I leased a new 95' VW Jetta in August of 1995. The color was suede silver before it became blotchy silver. My wife noticed the problem with the paint fading within two months of purchasing the vehicle. Also, it was obvious that the white covers used during transportation from Mexico left an everlasting impression.
Since the car was still under warranty, we took it to another dealership (the original dealership went out of business). They were understanding and repainted the car themselves. We asked if they could paint it a different color since we feared the same problem would arise and they laughed at us.
Well, within a year the paint started to deteriorate again and we eventually took it to yet another dealership and they would not do anything about since it was not under warranty and the dealership who repainted the car could not stand behind their work. VWUSA said it was our problem and refused to compensate us.
The consequences are that we have a vehicle that looks terrible and has virtually no resale value. Also, VW will suffer in some minor way by the reputation they have gained as a result. We go out of our way to discredit VW and slander their reputation with anyone we meet. This probably means nothing to VW, but I will not stand by and let other people make the same mistake.
