Cybertoad's Blog

Betty went back to the dealer Wednesday. Late last week on a warmer day than usual her A/C wouldn’t work. No cool air was coming out of the vents. Not good as the Texas heat rapidly approaches.

I called and made an appointment to take her in this week and lo and behold the next day the A/C was working again. Hmm… I considered canceling my appointment but with an upcoming drive to Tallahassee, Florida scheduled for the end of April (10 hour drive one-way), I thought I’d at least take it in and see if they could diagnose the problem because I was sure the A/C was going to die sooner rather than later and I did not want to deal with this issue while on the road trip.

At first the service tech told me that if it was still working it would be a bit difficult and I might be out a $97 diagnostic fee if they couldn’t find anything. He then decided to look at something under the hood. It seems that if the fan is going out then the A/C will kick off and on as it gets overloaded. Sure enough, he said that was the problem. A certain fuse was showing physical signs of being overloaded indicating the fan was the problem. He said it should be covered by my warranty and to go ahead and leave the car.

Although I have had to take this car in more often than I ever had to take my Honda in – I am way too familiar with the check-in and loaner car policy at the VW dealership – I must admit that I have been very pleased with my dealership and its service techs. They are professional, straightforward and efficient. The loaner cars are always clean and new (I typically get a Jetta and I think I got the same one I got a few weeks ago) and so far, my super-duper extended warranty has taken care of everything I’ve come in for. Plus they have great hours – their service area is open from 7 AM – 7 PM during the week so I don’t have to lose any work hours.

Anyway, yes, Betty’s electronics aren’t the most reliable but she’s worth it. At least, so far she is…