Patrick Beeson

I think my 2007 VW GTI is having growing pains.

Last week I had not one, but two warranty issues both requiring parts and labor from my local dealer Harper VW in Knoxville, Tenn.

This is the first new car I've ever owned and honestly, I didn't expect to take it into the shop except for regular oil changes and the like. And of course everyone I spoke with about this experience said the same thing: "Of course you are having issues, it's a VW!"

I refuse to believe every car manufactored by VW, especially newer models, are going to inherently have problems. I mean, the GTI earned Kelley Blue Book's "Best Resale Value" award in addition to Automobile Magazine's "Automobile of the Year" among others for goodness sakes!

But back to the problems I had.

The first sign of the issue was last Saturday, when I was alerted by an "airbag fault." This didn't affect the car's operation, but I didn't want to be in an accident with a questionable airbag system so I took it into the shop at Harper VW Tuesday morning.

I sat in the waiting room at Harper VW for nearly an hour and a half before getting impatient and asking a service representation what was taking so long. Steve (service rep) said that I was going to need a new driver's-side airbag installed, and worse, they were going to have to order the part.

Fortunately, they applied overnight shipping so I was only out of a car for one day. Or so I thought at the time.

Harper VW put me up in a Chevy HHR rental car from Enterprise while my GTI was in the shop. It was ugly, but I could fit a bike in it.

When I called Steve at Harper VW the following day, I was told the airbag installation was a success but the car threw another error related to something he called a "clock spring" that would also have to be ordered. Again, overnight shipping would be applied.

So I was stuck driving the Chevy for another day. Or again, so I thought.

As it turned out, there was only one such part in North America and fortunately my dealer managed to put their names at the top of the request list. But when I called that Thursday, the part was in Canada with seemingly no hopes of reaching East Tennessee before Friday.

But as luck would have it, or perhaps my well-placed-calls to VW Customer Care actually did something, the dealer called me out of the blue Friday at 4 p.m. to tell me I could pick up my car. The part had arrived, and installation had already taken place.

The entire procedure was covered under my warranty.

Throughout this ordeal I placed several calls to the aforementioned VW Customer Care. I was told by the reps there that they contacted the dealer several times to check on my concerns -- I'm not certain this happened.

I did receive a $50 credit for parts and service on my next visit to Harper VW, which will definitely take care of an oil change.

And I'm hoping now that my car has shaken loose its bugs. At least for the next 10K miles.

(I should also note that I am still enamored with my car despite its mechanical stumble.)