VW Passat Estate (B6 2007) Tailgate Rust - Volkswage 12 Year Anti-Corrosion Warranty Claims

When cleaning our VW Passat B6 estate recently I noticed that there was significant rusting and corrosion around the numberplate light area on the rear tailgate. This seemed to be specific to the number plate light area and not spreading to other areas of the boot/trunk. From a quick search on Google it appeared that this was a commonly reported fault with the B6 Passat and due to the design of the light units allowing water to settle in the light area.


VW Passat Estate (B6 2007) Tailgate Rust - Corrosion Warranty

I took the Passat to the local Volkswagen dealership to check if this was covered by the standard 12 year VW corrosion warranty. Happily after a few checks to confirm the paintwork depth and that the car had not been resprayed or damaged the VW agent confirmed that the rust would be repaired by VW under the anti-corrosion warranty and booked the vehicle in for the work with a courtesy car provided for the duration of the works.

On the booked date the car was duly delivered to the VW dealer and the loan car provided - a VW UP! that is obviously much smaller than a Passat estate which took some getting used to! A few days later the update from VW was that the rust could not be repaired so the whole tailgate was being replaced instead which would delay matters.

Almost 3 weeks after dropping the car to VW the Passat was collected following the complete tailgate replacement. On inspection it seems that the design of the rear number place lights has been changed presumably to avoid the corrosion and rust that has occured in this instance.



VW Passat Estate (B6 2007) Tailgate Rust - Corrosion Warranty

VW Passat Estate Rust - Claiming Replacement under Corrosion warranty



VW Passat Estate (B6 2007) Tailgate showing new light holder design on replacement