My UNSOLICITED buy back offer did not have a non dissemination (gag) order, so here is my story.
I'm John. I'm an old, retarded..er, uh, retired aerospace engineer. I have 2 engineering degrees and an MBA, all from Southern California universities. Of course, over the years, I have bought and sold many vehicles. Worked on many cars, aircraft, busses, heavy equipment, and the like. I actually bought the FIRST Lexus sold in southern California, before they even had model numbers.
But here's the story you want to hear. Around July of 2021 wife and I figured it was time to look at electric cars. Did my research. On September 13, 2021, I bought a BRAND NEW 2016 E-Golf SEL. (Yes, Brand New). 156 Miles. Great Deal. Had it trucked here from Massachusetts. Loved the car. Only replaced the 12 V battery and tires. (They were over 5 years old, you know) In a year and 3 months, 12/28/2022 with 17119 miles traded it in for a NEW ID4 AWD Pro S and got more money in trade than we paid for it! Loved the ID4 for 3 days! Got a charging fault, fading green then red. Dash said Emergency Charging only. Went to my local dealer. Found everyone had a 'deer in the headlights' look. Went back home. Said to self, ' I guess I'm on my own'. Anyway fixed that problem with Nyogel 760G to lube the charge port. January 3rd, 2023, had to start putting the key fobs in a Faraday Box because they were talking too much to the car and I knew the fob batteries would be kaput real soon. January 10th, noticed weird dash errors, the 12 V battery was dying, sitting at 11.6 during an overnight. Moved F52 to the always on position so I could monitor the 12 V voltage 24/7. Bought a NOCO to jump start the thing when it would be dead. Fast forward 3 months. Now it's dead more than it's alive. Went to dealer for battery, 'deer in the headlights' look, plus they had no battery. Neither did the Audi dealer. Ok, on my own again. A day later, both the binnacle and infotain screen blanked out. I alerted the NHTSA. After all, now I had no speedometer. Then I took apart the battery hold down, and to my shock, this was not even an AGM battery to begin with! Varta's web pages said it was supposed to be! So, I found an AGM battery through of all places, Advance Auto Parts. Right size, AGM, made by Varta (Johnson Controls or whoever owns it this week). Took the car and the battery to the independent VW and other German Geniuses shop here in town. They have the ODIS or whatever they needed to code the new battery. They installed it, coded it, and you know, the voltage NEVER again dropped below 12.4 even after 3 days sitting. Now fast forward AGAIN, to July 17th, 6 months and a week later. My phone rings. It's VWOA wanting to BUY MY CAR! UNSOLICITED ! (For Extensive Testing, she tells me) I told her, Ok, give me a couple of days to hash together an offer. I came up with $75000.00, figuring that would kill it. It was realistic figuring the time I put into it, and $750.00 for a battery installed and coded. THEY ACCEPTED! Well, long story almost finished, they have my ID4, I bought a NEW ID4, (of course replaced the battery immediately). No BUZZ was available July 17th !
So here was an ID4 that had never seen the inside of a VW Dealer Repair Center, we were very happy with the car despite the glitches, yet VWOA wanted it back! Just thought you'd love this story. I know they sent the ID4 off to Germany, do we have any way to find out what if anything they have done or its status?
I have been reading these forums since May of 2021, but this is my first contribution. (If you can call it that)
Thanks for reading.
John
I'm John. I'm an old, retarded..er, uh, retired aerospace engineer. I have 2 engineering degrees and an MBA, all from Southern California universities. Of course, over the years, I have bought and sold many vehicles. Worked on many cars, aircraft, busses, heavy equipment, and the like. I actually bought the FIRST Lexus sold in southern California, before they even had model numbers.
But here's the story you want to hear. Around July of 2021 wife and I figured it was time to look at electric cars. Did my research. On September 13, 2021, I bought a BRAND NEW 2016 E-Golf SEL. (Yes, Brand New). 156 Miles. Great Deal. Had it trucked here from Massachusetts. Loved the car. Only replaced the 12 V battery and tires. (They were over 5 years old, you know) In a year and 3 months, 12/28/2022 with 17119 miles traded it in for a NEW ID4 AWD Pro S and got more money in trade than we paid for it! Loved the ID4 for 3 days! Got a charging fault, fading green then red. Dash said Emergency Charging only. Went to my local dealer. Found everyone had a 'deer in the headlights' look. Went back home. Said to self, ' I guess I'm on my own'. Anyway fixed that problem with Nyogel 760G to lube the charge port. January 3rd, 2023, had to start putting the key fobs in a Faraday Box because they were talking too much to the car and I knew the fob batteries would be kaput real soon. January 10th, noticed weird dash errors, the 12 V battery was dying, sitting at 11.6 during an overnight. Moved F52 to the always on position so I could monitor the 12 V voltage 24/7. Bought a NOCO to jump start the thing when it would be dead. Fast forward 3 months. Now it's dead more than it's alive. Went to dealer for battery, 'deer in the headlights' look, plus they had no battery. Neither did the Audi dealer. Ok, on my own again. A day later, both the binnacle and infotain screen blanked out. I alerted the NHTSA. After all, now I had no speedometer. Then I took apart the battery hold down, and to my shock, this was not even an AGM battery to begin with! Varta's web pages said it was supposed to be! So, I found an AGM battery through of all places, Advance Auto Parts. Right size, AGM, made by Varta (Johnson Controls or whoever owns it this week). Took the car and the battery to the independent VW and other German Geniuses shop here in town. They have the ODIS or whatever they needed to code the new battery. They installed it, coded it, and you know, the voltage NEVER again dropped below 12.4 even after 3 days sitting. Now fast forward AGAIN, to July 17th, 6 months and a week later. My phone rings. It's VWOA wanting to BUY MY CAR! UNSOLICITED ! (For Extensive Testing, she tells me) I told her, Ok, give me a couple of days to hash together an offer. I came up with $75000.00, figuring that would kill it. It was realistic figuring the time I put into it, and $750.00 for a battery installed and coded. THEY ACCEPTED! Well, long story almost finished, they have my ID4, I bought a NEW ID4, (of course replaced the battery immediately). No BUZZ was available July 17th !
So here was an ID4 that had never seen the inside of a VW Dealer Repair Center, we were very happy with the car despite the glitches, yet VWOA wanted it back! Just thought you'd love this story. I know they sent the ID4 off to Germany, do we have any way to find out what if anything they have done or its status?
I have been reading these forums since May of 2021, but this is my first contribution. (If you can call it that)
Thanks for reading.
John
