Bad diagnostic service.

[hm2be]

My partner took the car to VW for a diagnostic as the clutch is sticky and the car seems to have lost power in 1st gear. The left side doesn't lock properly and there was a rattling noise form the engine. The diagnostic cost £95 took all day today and they have just said there is nothing wrong with the car. The only thing they did was replace a missing screw from engine under tray which solved the rattling noise. The car has obvious problems so we are not happy that we have paid for a diagnostic and are still none the wiser. Can we get some of our money back?

[Conor]

Sadly, no. What you've basically had is a "plug the computer in" diagnostic. Something like a sticking clutch could mean a strip down which is a few hours. Also, it'd lose power in all gears, not just 1st and that could be something that's just in your head. As regards the door lock, I remember once having a Proton in on a warranty job which apparently wouldn't lock the central locking on the drivers door. No matter what we did, we couldn't replicate the fault. Eventually we got the owner in who did it every time. He was well into his 80's and he turned the key so slowly and feebly that he was managing to turn it just enough to lock it but not trigger the central locking.

[harveybobbles]

Even to this day I get customers phoning up telling me that thier fuel flap doesnt lock on thier Volvo once they've locked the car............

Loosing power on 1 gear is an odd one. And to be honest I'd tell you to come back once it started loosing power thru all gears as it'd be much easier to pin point. Tho have you checked the positioning of your floor mat...?!

As for your 95 quid - well thats a pretty (lame) standard diagnostic charge most main dealers charge, even if under warranty.

[epninety]

I would read "lost power in 1st gear" as suggesting either a drop in low end torque (making it sluggish to pull away, but less noticeable once rolling through the gears) or possibly a traction control/throttle mapping related problem (as the power delivery can be altered for different gears, though usually on autos/powerful/upspec motors).

[Pew Pew Pew Lasers!]

Could be a faulty MAF, they don't always show up on the computer.