i have some sympathy here and sort of agree with the op to a point.

if the car was better designed then this wouldn't have happened and merely the fact that fitting a guard has been suggested means there's room for improvement over the original design and therefore i would expect a gesture of goodwill at the very least. Any car that's sold for the UK roads should be able to withstand normal driving conditions and if there's possibility of anything happening then measures should be adopted to limit/prevent this as much as possible.

Also comparing this to a windscreen stone chip is ludicrous as that's an exposed part of a vehicle, much like a wing or the bonnet so why that's been mentioned is beyond me but things in the engine bay should be better protected against the elements etc. i doubt you'd win outright in a small claims court as they cover all their bases with small print but Slowda UK should help, how much help you consider adequate can only be decided by yourself but id expect something and the courtesy car isn't part of that, that's a given from any supplying dealer IMHO

i have some sympathy here and sort of agree with the op to a point.

if the car was better designed then this wouldn't have happened and merely the fact that fitting a guard has been suggested means there's room for improvement over the original design and therefore i would expect a gesture of goodwill at the very least. Any car that's sold for the UK roads should be able to withstand normal driving conditions and if there's possibility of anything happening then measures should be adopted to limit/prevent this as much as possible.

Also comparing this to a windscreen stone chip is ludicrous as that's an exposed part of a vehicle, much like a wing or the bonnet so why that's been mentioned is beyond me but things in the engine bay should be better protected against the elements etc. i doubt you'd win outright in a small claims court as they cover all their bases with small print but Slowda UK should help, how much help you consider adequate can only be decided by yourself but id expect something and the courtesy car isn't part of that, that's a given from any supplying dealer IMHO

In one case of stone damage I know of, the customer lost in the small claims court.

It was compared to potholes. Potholes are as common as stones on the road, but drivers don't claim against the dealer because the car is not designed to withstand all potholes. AND there is someone else to blame/claim against.

Someone is responsible for stones on the road, even if you can't always determine who it is. I've known claims against the council be successful - especially when the likely source of the stone is a pothole!

Waiting in anticipation of the outcome.

Still not sure where the stone is being fired from that causes the damage on a vRS, or how its getting a direct hit with force,

is it a sharp shooting sniper with a .22 airgun perhaps.?

Some wire grill will not be much defence against that.

george

Dont want to sound mean, but if you can afford to run around in a Fabia VRS you should have budgeted for unforeseen wear and tear items.

Sounds like a bit of bad luck but are you not barking up the wrong tree by getting on at the dealer and Skoda UK? You need to work with people and by getting folks backs up you are never going to be on a winner. It was worth mentioning to the dealer initially to see if it would have been covered under warranty but you should have left it after that.

Not worth the hassle and stress this has obviously caused you.

You pay your bit - warranty covers their bit - everybody is happy.

Chill out and you will get your car back shortly.

Cheers.

PS That is some mileage you are doing - 71,000 per annum!

This is not correct. A variable displacement compressor is never really off. The minimum displacement is sufficient to circulate the PAG oil and stop the seals drying out.

It does provide some lube, but not enough for any prolonged period. That's why the manufacturer tells you to use the aircon for at least 10mins per month. It's in all our owners handbooks. Sorry to op for going a bit off topic.

It does provide some lube, but not enough for any prolonged period. That's why the manufacturer tells you to use the aircon for at least 10mins per month. It's in all our owners handbooks. Sorry to op for going a bit off topic.

It's nothing to do with the seals. If you open a system that has only been run at minimum displacement, the seals are well lubricated.

The advice is to prevent mould growing and I would use the a/c more frequently than once a month.

WOW!

I didn't realise my post would get so many responses! I thought maybe 3 or 4 replies maximum! I will try and answer all the questions that got asked over the entire thread to start with...

My vRS has just over 32,000 on it now - it's been a good car for almost the whole time with just a few niggles here and there (with the exception of the gearbox rattle but that's another story!) that the dealer has always got sorted for me.

Yes I did see the damaged condenser and it did look to have been damaged by a stone - they even showed me the stone that caused it - it looked like a small pebble around 2cm across. It was completely rounded but I reckon it was just too big to fit through the front grill but I will never know as I didn't get a chance to try posting it through. When the service manager came out with the part he got the stone and sat it in the dent on the rad and it seemed to fit in but it still didn't seem right to me that a stone the size he was claiming could actually make it through the front, large, honeycomb grill. It was right at the bottom left of the part if you are looking at the vehicle head on. Like George said, it was a hit in a million - infact how it managed to pass through the grill at the point the garage reckoned it did, miss the charge air cooler (intercooler) and then hit the condenser at the very bottom corner is a small miracle!

With regards to the compressor - the system had been fully checked over and it was a bad bearing within the original compressor I got told. Interestingly, the hissing, which would indicate low gas, only started a few days AFTER the car finally got diagnosed as having a fault with the compressor. However, the A/C was working right up to when I dropped the vehicle off - albeit rather noisily, hissing and rumbling all at the same time. It would seem from that, that the damage to the condenser did occur during the 3 weeks while waiting for the part.

Originally when I got told the condenser would have to be replaced I was quoted something along the lines of £324. When I started moaning and got SUK involved this dropped down to £271. They were only going to charge me for the part and nothing else as the car was already in a million pieces and the full 'rad pack' has to be removed to replace the compressor and TXV.

weelon - the whole reason I posted what I did was to gauge peoples opinions on what they thought I should do instead of relying on my own intuition. The analogy of a windscreen vs a rad is complete rubbish IMO. As has been said by madmonk, a windscreen is a part of the car that is designed to be fully exposed to the road. I have 2 small dents on my bonnet and numerous chips from everyday use but I have not gone running to Skoda moaning about these. I still believe that if the part is as delicate as it seems to be then why on earth is it not placed behind a metal mesh that is set back from the plastic grill?? As for the courtesy car - I do not believe it is unreasonable to ask SUK to investigate and request to keep the courtesy vehicle until the end of their investigations at the very least - surely if you had something wrong with your vehicle and you felt Skoda were at fault and you then involved SUK you would have an expectation of keeping the courtesy vehicle until the end of their investigations??

Aaaaanyway - the conclusion to the whole saga. Monday morning rolls round and I got a call on my mobile at 1030. It was the service manager at the dealer ringing to let me know my car was ready. I thanked him and let him know I would be down at around lunchtime to pick it up. I, at this point, had resigned myself to paying for the repair as I needed the car back.

As lunchtime approached I got the number up for SUK along with all my notes and was quite literally just dialling when the mobile rang. It was the service manager at the dealer again. He said he had just been on the phone with SUK. He informed me that SUK, upon reading all the car's history, looking through it's service records and having a 'lengthy discussion' with himself, had decided that they were going to fully cover the cost of the replacement condenser. I just about fell off my chair at this point and was lost for words. I thanked the manager and got straight down there.

I picked the car up and all was well, it had been put back together perfectly, you could not tell any work had been done and it was fully valeted for me. I again thanked the dealer and at this point I did actually offer an apology to him saying that I hope I had not caused any undue problems by keeping the courtesy vehicle. I was assured none of it had been any problem and they were just happy I was back on the road. I then got in and drove off - I gave the A/C a run through its paces and it's back to how it was - perfect!

Later on during the afternoon the manager from SUK who had helped me on Friday gave me a call to check everything was satisfactory and was I happy for the case to be closed. I let her know everything was great, thanked her for her help and agreed for the case to be closed. She asked me if I had anything further that I would like to add before she did that. I said I didn't want to sound ungrateful at all but I still believed that there should be some sort of protection for the condenser if it is so vulnerable. I suggested that a simple metal mesh set back from the main plastic grill would more than suffice. She advised me that Skodas design is in common with well over 70% of all vehicles on the road and that such a change would not be likely but she would pass it on to her technical team.

So, that is the end of that I guess - I don't think I expected the result I got - I believed I would get a 'good will' payment towards the cost of the condenser but not a full cost cover.

Thank you everyone for the replies and opinions. I hope this thread helps someone in the future and sorry for taking a while to get round to updating everyone with the outcome.

-Will

Good result mate - goes to show those who shout loudest often get what they want!.

They've also set a precedent now -anyone who sees this and has the same problem will also expect it sorted free of charge

Good result mate - goes to show those who shout loudest often get what they want!.

They've also set a precedent now -anyone who sees this and has the same problem will also expect it sorted free of charge

not sure about a precedent as they put in the caveat of "SUK, upon reading all the car's history, looking through it's service records and having a 'lengthy discussion' with himself (the service manager)"

that gives them a get out of jail free in my mind, but having said that it does show if you push a bit dealers and SUK do want to keep customers happy

never hurts to apply a little pressure when faced with a large unexpected bill

glad it is all sorted

as to better protection for the condensor, it is a trade off between airflow to cool the condensor and radiator and protection, currently it seems in favour of airflow and most of the time the customer picking up the cost if inadequate, we will see if in a year or so if that changes

not sure about a precedent as they put in the caveat of "SUK, upon reading all the car's history, looking through it's service records and having a 'lengthy discussion' with himself (the service manager)"

that gives them a get out of jail free in my mind

If this happened to me tomorrow I'd certainly be asking Skoda for a FOC repair, wouldn't you?

I'm sure if the car hadnt been looked after or not serviced by a main dealer etc they might use this as an excuse but tbh I can't see that applying to many people at the mo

If this happened to me tomorrow I'd certainly be asking Skoda for a FOC repair, wouldn't you?

I'm sure if the car hadnt been looked after or not serviced by a main dealer etc they might use this as an excuse but tbh I can't see that applying to many people at the mo

certainly worth a try, but by the wording of that it would be looked at on a case by case basis

one thing i would be interested in is if 70% of cars have the same design / protection (or lack of it) for the condensor then how are the other 30% designed?

are they better or worse protected?

is there a large additional cost to the manufacturing process ?

is there a down side? (like less effiecient aircon)

Perhaps the other 30% don't have aircon.

The condensor to work properly needs air unheated and unobstructed by anything else. Anything you put in front to reduce stone damage also reduces airflow. It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.

Individuals are welcome to do whatever they want to their vehicles in their own unique circumstances. But across the board modifications would reduce air-con performance (and potentially introduce engine cooling issues) for the climates that need it most.

I would have loved to have seen a picture size of the Chucky, (stone) and the Damage it did and where,

&

then tried to figure how it got where it got to, without the Grill having been removed at the time it happened.

'Many big things get into or out of small spaces without explanation.!'

I suggested a Sniper with an Air rifle before,

now i would suspect someone with a Catapult.

(Maybe check the Grill carefully and see of any piece has broken and is sitting closed now. (ie has a crack)

george

snip...

I suggested a Sniper with an Air rifle before,

now i would suspect someone with a Catapult.

snip...

george

you must have some lovely locals up your way george to think like that, either that or were you down by rwbaldwins the other week with an air rifle or catapult?

Actually the Catapult is used up here quite a bit when locals get the hump at people that live in Tin Tents.

george