Hi everyone - just purchased a June 08 registered Octavia Elegance 1.6 FSI with 27K on the clock. Ex leasing car and chuffed to bits with the spec and Skoda reputation. Was losing my company car next year and the Octavia ticks all the boxes.

However, I noticed a large wet patch on the passenger side rear seat - sister in law sat on it yesterday, which was funny - but it seems to be getting worse overnight. (Picture attached)

The west of Scotland has been a wee bit wet to set the least recently and I didn't notice the wet patch when I picked the car up, although I probably wasn't looking for that.

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what is causing this. I'm trying to get through to the dealer - Arnold Clark - just now and would appreciate any advice.

Pipe to rear washer jet rings a bell, I'm sure someone will be along soon to tell you more or just try doing a quick search

Thanks for that - funny enough the rear wash wipe water pressure doesn't appear to very good. I've also noticed the boot behind the seat is wet at what looks like a small grommet. Hose might be cracked or something and the water is getting in there. As far as I remember I tried the rear wash wipe not long before I discovered the wet patch.

Your help is appreciated.

Known problem, I've never known the seat to get wet though, more stories of a pool of water in the spare wheel well.

Ian

It's now back at the dealers - they state if they can't fix they'll send it to VW to have a look at. Pity, as it's such a nice car and I only got it on Wednesday.

Thanks again for the advice.

It's now back at the dealers - they state if they can't fix they'll send it to VW to have a look at. Pity, as it's such a nice car and I only got it on Wednesday.

Thanks again for the advice.

If they can't fix it they'll send it to VW! I guess this is Arnold Clark in Inverness. They are my 'local' dealer too but I'm afraid my car is going back to the supplying dealer near Cambridge to be serviced. The recent experiences of a few friends and relatives at Inverness have not been great so I'm a bit wary. Would be very interested in how you get on.

Sarge.

Got it back today. Looked OK at first - wet patch had been dried - probably by just puting the heater up to full blast - but as soon as I tried the rear wash wipe jet I was back to square one.

I took off the trim next to the seat at the door and checked the pipe attached to the wiring loom. Got my son to activate the washer and was nearly drowned. Obvious break or faulty joint.

I had mentioned the possibility of a problem with the pipe to them, which they obviously ignored. Going back in first thing tomorrow. Hopefully this time they'll do what they were supposed to do in the first place and use an industrial dryer this time to dry it out. The foam backing for the trim is soaked and I don't think a car heater will be much kop....

Not fixing it properly the first time is inexcusable, even more so when you pointed out the likely cause.

The fact they tried to dry out the seat fixes the symptoms but it looks as though they've made no effort to find the cause. Did they not think, erm I wonder what might have caused the wet patch?

A wasted trip, phone calls, messing you about and the loss of your valuble time would have me asking for a contribution towards the cost of it's next service in addition to a replacement foam panel.

Grrr, I really hate bad service

Agreed - panel might now be useless and they will need to come up with something with regards to making up for their poor service and wasting my time. They've now had the car longer than me since I bought it. They put the original damp patch down to over eager valeting....

As this hose leak appears to be quite common, should there not have been some sort of re-call to sort it?

As this hose leak appears to be quite common, should there not have been some sort of re-call to sort it?

Unfortunately not, Skoda does know about the problem but as it's not safety related it'll never warrant a recall, just a more lenient approach to fixing it under warranty.

There are one or two causes that identify the weak points (joints) in the system, one is a blocked washer jet the other is frozen screen wash. The back pressure is enough to pop the pipes off the plastic connectors at various points along its route from the washer bottle under the bonnet to the jet on the wiper arm / high level brake light.

The common resting place for the water though is in the boot, usually the spare wheel well or even better all over the CD multichanger.

If you frequent this forum regularly you'll be amazed at how common this becomes once the temperatures drop below freezing.

Good luck tomorrow.

:( I have some water in the spare wheel well so I was thinking about the rubber boot seal, I will have to check the washer jet out tomm but I havent noticed anything. cheers - Stuart

Guys

Got it back and - touch wood - it aint leaking. You can now see the jointing connector - they must have pulled the wiring loom down a wee bit as I couldn't really see it before - and I'll know where to look next time! Seat, bit at the back of the boot and the back of the foam trim have also been dried.

I cleaned out the nozzle at the base of the rear wiper as well - spray had only been coming out of one of the holes - and I bought a spare one on ebay just in case. All seems well for now. Just remember to use VW screenwash!

Thanks to everybody for their advice/comments.

Guys

Got it back and - touch wood - it aint leaking. You can now see the jointing connector - they must have pulled the wiring loom down a wee bit as I couldn't really see it before - and I'll know where to look next time! Seat, bit at the back of the boot and the back of the foam trim have also been dried.

I cleaned out the nozzle at the base of the rear wiper as well - spray had only been coming out of one of the holes - and I bought a spare one on ebay just in case. All seems well for now. Just remember to use VW screenwash!

Thanks to everybody for their advice/comments.

Fingers crossed that it's sorted