[quattrogmbh]

I have a new car (<1000 miles) in which I have experienced a sudden loss of power assistance on the steering. It came back a few seconds later, but there were plenty of lights on the dash and I'm glad it didn't happen on a faster corner.

The dealer has said they cannot replicate the fault, but they can see error codes which suggest a "module" lost power. I've left it with them.
The dealer are contacting the manufacturer tech folks, but I suspect soon they'll just say "take it back..."

I'd be happier taking it back if they had found and rectified the fault. By them not resolving the issue, this is a fault waiting to happen again. I'm not to keen being a test pilot in the family car.

The fact they haven't experienced the issue doesn't surprise me. It only happened to me once in 700 odd miles. That's not really the point. I'm glad it happened to me and not the wife.


I'm considering formal rejection. What are your thoughts?

[Kerr]

Scary fault. What car is it? Maybe a known problem?

Not sure what your chances are of rejection. Hard to reject something with a one off fault that hasn't since been replicated.

Think there would need to be some evidence that you were at risk of it happening again.

[quattrogmbh]

Its a VW.

Thats part of the problem. I don't really want the problem to manifest again..
But if it hasn't been root caused, the chances are at some point it will.

I guess the question is - Is the probability of it happening again any higher than with a replacement??

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by quattrogmbh

Its a VW.

Thats part of the problem. I don't really want the problem to manifest again..
But if it hasn't been root caused, the chances are at some point it will.

I guess the question is - Is the probability of it happening again any higher than with a replacement??

Passat?

My brother had one and had similar issues to what's described.

Steering issues seem quite common on VW's, so I'm not sure a replacement VW will quell your concerns.

[Robin330i]

Reject the car - you have rights to do so as it so new.

[quattrogmbh]

Thanks for the comments.. I'm inclined to reject it. But still concerned that the probability of failure on a new one probably isn't that much different.

[LexS]

I used to work as a development engineer on power steering systems and can tell you now if the issue has got through the launch process it will take more than a few weeks with the dealer scratching their head to rectify. A robust fix for the root cause won't be released by the supplier for a number of weeks (8 realistically) to allow for proper validation of the fix. In all likely hood the dealer will pass the car back with no changes made as it's so far out of their ability to fix there's nothing they can do unless they happen to find a dodgy earth for that module.

The probability of failure on another car will be quite low as the chances of getting a defective piece of hardware, or incorrectly assembled loom for example, is slim. Defective software would be much easier to trace across a larger spread of vehicle to the point at which a recall should have already been issued, in the form of a dealer update.

Reject the car and take a new one would be my advice.

[Russbmw]

Originally Posted by Robin330i

Reject the car - you have rights to do so as it so new.

I agree