Not sure if this is the best section for this topic but here goes.

 

At this point I'm not going to name names or point fingers, just need some general advice for now.

 

A few weeks ago I had a 'reputable' PDR company out to look at a small dent on my rear wheel arch, (2010 Octavia VRS). The guy reckoned he could do the work and I left him to it. After about 10 mins he knocked on the door and said he couldn't do the repair, there would be no charge and off he shot.

Investigation of his attempted repair showed that the slight smooth dent now also had pointed raised metal, the wheel arch liner had a hole cut in it, and above that hole had been chiseled a jagged hole through the metal inner skin. He had made this to access the dent in the outer skin. This has left the wheel arch double skin open to water ingress. I have had a temporary repair carried out to plug the hole for the short term but I need a permanent fix.

 

I have complained to the company and I am awaiting a reply. I am hoping for an amicable solution. If not I will pursue the matter in other ways.

 

My main worry is my corrosion warranty. Obviously I have the remainder of the 10 years and need to know where I would stand with Skoda. Would I need to take it to them for the repair? Would the warranty be invalidated if I took it elsewhere?

 

 

Any advice welcome.

Jesus christ, pardon the blasphemy but who in their right mind would do that to a car and then just pee off. I think a name and shame would be just the ticket!

You as a priority need to get that into a decent bodyshop then take action against the company that left you with this mess....at least get them to cough up for putting it right.

By the way I would suggest any paint/bodywork repairs not carried out by an insurance (or better still skoda) approved repairer will invalidate your corrosion warranty.

Edited 24 July, 201411 yr by pipsyp

I have had a call tonight from the repairer after the MD of the company has applied pressure. He has offered to have the hole siliconed and undersealed and will replace the damaged wheelarch liner.

I have told him that I want to speak to Skoda before I agree to any work being carried out, in order to find out how it will impact on my warranty.

Even though the outside of the damage is significantly worse than before he got his hands on it, he says it is much better. My garage, my friends and family and myself all disagree!!

My own garage (very good independent), do not carry out body repairs but have many years experience and are obviously aware of repair techniques. They told me that the amount of work needed to repair the dent, - (filler), and the paint work - full rear quarter respray and blend in to rear bumper and o/s rear door was probably overkill and that they wouldn't have it done if they owned the car. All they would do would be to silicon the hole and replace the liner.

I will take advice from Skoda and then make my decision.

I really enjoyed my car - small dent and all - but now it really p****s me off every time I look at the rear wheel arch. 

As a PDR expert he should have done a Glue Pull on the small dent as rear access was not really obtainable. This would have given a satisfactory repair as long as the dent didn't have any creases in. I would say he wasn't an expert.

Good luck with a proper repair. Keep leaning on them for a better result

Sent from my IPhone 5 using Tapatalk.

Just have it repaired at a Skoda Dealer to their standards and send the bill to the Chips...cough....un named PDR company if you get no joy, do a small claims against them for damages.

Just a quick update. Visited the local Skoda dealer and had a chat with someone from the bodyshop. Was given a quote of £550 to do the full work, which is a lot for a small dent and a wheelarch liner, but was about what I expected.

I've been reasonable with the PDR guy and told him I would split the repair 50/50, seeing as I did have a dent before he started!

Quite surprisingly he has agreed to this and says he will send a cheque once the repair is complete.

Doing it this way, I get a warranty on the repair and keep my anti-corrosion warranty. If he keeps to his word then I will be happy, and it saves all the hassle of trading standards and small claims.

 

Fingers crossed