My friend has a '14 plate diesel estate, which he bought recently from a main dealer. The fuel guage has stopped working (needle on empty and warning light continuously illuminated, trip computer saying 0 miles left but the tank is full) and the dealer wants £140 to plug in diagnostics and fault find. Weird, considering that there is a warranty with the vehicle, which presumable covers fixing vehicle defects....

 

My questions are:

• Is fuel gauge failure common?
• What would be the likely cause?
• If a vehicle has a defect like this, which is presumable covered by warranty then when would the dealer try to charge for working on it?
• If the defect isn't covered by warranty then presumably the sale of goods act would apply to complel the dealer to fix it FOC (on the grounds that you would not expect a component of the vehicle to fail at this point in its life)?

Any responses gratefully recieved.

The SOGA applies even if the vehicle is covered by warranty since this is offered in addition to your rights under the SOGA. Either way it's a nonsense that the dealer wants to charge for diagnosis of a fuel gauge fault on a car under 2 years old.

This should be free of charge & covered under warranty.

(I think you get 3-years in the UK right? 1-year from Skoda & 2-years from the dealership??).

 

Even if the Sokda warrenty was finished, when you buy a car from a main dealer they normally provide at least 1-year warrenty for any faults.

So it should still be covered by the dealership he bought it from.

 

If the dealer still insists on charging I recommend ringing SkodaUK.

My thoughts entirely - no money should be charged at this point.
 

Still don't know about the root cause of the fuel gauge failure though.

A broken fuel gauge is not a problem I have heard about on here before.

In fact the Mk3 seems pretty good for reliability these days (except for the TDi boost pressure sensor).

 

It could be several things causing it.

Bad electrical connection - damaged wire or simply a connector which wasn't pushed on correctly & has vibrated loose.

Stuck/broken float inside the fuel tank.

Reading the error codes should give an indication whether it is an electrical or mechanical problem.

I'd be going back to the dealer and telling to bite my shiny a............as Bender would say!

 

It's a fault, the car is under warranty, what part of that does the garage not understand?

 

Skoda Warranty can be taken to any Skoda dealership.....maybe it's worth taking it else where.

 

Not the best way to start a relationship with a new customer.

My friend has a '14 plate diesel estate, which he bought recently from a main dealer. The fuel guage has stopped working (needle on empty and warning light continuously illuminated, trip computer saying 0 miles left but the tank is full) and the dealer wants £140 to plug in diagnostics and fault find. Weird, considering that there is a warranty with the vehicle, which presumable covers fixing vehicle defects....

 

My questions are:

• Is fuel gauge failure common?
• What would be the likely cause?
• If a vehicle has a defect like this, which is presumable covered by warranty then when would the dealer try to charge for working on it?
• If the defect isn't covered by warranty then presumably the sale of goods act would apply to complel the dealer to fix it FOC (on the grounds that you would not expect a component of the vehicle to fail at this point in its life)?

Any responses gratefully recieved.

 

Care to hint at who the dealer in question may be?

It may be worth asking again and pointing out that you're happy to pay for diagnostics if it's not a warranty item (Which is clearly will be unless you've done something silly)

 

Where are you in the UK as I have VCDS and am happy to scan the car.

Go to a different dealer. Hopefully someone there will have a brain cell.

Thanks for the replies folks

The exact same thing just happened to me, the car said fill up, so I did however on driving away I noticed that the car was still saying fill up. Convinced I'd just paid £30 for fresh air I stopped at the next garage and put  £10's worth in it, initially it didnt register but all of a sudden it dropped back in.

 

Only had the car less than a week so will be keeping an eye on that one.

Hi all, I am new to this forum, so hi!

 

Anyway, I just had the same problem with my brand new VRS TDi, only had it a couple of weeks

 

I filled the tank yesterday because the tank was getting low - range left was about 30 miles.  However, after filling the tank, the range still showed 30 miles and the fuel gauge near empty.  I am sure that fuel went into the car, about 43 litres in total, and I checked this today by going to a different fuel station and I could only get about 3 litres in.  So, the tank is definitely full to the brim!  Obviously I will consult the main dealer about this.  It's as though the car hasn't recognised the fill-up, so maybe the sender in the tank is broken/stuck, or needs re-calibrating or something.  I've driven about 20 miles since the fill-up with several re-starts of the engine, but no joy.  The range now reads 0 miles!

 

Did you manage resolve this problem?

Hi all, I am new to this forum, so hi![/size]

Anyway, I just had the same problem with my brand new VRS TDi, only had it a couple of weeks[/size]

I filled the tank yesterday because the tank was getting low - range left was about 30 miles. However, after filling the tank, the range still showed 30 miles and the fuel gauge near empty. I am sure that fuel went into the car, about 43 litres in total, and I checked this today by going to a different fuel station and I could only get about 3 litres in. So, the tank is definitely full to the brim! Obviously I will consult the main dealer about this. It's as though the car hasn't recognised the fill-up, so maybe the sender in the tank is broken/stuck, or needs re-calibrating or something. I've driven about 20 miles since the fill-up with several re-starts of the engine, but no joy. The range now reads 0 miles![/size]

Did you manage resolve this problem?[/size]

Consult your main dealer? It's brand new!....take it back and tell them to fix it.

Edited 15 May, 201610 yr by MrAdamwood

Hi guys, I have a Skoda Octavia 2017 model 1.0 tsi. My car's fuel gauge is not working. This problem has happened to you too, what is the solution to it? Thanks.