Koeppel Volkswagen

Chapter 1 - The Purchase/Delivery Headache: In May 2008, I purchased a brand new 2008 VW Rabbit. The purchase process was simple enough, salesman Vincent ** helped throughout the sales process. The problem began when I went to take delivery of the car 3 days later.

I was reassured the car would be ready for me to take delivery at 10AM. I showed up on time, was told the car would be out shortly and proceeded to wait for roughly 1.5 hours. I asked someone to check on what was happening with my car and was told that it was being "prepped" and would be ready at 1PM. I went, got lunch and peacefully waited until 1PM. At 2PM, I decided to ask when my car would be ready.

The same person I spoke with then told me that my car was in NJ and wouldn't be here until 4PM. Of course, I asked why I was told I could pick it up at 10AM then told it was being prepped and would be ready at 1PM and now was in NJ and wouldn't be ready until 4PM. My questions and concerns were met with a blank stare from the same gentleman that sold me my vehicle and told me my car would be ready at 10AM.

Needless to say, I did not step foot in my car until 6PM and even though my title says my car was delivered with 5 miles on the odometer. When I took possession of it, it ready 97 miles. I asked why there 92 additional miles on my car then when I bought it and was given no explanation. At this point, I was so frustrated, tired and hungry, given zero reassurance in this dealership, that I felt it would be in my best interest to just leave and head home. Within 2 minutes, and I assure you this is not an exaggeration, the TPMS light came on and would proceed to stay on, even after multiple checks of all the tires.

Chapter 2 - Tire Issue: On July 5th, roughly 2 months to day, I took delivery of my car. I noticed I had a completely flat tire while at my parents house in Connecticut, roughly 150 miles away from Koepell VW. I figured I must have picked up a nail or something in my brief 2K miles I had driven. I chalked it up to bad luck that could happen to anyone. I had the car towed on a flat bed to a local garage that was less than 1 mile from my parents' house. The car was put on a lift and that's where things got interesting. My first surprise came when I was told I would have to replace this "brand new" tire because it had already been "plugged/repaired" twice before.

I told the people at the garage that this was impossible because it is a brand new car and I have never had a flat tire before. The mechanic then showed me the two existing plugs. He said that plugging a tire 3 times is not safe and it was their policy at their garage not to do so for my own safety as well as other motorists. Then I was asked where the Wheel Locks (that I had purchased with my vehicle) were. I told them I don't know. At this point, I first call the dealership, ask a mechanic where the wheel locks would typically be in a new car and was told to check the glovebox and/or the spare tire wheel well. Needless to say, surprise-surprise, they were not in the vehicle at all.

I called the dealership back and spoke with a sales manager and then the service manager. I expressed my concerns that I was sold a brand new car with, clearly a not-so-brand new tire. I was told that they would never sell a brand new car without brand new tires and were very "surprised" that I found myself in this situation. I was told, "Bring the car down so we can inspect it." I then explained that I was currently 150 miles away from their dealership, asked if I could bring it to VW Dealer in Connecticut (20 miles away) and they said that would be fine, but I'd be responsible for any charges regarding the towing, inspection and/or tire replacement if it was brought to another dealership. I asked if Koeppel VW would pay to have it towed to their dealership and they said that would be a cost I would have to pay.

Then Koeppel suggested I drive down to the dealership to which I asked them how I was supposed to drive 150 miles with a flat tire and no way of changing it given that there was no wheel-lock in the car, to which they had no response. I spoke with my local mechanic, explained the situation and convinced them to patch/plug/repair the tire for me, even though they explained that it is not safe. I called Koeppel VW again, told them they were going to patch the tire and made an appointment to return to the dealership in 2 days. I was told that they would inspect the tire and replace it if needed.

I showed up for my appointment and was told they would inspect the tire. An hour later I was told the tire would need to be replaced along with a "faulty TPMS sensor", but it would take 3 hours to get a new tire and sensor. I said I would wait in the service area. Sure enough, 3 hours later, I inquire about my car and was told that it would be impossible to get a new tire and sensor until the next day. I say that I would leave the car there and would like a phone call tomorrow informing me of when I could pick up my car.

At 5PM the next day, I had not heard from the dealer and call them. They say that the tire came in but the sensor would take another 2 days. I expressed my concern and frustration with no response from the Service Manager. 2 days later, I called again and was told it wouldn't be until after the weekend, bringing my total time with my "brand new" car being at this service center to 1 week. I then explained the situation to my grandfather, who then calls the service department, yells at them and "magically," my car would be ready in an hour.

I go to pick up my car with it's new (I hoped) tire and new (also hoped) TPMS sensor. I then spoke with both the manager of the dealership and reviewed everything I had been through since purchasing this vehicle. He showed little to no caring, compassion nor sympathy. And says he has no idea how any of this could happen, but does not think it is due to fault on their dealership.

I then expressed my concern that perhaps on the day I was supposed to take delivery of my car. They noticed it had a flat tire someone perhaps attempted to replace it, lost my wheel locks and when they couldn't find a matching tire, they plugged the tire and then drove around searching for a new tire (perhaps that addition 92 miles that mysteriously appeared on my odometer prior to me taking delivery). I was told that was highly unlikely, but still not given any reasonable explanation how this car was sold to me with a tire that had been repaired twice before and with an additional 92 miles on the odometer.

The manager then being frustrated with me, told me my first 5K miles service would be free, which at the time, I did not realize that Koeppel VW makes a point of servicing Brand New car purchases for free at their 5K miles service. Which leads me to believe that they do not perform ethical sales/service at this dealership.

Chapter 3: The 5K Mile Service

So up to this point, I had no further issues with my VW. I brought the car in for routine service and given the long wait time and general unreliable nature of their service. I told them I would drop the car off and pick it up the next day in the afternoon. I did this so that I would not be forced to spend an additional minute of my life in this time-warp of a dealership. My service was completely uneventful and picked up my car at 4PM the next afternoon. I only had to wait about 15 minutes for my car, which I honestly believed to be reasonable. I got into my car, got onto the Bronx-Queens Expressway and turned on the radio. Every radio station was static including AM stations. I got to my grandparents house 20 minutes away, get out of the car and notice that my roof-mounted radio antenna was no longer there.

I called the service department and ask to speak with the mechanic who serviced my car, was told that he was not available. I then spoke with the service manager. I explained that my antenna was missing. He stated that they often remove the antennas and placed them in the backseat if the cars need to get stacked for overnight parking. I checked my backseat, trunk and every inch of the interior of my car without finding my antenna. I called them back, told them this was unacceptable and was told to come down right away and they would replace my antenna. At this point, I told them I would be down the next day.

I went back to the dealership the next day, and surprise-surprise, am told that they would need to order my antenna. I, naturally, am extremely upset and say that I need to speak with a manager. As I am waiting, one of the workers "offers" to take an antenna off of a new car for "$20. " I explained that I have wasted too much time in their dealership and refuse to pay a dime for something that was lost on their watch. The manager comes out, I explained that their worker suggested he would remove an antenna from another vehicle for $20 at my cost. The manager says that he won't charge me for the new antenna and within 5 minutes, I have a new antenna on my car.

So, this gets me thinking. Maybe this is how they service their cars. Using the new cars for parts until parts come in. I don't run a car dealership, but last time I checked, that's not good service and without a doubt, not good sales practice.

I will never purchase anything from this dealership and would love for Volkwagen to seriously investigate all the misgivings that are going on there for the benefit of the consumer.

I have my car there for repair. I paid them and they did do the work. I took pictures and gave them the car again since I already paid them. The 2nd time just a part of the job was done, about 1/4. I suffer with back and neck problem. After the 1 time take vicodin for the pain from that long trip. I paid over $900 for the car to be fixed. It takes about 3 hour to go and come back. I took pictures of the bad service.

They lost the window sticker. They lied about VW waiving the lease end term fee if I buy another VW. The fee is $350 and they waive it only if you finance through VW. I didn't. Also I had one last payment on my old lease $268. They said VW takes care of that. No they don't. When I called them about this, I got nothing but attitude from sales managers. The economic damage is $618. Nothing will come from this complaint but I was going to buy a second VW. They just lost the sale and in today's economy you can't do business like that. It will catch up to them.

On April 27, 2009, I brought my car in to above company because it stated, "Stop cut off engine." Next day, Heather ** spoke to me and stated the oil light was not on. I advised her that it was not the oil light, but the light that stated, "Stop cut off engine." When she checked, she stated nothing was wrong, so she said that I needed oil change and break lights. I told her to do it. She stated that I have a noise in my car and wanted to take it home to drive. I declined. On June 27, 2009, the same stop light came on this time and did not give me time to pull over. The engine exploded and the car caught on fire. I was told by Volkswagen in Maryland that it was because of low oil pressure. On July 6, 2009, a Volkswagen rep called stating to me that there is nothing that they can do for me. Now, I am out of a vehicle and I feel that they should do something. The cost is going to cost me $6000 to $8000.

This was a terrible car buying experience and as a result, we would not go back to Koeppel VW or recommend it to anyone. Our experience was disappointing to the point where it nearly put us off from wanting to by a VW. We found the salespeople to be at best, unknowledgeable and at worst, unethical. Below please find the sequence of events:

4/22 - We find Koeppel VW through the AAA website and look at the dealer website. We find a 2006 VW Passat we like. We call the dealership and talk to Paul Guererra, who is listed as one of two contact people on the AAA website for this dealer. We arrange for a test drive of the car for Thursday April 24 at 7:30pm.

4/23 We call the dealer and move our test drive appointment forward to today (Wednesday, April 23 at 7pm). We bring the print out from the website and go there at approximately 7pm. We had to wait for the salesperson, Vincent Blyden. When he was ready to collect our info for the test drive, it was extremely unorganized. Even he was surprised that no one had helped get this started while he was busy.

After the test drive, the sales person was more interested in getting the car back into the service garage than to give us any chance to look at it properly. Once he had it in the service garage and we had asked him to let us actually examine the car, he did not even bother to turn the lights back on in the garage, and we had to proceed with just the interior car lights on.

When we asked about price, he checked with someone and told us the best they can do is what is on the website. Upon asking him about the AAA buyers incentive, he had no knowledge, and even admitted not having heard of it. He did not even think it was available for new cars. We had to show him the AAA website. We asked questions about whether it is certified and what the warranty covers. Vincent said he did not know, but would look into it.

We told him we are 90% we want the car, we just need to discuss financing among ourselves and hear the answers from him about the warranty. We tell him we will call him first thing in the morning to discuss. He said that he had Thursday off and he told us that he would let his colleagues know that we wanted the car, and that someone from the dealership would call us Thursday April 24 to answer our questions concerning certification and warranty of the car. We expressed our concern that the car might be sold in the mean time, and he again reassured us not to worry, that he would mark? the car so that his colleagues would be aware of our interest. The reason we did not buy the car then, was we had no idea of how much of the manufacturers warranty was left on the car, and whether the car was certified or not, although the web site said yes, Vincent said he wasnt sure.

We were told that someone would call us with the information in the morning and if customers came in and were interested in buying the car. We were told not to worry about it. We left the dealership at 9:30pm that night.

4/24 - On Thursday, my husband Robert called to try to get answers about the warranty because we really wanted the car and no one had called us. He was told that that the car is being sold at that very moment. Robert spoke to Paul and told him that Vincent had said that he would let everyone know we were interested in the car and that we would get a call before they sold it to anyone else. Paul essentially said he cant help it, that Vincent was not in that day and they are in the business of selling cars.? Paul did not even sound remotely like he thought that we should have deserved a call. Despite all this, Robert told Paul that if the deal should fall through, to please call us because we still want the car.

4/25- Vincent called Robert and asked if he wanted to put a deposit on the car. Apparently, the financing for the other buyer had fallen through.

Robert asked if Vincent got the answers about the warranty we were looking for and the certification. He still did not have an answer on the warranty, but did tell Robert that the car had just been certified for the buyers the previous day so that would add another $1000.00 to the price. TOTALLY UNETHICAL because the car was already certified and we had the printout from the website advertising it as such. Robert told this to Vincent who told us to bring in the print out. At this point, we want to walk away because that was unethical, but we decided not to because it was a great car.

Robert gave Vincent his credit card number at 10am and Vincent said he would fax something over for Robert to sign. By 12pm, he had still have not received the fax. Robert called 2 times and finally got a call at 1pm saying the credit card was denied. We called the credit card company and they have no record of an attempted charge. We call back the dealer and it seems they had the card number wrong. It then took at least another hour before we received the fax with the paperwork that we had to fill out, as well as the credit card receipt that we had to sign for the deposit. This is just another inconvenience especially since were both at work while we were trying to get this sorted out.

4/26 We went back to the dealer to find out the trade in value of our current car. Again, we had to wait. After about 45min, we finally are introduced to Joe Clem who will do the evaluation. He was the only person who demonstrated the least bit of professionalism and customer service during our whole experience with Koeppel VW.

We confirmed the balance with Vincent and told him we will be in Monday night at 8pm with a certified check.

4/28- Vincent calls and asks us to fax over copied of our licenses. I do not know why he did ask for this on Saturday when we were there. We also confirm we will be in at 8pm that night and he said he would have everything ready for us. We fax to the office number, he calls and said he could not read it. We then scan in our drivers licenses and email them to his work email address. He said he did not receive it. We then emailed the images to his personal email address, but to no avail. During this whole process, we came up with the alternative solutions in an effort to speed up the process once we arrive in the evening to pick up the car. We do not hear back from him so we assume all is well.

We arrived at the dealer at 8pm. Vincent was busy trying to get the plates off a trade in. We are left waiting for him to finish until 8:45pm. Not one person asked if they could help us in the meantime. The sales people were too busy tallying their numbers for the day, talking to each other and using profane language. Apparently, none of the paperwork for our purchase had been started.

It took another hour for the paperwork to be completed. We were told that that the person normally in charge of the process is on vacation and that the person filling in is very slow. Little effort was made to speed up the process. Finally, around 10pm, after having signed all the paperwork, we left with the car.

4/29- Robert gets a call that they gave us the wrong license plates! Robert asked when we need to bring the car in. They were nonchalant about the whole thing, but we were nervous having the wrong plates, so after work Robert went back to the dealer, 45 minutes each way. It was handled quickly, but no one was the least bit apologetic for our inconvenience.

4/30- OPEN ISSUE:

We also had the dealer install an ipod connector in the car. The ipod connector, which the dealer installed, does not look anything like the one VW accessory website or the VW website. When we mentioned this to the sales staff last night, we were met with a blank stare and told to call service. Please note, that the ipod adapter was hooked to the rear of the radio (according to the dealer) and connects to the ipod via simple headphone jack that offers NO control of the ipod through the radio and does not allow the ipod to be charged through the car. The VW website states that their ipod charger should connect through pin connector, offer some control over the ipod through the radio controls, and charges the ipod. Something is clearly wrong here.

At present, we are still waiting to resolve this issue. Most likely, we will have to travel to the dealer again to visit them in person in order to resolve it. This is unacceptable given we have paid $400 for an ipod adapter that is most likely, wrong ($175 for the part, 2hrs labor at $98 each.)

5/10- ANOTHER TRY TO RESOLVE THE ISSUES

To try to get the ipod issue resolved, we went to the dealer (45 mins each way) expressly to see Joe Clem who we thought could help us. We showed him the ipod connector that was installed and he agreed that was the wrong piece. We also showed him a cover in the trunk that was missing (that Vincent in sales said he was going to have for us before we even picked up the car). He got the part numbers of each and set us up with an appointment to come in and get both fixed. Finally, some service and resolution!

5/15

The night before the appointment, they called and cancelled because they were too busy.

6/06- RESCHEDULED SERVICE APPOINTMENT

We arrived at the dealer at 7am on Friday for our rescheduled service appointment and my wife took the subway to the city for work. I received a call at 2pm that the car would not be ready, and that we could leave it for the weekend or pick it up and reschedule. The reason given for this was that this was actually an over night issue do to the technical difficulty of the tasks to be performed (Ipod connector exchange/Trunk side cover) UNBELIEVEABLE! We called Joe Clem to complain and Joe got them to fix it that same day. What we were suddenly told was an overnight job, was suddenly resolved in 3 hours.

When we went to pick up the car at 5pm, the ipod connector had been corrected, but the piece for the trunk was still missing. They told us that the wrong piece had come in and that we should call sales about getting the right one. We told them sales has been useless since they sold the car and asked who can help us. I was told to call service directly. We told them that wasnt good enough. They told us to call back in 2-3 weeks and see if the part has come in. We have very little hope that anyone did anything to try to get the correct part and at this point, well probably take it to another VW dealer closer to our house in order to get this last remaining issue resolved.

6/23 REMAINING UNRESOLVED ISSUE:

At present we are still waiting for the missing cover (inside trunk right hand side trunk cover, covers the satellite radio box and trunk cd exchanger), numerous contacts to the dealer since the Service Appointment have only been answered with more run-arounds and empty promises that they issue will be taken care of and will be resolved soon.

6/23 - ANOTHER NEW ISSUE

We decided that we would like to join the VW Club, since we own a VW Certified Pre-owned car, this is an option open to us. We call the number listed on the VW USA website. As the customer service representative looks up the car vin to validate our being able to join the VW Club, the representative tells us that the car is not registered as Certified. After all the trouble with the dealer concerning the certified, having had to prove to the dealer at numerous occasion that the car was advertised as certified, we know had to find out that the dealer, having sold us the car as certified, has not registered the car as such with VW USA. We had our call transferred to VW Customer Care Center, registered a complaint concerning this, along with everything else listed here, and where told that VW Customer Care would get in contact with the dealer to clear the certified issue. We were told to expect an answer by 6/26/08.

i have 1997 vw passat.the transmission would give a bump when you release the brakes after a complete stop.the vehicle was taken to new york transmission and was diognose to have a faulty valveboby that i purchase 11/02/05 for said vehicle.i called the parts department of koeppel vw 10/13/06 and spoke to willy green who told me to bring the part in because the part is warranty for 1year or 12000 miles.the service manager had given the service advisor(marty mossoar and thepart personnel willy green to order the part.i got home and there was a call for me to call willy green in parts who then told me that he was told not to order the part i was told that i would have to bring the vehcile to the service dept.to be diagnose.

on monday 10/16/06 i took the car into koeppel vw i spoke to the service manager who said that i should go to a service advisor to generate a trepair order for the the vehcile to be diagnose and i will be charge.i told him i was not going to pay again to have the car diagnosed when i paided the transmission facility to have it diagnosed.i got no where with koppel vw so i called customer services of volkswagen of america 1-800 822 8987 ref.#60375953 who after explaining to them the situation did acknowledged that the part was under warranty. well from monday to thursday 10/19/06 i still have not gotten ant satisfaction i do have a copy of volkswagen parts and accessories limited warranty brochure that can be mailed to you at your request a copy of a paid bill.

Next day,on saturday april 8/2006, at 4:00pm I went to my companys office(16 miles away) to pick-up my weekly paycheck.Same evening at 7:00pm,trying to go back home,I put the key in the igniton of my new VW,and noticed that it wouldnt start.I tried to start it many times but I had the same problem: the car wouldnt start.

That being said,I was feeling very frustrated because I never thought I would have this kind of problem with a brand new VW at very first trip.

After this,I contacted the dealers road assistance in order to send a tow truck to pick-up my car and myself.The tow truck showed up in one hour,they picked up my car but they never offered me a ride home.

Next day,on sunday april 9/2006 ,obviously I didnt have a car because the dealers rental car partner,Enterprise ,inc, was closed.It was a nice day at home(LOL).

On monday morning april 10/2006,I took another day off and I went to the dealer with the intention to get a different car then the one with the problem.
They showed me the car and the car was starting now.They kept the car all day to see what the problem was.At 5:00pm on monday they gave me the same car and telling me that the car wasnt ready for selling on friday april 7/2006.

I took the car home 5 miles away.

Next morning,on tuesday april 11/2006 at 7:00am,I tried to start the car to go to work,but surprise,the car wasnt starting again.Very upset and disappointed I called the road assistance again to take care of the problem.They towed the car away.
Of course I had to take another day off from work.

I went to the dealers repair station again explaining them that the car has the same problem.

I went to the dealers office and imperatively request to change the car with another one similar.They refused me ,offering me a rental car until the problem was fixed,mentioning that the car might be ready on wednesday afternoon,april 12/2006.

After the whole five day experience in which I had the car only one day at home and the car was towed two times,I can onestly tell you that I definitely dont want the same problem car anymore.

I also wanna tell you that my fammily,my relatives, my friends from Roumania,Hungary and USA and me are disgusted of the whole thing and believe that this is unacceptable for such a renowned brand as VW.

With all due respect,please help me aut and fiind a solution for all this trouble Im dealing with ,me,my family and my friends.

they said the can't fix it.

they paind my julypayment but still wont take the car back after 6 or mor trips to the shop.now there mad at me for filing a letter of intent to use the lemon lay to get my money back.
now the say nothing is wrong that all the vw trucks have the same thing, normal for vw they ay.

my old chevies ran better.

10-2000 with 19,924 miles on it from the authorized VW dealership Koeppel VW in Queens,NY. In 2005 I brought the vehicle to Star Nissan dealership also in Queens,NY to use the VW Golf as a trade-in for a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The Star Nissan people did a CARFAX which reported that the 1997 VW Golf had 43,000 in 1998, which automatically meant that the vehicle had its odometer rolled-back.

The car's value was deemed "worthless" because of sufficient evidence to how many miles are on my vehicle. Koeppel VW are refusing to settle this issue and are refusing to receive my calls now. Please inform me of how to go about getting justice prevailed for me.