Hello Guys / Gals

 

I have just brought myself a 2 year old Fabia VRS, (first of all it must be said that they are brilliant little cars!)

 

However on a sour note, I have had the car for 2 months and only till now has there been the need to use the AirCon (due to the wonderful British weather). Unfortunately for me the air was blowing out the same temperature as the normal blower.

 

Hopefully I was thinking it may just be out of gas, which was clarified by the dealer yesterday. They duely replenished the gas and all was well for the rest of the day. Unfortunately as I came to use the aircon this evening... a very loud hissing sound (like a gas canister has been opened) was coming from the dash. The sound was only happening when the AC button was on.

 

After I parked the car for a few hours I was hoping that it may have just been a little "wobble"...but now the temperature of the air is the same if the AC is on or off.

 

This leads me to believe that the gas from the AIrCon shouldnt run out within a day!!!

 

I have looked for various answers but found nothing quite as extreme. Does anyone have any idea what could be the issue?

 

It got the climatronic system if that helps?

Edited 5 July, 201312 yr by michaelwebber3

pooped 

 

send it back its a sealed unit therefore a seal must be broken ...warranty fix !

Two years sounds early for it to start blowing warm. Must be a leak somewhere. I'm on my third Fabia and have to say I find the Aircon has been very effective on all 3.

what they said ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ mine was still cold after 3 years.

Fingers crossed its not a stone gone through the condenser

Regards all

Juan

Sent from my iPhone using my thumbs

Cheers guys.

I gave the dealer a ring earlier on and they want the car back on Wednesday. I will update here once I get the car back.

Said it could be a broken hose or condenser problem, but they are going to order the parts prior so it should be a quick repair.

The aircon wasn't working before I brought it as I have the service record saying it needed re-gassing so I shouldn't have to pay for it.

Edited 6 July, 201312 yr by michaelwebber3

Good luck. Looking forward to the update

Dealer Update:

 

They have inspected it and found there are 2 punctures in the condenser!

 

£661 to fix.

 

I have argued that I have not done anything and they sold it to me like that, but they are not agreeing on that surprisingly. I have proof that the air con needed re-gassing when the car was only 1 1/4 years old which is not normal, but they are sticking to the excuse that if you dont use the aircon it will depleate (we have never found that with any of our other cars which include Fiesta's, focus's, 3 series, octavia's and superbs!)

 

The best I have got is a good will jesture of 50/50... which is good if I did the damage myself!

 

The idea of a couple of years of cheap, trouble free servicing is not going to work me thinks!

 

What do other people think on this??

It really depends if its been damaged by a stone etc or wether its down to a manufacturing fault. If its damaged your really on your own cause you can't really prove it wasn't you. If it was me I'd go for the 50/50 option, it's hard to swallow but it's better than paying it all. Sorry I can't really be more help.

al

Is it bought from a Skoda Dealership and an 'Approved Used car', still in Manufacturers Warranty & your Warranty with the Dealer?

 

If it is under 3 years old and at service it was known to have Faulty A/C, that should have been pointed out to you as a known fault and needing repaired,

as not a Warranty Item.

That would have been something almost every buyer would have asked to be put right before buying the car.

 

It would only have needed Re-gassing because there was a fault.

 

There was another vRS owner last year that was told the A/C condenser was punctured,

no idea if they got that car repaired as i seem to remember a dispute over it.

 

EDIT. Found it.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/250230-ac-unreasonable-skoda

 

george

Haggis Hunter - I have had to take the 50/50 as its the only option. Its just so anoying.

 

Sk4gw - I did indeed buy it from a skoda dealership through the 'Approved Used car' section. But they are not accepting my reasoning for the re-gassing. So i guess I will have to pay for it to be done. Im just not very impressed over the whole thing. It just seems strange why I dont have a copy of the latest visual health check list with the last service. As Im sure It should still say Air Con gas needs to be replaced... which it it didnt (according to the service tech). Because the previous owner refused to have it done.

 

Regarding the health check, would an air con fault show up on a oil change service health check?

Not at a 1 year/10,000 mile Oil Service,

& possibly not at a 2 Year/20,000 mile 'Inspection Service' unless an Owner was pointing it out.

 

So possibly an owner or if it was a Demonstrator, a driver pointed out the Faulty A/C.

 

What you do know is that a Dealership was aware of Faulty A/C, and that an Approved Used Vehicle was sold to you with non Operative A/C.

(they knew that the previous owner had not had it repaired, or if they did not, they do now.)

 

I would Contact Skoda UK Customers Services and go through the story with them again.

 

george

Just a thought.

 

As a Approved Used car, they probably had the Sales Sheet showing the cars features.

Maybe you still have that Sheet.

 

Fabia vRS 1.4, 178 bhp, DSG etc.

The usual mistake in the details.

Auto dimming rear view mirror, Heated/Folding Mirrors, Fog Lights. A/C.

 

well if it did list A/C, that should be working A/C.  not Broken/Faulty A/C.

It was indeed an ex demo car... so that would make sense. I am the 3rd owner though.

 

Its the guy inbetween who only had it for a year who had brought it with the air con fault. Their arguement will be that they have no idea if he had the re-gassing indipendantly.

 

After looking at everything they sold the car to the 2nd owner when it was faulty... which has basically been passed onto me.

 

sk6gw - Unfortunately I dont have the list, but it would just show a/c

To me this shows how much toss these "250 point inspections" or however many, are on every approved used car.

I guess they can just say they did test it and it was fine.

God, I hate lying garages and incompetence. Seems to be the norm in the automotive business. Smoke and mirrors and outright lies.

Have you run it past Skoda UK Customer Services?

 

If not i would give it a try by Phone & send an Email as well.

& on the Email link this Thread in your Email.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/281128-air-con-leak

 

They are starting to get the idea as Internet key word searches are starting to show that Skoda Dealership Custom Service,

is not as good as many 'Car Magazine Surveys' lead the public to believe.

 

I received a phone call from Skoda after being into a Dealer for Warranty work, then the 'Official Skoda Customer Online Survey' this week.

(a very good survey that really appeared to want to know how the dealer dealt with things & asking about the experience. The Dealership i was at were actually pretty good with me, shame they are not with every customer)

I have had contact back from them since, That is Skoda UK, not the dealership,

i included in some of the comments boxes some threads from here and some truths on their Dealers behaviour toward Customers Problems with major issues on their vehicles.

 

all the best.

 

george

+1 for contacting Skoda. There could even be a case for running it past trading standards as you were sold goods not fit for purpose?? Surely if the Air con has not worked properly since you bought the car they sold you faulty goods?

Update:

 

I have had the condenser replaced a few weeks ago and so far its running lovely and cold. I paid the £330 and walked away in disgust, however.... once I started the car after it had been done (while still at the garage) as I drove off the forecourt there was a rattle that ran across the dash from the centre to the drivers side as I turned left onto the main road! it sounded very much like a forgotten screw. At this point I really didnt fancy taking it back into the garage (even though I just left) as I couldnt be bothered with them. I managed to get the car home without any more rattles. I opened up the bonnet to try and find the lost screw (probably something that was used for fixing the old condensor in place) but there was nothing.

 

As I shut the bonnet i noticed a black block move on the black trim below the windshield. As it would appear the black caps for sealing the Aircon refilling connections were left rather thoughtfully on the exterior dash of the car! This prompted me to get on to Skoda Customer Services! As I explained in a rather detailed email about the case for the broken aircon before I recieved the car and lack of thorough checking ( the black caps being left on the bonnet were a very good point to have) they said they would take a couple of days to get back to me regarding the matter.

 

I have spoken with a guy to discuss the problem and they are still investigating it, however they have already said they will match the discount the Garage was giving for the aircon fix!

This means as the garage were doing a 50/50, skoda customer services are now going to send me a check for the 50% I paid! 

 

I think that is classed as a win in anyone's book!

 

As it proves, skoda want to keep people happy... and now I am!

 

It is definately worth diving them a call if you are not happy as they actually seem interested in helping. I will update if anything else comes from the investigation.

Mine made a noise like a tambourine in the heater vents - which turned out to be low gas level.  In my case, it was deemed to be down to the engine replacement and maybe it was a bit low after that.

 

It is now below par (doesn't cool sufficiently if the outside temp is over 30 degrees which happens a lot in Germany this time of year), so its on the job list to be looked at again for its service on Monday as they suspected there might be a seal not sitting right last time.