FSW and DGW, thanks for your helpful repplies.

 

Dealer wants the car for 4 or 5 days to remove the seat to see if there are any faulty or broken parts. I am not happy with this because they could turn round and say it was due to misuse and then just put everything back to as it is now, when it is patently obvious that something structurally has moved or broken.  Additionally the leather is becoming damaged/ripped day by day day to the failed internal structure and since I dont think the bolster can be repaired it appears that a new seat is required..

 

I escalated this to Skoda Customer Services who said that they would not accept responsibilty for the seat without a full investigation at the dealer.

 

I only have two choices, small claims court that seat is not fit for purpose or take it to the dealer for a week. SCS said that they would not be liable in the small claims court and that I would have to seek redress against the other Skoda dealer that I bought the car from, if I took this route. Also legally I may have to give the warranty system an opportunity to put things right before any chance of success.

 

If bolster can be repaired and done under warranty no problem but no-one can tell me if the bolster can be repaired without a replacement seat.

 

I am amazed that a top end car like this can have a duff seat and that Skoda claim I may have misused the seat. I was going to but a mk3 next year but not now.

Dummy's and toys right out the pram there haha [emoji23]

 

I only have two choices, small claims court that seat is not fit for purpose or take it to the dealer for a week. SCS said that they would not be liable in the small claims court and that I would have to seek redress against the other Skoda dealer that I bought the car from, if I took this route. Also legally I may have to give the warranty system an opportunity to put things right before any chance of success.

 

SCS are correct, the contract is between yourself and the dealer you purchased the car from and not Skoda UK, so it is the dealer you need to claim against.

Sorry for the bump, but this is a really useful thread (especially with the pics posted above).

 

My leather VRS seat on a 2011 car has the bolster in the exact same condition as in the pics above. I only noticed it the other day that it rests on my side and isn't that comfortable.

 

Ironically the car is booked in at Skoda tomorrow (it's 5 years old in March) for a cambelt and water pump change. I fully intend on asking them about it and see if there is any possibility of going down a warranty claim route. Obviously i'm well aware that the "normal" warranty is long gone. The car is however in immaculate condition on 48k miles with a FSSH, and in my opinion the bolster shouldn't be in this state already.

 

Has anyone had and success with warranty work/claims for this problem with a car at this age?

My March 2012 vRS is also now suffering from the collapsed driver's seat side bolster problem and due to the displacement of the air bag shield I consider it a safety problem not just a trim problem.  My local dealer quoted £305 for the repair and insists I have to pay the whole cost.  He confirmed that the repair would include fitting a new airbag and shield unit.  I quoted 'TPI 2024859/1 dated 26-Nov-2010' at him but he insists if the car is out of warranty I have to pay.  I intend to contact Skoda as they manufactured a car in March 2012 with a fault that had been known since November 2010 (17 months before).  I shall emphasise the safety aspect - surely the operation of the airbag will be compromised by the displaced shield?  I am certainly not paying the full cost to Skoda/dealer for the repair - I will fit another seat(s) before I give them over £300 to replace/repair a component that was fitted to my car despite it being known to be faulty.  

If the car is out of warranty then Skoda are within their rights to reject a claim.

 

3 years (2 from Skoda UK, and the last year from their dealer network) or 60,000 miles, whichever is reached first*.

 

In my experience Skoda UK have been generous to me over some quite siginificant issues on my last two Octavia's, all out of warranty.

 

What seems to help towards an offer for a gesture of goodwill (either 100% of costs covered or of varying percentages or of parts OR labour etc.) is the following:

 

Service History. Being able to demonstrate that you have used the Skoda franchised dealer network for all of your servicing definately helps. It has to be complete too of course.

 

Brand Loyalty. Own another Skoda or can you show that you've owned Skoda's previously? This all helps.

 

The Dealer: Skoda UK will rely on the opinion of their 'eyes and ears' i.e. their franchised dealers. You need to get these guys on side too. If they are willing to support you and your claim then you have a better chance.

 

The Customer Services Rep. There are policies to follow, but as ever these can be manipulated or manager approval can be sought. If you get a good one and they are in a good mood then you are in a better position!

 

Your Attitiude. Kicking off, shouting the odds, making threats etc. This will not end well. Firm but fair seems to be the key. Pleading poverty and sounding upset worked for me 

 

However, one thing that has become increasingly apparant is that Skoda UK are now no longer as generous as they used to be. When they were trying to shake off the dodgy Skoda image and develop their (now) loyal followers they were happier to throw money at cars out of warranty. I'd imagine given Skoda's rise to fame here in the UK that they may now not be so generous.

 

A Skoda UK customer services agent told me a few years ago that they now have a 5 year / 100,000 mile limit to out-of-warranty goodwill gestures. After this you have very little chance of success. Not sure how true this is.

 

Either way - good luck!

 

* unless of course you have an extended warranty package.

Edited 1 December, 201510 yr by silver1011

My March 2012 vRS is also now suffering from the collapsed driver's seat side bolster problem and due to the displacement of the air bag shield I consider it a safety problem not just a trim problem.  My local dealer quoted £305 for the repair and insists I have to pay the whole cost.  He confirmed that the repair would include fitting a new airbag and shield unit.  I quoted 'TPI 2024859/1 dated 26-Nov-2010' at him but he insists if the car is out of warranty I have to pay.  I intend to contact Skoda as they manufactured a car in March 2012 with a fault that had been known since November 2010 (17 months before).  I shall emphasise the safety aspect - surely the operation of the airbag will be compromised by the displaced shield?  I am certainly not paying the full cost to Skoda/dealer for the repair - I will fit another seat(s) before I give them over £300 to replace/repair a component that was fitted to my car despite it being known to be faulty.  

 

Skoda UK insisted that the operation of the side airbag is not affected by my collapsed bolster - I'd be surprised if you get a result, but good luck!

Our seat was repaired under warranty a while back and it was never done correctly as the side bolster was and still is not aligned properly. It is like it the bolster was put back in a bit squint or not seated properly. We had it back into them at the time but they said that was it fixed and wouldn't do it again.

 

Is it possible to have the seat opened up and the bolster realigned or does it require a new part?

 

Anyone got the required part numbers just in case it needs a new part?

Thanks for all the info guys. I've just bought a 62 plate vRS that has this issue.

Good to know it's not just me being fussy that the driver's seat isn't comfortable!

I've asked my local VAG specialist (CAMSPEC) to look into fixing it for me.

Considering buying a 2010 VRS with this problem. Can anyone reccomend an upholsterer? This really puts me off the car as the seats in my ‘02 Octavia are still pristine. 

13 hours ago, Andy8 said:

Considering buying a 2010 VRS with this problem. Can anyone reccomend an upholsterer? This really puts me off the car as the seats in my ‘02 Octavia are still pristine. 

Any decent garage should be able to do this for you, look for a VAG specialist if you can.

They need to order a new bolster foam as the old one will have collapsed away from the side air bag.

Its a bit of a fiddly job from what I hear, but fine for anyone used to replacing seat parts.

Hope that helps!

3 hours ago, markjfish said:

Any decent garage should be able to do this for you, look for a VAG specialist if you can.

They need to order a new bolster foam as the old one will have collapsed away from the side air bag.

Its a bit of a fiddly job from what I hear, but fine for anyone used to replacing seat parts.

Hope that helps!

 

Anyone got the part number of the seat bolsters?

@FatblokeVRS Sorry for the delay in responding, but I've found the Dealer TPI that relates to this issue. Hope it helps!

TPI_2024859-2.PDF

Edited 13 November, 20187 yr by markjfish

After the local Skoda dealer and Skoda refused to acknowledge this was a design fault and continued to insist that I paid the full retail price of £305 for the repair I asked 3 independant VAG specialists to quote. All 3 quoted 'around £300'.  Currently I am just putting up with the distorted side bolster. 

20 minutes ago, philbes said:

After the local Skoda dealer and Skoda refused to acknowledge this was a design fault and continued to insist that I paid the full retail price of £305 for the repair I asked 3 independant VAG specialists to quote. All 3 quoted 'around £300'.  Currently I am just putting up with the distorted side bolster. 

I think I paid £85 +vat for the foam insert and 1.5 hours labour at my local VAG specialist (CAMSPEC in Crawley, West Sussex).

Also my car already had the "modified" seat bolster, which still failed under the previous owner. The car had done something like 90k when I bought it.

Edited 13 November, 20187 yr by markjfish

5 hours ago, markjfish said:

I think I paid £85 +vat for the foam insert and 1.5 hours labour at my local VAG specialist (CAMSPEC in Crawley, West Sussex).

Also my car already had the "modified" seat bolster, which still failed under the previous owner. The car had done something like 90k when I bought it.

My quote for "around £300" also included fitting the revised side airbag with the modified shield.  My 2012 car had covered around 35K miles when the fault showed. Now at 49K miles.

8 hours ago, markjfish said:

@FatblokeVRS Sorry for the delay in responding, but I've found the Dealer TPI that relates to this issue. Hope it helps!

TPI_2024859-2.PDF

 

Thank you.

 

Still not sure what I need but this info is very useful.