Volkswagen has announced the new Carefree Maintenance Program that will be available on some of its 2009 models.
The program, similar to the same program that BMW has on all of its vehicles, includes no maintenance charges for the length of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty (3 years/ 36k miles). The program is going to launch with the introduction of the 2009 Tiguan SUV and the Routan minivan.
"Volkswagen's Carefree Maintenance Program is a great way to improve our owner loyalty for our brand, as well as increase consumer consideration" said Mark Barnes, Chief Operating Officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. "This program also differentiates us from our competition by allowing us to be the only automaker among our key competitors to offer a no-charge maintenance program" added Barnes.
We'll see if this works, since these programs are usually only offered by luxury brands.
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PRESS RELEASE:
VOLKSWAGEN ANNOUNCES CAREFREE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM
Program designed to improve owner loyalty and brand distinction
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today a no-charge Carefree Maintenance Program on its entire 2009 model line. With this program there are no charges for the scheduled maintenance described in each vehicle's maintenance booklet for the length of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty-three years or 36,000 miles, whichever occurs first. The Carefree Maintenance Program will launch with the introduction of the Tiguan, Volkswagen's all-new crossover utility vehicle.
"Volkswagen's Carefree Maintenance Program is a great way to improve our owner loyalty for our brand, as well as increase consumer consideration" said Mark Barnes, Chief Operating Officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. "This program also differentiates us from our competition by allowing us to be the only automaker among our key competitors to offer a no-charge maintenance program" added Barnes.
The maintenance intervals covered under this program and detailed in each vehicle's maintenance booklet are 10K, 20K, and 30K miles for all 2009 model year Volkswagens. Since all current Volkswagens use synthetic oil, combined with state-of-the-art European engineering, a 5K oil change is no longer necessary. This means that Volkswagen customers can drive further between oil changes.
This program also covers the forthcoming Routan, Volkswagen's all-new seven passenger minivan, which arrives in dealer showrooms later this year. Maintenance intervals for the Routan are 6K, 12K, 18K, 24K, 30K and 36K.
The Carefree Maintenance Program also includes a courtesy vehicle check. This allows owners to return to the dealership from which they purchased their 2009 model year Volkswagen within 90 days or 6,000 miles, whichever occurs first, for a full review of the vehicles benefits and features, and to have their vehicle checked at no charge.
Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Rabbit, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, GLI, Passat, Passat wagon, Eos, and Touareg through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. Visit Volkswagen of America online at www.vw.com.
Comments (15)
That sounds pretty sweet, and since its a VW, you should get your money's worth.
Posted by gm0n3y | April 23, 2008 10:53 AM
Posted on April 23, 2008 10:53
Time to contact finance and increase the warranty reserve.
Posted by 2002jetta | April 23, 2008 11:52 AM
Posted on April 23, 2008 11:52
LOL @ owners when they hit 3 years +1 day or 36,001 miles with a 2009 veedub.
I'd rather have a 100k mile warrantee and do my own oil changes. Maintaining a vehicle isn't too terrible. Paying to fix a vehicle that failes prematurely is what sucks.
Posted by Dan | April 23, 2008 12:13 PM
Posted on April 23, 2008 12:13
The bad thing about VW is that only VW can repair them. You have no choice.
Posted by 09 | April 23, 2008 2:58 PM
Posted on April 23, 2008 14:58
LoL @ the first poster.
Posted by Noya | April 23, 2008 3:18 PM
Posted on April 23, 2008 15:18
This should work well with women.
I guess VW thinks BMW has had a good strategy for a couple of years so they're emulating it.
Posted by Cheap Car Lover | April 23, 2008 3:32 PM
Posted on April 23, 2008 15:32
Ohh, and I don't know it anyone else realizes it, but VW has the shortest warranty of any car manufacturer. They only recently uppped it to 3 years so they could tie Honda (who only needs to warranty their crappy transmissions).
Audi has a pretty craptacular warranty too. At least they know their cars!
Posted by Cheap Car Lover | April 23, 2008 3:35 PM
Posted on April 23, 2008 15:35
Umm, No, I have a 2006 Jetta and the basic warranty is 4 years/50,000 miles.
Posted by Adam Riley | April 23, 2008 6:37 PM
Posted on April 23, 2008 18:37
I'm full of crap! Adam is right.
Posted by Cheap Car Lover | April 23, 2008 8:00 PM
Posted on April 23, 2008 20:00
@ Cheap Car Lover:
I award you the "Best Human Being on Earth This Moment" Barnstar. Finally, someone who will just admit someone else is right on something. Its amazing, I cannot believe your kind survived the Swingers-revival. Welcome to the twenty first century, we are in dire need of you.
About the topic:
I've always felt that those who have the longest warranties are hiding something. Why would you have long warranties on cars with few problems? It does make marketing sense (hence the reason its done so often), but I remember a Chevrolet Express I went in on with some friends one. We thought the warranty we got for it was great, but then it spent a day in the shop a month.
And of course there are exceptions to this: Hyundai has great reliability, but a long warranty. BMW has average reliability, but only a 5 year or 60 thousand mile warranty. Although as I have never had any big problems with my 5 series, I think most BMW drivers are just morons who break something then try and make the dealer fix it for free.
Once when I was getting the oil changed under the warranty, a guy came in complaining the engine broke all on its own. I know the service department guys and they let me look over their shoulder while they looked at it and the owner sat in the lounge. Basically, the guy had down shifted with his RPMs to high and the engine spun above maximum revs. Still, he made them fix it under warranty, thats what you get when you are a lawyer.
Posted by Allen | April 23, 2008 8:53 PM
Posted on April 23, 2008 20:53
The P51 won the war. Fakt!
Posted by zippy | April 24, 2008 6:00 AM
Posted on April 24, 2008 06:00
Now its plain to see why VW cancelled the diesel electric hybrid. Too busy paying for all that 'complimentary' maintenance. They must know their products are faulty. Easier to push this on the consumer than pay for lemon law suits.
Posted by WVO | April 24, 2008 7:45 AM
Posted on April 24, 2008 07:45
LOL!!!! The maintenance is the cheapest part of owning a VW. LOL!!!! They take that away from you now :( too bad they can't just invest in not making junk in the 1st place. Coils that fail after 50000 miles 8 revisions of coils. What a sad German Joke and they are the ones laughing since the stupid americans just buy their cars anyways.
Posted by Tim | April 25, 2008 3:38 PM
Posted on April 25, 2008 15:38
Hey, Tim, get a life!! There must be something more worthwhile you can do than spend your time trying to discredit VW. I have a VW TDI and it's been great for 65,000 miles; way past the warranty period. Alot better than the Japanese cars I've owned. All car companies make some lemons (my '99 Civic proved that), that's no reason to bad-mouth a company or an entire nation!
Posted by Ellis | April 28, 2008 11:37 AM
Posted on April 28, 2008 11:37
Hey,Tim, get a life!!! There must be something more worthwhile you can do than spend your time trying to discredit VW. My VWs have been great and my current TDI has traveled 65,000 trouble-free miles; way past the warranty period. Just because you had a bad one doesn't mean they're all bad, or they're out to rip people off. I had a bad Honda once, and I'm not shy about telling people about my Honda lemon but I wouldn't say all Hondas or all Japanese cars are bad. All this misinformation about VW is not true. They're great cars: they're built like tanks, they don't rust (my 2 Hondas did), they have all the safety gear, beautiful interiors, they're over-engineered in ways most customers never even see (unless they crash into a wall). I have no hesitation about buying another one.
Posted by Ellis | April 28, 2008 11:56 AM
Posted on April 28, 2008 11:56