Tabs / brackets holding charging port in place broken - FYI

[StillHoping]

Hi All,

This post is just for everyone's information. As a few others have reported, the tabs or brackets holding our charging port in place broke. Connecting has always felt soft, and finally they broke so we couldn't charge. This is a leased car and we've had it about 14 months, 18K miles. There was no clear moment when it happened and no unusual outside force other than normal charging. We had been trying to charge on commercial Level 2s since a probably unrelated issue was that the car was only adding 20 miles of range overnight at our home trickle charge. Here's a capture of the video the dealer sent us, showing the broken tabs

. We took it to the larger local VW dealer's service on Tuesday and they exclaimed several times about how they have never seen this before. The service guy said they'd usually charge for diagnostic but he'd give me a break (on a leased car????), oh and the repair is my responsibility. I said no, we had only done normal charging. I called Customer "Care" at the dealer's suggestion and after three days they say the $1600 repair is our responsibility. We're working with our auto insurance since fortunately we have comprehensive. I'm wondering how widespread this problem is, since it's clearly a design flaw.

I'm really disappointed. I love the car to drive, and the 140-ish mile range, but charging is a nightmare. I feel like it's because VW doesn't really stand behind this electric car, but just slapped the electric mechanism into the body of an ICE Golf. There have been many different charging issues so far. We've had to replace the charge cord that came with the car twice. Taking the car to the dealer didn't resolve the issue of only putting on 20 miles over 8-10 hours on trickle charge. The way the charger locks into the port, and charging stops if you unlock the car, is a real issue. I've had notes and even garbage on my windshield because the charger was locked in my port at the shared chargers at work. I have an apologetic note that I put on my dashboard now whenever I charge, so people know I'm not locking it on purpose. Fun to drive, opposite of fun to charge.

 

[f1geek]

It stinks, I agree.

What exactly do you mean when you say the connecting has felt soft? Did you take a video of plugging in as evidence of "softness"? Maybe that would help your case.

Good luck!

 

[Spektre]

Hi All,

This post is just for everyone's information. As a few others have reported, the tabs or brackets holding our charging port in place broke. Connecting has always felt soft, and finally they broke so we couldn't charge. This is a leased car and we've had it about 14 months, 18K miles. There was no clear moment when it happened and no unusual outside force other than normal charging. We had been trying to charge on commercial Level 2s since a probably unrelated issue was that the car was only adding 20 miles of range overnight at our home trickle charge. Here's a capture of the video the dealer sent us, showing the broken tabs

. We took it to the larger local VW dealer's service on Tuesday and they exclaimed several times about how they have never seen this before. The service guy said they'd usually charge for diagnostic but he'd give me a break (on a leased car????), oh and the repair is my responsibility. I said no, we had only done normal charging. I called Customer "Care" at the dealer's suggestion and after three days they say the $1600 repair is our responsibility. We're working with our auto insurance since fortunately we have comprehensive. I'm wondering how widespread this problem is, since it's clearly a design flaw.

I'm really disappointed. I love the car to drive, and the 140-ish mile range, but charging is a nightmare. I feel like it's because VW doesn't really stand behind this electric car, but just slapped the electric mechanism into the body of an ICE Golf. There have been many different charging issues so far. We've had to replace the charge cord that came with the car twice. Taking the car to the dealer didn't resolve the issue of only putting on 20 miles over 8-10 hours on trickle charge. The way the charger locks into the port, and charging stops if you unlock the car, is a real issue. I've had notes and even garbage on my windshield because the charger was locked in my port at the shared chargers at work. I have an apologetic note that I put on my dashboard now whenever I charge, so people know I'm not locking it on purpose. Fun to drive, opposite of fun to charge.

Do you mean it felt soft, as in when you pushed a charging handle into the port it gave a lot? My charging port is quite rigid and gives a satisfying 'thunk' when plugging in a charger.

I wonder if at one time, when it was plugged in, someone gave the charging handle a strong hit and snapped the bracket.

 

[JoulesThief]

The tabs in my 2015 have never felt "soft".

It may have been someone broke the tabs trying to remove the locked charging handle from your car at a public recharger, and snapped them. This is one of the very good reasons why I always try to charge at home, there's no one to f*ck with and break my charge port, trying to steal the handle. This is particularly a problem at EVSE charging stations that don't charge a fee.

It's just the nature of the beast having a locking charging port that clamps on the EVSE handle. Charge at home, not at work, and you'll possibly avoid the problem in the future. That's assuming you didn't inflict the damage yourself.

If you've had to replace the EVSE charger that came with the car, twice, already.... something is amiss, or possibly someone is being abusive on the equipment. Once, maybe, twice... there's the possibility of operator error.

 

[BarryMW]

Sounds like it was damaged by vandalism. I suspect if you look at your charging records you can determine where and when it happened for your insurance company.

Barry

 

[StillHoping]

Hi All,

To clarify: the charging port always felt soft, as in it moved a bit every time we plugged in or disconnected. It wasn't rigid or solid. I suspect the tabs were slowly giving way for a long time. We had had a Nissan Leaf, leased, for three years before leasing the e-golf and it was a very different experience to plug in. Because this is the only eGolf we've had, we had nothing to compare it to. It's interesting to hear that other people's ports feel solid.

We weren't plugged in when the tabs gave, so they didn't break because someone yanked on the charger. We had been trying to connect to a public charger and then noticed the port had fallen slightly back. There wasn't a noise or a clear moment when we could tell it happened. The service guy at the dealer said it was our responsibility before even looking at it. They say it isn't a defective part, and have suggested we contact our insurance. The insurance company is sending an inspector out but they don't think it's something that's covered under the policy. It's a bummer.

 

[StillHoping]

Update! Good news.
Our insurance sent an inspector out; he said the damage was due to wear and tear, so declined to cover it.
VW Customer Care had said they relied on the dealer to assess whether the damage was covered; they sent a letter denying coverage and saying "multiple sources" indicated the brackets failed due to an outside force.
Once we got the repair, the port felt solid.
I sent detailed, courteous certified letters to the dealer and VW Customer Care explaining why I thought VW should have covered it, especially since the insurance didn't see it as an accident. The dealer responded by email and seemed worried about having an unsatisfied customer. Eventually, they reported that VW had decided to cover the repair. I was totally prepared to take it to arbitration or small claims court, because the brackets should have been able to withstand normal use. Such a relief!