A lot of VW TDI (diesel) vehicle owners are reporting failures in the heater element of the Adblue (diesel emission fluid or DEF – urea, basically) system with vehicles that are 2,3 or 4 years old.  The owners are quoted 4 figure repair amounts and almost always are told that the part is not covered under warranty. The failures are so frequent that the parts to fix the problem might be backordered.  How common is this problem? There are 15 pages of consumers complaining about the problem on the TDICLUB Forum.

As I understand the problem, the DEF heater tends to go bad after the comprehensive warranty ends, and it is not covered by the 80,000 mile extended emissions warranty.  Federal law mandates that the emissions system must be fully warranted for performance for 24 months 24,000 miles whichever comes first, and “major components” of the emissions system must be warranted for 8 years, 80,000. Unfortunately the DEF system isn’t on the major component list.

The question I can’t answer, but owners should be asking is whether there is a relationship between premature DEF heater failure and the cheating software.  In the alternative, should VW be able to dodge repairing the emissions system on any vehicle that was never in compliance in the first place.

If you have a VW affected by an Adblue heater failure or any other failure in the emissions system that is not covered by warranty, I suggest you write the company and complain, but I suggest that you also write to the Environmental Protection Agency. You should suggest that any settlement with VW over the emissions scandal should include a provision where VW reimburses owners for any repairs the emissions system for an extended period of time/miles.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Transportation and Air Quality Compliance Division, Light-Duty Vehicle Group 
 Attn: Warranty Complaints 
 2000 Traverwood Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48105 
 Email: [email protected]

I was not able to find any sign of a going concern class action law suit on the problem I think if there was a fairly good case for a class action, there would be multiple law firms vying to start one.  This suggests that hiring a lawyer might not be the best way to address the problem.

If you are successful in getting VW to pay for your Adblue heater, please send me an email giving me specifics with year and miles on your vehicle, and how you approached getting the refund, and I will post your information on the blog for the benefit of anyone else trolling the web to find the answer to their problem.  It looks like some people are getting VW to pay for the part but not the installation or to pay for part of the bill.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

WHAT ABOUT THE VW EMISSIONS SCANDAL ENTIRELY – CAN I GET VW TO BUY MY CAR BACK?

Right now, nobody knows what the end result of the government action against VW will be.  I like Consumers’ Union’s criteria for an appropriate settlement, which is  below.


Most VW owners will just have to wait until the matter is resolved – a process that could take a couple of years. If your car becomes undrivable and or unsaleable, you should contact a private attorney, but please keep in mind, that nobody has found a magic bullet solution as of yet.