Rust / Corrosion - 2007 Octavia vRS TDI [HELP]

[marksimps]

Here goes...

 

I've got rust/corrosion from inside-out on doors, rear arch/quarter areas. Skoda Customer Services are basically **** and the they/dealer are refusing to accept my claim.

 

The authorised VAG bodyshop took paint depth readings (in my presence) and said (for example) 3/4 panels seemed original paint, the 4th was possibly "iffy"...

Skoda then looked at the readings (apparantly) and said that 3/4 panels were NOT genuine and the 4th might be... But this 4th panel was impact damage.

 

Contradicting, right?

 

They then said it was impact damage and "afterall, the car is 8 years old, sir" .........

I then argued (politely) that the paint wasn't broken, except one part which is worse than others and it is impossible to be impact damage as clearly inside out with no broken paint/lacquer.

I also went on to say, "why offer 10 year warranty, to then blame the car being 8 year old" !?!?

 

She (branch warranty advisor/admin) then went on about working in the industry for 15 years, not that I give a hoot..

I also argued you can not see little rust bubbles on photos, especially poor quality supermarket cameras that they use. They would need to "SEE" the car in person.

Anyways, I've stripped back seals and everything and there is NO sign of overspray, which unless a bodyshop removed every panel and done a full and proper job (yeah, right!), there's most likely going to be slight overspray, runs on the insides/edges and signs of repair/repsray.

 

Also my paint depths are somewhere between about 100-160 microns, I can't remember exactly. Shouldn't this be way higher if the car had been reprayed? I'm pretty sure respraying would give readings higher than this?

 

Anyways, do you agree? How can I fight this? Do I try another dealer?

[scottishcammy]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I can't offer any advice I'm afraid, other than my own experience with Skoda customer services, which was really poor. Absolutely no budge in them whatsoever, and their clear mission / starting point was to avoid having to either fork out anything / avoid any costs to them.

Every conversation from their end was aimed at that, and they wouldn't budge at all, regardless of reasoning or (what seemed to me) simple logic / their own guarantees.

 

In the end I had to go elsewhere and get the work down by an independant garage I'm afraid, they just wouldn't budge.

 

Hope you get it sorted.

Edited 30 October, 2015 by scottishcammy

[marksimps]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I can't offer any advice I'm afraid, other than my own experience with Skoda customer services, which was really poor. Absolutely no budge in them whatsoever, and their clear mission / starting point was to avoid having to either fork out anything / avoid any costs to them.

Every conversation from their end was aimed at that, and they wouldn't budge at all, regardless of reasoning or (what seemed to me) simple logic / their own guarantees.

 

In the end I had to go elsewhere and get the work down by an independant garage I'm afraid, they just wouldn't budge.

 

Hope you get it sorted.

 

Thanks for the reply, would you mind if I asked how much is was independently, how many panels, etc? Pm if necessary.

[blueR36]

As I said in pm, Skoda uk customer services are a joke, around 750 for a good body shop to rectify 

[scottishcammy]

Sorry mate, mine was a steering rack that was a few months out of warranty, I should have made it clearer it was a separate issue to yours. Just thought I'd mention my customer service experience with trying to get them to do something (the right thing).

[scottishcammy]

That said, I'm also seeing the same thing on my front offisde wheel arch panel, a few inches back from where it meets the headlights. From my experience with Skoda, I'm not even bothering contacting them (car is just over 3 years old)...I'll pay for it myself with an independant garage I trust, which is probably exactly what Skoda were aiming for in my last experience with them: wear me down til I just give up. Success for Skoda I suppose!

[silver1011]

Take it to a non-VAG approved bodyshop and get a second opinion.

 

Armed with this evidence take your case back to Skoda UK and use it to dispute their reasoning for not honouring the claim.

[marksimps]

Do you suggest one opinion or a couple as evidence?

It's either that or pay for a inspector, like pvwi2010.

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