My VW Passat is a Swimming Pool!

Last Christmas my girlfriend gave me a remote car starter for the Passat. Cool. Unfortunately the place she bought it from ("Sound Waves" in Clinton, CT) couldn't do the install till the end of Jan. Not Cool, but OK. I get it installed and lovin' the convenience of having a warm car every morning. About a week later the antenna, adhered to the top left of my windshield with double sticky tape, comes lose and is now dangling from the wire - Not Cool. I stick it back up and note that I'll have to fix that later with double sticky tape that I know will work. I can't help being a little disappointed that I have to fix what a professional auto electronics shop did.

Last week my girlfriend commented that my car smelled funny. I too had recently noticed an odd smell developing. This last Saturday, it rained. I go out to my car Sunday evening and find a puddle of water in the rear driver’s side at least 2 inches deep!!!! (Car was sitting slightly up-hill) All the windows were completely closed, so I figure something must have gone haywire with my sunroof, like clogged sunroof drains. I soaked up as much water as I could with towels, but this morning all the interior windows were dripping with condensation. What a mess!!

This evening I pulled the car into the garage so I could leave the windows and sunroof open and help it dry. I blow compressed air through the sunroof drains, and they work just fine. Then I remove the plastic cowl cover to see if there's anything funky in there. I notice a blue wire, from the remote starter, that disappears through the side of a factory wire harness grommet. The grommet has been cut into to get this wire through and since this is the cowl, water flows right over this grommet. The boneheads that put the car starter in cut right through a critical grommet in my cowl and didn't even bother to RTV it!!!! This is total #$%^& crap!!!! I'm half tempted to sue them or put in an insurance claim and let my insurance company chase them (if that's even possible). I'm so #@$%& Pissed I could Scream!

Thanks for letting me vent.

Thanks for the sympathy. Doesn't sound like you're having a banner day either HMM. Try contacting your homeowners and auto insurance, one or both of them should cover the damage.

I've calmed down since yesterday, though my car still smells

I just returned from "Sound Waves" in Clinton, CT. The owner was very appologetic and fixed the problem immediately. He was skeptical that 2" of water could have entered that small hole. As he started repairing it, he'd barely touched it when the grommet went through the hole. He realized that only a small section of the grommet was seated in the hole and most of it had been pushed below the metal hole, thus allowing much more water than would have fit through the wire slot to leak in. He stated that he stands behind his work and will reimburse me for any repair expenses. I probably should have gotten that in writing, but it somehow didn't seem appropriate. If it turns out to cost any more than a couple hundred, then I'll give him a heads up before proceeding.

Well, it’s a done deal. Old Saybrook Volkswagen installed the new carpet, new CCM and replaced the pins on the mating CCM connector all in one day (they had 2 guys working on the car). I asked them to save everything in case I had any problems collecting payment. I opened the old CCM and it was soaked inside. After removal, they had the old carpet inside, but said the smell was making them sick, so they put it outside. They said the carpet was dripping wet when they removed it. (I was amazed to see how thick the underlayment is on this carpet. So the 2” of water I originally saw, meant there was actually about 4” of water!) It’s important to note for those of you who have had water in your car, that I had soaked as much of the water up with towels as physically possible. I even layered towels on the floor and stood on them to soak up the water and had the windows open 24/7, yet still, the carpet was dripping wet underneath -10 days after the last rainstorm. They didn’t put the old floor mats back in the car since they also stink. I have no problem absorbing the cost of new floor mats since, heck, I just got brand new carpeting.

I can hardly begin to describe how good the car smells now. Not only does it smell new, it looks new. Final cost = $2130 (that’s with the 10% discount). A1 quality work by “Volkswagen of Old Saybrook”.

“Sound Waves” came through, taking full responsibility for the mistake, paying the bill directly via credit card over the phone. Would I go back to “Sound Waves” again? Yes, absolutely. They’re as reputable as it gets.

Just in case my emotions aren’t coming through loud and clear in text: “I’m truly thrilled and impressed”.

Cannoball888 said:

Great customer service from Sound Waves! I'll bet you're back to feeling fully fahrvernugt.

Click to expand...

For a few days anyway.
I’ll bet you all thought this story was over. (I know I did) Well guess what? It rained last weekend and I didn’t use the car until Monday morning and (I’m sure you know what I’m going to say..) . . . There was 2” of water in the back seat again!!!! Just like before!!!!! Only this time it’s a brand new carpet and new CCM. I soaked up the majority of the water and brought it back to the dealer. The mechanic said he had inspected the RTV grommet repair that “Sound Waves” had done and thought it looked good (I thought it looked good too). Apparently we were all wrong. This time they tested it by pouring water in the cowl and sure enough, it still leaks.

They’re going to cut the remote starter wire and replace the grommet. Thus the remote starter will no longer work. (not sure what I’m going to do about that yet) Remove the carpet and hang it to dry and replace the CCM. They’re discounting their labor 20% and “Sound Waves will pick up this bill too, which will be in the $1,000 area.

They’ve had the car since Monday morning. (They had to order the $3 grommet.) I expect I’ll get it back Friday evening.

I'm now shopping Mustang GT's, but I think I'll wait till the next incentive deal comes along.