It doesn’t seem like that long, but our Tiguan is now almost 7 years old, and it just had its first major repair. It’s really a twofer, because it actually started back in May, when the mechanic at Knibbe noted that there was some sort of oil leak, but he would have to do some work to track it down. Then when I went to pick up Miranda from work on Sunday, two things happened:
- There was a strange “scratchy” sound when I turned the steering wheel to full lock when maneuvering in the parking lot, and
- When I came to a stop, the airbag warning light on the dashboard was lit up and the message on the screen was “Airbag Error”.
Tammy got a hold of VW on Monday morning and I took the car in after lunch. I hung around at the dealer for about an hour to find out what the issue was. As it turned out, it was a clock spring failure, something that was covered under a warranty extension. But the mechanic also discovered the oil leak and traced it to a leaking camshaft seal. It was going to be expensive, as it was a 5 hour job and the car would need to be in overnight.
Tammy picked up the car today, and the damage was $1994. They didn’t note any other things that needed to be addressed while the engine was apart, so that’s good. The tires will need to be replaced soon, and the battery failed in the cold weather before Christmas. Those are just normal wear and tear things. It’s not like the run of problems we were having with the Golf. We’re not really interested in buying a new car at the moment and the Tiguan is still pretty well suited for our family. Maybe it would be nice to have a bit more space in the car for our road trips, but with a top box on, we fit just fine. There’s always the discussion of an electric car, but Alberta’s not like BC, Ontario and Quebec with rebates and charging stations all over the place. Hopefully we’ll get there someday, and with the solar panels on the roof we could anticipate charging from the sun.
It could have seen worse..