[amylou1966]

HELP! Do I proceed with these repairs or sell?
My Tiguan has just over 100,000 miles on it -- I love it and the body is in excellent condition. However, I was quoted over $3K to replace my AWD and another $1K to replace the valve cover gasket, and I was also told that my radiator may have a slow leak and that my back springs needs to be replaced. I am a single Mom that knows very little about cars and not many places repairs VW cars around here. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Thatuhhhhguy]

By "replacing AWD" do you mean the entire haldex unit? $1K for the valve cover reseal is average for the dealer I believe, the actual cost of the parts to do that job is around $100 and an indie shop should charge around $400-$500 to reseal it. For the other issue you should get a second opinion, did a dealer give you this quote?

A little more info would help. Have you had any major service done? e.g Timing Chain, Water pump, Intake Manifold, etc.

 

[ItsHabanero]

Second the independent shop.

If you're having trouble finding one that works on VWs, start by talking to an independent shop that works on any European make. Don't be intimidated if they name Audi, Mercedes, etc. If they don't do it themselves, they should know who can.

 

[amylou1966]

By "replacing AWD" do you mean the entire haldex unit? $1K for the valve cover reseal is average for the dealer I believe, the actual cost of the parts to do that job is around $100 and an indie shop should charge around $400-$500 to reseal it. For the other issue you should get a second opinion, did a dealer give you this quote?

A little more info would help. Have you had any major service done? e.g Timing Chain, Water pump, Intake Manifold, etc.

I took it into a VW dealership, and they changed the Haldex fluid, hoping that does the trick and says the AWD activated on the lift. No other major repairs since I got it 3 years ago. They requoted me $1300 to do the valve cover gasket/camshaft bearing and stated I also needed new rear coil springs and alignment $840, and then have to worry about my radiator that previous shop said was very low and they quoted me $870 to replace if needed. As I said, I really like my Tiguan, and I still owe $4K on it and it's killing me to keep putting these expenses into it.

 

[amylou1966]

Second the independent shop.

If you're having trouble finding one that works on VWs, start by talking to an independent shop that works on any European make. Don't be intimidated if they name Audi, Mercedes, etc. If they don't do it themselves, they should know who can.

It's more the cost and should I keep the vehicle or sell it? It is a 2014 and I still owe $4K on it but these repairs are going to kill me.

 

[Thatuhhhhguy]

and stated I also needed new rear coil springs and alignment $840, and then have to worry about my radiator that previous shop said was very low and they quoted me $870 to replace if needed.

Did they say you needed new springs because one is broken? or are they just saying that because they think they can scam you? I say this because 90% of dealers i've gone to try and test you to see if you know if the service is needed on the car. For the radiator it seems like they have not diagnosed it, water pump is a common failure which can cause coolant loss.

In my opinion, I think you should not go to the dealer for services. Indie shops will charge half of the dealer cost. Timing chain stretch is very common on theses engines (around 100k miles) and if not fixed will cause engine damage. A indie shop can check the stretch and tell you if it needs to be replaced, I say this because this is major repair and will add to the cost. All in all, I think you should go to an indie shop and ask them how much it would be to fix everything. You can ask for an inspection and see if they see another other problems that might come up, then I would decide on weather to sell the car or not. Hope this helps!

 

[amylou1966]

Did they say you needed new springs because one is broken? or are they just saying that because they think they can scam you? I say this because 90% of dealers i've gone to try and test you to see if you know if the service is needed on the car. For the radiator it seems like they have not diagnosed it, water pump is a common failure which can cause coolant loss.

In my opinion, I think you should not go to the dealer for services. Indie shops will charge half of the dealer cost. Timing chain stretch is very common on theses engines (around 100k miles) and if not fixed will cause engine damage. A indie shop can check the stretch and tell you if it needs to be replaced, I say this because this is major repair and will add to the cost. All in all, I think you should go to an indie shop and ask them how much it would be to fix everything. You can ask for an inspection and see if they see another other problems that might come up, then I would decide on weather to sell the car or not. Hope this helps!

Yes, they said both springs are broken.
How much is a water pump repair?
What is an "indie" shop? If you mean independent, the first one I called in my area about the valve cover gasket laughed and told me to sell the car. I haven't been able to find someone specific to VW cars in my area.

 

[Thatuhhhhguy]

How much is a water pump repair?
What is an "indie" shop? If you mean independent, the first one I called in my area about the valve cover gasket laughed and told me to sell the car. I haven't been able to find someone specific to VM cars in my area.

At the dealer they could charge well over $1k including a intake valve carbon cleaning which is highly recommended since they have to remove the intake manifold to access the water pump. You may not need a water pump replacement but it was worth noting since they are a common failure. Yes by indie shop I mean independent VW shop, you can look around the forums and see if anyone near you has suggested any shops to go to. If not you could always go to a Euro shop and ask, I would stay away from any non euro shops as they may misdiagnose or use cheap parts for repairs.

Personally I would never pay dealer prices but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[amylou1966]

By "replacing AWD" do you mean the entire haldex unit? $1K for the valve cover reseal is average for the dealer I believe, the actual cost of the parts to do that job is around $100 and an indie shop should charge around $400-$500 to reseal it. For the other issue you should get a second opinion, did a dealer give you this quote?

A little more info would help. Have you had any major service done? e.g Timing Chain, Water pump, Intake Manifold, etc.

They are saying the entire rear differential needs to be replaced, local shop quoted $3500, dealer quoted $4700 but nobody is willing to just replace the Haldex pump to tell me what's actually broken, there is no issues accept no power to the rear wheels in the snow like there was in previous winters.

We haven't done any other repairs, we specifically got a 2014+ to not have as many timing issues.

At the dealer they could charge well over $1k including a intake valve carbon cleaning which is highly recommended since they have to remove the intake manifold to access the water pump. You may not need a water pump replacement but it was worth noting since they are a common failure. Yes by indie shop I mean independent VW shop, you can look around the forums and see if anyone near you has suggested any shops to go to. If not you could always go to a Euro shop and ask, I would stay away from any non euro shops as they may misdiagnose or use cheap parts for repairs.

Personally I would never pay dealer prices but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

I called several shops, even Euro specialty ones and most acted like I was asking them to work on an alien space craft when I mentioned replacing the valve cover gasket on a 2.0 TSi... I don't know why a common repair on a common engine is so hard to get done, the dealer is the only one that seems to have a solid grasp of it, but nobody seems to know about the AWD.

Both rear springs are broken in 3 spots.

 

[Thatuhhhhguy]

They are saying the entire rear differential needs to be replaced, local shop quoted $3500, dealer quoted $4700 but nobody is willing to just replace the Haldex pump to tell me what's actually broken, there is no issues accept no power to the rear wheels in the snow like there was in previous winters.

You mentioned the dealer got the AWD to work on the lift, did they scan the car to see if it had any codes relating to the haldex?

We haven't done any other repairs, we specifically got a 2014+ to not have as many timing issues.

In 2013 they fixed the teniosner for the timing chain but the chains will still stretch due to long oil change intervals, they still need to be replaced every 100K-130K miles.

I called several shops, even Euro specialty ones and most acted like I was asking them to work on an alien space craft when I mentioned replacing the valve cover gasket on a 2.0 TSi... I don't know why a common repair on a common engine is so hard to get done, the dealer is the only one that seems to have a solid grasp of it, but nobody seems to know about the AWD.

There is no valve cover gasket, the technical term would be a Cam Cradle reseal because it uses sealant. Anyone who has worked on those engines would've understood what you meant but it seems like they either didnt want to work on it or just wanted to be rude. If there are codes for the haldex pump then replacing it may fix the issue, to answer your original question, IMO if the entire haldex/differential needs to be replaced I would look at getting another car.

 

[amylou1966]

You mentioned the dealer got the AWD to work on the lift, did they scan the car to see if it had any codes relating to the haldex?


In 2013 they fixed the teniosner for the timing chain but the chains will still stretch due to long oil change intervals, they still need to be replaced every 100K-130K miles.


There is no valve cover gasket, the technical term would be a Cam Cradle reseal because it uses sealant. Anyone who has worked on those engines would've understood what you meant but it seems like they either didnt want to work on it or just wanted to be rude. If there are codes for the haldex pump then replacing it may fix the issue, to answer your original question, IMO if the entire haldex/differential needs to be replaced I would look at getting another car.

No idea on the codes, they never said anything to me about it.

And yeah, I understand there isn't a physical gasket to replace, either way the 4 independent shops I called didn't seem to want to do it.

EDIT: So there is a C111307 code along with a unrelated B11F029 and B11F814

 

[Thatuhhhhguy]

EDIT: So there is a C111307 code along with a unrelated B11F029 and B11F814

Worked on a Tiguan a while back that had that code, pump screen was clogged. Cleaned the screen and code went away and AWD started working again. When the dealer changed the haldex fluid did they clean the pump and change the filter?