Water ingress caused damage to the control unit

[virginie]

Hi

A little bit of history:

I have a skoda superb, 6 years old. Had some problems with water in the footwell (due to a faulty design) last year and managed to sort it.

However, last week the central locking and windows were not working. I went to the dealer and he said that this is because of the water ingress I had. The dealer said that he was going to dry everything and also "repair" the manufacturer design fault. Phone call today and not only the wires needed to be replaced, the control unit as well. Total bill £650. I would like to write to Skoda UK to complain and get some money back as I do not know why I should pay the repair for something which was faulty in the first place

My question: Have you had this problem? Did you contact Skoda UK? Did you get some money back (do not want to know how much)?

Thank you

By the way I am new to this forum!

[rotodiesel]

Greetings.

Two golden VAG rules:

Never go to a dealer unless you want to be shafted by incompetents.

Don't expect any goodwill whatsoever from Milton Keynes - their business plan is modelled around raping your credit card.

A better strategy:

Use the Internet to find - and understand - the problem areas (there are plenty in most VAG products).

Find a good Independent who is intelligent, motivated and knowledgeable and is honest enough not to rip you off. If he's been trading for at least 10 years in his own name, he'll probably do.

rotodiesel.

[Peter2812]

I had a similar problem when my car was three and a half years old. It had been purchased used from a Skoda dealer at just under three years old, and had a repair to the loom shortly after purchase. When the water appeared in the footwell the dealer didn't want to know, other than to ask for £400 to investigate the problem. I was convinced the dealer knew of the problem, and contacted Skoda UK. They said no consideration for a goodwill contribution could be made until I had paid for a diagnosis which I refused.

Several letters and telephone calls were exchanged over a four week period before I advised Skoda UK enough is enough, I will see the selling dealer in the small claims court. I was asked not to be hasty, and within a week I received a letter stating SUK would pay for the diagnosis. They ended up paying for the diagnosis, subsequent repairs and a suitable hire car for the three weeks the car was being repaired. I also got to take the car to a different dealer as I didn't want the supplying dealer to benefit as they had been so unco-operative in the first place.

[DGW]

That's what I call a good result, Peter2812!

[Tom_vRS]

Indeed!

virginie - was the wet footwell problem resolved under warrenty before the car was over 3 years old?

[john561791]

Hi All,

I have exactly the same problem.

Sorry for the lenght of this post.... but it is necessary!

I also have a Skoda Superb Ellegance, my vehicle is JUST! 3 years old.

History, I noticed that the rear passenger footwell was filling with water also non of my interior convieniences were working, parking lights, rear boot activation, interior lights etc. I noticed this just BEFORE the warranty ran out.

I took the vehicle to the dealer who sold the vehicle to me from new.

The vehicle was inspected and I was told I would need a new ECU and that the problem was that.. 'I' had allowed the drainage bungs in the engine compartment to get blocked... therefore the 'Pollen Filter' had been saturated in water, in turn causing the water to travel into the rear passenger compartment. This water ingress also then saturated the ECU causing the failures.

Hmmmm... I asked where the ECU was and they stated on the floor by the pollen filter exit. I said that this must be a design fault... who whould in their right mind would place a ECU (Electronic Control Unit) on a floor adjacent to an air vent which is also prone to water ingression.

They refused to coment that.... they charge me for sorting the water ingression out and quoted £479 for the change of the ECU.

I stated that I was unhappy that this was the cause of the water ingression. I also stated I would dry out the vehicle myself and then if the water continued to ingress then the problem was not mine but Skoda's.

Today after a large down pour and travelling into work (55 Miles), I checked the rear of my vehicle. Soaking wet! I also checked the drainage area... totally dry and free from blockage!

I have again contacted the dealer who has now stated that it knows of no similar faults or that of the imending LAW Suit that is still pending for this exact problem.

They have also stated that, the vehicle is now out of warranty and therefore at my cost... This is an on going battle....

I will take this to court if necessary... this is a design fault... being masked by what they call a 'Drainage Block with water digreesion into the Pollen Ffilter'

I have a 3 year old vehicle that I cannot sell due to this fault... a SKODA Design Fault!

Please keep in touch... interested to find out what else happens...

John

[rotodiesel]

Don't blame poor old Skoda - they just put the vehicles together and do as they are told by the boot boys.

This is a very well known problem which VAG have known about for years. As it mainly affects RHD vehicles and these vehicles are obsolete and largely out of warranty, VAG have chosen to do nothing about it.

Sheer contempt for the customer.

Have a look at this:

UKpassats.co.uk • View topic - Pollen Filter Confidential dealer documentation

Best of luck - I wouldn't waste any time with VAG. Fix the problem yourself and take preventative measures to stop it happening again, then next time you buy a car, vote with your cheque book. These people are too dishonest, in my opinion, to be worth trading with.

rotodiesel.

[john561791]

Further to my last post!

Immediately after posting I emailed customer services at Skoda UK. I detailed my problems.

Within 2 hours, i had a telephone call from Customer services and I must say... the call was very well presented and in no way obstructive... but ... still advised that a root caused needed to be defined. This is understandable.... but !!!

Well done Skoda UK Customer services!

John

[rotodiesel]

"Send this guy the bed bug letter".

rotodiesel.

[SamsterXX]

I've had a 6 year old Superb for less than three months and over the past few days came to the conclusion that the heated rear window was ****e as was the car's ability to demist itself. Chucked the lappy in behind the driver's seat this morning and there's a dirty great pool of water in the rear footwell - clearly the cause of the recent mist ups

Drove straight to the stealer (who must by now hate the sight of me), went in and told them the car they sold me leaks and straight away they told me what the cause was without even looking at. They even explained the fix as per Rotodiesel's link to the Passat forum

They want the barge for 2.5 days to dry it out, do the fix and water test it

Hopefully I've caught it straight away as the recent bout of rain has really been the first since I've had the car

[virginie]

Hello

Apologise for not replying before and thank you for your answers.

We shall draft the letter this weekend to Skoda and hope for the best. I shall keep you posted.

Regards

Ginny

[virginie]

Indeed!

virginie - was the wet footwell problem resolved under warrenty before the car was over 3 years old?

The footwell got wet after the 3 years but I shall write to them and ask for some money back. I already paid the garage so any money back will be a bonus.

[john561791]

Hi All,

Bed Bug letter... interesting!

Update...

Skoda UK/Manufacturers have now agreed to all repairs and refund of costs already expended, picking up repaired car on wednesday.

Again I must say extreemly well dealt with by Customer services... constantly kept in touch with advice and findings.

Many thanks to all those who helped with their suggestions.

[sazelle]

Hi All,

Bed Bug letter... interesting!

Update...

Skoda UK/Manufacturers have now agreed to all repairs and refund of costs already expended, picking up repaired car on wednesday.

Again I must say extreemly well dealt with by Customer services... constantly kept in touch with advice and findings.

Many thanks to all those who helped with their suggestions.

[sazelle]

Hi I have just seen this post, I have had several Electrical issue with my VRS and water ingress on to abs looms, my car is now at the Skoda dealer awaiting a new main engine wiring loom @ a cost of 824 plus vat and fitting (1600 in total) Skoda will pay 50% as the car has service history but not Skoda history. From looking at this site Skoda are aware that this problem exists and I don’t think its fair to penalize me as the loom is not included in a service anyway. I was wondering if anyone could advise me whether it would be worth me chasing Skoda or trading standards to stand the whole cost of the part? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I seem to have loads of time on my hands as they say 6 to 8 weeks for repair and have no car to give me while they have it?

Thank you

[Mutley09]

My car is a 55 reg and have not had any of these problem hrought the heavy rain, do you think im safe from these problems? or is there any measures i can take to prevnt this. Thanks

[rotodiesel]

All these cars are at risk - it's a crappy design.

Remove both plenum bungs, seal pollen filter holder to scuttle and ensure that the drainage runs are scrupulously clean and preferably polished so the water runs out easily. (This is the only part of the car I ever polish).

Don't park under trees, don't park facing uphill in the rain and cover plenum inlet when parked in snowy weather.

rotodiesel.

[sazelle]

hi thanks for the reply, so what I can gather is that now I am having this replaced there is no gaurentee it wont do it again?? so I could be in this situation next year if the weather persists to be wet? thank you

[virginie]

Hi All,

Bed Bug letter... interesting!

Update...

Skoda UK/Manufacturers have now agreed to all repairs and refund of costs already expended, picking up repaired car on wednesday.

Again I must say extreemly well dealt with by Customer services... constantly kept in touch with advice and findings.

Many thanks to all those who helped with their suggestions.

[virginie]

Hello

I have posted this thread more than 6 months ago and I am still dealing with Skoda.

Please could you let me know what you told them to get the money back as we are desperate!

We wrote to them and told them that the car has always been serviced with the dealership (all copies enclosed) within the recommended mileage and time frame.

Skoda know (but did not admit it in their letter) that the cause is the pollen filter which need to be serviced at regular interval. We wrote to them again, send them all the service sheets, and told them that there is nothing stated in the operation manual book on how to service / maintain the filer ourself.

The last letter from them were last week stated that "indeed it is not stated in the operation manual book but it is stated on the back of the service sheet". As some of you may know, to clean the filter, you need to remove (what I called) a dashboard, then disconnect the battery then clean the filter. I do not think that it is a 5 minutes job like checking your oil level.

On Tuesday I will contact Trading standard to find out rights.

However I would be very grateful for your comments.

Regards

Ginny

[rotodiesel]

You will be very lucky indeed to get any redress from VAG - they don't give a toss, even though this fault frequently causes brake servo failure or loss of operation, engine damage and expensive damage to trim and electronics.

To quote from the service book (inspection service) "Plenum chamber inspected for dirt, if necessary cleaned".

This in no way addresses the problem of blocked drains which are of unsuitable design, or an inadequate seal around the pollen filter housing - which consists of open cell foam (soaks up water) which rapidly degrades and becomes useless, allowing water into the car.

Don't waste your time and effort on what is now an old car. Despite the safety implications of the problem, VAG are not even slightly interested and VOSA are too spineless to act. Follow my advice in post #2 - good independents have fixed this problem properly loads of times.

rotodiesel.

[sazelle]

Hey Ginnie

did you get to Trading standards as I am on my way to them as well I am collecting examples as I would like to contact watchdog regarding this issue screw the warranty crap they know about it and regardless of where it was serviced the issue originates at build (similar to the issue with the Renault Clio that was happening to car bonnet lid issue, theses were cars out of warranty,) and therefore could have happened anytime and the part is not a serviceable part

Thank you

Sazelle

Edited 2 June, 2010 by sazelle

[brightsparkreti]

"Send this guy the bed bug letter".

rotodiesel.

I have 06 Superb with 10,000! on the clock (had to buy it to tow a caravan & thats another story) went in for a replacement starter motor & "could you have a look at the reason for constant misting up" Car kept, awaiting new starter, no mention of reason for misting up except to say needed new pollen filter. In the last 6wks found dampness behind passenger seat,tried to query what this could be on this site (which I have been a member of for some time) you guessed it , couldn,t log on. Emails to & fro with Colin I just gave up in the finish. Local dealer said didn,t know what it could be likewise with Skoda customer service who recommended I sign up with Erwin, paid a fee to access info but then unable to use the site & no response from Emails to Erwin,s. Decide to have a go at it myself & discovered someone had been their before me because of damaged plastic panel at the bottom of the windscreen.

Am i correct in thinking there is only 1 drain hole & thats under the battery? What mod can be done to prevent this happening again as mentioned in previous post.

Sorry to be so long winded but I have "condensed it" as much as poss.

Tel

PS I am unable to get the radio working even though I have the code Local Skoda said bring it in pay £25 & we will sort it I have found out that when Skoda upgraded this model by fitting a combined Sat Nav/Radio they forgot about the new code!!!! I never realised how bad an attitude VAG had with customers until now

[sazelle]

Hi

After speaking with Skoda UK and asking for a guarantee that this will not happen again I was told "the new component is different to the old one and therefore this problem should not replicate its self” I then pointed out that therefore the original design was in fact flawed, and regardless of the age of the car the problem originates at build, I was then told yes Skoda are aware that there was a problem with and I think he said capillary seal on some cars and that’s why they would make some contribution, I would just change the seal its talking about before the loom is damaged hope that makes sense as I am sure that that would cost less then 1600 as a preventative, I may be wrong…….. hope this helps

[Gizmo]

Am i correct in thinking there is only 1 drain hole & thats under the battery? What mod can be done to prevent this happening again as mentioned in previous post.

No there are two bungs, the 1 under the battery and another under the servo (this one also has a brake pipe running through it).

The best thing you can do is to remove them completely! you will either need to cut the bung with the brake pipe in or push it down (a couple of inches) so it is well clear of the hole.

It is also imperative that the plastic drain channel that goes across the pollen filter is not damaged and is fitted correctly - otherwise any water comming of the windscreen will just pour straight through the pollen filter!

HTH

Edited 2 June, 2010 by Gizmo68