My 2022 Taos Saga

2730 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by CRVW, Dec 30, 2021

Perfect10Karen

Discussion Starter · Dec 28, 2021

Thought I'd hope on here to share my experience with the 2022 Taos.
I'm leasing the vehicle, and signed papers in July of 2021. In early September I received a recall notice and took it to the dealership right away, when I dropped it off I also communicated there was a thumping noise coming from under the front passenger side of the car. It failed the recall test, this was on 9/11/2021, today is 12/28/2021 and they still have the vehicle. It took them 3-months to get parts for the recall and when they finally fixed the recall issue, they said they finally diagnosed the thumping noise as a wheel bearing issue and couldn't return the car to me as it was not safe to drive. They then told me, they didn't have parts to fix it. I filed a claim with VW Corporate Customer Care and they have been checking in with me every two weeks. It will be FOUR MONTHS this Saturday. When I received their update today, they said the dealership was still working on the "axel" issue and they would follow up with me again next week. So...the saga continues with no end in sight.
They have provided me with a rental.
I hope this helps everyone.

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derekdal

· #2 · Dec 28, 2021

thats not fun but at least they gave you a loaner. I wonder how much of this saga is not Taos or VW related but manufacturing and covid driven by global shortages and shipping issues at every port? Normally, you'd have an issue and they'd just replace the part but many, many specialized products are hard to get these days.

GM stopped offering heated seats in newly built trucks because it saves them from finding the chips needed for that computer!

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Burnt taco

· #3 · Dec 29, 2021

Perfect10Karen said:
Thought I'd hope on here to share my experience with the 2022 Taos.
I'm leasing the vehicle, and signed papers in July of 2021. In early September I received a recall notice and took it to the dealership right away, when I dropped it off I also communicated there was a thumping noise coming from under the front passenger side of the car. It failed the recall test, this was on 9/11/2021, today is 12/28/2021 and they still have the vehicle. It took them 3-months to get parts for the recall and when they finally fixed the recall issue, they said they finally diagnosed the thumping noise as a wheel bearing issue and couldn't return the car to me as it was not safe to drive. They then told me, they didn't have parts to fix it. I filed a claim with VW Corporate Customer Care and they have been checking in with me every two weeks. It will be FOUR MONTHS this Saturday. When I received their update today, they said the dealership was still working on the "axel" issue and they would follow up with me again next week. So...the saga continues with no end in sight.
They have provided me with a rental.
I hope this helps everyone.

I finally gave up on the recall wait at 7 weeks and started a buy back with corporate but made the dealer fill out the paperwork. Faced with that, they even up exchanged for another Taos on the lot. The did not want have to resell my car if declared a lemon.

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Perfect10Karen

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 29, 2021

Burnt taco said:
I finally gave up on the recall wait at 7 weeks and started a buy back with corporate but made the dealer fill out the paperwork. Faced with that, they even up exchanged for another Taos on the lot. The did not want have to resell my car if declared a lemon.

The dealership just called and told me that they replaced the wheel bearing and that didn't fix the issue - they had to replace the axel. THE AXEL??? I do not feel safe picking up that death trap, lemon of a vehicle. I've emailed customer care about my claim with some demands. I cannot believe they have had my car for four months and they just nonchalant want me to come pick it up. These were life threatening recalls and issues. I commute over 100 miles a day and now I'm terrified to get in it.

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CRVW

· #5 · Dec 30, 2021

Perfect10Karen said:
The dealership just called and told me that they replaced the wheel bearing and that didn't fix the issue - they had to replace the axel. THE AXEL??? I do not feel safe picking up that death trap, lemon of a vehicle. I've emailed customer care about my claim with some demands. I cannot believe they have had my car for four months and they just nonchalant want me to come pick it up. These were life threatening recalls and issues. I commute over 100 miles a day and now I'm terrified to get in it.

Replacing the "axle", or driveshaft is not really a big deal. It basically just bolts in. There are two of them at the front which transfer power from the transmission to the wheel, one on each side. A bad driveshaft will make clunking noises but is typically not a dangerous situation unless there is a catastrophic failure. It will not cause the wheel to fall off! I've replaced many of them over the years on several VWs that were making horrible noises...
I'd be more concerned about a bad wheel bearing. A noisy driveshaft will usually run for a long time, but a wheel bearing can go downhill faster. I understand why they would not want to give it back with a suspected bad wheel bearing - liability and stuff.
I certainly wouldn't classify either issue as creating a death trap. These are fairly common repairs, though not to be expected on a new vehicle. I would probably fault the dealer for misdiagnosing it as a wheel bearing at first, but hey, it's their money.

Having said all that, 4 months is ridiculous. As mentioned above, parts supply issues are a big problem everywhere right now. Whatever the cause, you deserve some compensation. Hopefully Volkswagen will make a real effort to resolve everything to your satisfaction.

I really hope you can get some trouble-free miles on it to restore your confidence. Cars have issues sometimes - all cars. New models sometimes have teething troubles. The Taos has had a bumpy start, but having owned, worked on, and cursed at Volkswagens for almost 40 years, I have a fair bit of confidence in the Taos. A lot of it is tried and tested parts and systems. The engine is new but based on the fairly bulletproof 1.4l from the Jetta. Many other parts are very familiar to me (brakes, suspension) or at least very similar to prior models. I fully expect to get a lot of miles out of it. In fact, this may be my last new car...!

Good luck with whatever course you take!

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