I am complaining because there is an issue with the cooling system in the 2012 Tiguan that I am sure VW is aware of. My vehicle has 165K miles and has had the water pump replaced three times and I am now looking at a fourth. When I first learned of this problem, I contacted the dealer and brought my vehicle in under warranty for repair and replacement. Little did I know I would be repeating this process every 30K or so miles. After the warranty had expired, I took my vehicle to Copperfield Automotive also here in Houston for the next two water pump replacements paid for by me out of pocket. This shop, along with your dealer, have both told me there is a design issue with the pumps and this is a common problem with the 2.0L turbo Volkswagens.

I have sent my complaint in a message to VW on their Facebook page, before sending them a formal complaint. I am just curious about how they will handle this. Maybe not use plastic for their water pumps would be a start.

Update from Nov 11, 2019: I replaced it under warranty at 30K, and at that point, I had no idea what I was getting into or I would have extended the warranty past the factory one. VW is aware of their issues with their polymer water pumps but feels it is cheaper to deal with it ad hoc versus a complete recall. Long story short, I replaced the water pump the last time with an aluminum one, not the factory junk, and have had zero issues. This new one was less than 100.00 more than the factory one, but it is not plastic. The fix is located at https://www.uspmotorsports.com/USP-Cast-Aluminium-Water-Pump-Ultimate-DIY-Kit-for-TSI.html for anyone who wants to know.

In Jan 2018 with less then 58k miles on it my 2012 Tiguan started losing coolant. I was driving and the thermostat sensor went off, I pulled over and found the coolant level was very low. The problem was diagnosed as a leaking water pump which had to be replaced, at the same time the serpentine belt and tensioner also needed to be replaced. I called VW and they said the 5 year / 60k powertrain warranty which would have covered this no longer applied (e.g. because it was after 5 years from sale) and there was nothing they would do for me (e.g. I was on my own to fix it).

The repair was ~$1300 which is very frustrating on a car with low miles that is driven carefully and well cared for. The more frustrating thing is that VW had the EXACT SAME issue on their GTI models from these exact same years and issued a recall on these water pumps ( see: https://humblemechanic.com/water-pump-recall-mk6-gti-podcast-episode-88/ ) but were unwilling to do anything for me when I had the same problem with the Tiguan.