Electric folding mirrors on Elegance?

[Wet Kipper]

since when was Columbus standard on an Elegance?

[GroundHog]

It certainly does seem odd gradually removing spec rather than adding it. My current car is a focus and as the years went on they added stuff to the spec, not removed it!

[GroundHog]

Just an update - electric mirrors can NOT be retrofitted to the car so I'm without folding mirrors. As it is I've never had them on a car before so I guess I won't miss them, but it is a bit rubbish. Getting a full tank of fuel as compensation. Couldn't really find anything on the accessories list that I wanted as better compensation so didn't argue. Probably should have asked for a drop in price a bit, but I'm just too easy going.

My next car, I'll have electric folding mirrors

[Bassa]

Just an update - electric mirrors can NOT be retrofitted to the car so I'm without folding mirrors. As it is I've never had them on a car before so I guess I won't miss them, but it is a bit rubbish. Getting a full tank of fuel as compensation. Couldn't really find anything on the accessories list that I wanted as better compensation so didn't argue. Probably should have asked for a drop in price a bit, but I'm just too easy going.

My next car, I'll have electric folding mirrors

Look on the bright side, your key fob battery will last longer

[GroundHog]

:lol: thanks

[Ray Walker]

My Elegance was ordered late November and when collected a few days ago was without electric folding mirrors although these were clearly part of the specification. I have also been advised that they have been discontinued as from build week 1, 2010 and cannot be retro fitted. The contract is with the dealer, not Skoda, and the dealer is clearly in breach of contract as the car supplied is not in accordance with the contract. There is nothing in the contract which allows either party to unilaterally change it without the agreement of the other. To be fair to the dealer, I believe the absence of the electric folding mirrors is as much of a surprise and disapointment to him as it is to me. Skoda have been in touch with me and started by offering me £100 which they have now raised to £180 but I have rejected as inadequate. In my opinion the proper damages for breach of contract is the amount required to put the wronged party in the same position they would have been had the breach not occurred. Folding wing mirrors are a material and significant feature for me as they clearly also are to others posting on this site. My current measure of damages is the cost of having suitable electric folding mirrors supplied, painted and fitted plus, a further amount because they will not be covered by the Skoda warranty. I might change that to a higher measure if I have to take the breach of contract to court.

The wording in the brochure, referred to in an earlier post, does not provide either the dealer, or Skoda with any defence. The specification of the car is agreed at the time the contract is concluded. No variation from the brochure current at the time the contract was concluded was notified to me. In any case, as has also pointed out by someone else, the January brochure, still on the web after I took delivery, shows folding wing mirrors as standard on the Elegance.

In my opinion, Skoda's behaviour is quite inexcusable.

[jrw]

My Elegance was ordered late November and when collected a few days ago was without electric folding mirrors although these were clearly part of the specification. I have also been advised that they have been discontinued as from build week 1, 2010 and cannot be retro fitted. The contract is with the dealer, not Skoda, and the dealer is clearly in breach of contract as the car supplied is not in accordance with the contract. There is nothing in the contract which allows either party to unilaterally change it without the agreement of the other. To be fair to the dealer, I believe the absence of the electric folding mirrors is as much of a surprise and disapointment to him as it is to me. Skoda have been in touch with me and started by offering me £100 which they have now raised to £180 but I have rejected as inadequate. In my opinion the proper damages for breach of contract is the amount required to put the wronged party in the same position they would have been had the breach not occurred. Folding wing mirrors are a material and significant feature for me as they clearly also are to others posting on this site. My current measure of damages is the cost of having suitable electric folding mirrors supplied, painted and fitted plus, a further amount because they will not be covered by the Skoda warranty. I might change that to a higher measure if I have to take the breach of contract to court.

The wording in the brochure, referred to in an earlier post, does not provide either the dealer, or Skoda with any defence. The specification of the car is agreed at the time the contract is concluded. No variation from the brochure current at the time the contract was concluded was notified to me. In any case, as has also pointed out by someone else, the January brochure, still on the web after I took delivery, shows folding wing mirrors as standard on the Elegance.

In my opinion, Skoda's behaviour is quite inexcusable.

+1

[GroundHog]

Indeed it is, and I would be interested in finding out how you get on with your discussions... and £180 eh? Hmm I might have to place a call to Skoda

I don't know how much this is going to help the whole lack of folding door mirrors though - that's why I just accepted the free tank of fuel from my dealer, as at the end of the day I'm still going to be without the function! :(

[gregoir]

Drivers mirror still folded even with a smashed casing and glass. Hope the replacement mirror still has the power folding.

AFAIK the mirrors only folded when the lock button on the fob was held down. No foldy symbols on the interior knob.

Stuck with a Vauxhall Corsa loan car meanwhile.

[Ray Walker]

Indeed it is, and I would be interested in finding out how you get on with your discussions... and £180 eh? Hmm I might have to place a call to Skoda

I don't know how much this is going to help the whole lack of folding door mirrors though - that's why I just accepted the free tank of fuel from my dealer, as at the end of the day I'm still going to be without the function! :(

[Robert Jackson]

So I popped down to my dealer to check my new car had got all its options fitted ahead of picking it up in March and I noticed that the door mirror adjustment knob didn't have the folding picture. I mentioned this to the dealer as I thought the Elegance had electric folding mirrors as standard and he said the brochure might just mean electric adjustment and manual fold. I said I don't think that was the case, but either way it doesn't look like my car has this fitted (unless they've just stuck the wrong fascia on the knob and the function is actually there!). So I was wondering if anyone else with an FL Elegance can confirm whether or not they have the electric folding mirrors?

Thanks a lot.

[GroundHog]

Is it only me who only see's my quoted bits above and no responses? Is this a new game?

[Ray Walker]

The fact that folding wing mirrors are no longer standard on the Elegance does not necessarily mean they are not available on the Elegance.

As of last night the Skoda web site was still showing the January 2010 specification and price list for the new Octavia with folding mirrors as standard. Closing that and looking instead at Octavia Standard and optional features shows as an optional feature priced at £565 "Electric memory driver seat and electrically adjustable heated and foldable mirrors with auto dimming and memory function". There are other changes such as front fog lamps which now seem standard on all models of Octavia but the website is in such chaos that I could not check on headlight washers etc.

The contract is with the dealer, not Skoda, so I have now written to the dealer rejecting the car as not in accordance with the specification they had contracted to supply and requesting the supply of a car with the seat function but otherwise to the same specification. Of course, I expect to pay no more and to retain the use of the existing car, or an equivalent, until the new car is provided. Hard on a perfectly decent dealer but I assume all the costs will eventually fall on Skoda.

I have also lodged a complaint about Skoda's conduct with www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.

I am not a solicitor but I am reasonably familiar with the law of contract. If I had accepted a tank of petrol in recompense for the folding wing mirrors that I really valued I think I would first check that folding wing mirrors are currently available on the Elegance with the above package. Then talk to the dealer as soon as possible to see if he is prepared to co-operate and rescind the deal. If not, I would visit Citizens' Advice in the first instance, unless I knew a friendly solicitor. I would point out that I had been induced to enter into an unfair arrangement by being given misleading and incomplete information, albeit possibly in good faith. I would enquire what the chances are of getting it set aside opening the possibility of arriving at a fairer settlement. That is what I would do. It is not advice.

[Wet Kipper]

Has anyone thought of contacting Which?, or the money / consumer pages of newspapers or motoring magazines?

or maybe even DOM from the One show?

Edited 11 February, 2010 by Wet Kipper

[v0n]

Is it only me who only see's my quoted bits above and no responses? Is this a new game?

I suspect all those low reply count users just quoting without adding anything to quote are spam bots, they trawl the net in search of IP.Board forums, automatically presume there is a minimum number of posts before they will be able to use private messaging or view emails in member list details to send spam, and so they post empty quotes at random to up their stats and member level...

[GroundHog]

If I'm honest, as nice as all that sounds and, Ray, I really hope it all works out for you, but I think I'll try to cope without my mirrors. We have a solicitor in the family so I might just check with them to see where I stand, but at the end of the day I've never had the folding mirrors so doubt I'll really miss them.

[ex vRS]

Been watching this thread with interest as my Elegance estate is due to be built in the first week of March, having been ordered mid January. I've traded emails with the dealer all week and had a phone call at 5 o'clock this afternoon saying that Skoda have now realised the error of their ways (not as a result of my emails I hasten to add) and will now be honouring the full Elegance spec as stated in the January brochure, ie with power, folding mirrors. The dealer seemed certain so hopefully Skoda will now supply us with the cars we ordered I'm not sure where this will leave people who've received cars without the mirrors, but if nothing else you'll be in a pretty good negotiating position. Fingers crossed!

[Ray Walker]

Been watching this thread with interest as my Elegance estate is due to be built in the first week of March, having been ordered mid January. I've traded emails with the dealer all week and had a phone call at 5 o'clock this afternoon saying that Skoda have now realised the error of their ways (not as a result of my emails I hasten to add) and will now be honouring the full Elegance spec as stated in the January brochure, ie with power, folding mirrors. The dealer seemed certain so hopefully Skoda will now supply us with the cars we ordered I'm not sure where this will leave people who've received cars without the mirrors, but if nothing else you'll be in a pretty good negotiating position. Fingers crossed!

[Ray Walker]

Many thanks for that update. I have not had a response to my letter of rejection yet, but it was only sent yesterday. The only unfortunate thing is that I Autoglymed mine before I realized the omission!

[Keith Lard]

I'll bet they can be retro-fitted. I'm going to put them on my vRS, as they arent on any option lists for that model!

[GroundHog]

My dealer has already stated they can't be retro-fitted. Interesting about the now honouring the original spec though. Don't suppose I can easily reject my car, nor know if I want to due to the hassle, but I'll certainly call Skoda for some compensation.

[Bennie]

I'll bet they can be retro-fitted. I'm going to put them on my vRS, as they arent on any option lists for that model!

I am with you on this one as I remember a member on here fitting L&K mirrors to his pre FL Vrs which included auto dimming and puddle lights, I do remember he needed to add some wiring to the door looms but if you could source mirrors and door looms from an L&K or an elegance I am sure it would work and if the parts were from an L&K then you would have auto dimming as well assuming you have an auto dim rear view mirror.

Regards Bennie

[thruxton123]

Slightly off topic but although my new FL L&K, which I've had for five weeks, has folding mirrors they can't be folded above five miles an hour. As I drive in narrow country lanes its useful to be able to fold the mirrors irrespective of speed when oncoming traffic is passing. Both my previous Rover 75 and my wife's new Fiesta can fold their mirrors at any speed. I've asked the supplying dealer to sort the problem but heard nothing for over a week. Are they all the same?

[Ray Walker]

I am with you on this one as I remember a member on here fitting L&K mirrors to his pre FL Vrs which included auto dimming and puddle lights, I do remember he needed to add some wiring to the door looms but if you could source mirrors and door looms from an L&K or an elegance I am sure it would work and if the parts were from an L&K then you would have auto dimming as well assuming you have an auto dim rear view mirror.

Regards Bennie

[Ray Walker]

When talking to Skoda Customer Services I pressed them to say why folding mirrors could not be fitted retrospectively to my Elegance. They said that the wiring loom and electronics were different. Most mass production cars used to be fitted with a standard loom with wires for any features not fitted just folded back and I am doubtful about a car where all the ECUs cannot easily be changed. Whilst mentally questioning the the response a thought did occur to me.

Manufacturers now rely increasingly on selling extras where profit margins are substantial. They would therefore wish to discourage purchasers from retro fitting OEM extras at a much lower cost. Are they deliberately making retrofitting more difficult or are they just claiming that it is to try to support factory fitted sales? A Skoda engineer probably knows the answer.

Edited 15 February, 2010 by Ray Walker