My 55 plate Octy 1.9Tdi Estate has nasty corrosion on the inside part of the wheel arch you see when you open the car door, it is on the rear n/s. I have been refused a repiar under the 12 year warranty. It has taken three weeks and three phone calls to get a refusal in writing, the usual excuse being used, it was caused by paint failure. I am really hacked off as this car was meant to last me as a family workhorse for a good 10 years and at this rate it will be full of holes before then. In the absence of a complaints or appeals procedure from Skoda do people think it is worth me making a nuicance of myself and trying for a repair or should I just swallow the cost af repairing this myself. I will probably sell the car as I don't want a rust bucket, if this happens it will be the last Skoda I ever own.

My 55 plate Octy 1.9Tdi Estate has nasty corrosion on the inside part of the wheel arch you see when you open the car door, it is on the rear n/s. I have been refused a repiar under the 12 year warranty. It has taken three weeks and three phone calls to get a refusal in writing, the usual excuse being used, it was caused by paint failure. I am really hacked off as this car was meant to last me as a family workhorse for a good 10 years and at this rate it will be full of holes before then. In the absence of a complaints or appeals procedure from Skoda do people think it is worth me making a nuicance of myself and trying for a repair or should I just swallow the cost af repairing this myself. I will probably sell the car as I don't want a rust bucket, if this happens it will be the last Skoda I ever own.

Yes, make a nuicance of yourself - you know the expression "The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease" well, start squeaking. Presumably it's the original paint thats failed ? What caused the paint to fail ?

"caused by paint failure" seems very odd to my naive ears, if we assume that the paint was undamaged and it "failed" then it wasn't good enough paint in the first place. Rust shouldn't be a problem on a modern car and recent posts on here about rust are very disappointing. The 12 year warranty is, if I understand correctly, a guarantee of non-penetration due to rust, so with your 55 car being half way through that does that mean they will pay up in due course if the rust breaks right through the panel due to failure of its paint before the full 12 years runs out ?

Could the paint be damage when the seat belt buckle was trap when shutting door?

A few pics might help to visualise the damage

My 55 plate Octy 1.9Tdi Estate has nasty corrosion on the inside part of the wheel arch you see when you open the car door, it is on the rear n/s. I have been refused a repiar under the 12 year warranty ... In the absence of a complaints or appeals procedure from Skoda do people think it is worth me making a nuicance of myself and trying for a repair or should I just swallow the cost af repairing this myself.

Had a chat with a solicitor about a similar matter a couple of months ago (bubbling on a car on the same plate). Put simply, it is not reasonable or acceptable for the bodywork or paintwork to fail on a modern car in that length of time - therefore, providing you can show that it is not down to a chip or other physical damage, the supplying dealer should be picking up some, if not all, of the repair bill. If they refuse, you would be looking at filing a small claims court case under the Sales of Goods Act.

If you have RAC or AA membership, they should give you free legal advice (as do some insurance policies if you tick it as an extra). I would suggest phoning them, or otherwise consulting with a solicitor - we've found the RAC to be very helpful in the past.

providing you can show that it is not down to a chip or other physical damage,

I think that is the hard bit.

Chances are it will be down to something which has broken the surface of the paint and allowed the rust to start.

My brother recently claimed against BMW for rust on his 2004 M3- they had a microscope out trying to look at the affected patches to see if they were caused by something breaking the surface of the paint or if they started underneath and bubbled through.

In the end the main patch he was worried about was not covered as they said it had been started by a stone chip, but they noticed another tiny bubble on the same panel which he had not even noticed and said they would repair that. They then have to do the whole panel so the other bit will get fixed anyway.

Basically I'd complain as loud as you can if you are sure it's not been caused by damage to the paintwork. If they stick to their guns and say it has then I really don't think there is much you can do to prove otherwise. :(

you should try and read the mercedes forum, they will not cover cars over 8 years old as they have so much problem for cars built 98-2004

i had cracks in my paint at 3 years old on the roof of all places and passenger side rear when door open has paint missing were its cracked off