Hi

Very happy with the Roomster design, but not so happy with work of cabin fitters and finishing crew

Background: Roomster SE Plus, 3 weeks old, 1000km/600miles on the clock. Mostly little issues, but annoying nevertheless.

Latest snag: after 500 miles, airbag light came on, I have checked the code and it said short circuit in driver side curtain airbag, code would come back presistently after clearing.

I removed trim cover from A-pillar and found out that the airbag cable (twisted wire pair) has been pressed into chassis hole by one of trim's metal clips and indeed was shorted as a result.

The thing is, there is so much space there for airbag cable and for speaker cable that you almost need to be ill-willed to push the airbag cable with the clip into the hole.

Very quick fix, 10mins work in total and some PVC and cloth tapes, no tools required apart from 10mm key to disconnect battery (and do it first!). But that issue reinforces my concern that Skoda's solid build quality that I came to rely on for the last 10 years, 230k miles and 2 cars is gone... pity.

In other news, accelerator pedal started squeaking. Upon inspection, of course, no grease there as well. 5 second fix for all pedal pivots with a dab of silicone spray and no more squeaks, silky smooth operation. Easy fix but why not done at factory?

Full list of faults and problems so far that would've been warranty fixes and required a lot of trips to dealership and many hours lost:

1. heated seats switches swapped around, left switch controlled right seat and vice versa. I already swapped the plugs back, access is via gear lever trim.
   
2. glove box light switch out of its mount and not working, for now I put a LED in but will fix it before winter, it is a console off job
   
3. broken inner door handle lock bowden cable end, resulting in screechy sound when using door handle, this could be hard to demonstrate at dealership as the sound came and went at random. GBP8 fix in total, new cable and new membrane, about 30min job, door card off, membrane off, unlock cable, lock a new one, membrane on, door card on
   
4. only half of each door lock was greased, little or no grease in bonnet and tailgate locks and hinges, this would likely be a problem only after warranty as the locks would wear out prematurely
   
5. little or no grease in gear lever pivot (the white ball), after applying shifting got a lot smoother, again long term wear would have been an issue
   
6. wayy too much copper grease in engine cover snap-in mounts (probably a teaspoon in each!). Noticed already at dealership, would have fouled up the engine over time.
   
7. little or no grease in pedal pivots, the same can be actually said for pretty much every moving part in the cabin. If untreated, would result in squeaks and premature wear again
   
8. low power steering fluid level, barely within specification. Added some more.
   
9. rattling instrument cluster surround, took a lot of foam tape to fix.
   
10. Shorted head airbag circuit due to fitters pushing airbag cable into chassis hole by metal clip of the A-pillar trim. Repair described above.
    

At least the engine and suspension (for now) behave quite decently, the car is very good to drive, and airco/climate control works exceedingly well given the size/volume of the car.

But Skoda Auto, do invest more in Quality Control please! Or this will be my last Skoda :think:

Edit: Same factory in Kvasiny builds Roomster, Yeti and Mk2 Superb :think:

Edited 1 June, 201214 yr by dieselV6

My one and only build quality issue in 3 years was the wiring loom that had been fitted too tight and disconnected causing the electric windows and heated mirrors to fail.

Very quickly corrected under warranty.

Edited 28 May, 201214 yr by Calomax

You wait till your rear windows start playing up!

Another update, build quality issue again, parking brake light would randomly lit, got progressively worse, on inspection found parking brake light switch cable wedged into ratchet mechanism and insulation chewed off causing random short-circuits. Wrapped wires in tape and mounted further away from ratchet using velcro tape.

But come on Skoda, build quality in that factory in Kvasiny really is not up to earlier Skoda standards.

Full list of faults and problems so far

1. heated seats switches swapped around, left switch controlled right seat and vice versa. I already swapped the plugs back, access is via gear lever trim.
   
2. glove box light switch out of its mount and not working, for now I put a LED in but will fix it before winter, it is a console off job
   
3. broken inner door handle lock bowden cable end, resulting in screechy sound when using door handle, this could be hard to demonstrate at dealership as the sound came and went at random. GBP8 fix in total, new cable and new membrane, about 30min job, door card off, membrane off, unlock cable, lock a new one, membrane on, door card on
   
4. only half of each door lock was greased, little or no grease in bonnet and tailgate locks and hinges, this would likely be a problem only after warranty as the locks would wear out prematurely
   
5. little or no grease in gear lever pivot (the white ball), after applying shifting got a lot smoother, again long term wear would have been an issue
   
6. wayy too much copper grease in engine cover snap-in mounts (probably a teaspoon in each!). Noticed already at dealership, would have fouled up the engine over time.
   
7. little or no grease in pedal pivots, the same can be actually said for pretty much every moving part in the cabin. If untreated, would result in squeaks and premature wear again
   
8. low power steering fluid level, barely within specification. Added some more.
   
9. rattling instrument cluster surround, took a lot of foam tape to fix.
   
10. Shorted head airbag circuit due to fitters pushing airbag cable into chassis hole by metal clip of the A-pillar trim. Repair described above.
    
11. DPF exhaust gas temperature sensor 3 failure, replaced under warranty.
    
12. Parking brake switch cable not mounted correctly, wedged into parking brake ratchet resulting in random brake warning sounds.
    

This is on a 6 months old, 6k miles car... if it has no more factory originating problems in the next 2 years, I may consider another Skoda, otherwise I guess I'll just run my (excellent) Mk1 Superb until it dies and then switch to a different brand...

Edited 4 December, 201213 yr by dieselV6

Why don't you send an e-mail to skoda headquarters to report all those issues. Not nessecary to complaint (why not of course !!) but to give them a feedback. I think this is what Skoda is missing. Feedback and interaction with customers. And not only in UK...

I did send it off to Skoda Auto HQ, though I am not hoping for a reply...Frankly, the main point of my forum posts on shoddy Roomster workmanship is to warn off potential buyers.

The "it's a Skoda, honest" ad campain has completely lost its shine for me now.

Too bad because first 2 Skodas (Mk1 Octy and Mk1 Superb)I bought were excellent.

Edited 5 December, 201213 yr by dieselV6

Speaking of HQ I meant the ones at Czech Republic.

As for the campaign that lost its shine I agree with you 100%.

Yes, the HQ in Mlada Boleslav. If you look at corporate Skoda page, there's an address there.

I messaged them a few times during last ten years and I must say that every time they responded back to all of my e-mails. Responding time was not over three working days.

Interesting reading. I am considering between the Roomster or an Octavia. I like the Roomster, but worried about the build quality issues i have read about. Were the earlier Roomster's say up tp 2008 better quality and more reliable ?

Can't speak for others, but my 2007 Roomster has been an absolute joy to own so far.

I'm happy with all aspects of it - mpg, looks, practicality, value, reliability.

I'm hesitant to use the rear window spray, but I'll give that a cosmetic pass as I can live without it.

Can't speak for others, but my 2007 Roomster has been an absolute joy to own so far.

I'm happy with all aspects of it - mpg, looks, practicality, value, reliability.

+1

I've had mine from new (2009) and nothing, absolutely nothing, has gone wrong.

It is by some margin the best car I have ever owned.

Thanks for your help.

Robjon - Your car has a DPF ?

I'm 99.9% certain 1.9 TDI Fabia/Roomster models for the British market were never fitted with a DPF. Mine doesn't have one. I believe the only Fabia/Roomster pre-facelift model to be fitted with a DPF was the Fabia Greenline (1.4TDI).

I'm very happy with my Roomster but was very surprised when I discovered that the inside of the bonnet and engine bay had only been primed (grey paint), and not had a final coat. Is this the norm, i.e. costcutting?

MIne is painted and had the isolation thing. And yes it's the basic trim level.

MIne is painted and had the isolation thing. And yes it's the basic trim level.

What's the isolation thing? Sorry if I'm being thick.

Sent from my Motorola XOOM Tablet using Tapatalk 2

Not at all. It's just my bad English. It is a foamy black panel attached underneath the bonnet. I think it is soundproof.

Not at all. It's just my bad English. It is a foamy black panel attached underneath the bonnet. I think it is soundproof.

Thanks, I will follow it up.

Was the earlier Roomster (2006 to 2008) better build quality than the later one ?

I'm very happy with my Roomster but was very surprised when I discovered that the inside of the bonnet had only been primed (grey paint), and not had a final coat. Is this the norm, i.e. costcutting or a Friday afternoon job?

The bonnet on mine has final coat on the underside as well as the sheet of sound insulation mentioned by Stratosg.

One has to wonder if the original bonnet on yours was damaged and replaced before the car was handed over to you.

Mine is final coated inside as well

Telephoned the local dealership. Some runs of the basic Roomster were produced with the engine bay and bonnet underside minus the top coat of paint. The soundproofing is available as an optional extra, although I don't consider the Roomster engine to be noisy.

Seems like all cars, good ones and bad ones.

My father has a roomster 3 1.4 TDI on an 08 plate. Not a single problem in 1st 3 years. Within the last 6 months the parking sensors have stopped working, the resistor pack for the blower has been replaced, the throttle pedal needs replacing (idles at 1500 sometimes) and for the past few weeks it can no longer be locked as there is an intermittent fault with one of the doors/boot catch making the alarm go off all the time.

It has also developed a terrible rattle from the passenger airbag which is driving me mental.

If it keeps this up it will be gone within 6 months.

My wife has a Roomster 1.9 tdi 2007 from 2010 the windows don't work in winter or the rear parking sensors. This winter it took off down a busy main road due to a hand brake malfunction. Apart from the electrical problems this car has never failed or let us down thats why we kept it so long. Has anyone else experienced electrical problems in winter ?