Hi, I bought my Urban last July and March this year I noticed that two of the of the roof strips had either cracked or split.  I took it to my local delaership whe agreed to replace them under warranty, this is were the fun began as it took several trips back to them to get them done right.  A complaint to Skoda UK eventually got the job done along with a £100 compensation to spend on upgrades.  Upon washing the car recently I noticed that the other two have gone the same way but I am now reluctant to take it back to the delaership as I have noticed that they have left a fair few scratches in the paintwork and the bonding agent they used (heavily) has gone an off white/gray colour.

 

Has any of you other Urban owners had this problem?  I have discussed it over at the Yetiownersclub forums and there are half a dozen there who have had the same problem.

What I've learned on this forum is to never ever have anything bonded to the car.  Every single person with these strips, with the fender extensions and that had the silver strip "glued" to the lower valance, have reported them falling off sooner than later.  I know this does not help you in your predicament (as the car came with these silly useless strips when you got it) but still. I'd have them taken off completely and have the dealer repair the scratches.

Still this sounds as bonding is not the only problem here if the actual strips have cracked and split. I agree with Johann in this case, better to have them removed and have roof resprayed under warranty, if the material used is not up to the job. Bonding needs to be done carefully, preparing, degreasing, priming (if the type of plastic used needs it) and most importantly using and applying the right adhesive correctly.

Thanks guys, I'm of the mind to have them removed as one guy has reported that his replacements have also cracked. 

Have them as a dealer fit option on our Yeti. Not had cracking as yet but one was replaced after coming loose only 6 months from new; had to go back to the supplying dealer down south, as the local outfit claimed it wasn't a warranty item, although it is.

 

Then a few months back the other three started to work loose. Dealer in Lincoln I'm now using for service work was more than happy to deal with it as warranty, shipping it to the approved body shop across the road. They replaced all four strips but they had a job cleaning back the old bonding material apparently, took them a week to sort it :S However you cannot tell, as they did a good job.

 

 

TP