. Waiting on the final quotes but it's going to be over $5,000.

Thankfully my mechanic is being awsome and is putting in a liability claim on his business insurance. He is also working with his insurance company to sue the carwash company for damages.

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Last edited by horace01 on Fri May 26, 2017 2:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2007 Caddy 1.9 TDi 77kW BLS: R32 Wheel w/ paddle shifters : MK6 Golf GTi seats : Dynamat & carpeted : Reverse camera : Eonon GM5153 head unit : Avant Garde M220 18x8" Et 42 wheels :V-Maxx Xxtreme coilovers & rear shackles Gaz rear shocks : Mapped by DNA Tuning

Link to my build: viewtopic.php?t=19058" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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torque777
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by torque777 »

Great service, you can tell a good business, they are the ones who still go the extra miles even when things have gone wrong

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horace01
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by horace01 »

It's been over 2 years since I fitted my Audi TT vents. At the time they were to be a temporary fitment until I got around to shaping the Audi A1 vents.

Anyway today I had a chance to make a little more progress.


ImageImageImageImageImage

They are coming along quite nicely I think. Still lots to do though.

Since taking these photos i have sanded it more and given the edge a paint. I'll keep putting up pictures as I progress.
2007 Caddy 1.9 TDi 77kW BLS: R32 Wheel w/ paddle shifters : MK6 Golf GTi seats : Dynamat & carpeted : Reverse camera : Eonon GM5153 head unit : Avant Garde M220 18x8" Et 42 wheels :V-Maxx Xxtreme coilovers & rear shackles Gaz rear shocks : Mapped by DNA Tuning

Link to my build: viewtopic.php?t=19058" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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horace01
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by horace01 »

After driving around for a couple of days with this vent I have decided I don't like the polished black look as it doesn't go with anything else in the van. As I also don't like the TT vents due to the chrome ring being so wide I have decided to try some Audi A3 vents.

The newer A3 ones have both a black polished ring and a wide silver ring so I have ordered the slightly older ones that I think will match the rest of the interior quite well.

Image

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2007 Caddy 1.9 TDi 77kW BLS: R32 Wheel w/ paddle shifters : MK6 Golf GTi seats : Dynamat & carpeted : Reverse camera : Eonon GM5153 head unit : Avant Garde M220 18x8" Et 42 wheels :V-Maxx Xxtreme coilovers & rear shackles Gaz rear shocks : Mapped by DNA Tuning

Link to my build: viewtopic.php?t=19058" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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horace01
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by horace01 »

I am seriously not having any luck with the van at the moment.

Today I went to do my winter wheel prep. Wheels off for a full mechanical and chemical decontamination, wash, polish and seal, followed by a rotation.

Unfortunately one of my McGard wheel locks was so tight it stripped the bloody key!! I alway use a torque wrench to tighten my wheel bolts so I was very surprised when it wouldn't budge.

I have ordered a replacement key from Germany. Here's hoping I don't get a flat in the time it takes to arrive.
2007 Caddy 1.9 TDi 77kW BLS: R32 Wheel w/ paddle shifters : MK6 Golf GTi seats : Dynamat & carpeted : Reverse camera : Eonon GM5153 head unit : Avant Garde M220 18x8" Et 42 wheels :V-Maxx Xxtreme coilovers & rear shackles Gaz rear shocks : Mapped by DNA Tuning

Link to my build: viewtopic.php?t=19058" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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torque777
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Re: Horace's Caddy

Post by torque777 »

That is so unlucky

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