So, I took this car back to the dealership in Nottingham today having discovered two serious issues since I picked it up on Saturday. The owner of the dealership instantly went on the defensive, insisting the car had been 100% when he picked it up in Leeds...bla..bla..bla. The idiot actually had the audacity to suggest that if driven responsibly, a driver should have no need for the ESP anyway. So basically, a total douche bag. The ESP is inactive. I learnt this when accelerating around a corner in the rain on Sunday and losing traction for a moment with no response (dash symbol or system). The "ESP off" button at the bottom of the console had been illuminated since I picked it up, but I made nothing of this at the time as the icon on the dash wasn't lit. When I went to show him what icon I meant (the car with skid marks to the right of the ABS icon below the speedometer) during the warning light test as you first turn the key, it didn't even light up. Nor does anything happen when you push the "ESP off" button. I guess my question is, has someone deliberately disconnected or shorted the LED behind the icon itself to get the car through its last MOT, or have both the system and the dash light coincidentally stopped working at the same time? I find the latter hard to believe. I picked this car and decided to travel all the way from Southampton to get it because it has less than 50K on the clock, whereas every other one I found had almost twice that (I paid £6000 for it), so have now spent £30 picking the damn thing up and another £30 bringing it back. The dealer has said he will try to fix the problem, but will have to refund me and take the car back where he got it from if it turns out to be too expensive. On my way back up I took the car by a friend's garage to check for fault codes and found only one:

 

01345 - Brake Pressure Sensor 1 - G201 - Electric Problem in Circuit

 

I have no idea what this means, but a search suggest this may require an expensive repair. 

 

Should I just take my money back and walk away? I'm beginning to think that paying a little less for a VRs with higher mileage and no faults might be a good trade off.

 

ps. The car also loses power sporadically at the top of the rev range when you floor it (stutters a few times, then moves on), but there are no faults codes to suggest what this might be. 

I would walk away get a refund mate

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sound like you may need new abs/esp unit as it only affects cars with ESP

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/190784-how-to-repair-espabs-fault-with-vag-repair-kit/

 

but I would walk away if he is offering a refund as it's quite common for dodge garages to mess around with the dash lights to get it through the mot

 

also for £6k I would see if you can get a higher mileage CR VRS instead of a PD VRS as the PD VRS didn't pair up very well with DPF

if you can get a refund then walk.

ESP light doesnt fail an MOT

ABS light does

That fault code requires an ABS C.unit repair kit. 99% of the time you will be able to get this done at a Skoda dealership free with goodwill as it was a very common issue.

If u left it it would eventually bring the ABS light on aswell as the ESP.

If thats all it requires then just get them to fix it..

The sporadic power issue sounds like it could be the turbo on its way out so I would get the refund if I were you.

Edited 15 July, 201510 yr by mattvrestate

ESP light doesnt fail an MOT

ABS light does

 

Are you sure? I was under the impression the ESP or traction control light was an MOT failure.

I have a suspicion that I know exactly what has happened here.

 

The car has suffered from the extremely well documented Teeves MK60 ABS pump failure, which as mentioned above causes the ESP light to illuminate on the speedo dial.

 

The fault code listed above is exactly the same as the one I saw on my 2008 Octavia, on my mates 2008 VW Touran and my colleagues 2005 VW Toureg - all suffered from the ABS fault.

 

Someone has managed to turn off or disable the ESP system on your car, this has turned off the light on the speedo which then of course has then illuminated the 'ESP off' light on the centre console.

 

A deliberate attempt to hide the fact that the car has a fault.

 

As mentioned above this is a £300-£500 fix (using the fix kit) or it can be over £1,000 if instead of using the fix kit the pump is actually replaced.

 

Time to hand the car back.

 

The dealer you bought it from says he got the car from Leeds? An auction house by any chance? The original owner has discovered the fault, decided to cut his losses and stuck it through the auction to get rid.

Nope.

The well documented fault with the ABS control unit only brings up the ESP light (ESP off) to start with then will eventually put the ABS light on as i explained above . Also as i have explained most of the time the ABS repair kit is covered under manufacturers good will regardless of dealer history.

As said the ESP light is NOT an MOT failure.

ABS light is

Edited 15 July, 201510 yr by mattvrestate

So my mate with this fault on his 2005 (55) VW Toureg could get this fault fixed for free?

 

He has the ESP light but not the ABS light, yet...

Not 100% sure with touregs. Iv replaced them on tourans + golfs + tiguans under good will when the cars have been well out of warranty with or without service history when i worked at a main dealer VW. Get him to ring VW customer services + they will tell him to take it to a dealer but should also tell him if the ABS c.unit repair kit would be covered under good will. There are also some exceptions where you need a full ABS unit because there isnt a repair kit available for all ABS models

Edited 15 July, 201510 yr by mattvrestate

If it's the Teves (which it appears to be) you don't have functional ABS or ESP.

 

It's not a hug cost to fix, I did it without goodwill and I was about £300 at a VAG indy and I supplied the part (from a Skoda dealer via Ebay).

 

But it this guy is trying to hide one fault what else is there?  I'd be checking the sills very closely for rust if I was you.

So it is possible to have defective ABS without the ABS light being on?

So it is possible to have defective ABS without the ABS light being on?

 

If the pump is faulty and they've hidden the light it appears so.