Customer Claim Summary

Customer Claim Summary

Claim Number: VWA0343498

Contact Date: 06/09/03

Today’s Date: 06/15/03

Customer’s Name/Address:

Mark Jovic

Somewhere St.

XXXXX, IL XXXXX

(XXX) XXX-XXXX

Claim Summary:

My car was purchased on July 15, 2002. Upon initial inspection of the wheels, there was no visible sign of wear. Over the course of several months (approx. 8 months excluding winter months when I had on replacement wheels) I noticed a condition on the wheels in which black spots and roughness of the wheels’ finish occurred. As an auto enthusiast I clean my car almost weekly by hand. I spend approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour hand-cleaning my wheels to keep them looking new. Unfortunately, no matter how frequently I clean the wheels, I cannot remove the black spots which are actually tiny fragments of brake dust embedded in the wheels’ delicate clear coat.

I am not alone on this issue. Over 200 2002 VW GTI “337 Edition” owners have also claimed to have similar problems of pitting, black spots, corrosion, roughness, and/or white spots on their wheels as well and have supplied pictures for all to view publicly on online forums to prove their case. This is nearly 12% of all 337 owners, others may still have the problem, but have not yet come forth or don’t know what to do about it. As a group we have approached Volkswagen of America (VWoA) about the problem using one person’s car as the “test” car. We all opened case numbers with VWoA expressing our concerns and his wheels were sent to VW’s testing center in Wolfsburg, Germany where the wheels were determined NOT to be defective, leaving many angry and confused enthusiasts out to dry. Instead of fixing the problem, VWoA contacted a small percentage of those who had opened case numbers to offer them a $25 gift certificate, good toward VW merchandise or service. This action only served to douse fuel on an already raging fire. Once VWoA learned of our reaction to this insult, they decided to stop calling, leaving the rest of us with no response from the manufacturer as promised. We have no choice but to seek legal action in order to remedy this situation.

Some Facts:

-1,500 “GTI 337 Editions” were manufactured for the U.S. in 2002 as a limited edition car and 250 for Canada

-All came equipped with 18”x7.5” custom BBS RC wheels in a special VW-only shot peened and clear coated finish design (BBS does not normally clear coat their wheels)

-The same wheels are found on the European 337’s called the “25th Anniversary Edition”

-The brake pads found on the U.S. 337’s are NOT the same as found on the European 25th Anniversary Editions

-More than 200 337 owners have come forth to claim issues with their wheels’ finish being degraded by their stock brake pads

-To our collective knowledge no European 25th Anniversary Edition has the same issues

-Owners of other cars using the exact same wheel with different brake pads have come forth telling us they have no issues with their wheels and their stock, but different, brake pads.

All these facts have led us to the conclusion that the stock brake pads are corroding our stock wheels. Since VWoA obviously did not adequately test this pair of products they should be held responsible for it and recall the wheels and brake pads and replace them with a new set of wheels and a set of brake pads that are TESTED to be safe with the delicate finish of our stock wheels. Perhaps we should receive the pads the 25th Anniversary Editions received. This is a quote from VW Vortex (a consumer maintained website loosely affiliated with VW). VW uses VW Vortex to do market research.

“Under those wheels sit some of the nicest brakes ever to grace a GTI model. Fronts have been upgraded from 228mm (11.3 inch) rotors to meaty 315mm (12.4 inch) units and rears are up from 232mm (9.1 inch) solid rotors to 256mm (10 inch) vented rotors (yes vented). These are clamped by red powder coated calipers utilizing high-friction Pagid 566 pads instead of the lousy Nisshinbo pads that come stock on current U.S. spec cars. Brake pedal feel is outstanding with little to no fade after repeated stops from high speeds. This car really stops on a dime.”

Our cars were confirmed by VWoA NOT to have the Pagid pads, but another lousier brand. These should be replaced as well as our wheels.

Approximate retail replacement costs:

(1)VW Edition 18x7.5” BBS RC w/center caps= $605.70

Set of Four = $2,422.80

(4) Sets of Pagid brake pads = ~$200

TOTAL RETAIL REPLACEMENT COST = ~$2,622.80