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Rapid Power Steering Rapid TSi 1.2


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Bought Rapid in late July 2013 and was really pleased with it after at first planning to buy an Octavia. However after a few weeks of driving power steering warning light came on and steering locked. Managed to stop car and restart which seemed to fix the problem and thought nothing of it. A few months later the same thing happened again however this time i checked the manual and it stated that if this light comes on i should seek assistance so in December 2013 i did so. The RAC man found nothing wrong apart from high voltage logged in 44 & 09. He requested i dropped the car at the local Skoda garage to get checked out and have the software tested, where it is as we speak 6 weeks later. After numerous testing and discussions they still can not find the problem or create it through test driving however due to the dangerous nature of the fault we are reluctant to have the car back so at present are living off a hire car provided by Skoda customer care. I had a call today saying that after further testing and discussions with the Skoda factory they plan to change the alternator which i am hoping is a positive. I guess I would be keen for people views and thoughts on this and whether anyone has had similar issues. I feel it has a lot to do with the stop/start aspect of the car and the fact the smart charging is not as smart as it could be perhaps! 

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Did the steering actually lock, or did you loose the power assist making it very stiff?

There was a problem with the loss of power assist on Vauxhall Merivas which was featured on watchdog. Vauxhall were charging about £800 for the fix until they got shamed into doing it for free, despite it being very dangerous I don't think there ever was a recall because they claimed the car could still be driven.

Good luck and let us all know how things work out.

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  • 3 years later...

Dear All

 

Its is now 3 years and 6 months since I bought the brand new Skoda Rapid and unfortunately I can report that the steering issue is still a problem and locks intermittently including when pulling out of junctions. As requested I have had the car checked a number of times by Skoda authorized dealers and each time they state they can find nothing wrong with the car. As I keep stating to them  the steering warning light must come on for a reason which in my case is when the steering actually locks while driving. It happened recently when pulling out of tricky junction where I needed to pull across traffic at speed to turn right. After numerous calls with Skoda Uk customer services they have basically washed their hands of the issue saying unless the dealers can find a fault there is nothing wrong with the car so basically are not trusting my word. I have attached photos of when the fault happens just to prove I am not making the story up and as the last dealer who I spoke to stated you should use the words the car is not fit for purpose. I do not want to put people off buying a Skoda however I will suggest if this happens to you at all during the warranty period do not accept the car back unless you have proof it is fixed and if it happens a second time ask for your money back. Skoda can not expect customers to drive cars that could potentially lead to serious accidents and even then expect to sell them on which I will probably do and therefore potentially endanger someone else's life.

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This sounds like a really similar experience to ours as far as warranty / dealers go.

 

We had a problem with my wife's Rapid refusing to start in cold weather (it would eventually after many attempts).  Eventually got it started, took to dealer, sent away saying there was no problem.

 

It continued to happen and so we took it back and they tried to tell us we'd put diesel in it (we knew we hadn't and it wouldn't make sense as we drove it in to their garage) and wanted to charge thousands to replace the entire fuel system.

 

Then took it to another Skoda dealer several times who said it wasn't diesel contamination, but said there was no fault because they couldn't see it.  This is in spite of the fact we had multiple videos of it not working and we'd had Skoda Assist (the AA) out multiple times to the fault.  More than one breakdown guy diagnosed it was a faulty fuel pump and we paid out of our own pocket at an independent VAG specialist, who also diagnosed it as the fuel pump.  But Skoda just stood firm that there wasn't an issue.

 

Eventually after weeks of hassle, shouting at Skoda CS and dealers, speaking to managers and recording my calls, they agreed to replace the fuel pump as a "gesture of goodwill".  Surprise surprise, it's been fine since.

 

We got the right outcome in the end, but the extreme hassle means I'd never buy a new Skoda again.  I probably wouldn't buy any new car again.

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This happened to my Sister in laws Meriva she was turning a corner when the steering locked. She called the AA who said it was the Power steering motor which was  a problem on this model. As mentioned above this was on watchdog so I pointed this out to our local Vauxhall dealer who after a lot of wriggling changed the motor, Fault rectified dont know if Skoda is the same set up as Vauxhall.

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2 hours ago, charltonian said:

This happened to my Sister in laws Meriva she was turning a corner when the steering locked. She called the AA who said it was the Power steering motor which was  a problem on this model. As mentioned above this was on watchdog so I pointed this out to our local Vauxhall dealer who after a lot of wriggling changed the motor, Fault rectified dont know if Skoda is the same set up as Vauxhall.

 

I imagine it's that, sounds the likely culpret. My advice would be either prepare for a fight or pay for an indy to do the job out of warranty.

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