Hi All,

I thought I would share my experience as it's been an interesting one none the less!!!

I took delivery of my vrs estate around 4 weeks ago, it was one of the last builds before the MY15 ones, after delivery this is where my problems started, but there is light at he end of the tunnel!

When driving the car it felt as if someone had their fingers in my ears, I went to the doctors who said it was hayfever (never a suffered with it and why now) but during and after driving I would be in severe pain with my ears, they would pop, crackle, I would feel dizzy and off balance. I never thought it was the car until I stopped driving it and started using another one. Also the car was quite 'boomy' in the back and a bit like this low frequency boom people have reported. The other part to note was that anyone who drove the car also complained, at this point I couldn't drive it any longer and it went to the dealers.

At first they had never heard of it (neither have Skoda apparently) but the took car in to test drive, after 10 miles their technician refused to drive it as it was making him feel sick / dizzy! I had covered over 800 miles in it :(

They acknowledged the fault and then started the fault finding process! I went on holiday for a couple of weeks (to repair my poor ears! :p) and I have come back today to my repaired vehicle. The dealers have been fantastic about it all (Wolverhampton Skoda, Steve especially) and has gone to much length to get it fixed, after trying many many things in the end it was my tailgate seal???? This was the last resort and replaced and so far so good, also the most noticeable thing is that the 'boominess' has gone and my ears are OK!!! Success!!!!! I have got to test the vehicle for a week or so and see if my problem is still there, or this has just reduced it, but I'm hopeful.

It's a fantastic car and my heart sank when this problem was identified, but fingers crossed, it's all sorted!

Wow, odd problem! Good on your dealer for sorting it so efficiently.

I wonder if yours was particularly bad, and others mentioning the booming have the issue to a lesser extent.

Can you post picture of the part which is replaced (tailgate seal).

If you could ask the dealer what the problem was with the old seal, it may help many others reporting similar issues .... Is it a modified new seal , or was your original one damaged in some way ?

Skoda deny it ... many people have reported it and all are told they haven't heard of it before. Looks like customer service is going downhill, sad as that always used to be a plus point for the brand.

 

Skoda deny it ... many people have reported it and all are told they haven't heard of it before.

 

SUK do that every problem you call them with, I can only assume it's their policy.

I will try to take and photo and upload it, but I did question as to why the tail gate seal? apparently it was then I was told it was the last resort, as when they had spoken to skoda they said it was a boom, where the dealer said no it's like the air isn't escaping the cabin!

They had tried the air vents on the back (under the bumper I think) to see if they were blocked and they were not, they were told to put a are wheel in the back (herd this one before on the forums) which they had taken from another car and put into mine with no luck, the next thing was to replace the tail gate and re adjust it!

This is when skoda told them to replace the seal, I will ask the dealer if there is a difference in seals, but apparently they took one off another VRS to try first and it solved the problem. This is when they fitted a new seal to mine and the problem appears to have reduced dramatically. I will add that actually shutting the boot seems different, as if you need to put more force when pulling the tail gate down. It's also worth noting that skoda first thought it was a hatch back, and was surprised item as an estate. The car is different, no boominess from the back, more solid, no rattles coming from the tail gate.

I am also very interested in exactly what part you are talking about here. I have no idea how to identify this part, how it looks and where to find it. I am guessing it's somewhere around the tow bar. You see, a picture would be great ;-)

Edit: alright, my fault. It's the seal of the rear door if I am correct... Makes me wonder if it would be possible to identify what could be wrong with it

Edited 7 July, 201411 yr by jstruijk

I think you can get a similar effect by dropping the rear windows only at higher speeds. 

 

I would imagine the low pressure you get at the rear of the car was creating a low pressure zone in the cabin. I would guess the air escape vents under the bumper are carefully engineered so as not to allow a negative pressure to occur in the cabin. A faulty tailgate seal will obviously screw it all right up. 

 

I'd doubt it was pressurising the car as you won't generate any meaningful pressure from the air that enters the cabin through the climate system. Because the intake is under the scuttle, there is very little 'ram air' effect. 

 

Low air pressure can create some really odd symptoms: sickness, dizziness, nausea etc etc. 

I think you can get a similar effect by dropping the rear windows only at higher speeds. 

 

I would imagine the low pressure you get at the rear of the car was creating a low pressure zone in the cabin. I would guess the air escape vents under the bumper are carefully engineered so as not to allow a negative pressure to occur in the cabin. A faulty tailgate seal will obviously screw it all right up. 

 

I'd doubt it was pressurising the car as you won't generate any meaningful pressure from the air that enters the cabin through the climate system. Because the intake is under the scuttle, there is very little 'ram air' effect. 

 

Low air pressure can create some really odd symptoms: sickness, dizziness, nausea etc etc. 

 

I was about to post exactly this - the low pressure 'hole' punched in the air behind the car was basically trying to draw a vacuum out of the cabin through the faulty tailgate seal. So you will get similar symptoms to being on a plane at 10,000ft. The physics all fits your symptoms! You were basically getting altitude sickness...

Edited 7 July, 201411 yr by josedebardi

Hmmmm..... Mine doesn't suffer from this problem but it has the electric tailgate option which as well as having powered struts to open and close the boot the latching mechanism in the bottom of the boot 'aperture' is powered so when the boot closes and latches it then pulls the tailgate tight against the seal, like a soft close function... Wonder if this helps....

Likewise, power boot, never had an issue.

It does seem plausible but the symptoms where that it felt as if someone had their fingers in my ears and their arms wrapped around my head like altitude sickness Also people in the back seems to suffer worse symptoms and they would develop quicker. The other interesting part was that if I had the climate control on full blast with full fans and all the windows shut it made me feel worse, but then having the windows down made it easier, to the point where if you dropped the drivers side window you could feel the pressure difference on that ear!

I am glad that skoda have took ownership of the problem and have tried to rectify it, we will have to see if this fix lasts!

Maybe there's a "Submersible" option Skoda have added to some cars........

Likewise, power boot, never had an issue.

Perhaps Skoda will recall all estates and fit a powered tailgate.....

Maybe there's a "Submersible" option Skoda have added to some cars........

Sooner or later someone on here will "try" the submersible option...we'll find out then.

Likewise, power boot, never had an issue.

thirded, mines been fine

Maybe worth posting your conclusions, part-numbers & pictures to the "Low frequency 'boom' in cabin" thread.

Sounds like everyone from that thread should take a trip over to wolverhampton.

I've got a non power boot and I've adjusted the latch to make the boot less tight than it was when I got it to make it easier to shut as it always used to bounce on the latch. Not had any issues yet with pressure

Hmmmm..... Mine doesn't suffer from this problem but it has the electric tailgate option which as well as having powered struts to open and close the boot the latching mechanism in the bottom of the boot 'aperture' is powered so when the boot closes and latches it then pulls the tailgate tight against the seal, like a soft close function... Wonder if this helps....

So maybe the latches on affected cars need adjusting further into the car?

So maybe the latches on affected cars need adjusting further into the car?

 

Maybe....

I've got a non power boot and I've adjusted the latch to make the boot less tight than it was when I got it to make it easier to shut as it always used to bounce on the latch. Not had any issues yet with pressure

 

So how do you adjust the tension on the latch? Do you have to take the rear lining off on the hatch?

Mines an estate, someone put a guide on here but its pretty easy to do just by having a look. A few clips and screws allows the plastic trim in the boot to be removed then two torx bits retain the striker plate which you can move up or down And trial close the boot until your happy then refit the plastic trim. Mines as high as it will go so the boot closes effortlessly yet it's still plenty tight against the seal.

On a hatch there are 2 rubber stoppers that basically screw in or out by hand. he further out they are the higher the hatch will be and the more difficult it is to close.

 

There are also two asjustable guides in the sides of the car body with rubber stops that close down on them. The guides can be adjusted with a torx screw driver that should be in your car tool kit. I dont think these provide much if any support to the hatch.

The stops are to correctly position the boot visually, where as the striker plate can be moved to make the boot easier to latch closed