Can anyone help and advise on my warranty problem please

I have a 2013 Octavia VRS Estate Auto that has about 21,000 miles on the clock and is 18 months into the 3 year warranty period .

I have a collapsed and deformed  seat bolster on the RHS of the drivers seat which has not been subjected to anything other than normal and careful use.

When I returned the car to the local Skoda dealer last week they  took photographs and said they sent them to Skoda HQ.  A few days later the dealer rang back and said I should book the car in for a repair (new seat?)  and to see if there were any broken parts and whether Skoda HQ have any liability for the problem. He suggested that I might be required to pay for the repair if the judgement went against me.

I pointed out that after a year and a half the seat should not have collapsed and that it was clearly not fit for purpose.  The dealer was non committal.

My question is should I take my car to the dealer for repair without any acceptance by Skoda HQ  of their warranty liability or try to get them to admit liability before taking the car in for repair. I am happy to go to the small claims court if I have to because the seat is structurally deformed and something, including padding, has moved inside the seat.

My instinct is to write to HQ with photographs asking for acceptance of their liability under warranty  because I feel uncomfortable that I might get a phone call from the local dealer saying the car has been repaired  and I need to pay.

Equally it may be standard procedure to have the car returned to the garage for examination but it makes me feel uncomfortable that something this obvious does not exert a response from Skoda HQ that accepts that this is a warranty  issue.

I have never before experienced a warranty repair so any advice on how I should proceed is most welcome. Thank you in anticipation.

Seems to be the practice now to try 'scare you off' with the potential that you will have to pick up the tab, if Skoda Warranty deem the failure/fault is owner caused, or in their view fair wear and tear.

 

Had this last year with a door card rattle; I declined to sign the 'indemnity' paperwork the dealer had produced with a £130 odd bill attached before I'd even arrived. So they refused to look at the car and I ended up fixing it myself.

 

Also a similar story a couple of weeks back, as I'd noticed one of the new Spacebacks light beams looked short, which was obviously from factory. However the dealer suggested I'd have to pay, as how did they know the light hadn't been knocked out of line by say a bird strike for example. Again declined the offer to part with between £45 and £90 for them to correct it; another DIY job then.

 

Back to seating and I'm pretty sure Skoda have a limiting clause in the warranty for claims against seating materials, so it could end up a Trading Standards type not fit for purpose argument.

 

 

TP

I have had this a few times, the problem really is that things don't get communicated properly. I wrote a letter to the dealership principal and emailed Skoda Uk. This is because they insisted that I pay £140 x 2 for "oil weight checks" to prove what I already knew - my car was using oil.......

I had taken car in for 1st test, which I had assumed free as car under warranty and no one told me otherwise. Left car with them etc then got a call "by the way the test will be costing £140".

Fuming I told them not to bother and went and picked car up. Then started typing.

Since then car has had brand new engine fitted ( and a window controller) at no cost to me whatsoever. I'd like to say "happy ending" but in a demo car at the mo cos mine is leaking oil from gearbox (DSG) since they did the job....

Been told will be sorted for tomorrow... Fingers crossed!

Don't let them fob you off, if in any way things are Mis communicated or they don't call back when they should etc etc list it all down in an email and pursue untill everything is to your satisfaction!

Good luck!