Rusty Sills: Help me dispel the bull...

[KBPhoto]

Since January when I took my Octavia (2007 pre-FL) to the dealer with rapidly rusting sills (they had gone from one stone chip on the NS to lots of rust on both sides since October 2013) who then tried to fob me off with various stories & excuses about how the sills had been repaired previously and had been cut off and replaced.

 

To cut a long story short, SUK have asked me to take the car in to the dealer to be photographed on the 14th May, so I need some ammunition before then please.

 

I've been to two body shops, one was the Skoda authorised repaired in this area, and both say the car has not, in their professional opinion, been previously repaired. This is contrary to the dealer, hence the contact with SUK.

 

One thing they will argue over is the state of the rubber bungs (drain bungs?) on the bottom of the sills. They say that the bungs should not be squished or have the underbody protectant over the top of any of them as that is not how they would have left the factory.

 

These are some of mine:

 

     

 

Would any of you with Octavias from about 2007 be kind enough to take some pictures of yours and post them here for me?

 

I know that rusting sills on pre-FL Octavias is common, partly due to the underbody treatment / sealant not coming up high enough, but lets see if we can gather evidence here for anyone who has the same issues.

 

I'll post some of their other objections for discussion at a later stage.

 

Thanks.

[TeflonTom]

Can we we your pictures?

[Phil-E]

Ours is a '57 plate with 35,000 miles on the clock.

 

Will get a couple of pictures for you later.

 

Phil

[KBPhoto]

Can we we your pictures?

 

You can now...

 

I had an issue with uploading them, so saved the thread and added the pictures straight after.

[TeflonTom]

shocking skoda paint shop quality strikes again, my opinion is has been like that since it left the forecourt, maybe it was a bodged pre delivery repair or similar? That textured stone guard has started to lift where the moisture has got trapped in there, it's probably because no primer was used on the panel or it was poorly prepped, it's quite common for skoda to omit to prime panels to save a few quid, I wouldn't be surprised if that entire outer sill panel was crusty with rust where the water was collected inside too. Hope you get that sorted soon, that surface rust in the lower lip in the second picture will steadily get worse over time until there is holes in it.

[Toxicvrs]

shocking skoda paint shop quality strikes again, my opinion is has been like that since it left the forecourt, maybe it was a bodged pre delivery repair or similar? That textured stone guard has started to lift where the moisture has got trapped in there, it's probably because no primer was used on the panel or it was poorly prepped, it's quite common for skoda to omit to prime panels to save a few quid, I wouldn't be surprised if that entire outer sill panel was crusty with rust where the water was collected inside too. Hope you get that sorted soon, that surface rust in the lower lip in the second picture will steadily get worse over time until there is holes in it.

I've started to see this a lot more commonly with it happening on works vans from 56 plate right to 12 plate ones as the paint quality seems to be poor!

[blackspaven]

Rusty Sills: great singer, sadly missed.

[KBPhoto]

I certainly think that my sills are rusting from the inside as it all started with one small (maybe) stone chip on the NS and has escalated to lots of flaking paint on both sides quite quickly.

The brown in the pictures may just be dust as we seem to have quite a lot of dry mud on the lanes around here at the moment.

[KBPhoto]

Here's another issue they are going to argue over.

These are the rear door shuts looking towards the rear wheels.

The dealer says that these lines, where the rust is or is blistering, show where new sills were grafted on to the car following a repair.

Both body shops say no to that. You just wouldn't do it that way.

One pointed out (I told the other) that the lines exactly match the rubber deals on the doors... This suggests???

[steve33]

Mine is 07 pre FL with 97k. I'll get some photos posted tomorrow.

[whitep]

I agree. The rubbers on all my doors have worn the paint away. Mines an 07

[Phil-E]

I think this settles it.

 

Here is one of my rubber bungs (through the muck):

 

 

 

As you can see they are completely covered. They all are on both sides.

 

I think they are meant to be covered and yours have come uncovered.

 

Like I say this is a 57 plate with 35,000 on the clock.

 

Phil

Edited 30 April, 2014 by Phil-E

[KBPhoto]

Thank you Phil.

Begs the question as to why the dealer told me the sills would be coated first then the rubber bungs put in?

And why have all bar one of mine come uncovered completely?

Would be good to get more pictures if possible (including door shuts if you have similar) to add weight to my counter arguments.

[rwbaldwin]

Here's another issue they are going to argue over.

These are the rear door shuts looking towards the rear wheels.

image.jpgimage.jpg

The dealer says that these lines, where the rust is or is blistering, show where new sills were grafted on to the car following a repair.

Both body shops say no to that. You just wouldn't do it that way.

One pointed out (I told the other) that the lines exactly match the rubber deals on the doors... This suggests???

This is exactly what happens when the seals start to go or the door is misaligned.

The golden rule for warranty work is the rust has to be from the inside to out. One thing that commonly happens is the sills get squashed and are repaired. They don't usually get cut off. The seam is often split and the sill is reshaped. From what I can see of the seam, I can't see a gap.

[KBPhoto]

Thanks for that info. Can you clarify what you mean by 'when the deals start to go'?

There's no sign of any gaps or misaligned seams that I can see although the dealer did point out a slight twist at the front jacking point.

As far as I can see though both sides are the same or as near as.

I'm aware that the rust needs to be coming from the inside for it to be covered under warranty, but given how this has developed from almost nothing so quicy and on both sides at the same time to a nearly identical degree, I'm convinced it is not starting externally (i.e. from stone chips) and is coming from inside the sill.

This also really concerns me as if it is internal (inside the sill), how do you treat the rust on both sides of the metal and stop the middle (the actual metal) from corroding away?

[KBPhoto]

Should add that the Skoda authorised repairer quoted c.£670 inc VAT to fix both sides (for maybe two years) whilst another non-approved repairer quoted £800+.

[J306TD]

Have they done a paint depth reading on the sills. Should be between 150 and 200 microns. This will tell you easily if it's been painted. Also check for blend lines in the door shuts and paint depths in there too

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[m0bov]

Find someone with a ptg.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk

[KBPhoto]

The dealer put a gauge all over the car and concluded that it had been resprayed...

To my eye there was only one place where the reading was vastly different to the rest. But all the readings were different which made me suspect their gauge wasn't working/being used correctly.

The Skida authorised repairer out a gauge in on and categorically stated that it hadn't been resprayed.

His readings were more consistent across panels and he had no issues getting readings.

Both repairers I have been to have looked for blend lines. And found none!

The dealer said that the lines where the seals sit were joins where a new sill had been welded on. This has been dispelled by the body shops and the exact match to the location of the seals.

[flat-eric]

My 07 vrs estate (silver 9102) 130,000miles has got the usual sill trouble and a couple of other bits. was told by main dealer that due to not having full service history that I would not be able to claim

 

Been quoted £340 to get both sills done.

[Swinny46]

oh no, must check the sill out on my 05 2.0TDI,

 

btw you have had two independent views, I would use this fact on the discussions with SKoda, if you can get their views in writing

[KBPhoto]

£340 for both sides sounds very cheap to me. I've heard of poor repair quality at that price point...

I have played on the fact that I have two independent experts say the same thing that contradicts the dealer and will be using this (and getting a third if necessary) when the photos the dealer will take go off to SUK.

I'll also direct SUK at this thread as well. Hence the request for more pictures to aid my (and other people suffering from poor painting and protection of their sills) case when the time comes.

I do have full Skoda service history documented with stamps. The four years I've had it are with the dealer I've taken it to with the rust. The previous three with the first owner were all at one garage up North.

Just wondering if this is limited to certain paint cours as mine is 9102 Diamond Silver from 2007 as well...

[rwbaldwin]

I think the dealer is actually assuming it is going to be a warranty claim. They will take photos and submit the warranty claim via DIS.

When the seals lose their bounce, dirt and grit is ground into the paint. It can also happen if the seals are never cleaned. The picture is of a dark coloured Mk1 but it shows the problem

 

[Aspman]

I've got the sill issue too. 07 plate, 81k.

 

I'll have a look at the bungs if I can remember.

 

My rust spots are all above the stone chip paint, nothing below. I've been trying to stay on top of it myself but it's a Sisyphean task.

They're all in the front half of the sills.

 

I was given a verbal quote of £400 to strip it back and redo with stoneguard paint up to the levels of the newer cars. That was from a good body shop I've used a couple of times.

 

I'm in a bit of a quandry over it becuase I'm thinking about moving the car on anyway.

[KBPhoto]

Thank you both.

Photos of your bungs would be appreciated if you can (when it's not raining).

I'll get whoever resprays it to put the stone guard up higher (to where it should have been from the factory) as well.

I think the fact that I have full Skoda service history should account for the fact that these issues have not been mentioned to me at any stage as issues that will need addressing and, hopefully, give me some extra help in claiming under warranty.

I'm not sure that the dealer taking pictures says anything as they offered to do that the first time I went in.