Rear doors full of water

[Nels]

After a heavy downpour last night I got in my car this morning to go to work, as a reversed off the drive I thought I heard a sloshing water noise, I immediately thought, don't be silly. As I turned my first corner it was there again. I continued to hear it for about 5 mins and I pin pointed it somewhere near the near side rear door. I pulled into a lay by and opened the door, it was bloody well full of water. I looked underneath the door to see if I could let it out and fiddled with the rubber. On doing this water poured out, I am not exaggerating if I said about half a litre. I was shocked and also very disappointed, I didn't think cars did things like this since British Leyland in the 1970s. How the hell did water get in there and why did it stay in there?? I called Skoda and the service guy said very casually, is it a Rapid? I told him it was and he said yeh we know about this. We can modify the doors, they are having it in next Tues to do all the doors and take the one that leaked apart, check the electrics and dry it out. That's fine but I don't want a car that's filled with water and is having to have the door taken apart, 2 weeks ago it went in to have part of the dash removed to fix the heater direction knob and they scratched the dash. This car seems to be a total pile of sh!#, does anyone know what this modification involves and will it be as good as new afterwards?

[chrisgreen]

Extensive thread on this already (with the answers you are looking for): http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/276763-water-collecting-in-rear-doors/

[Nels]

Thanks, that's a lot of people with the same problem, mines a 2015 car so it's still a problem on new cars. It poses more questions than it answers though. 1. Are they going to cut the rubber or fit a new one

2. If it always lets in lots of water, even if it drains will this still be bad for the car

3. How will I know what damage the water is doing until it's probably out of warranty and begins to rust, window fails, speaker fails.

To be honest I can't trust Skoda to answer any of this honestly!

[chrisgreen]

Ok, in order:

1. They will cut the rubber

2. Water is supposed to run into the inside of the door, that's normal for any car. However, it should all drain out of the bottom of the door and never be retained in volume. Once the drains are unblocked you should be ok, but it won't hurt to give them a poke once in a while to make sue there's no leaves etc blocking them.

3. Did you buy your car new or is it used? If new, when did you buy it?

If you bought the car new and haven't had it long, don't worry. Once the drain mod is done you won't have any further issues (most likely) and it won't have been happening for long enough to do any damage.

If, like me you bought a used or ex-demonstrator - be aware that your doors have been filling up and retaining water since the car left the factory. In my case it was doing it for 9 months before I bought the car and got them to do the mod. I'm still having an on-going arguement with Skoda UK about stripping the rear doors to check electrics for water ingress and to check the inner doors for rust. Skoda UK are extremely unhelpful and will just mess you around and fob you off with lies and excuses rather than deal with the issue.

[Stormchaser]

This car seems to be a total pile of sh!#,

You're absolutely right. In fact all the new Skodas made now are. Never again.

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[Nels]

Mines an ex demonstrator, registered in Jan. I dread to think how much water may have got in there, why didn't Skoda do the fix before they sold it to me? The car looks amazing, it's a sport, it's white, it's been lowered, such a shame it's had problems, I simply don't have any confidence in it now after two significant faults in two weeks. I haven't even mentioned the really annoying creaking noise from the drivers door at low speed. Awful!!!!

[camelspyyder]

Possibly Awful...but very cheap

 

What did you expect for 10k 11k 12k 13k? (Delete as appropriate)

 

A quality family car of this size would be 16k 18k 20k or more?

 

Its a cheap old fashioned car when all's said and done (a traditonal Skoda in fact)

Edited 4 July, 2015 by camelspyyder

[Stormchaser]

You expect build quality for this price.

I'd expect you'd be pi**ed too. It's simply not good enough. Cheap nasty cars a bit like Lada used to be. When I bought my MK2 Octavia brand new back in 2006 it cost £13995. It was built to a high standard using quality materials. I did 70K with it in 7 years of ownership and it never went wrong. It was only serviced every 10K. So what the f*** went wrong Skoda?

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[camelspyyder]

Indeed.  After VW took on Skoda the reputation soared and it became acknowledged as a quality brand.

 

I bought a Skoda product based on that reputation, and was then surprised to come on here and read the horror stories.

 

At least none of us have a W210 Merc falling to pieces on the driveway - I don't know how MB survived having that heap in their biggest market sector for 8 years.

[Nels]

I also bought mine based on perceived good reputation, Skoda need to be careful the Rapid doesn't damage this good reputation. There is no need for any manufacturer to build **** cars these days, I agree the Rapid feels old fashioned but that's more to do with lack of sound deadening, cheep materials and poor fit and finish. It's like a car from the early 90s. I have to say I feel that I've been done a bit buying this car, true it's cheaper than some cars but isn't Skoda supposed to build cheep well built, reliable cars?

[Stormchaser]

They did upto the MK2 Octavia. Everything after that is ****.

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[Guest]

Just got a 2014 (ex-demo) rapid spaceback.

I havnt had the car long enough to have this issue, but is there something i need to check while its still under warranty ?

[chrisgreen]

Just got a 2014 (ex-demo) rapid spaceback.

I havnt had the car long enough to have this issue, but is there something i need to check while its still under warranty ?

Read the thread I linked to in the second post.

[Nels]

Took it to Skoda today told them I was disgusted to be bringing the car back in two weeks for a second fault, told them that when they fixed the heater control they scratched the dash so I didn't want them taking the doors apart as I didn't trust they wouldn't damage things again, told them to do only what they needed to do to sort the problem of doors filling with water, didn't even want them washing it. They said it's only a question of cutting the rubber around the door with scissors rather than replacing the seal. I told them that just goes to show what a cheap and nasty fix for a cheap and nasty car by cheap and nasty mechanics. Skoda you are a disgrace, please don't anyone believe this is a good car, unless mine is made completely differently using different materials to anyone other Rapid. It's a piece of crap! This is the worst car I've owned since my rover SD1 and Skoda don't give a toss. Sorry to be so blunt but if it helps 1 person not make the same mistake I made by thinking Skoda make good reliable, well built cars, then I'm happy because they don't!

[Stormchaser]

I'm with you all the way Nels. They are cheap rubbish.

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[picnmix]

Must be lucky so far, mine's fine and good value.

[camelspyyder]

Took it to Skoda today told them I was disgusted to be bringing the car back in two weeks for a second fault, told them that when they fixed the heater control they scratched the dash so I didn't want them taking the doors apart as I didn't trust they wouldn't damage things again, told them to do only what they needed to do to sort the problem of doors filling with water, didn't even want them washing it. They said it's only a question of cutting the rubber around the door with scissors rather than replacing the seal. I told them that just goes to show what a cheap and nasty fix for a cheap and nasty car by cheap and nasty mechanics. Skoda you are a disgrace, please don't anyone believe this is a good car, unless mine is made completely differently using different materials to anyone other Rapid. It's a piece of crap! This is the worst car I've owned since my rover SD1 and Skoda don't give a toss. Sorry to be so blunt but if it helps 1 person not make the same mistake I made by thinking Skoda make good reliable, well built cars, then I'm happy because they don't!

When i bought pre reg Fiats, I did wonder if the dealer pre-reg'd or demo'd the cars that were a little sub-standard on arrival in stock. My punto had pretty poor paintwork from new, but at least it hadn't been a demo/courtesy car and ragged to death.

Why would anyone buy an ex-demo or ex-rental?

[skoda1982]

Mine got up to date new rubber seals for the rear doors

[Nels]

It's a strange thing but the car was registered in Jan 15, but the service sticker inside the door frame says it's due its first service 11/15 or 10,000 miles. I asked the dealer about this and they said that's when it had its PDI, I told them it was registered jan 15 and they said oh it must have sat a while before we used it. It had done only 3,000 miles when I bought it and I've done 1,000, this is 50% motorway. Since then fuel consumption has improved so I'm guessing it was only used for short journeys around town. There are no signs it's had a hard life, the body work is unmarked and until the mechanic fixed the heater control the interior was also unmarked. The car looks really nice but I wish I could have test driven it for a day, rather than 20 mins. Then I would have know how rubbish it is!!

[FLAPPERJACK7]

Door seals that cover the drain hole's. Simply clever. Can't see a problem cutting the seals . The water that passes through is normal. Was your Rapid built in India?

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Edited 8 July, 2015 by FLAPPERJACK7

[Nels]

Why make them wrong in the first place and then when Skoda know its wrong why don't they do a recall rather than letting my doors fill up with water. I think it was made in Czech Republic but I suppose it could have been made in India, how can you tell, worse build quality I guess??

[skoda1982]

It's a strange thing but the car was registered in Jan 15, but the service sticker inside the door frame says it's due its first service 11/15 or 10,000 miles. I asked the dealer about this and they said that's when it had its PDI, I told them it was registered jan 15 and they said oh it must have sat a while before we used it. It had done only 3,000 miles when I bought it and I've done 1,000, this is 50% motorway. Since then fuel consumption has improved so I'm guessing it was only used for short journeys around town. There are no signs it's had a hard life, the body work is unmarked and until the mechanic fixed the heater control the interior was also unmarked. The car looks really nice but I wish I could have test driven it for a day, rather than 20 mins. Then I would have know how rubbish it is!!

You can look at maxidot for the next service interval shows you how many miles or days to next service

[skoda1982]

Its not the same EU Rapid thats made in india http://www.skoda-auto.co.in/models/rapid/overview

 

[FLAPPERJACK7]

Think its the 11th letter of the chassis number depicts the production plant. Iirc.

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Edited 8 July, 2015 by FLAPPERJACK7

[FLAPPERJACK7]

Fair enough. I suppose water in the Indian doors are not a problem anyway.

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