I bought my Octavia brand-new in October 2009 and fitted sill protectors around, last week the top drivers side became loose so I removed it only to find corrosion underneath, Skoda are not interested as usual about a warranty claim, I got a price from a recommended body shop who also advised taking them all off, they were right, corrosion under all protectors, it's costing £720 to put right. My advice don't fit them and if you have remove them, £720 sounds alloy but cheaper than new sills.

After careful thought I am going to ask skoda to pay as I feel that the sill protectors are not fit for purpose, if they don't pay then I will take it to small claims court.

What protectors were they? Presumably not factory fit ones but were they skoda or after market?

I feel you will only have a case if they were genuine skoda ones fitted by a skoda dealer.

Any pics?

Are you talking about mud flaps. 

The Skoda mud flaps are ok, the sill protectors were made by Skoda and they are fixed by preset 3M stick pads.

Skoda are refusing to pay, they say the corrosion is caused by an external influence, yes it is their sill protectors, there is no seal around the outside therefore water gets trapped. I have a friend with the same age Octavia with no sill protectors and no rust. The customer services lady was just talking rubbish thinking I will forget it, they even say it could be caused by neglect or lack of maintenance, how can you maintain a fixed non removable part.

Who actually fitted them? Was it you or a dealer?

The same dealer you got the car from? At the same time you bought the car?

 

They look slightly different to mine, mine look flush with the sill.  Yours look thicker.  

I fitted them two weeks after buying the car brand new and from the dealer, I'm an electrical maintenance engineer for the NHS so fitting these are simple. They are durable plastic and we're in the skoda accessories brochure

I think you are getting confused between abrasion protector and rust preventer.

 

Obviously something plastic you attach to the sill will take the knocks and abrasion but is obviously a moisture/dirt trap.

 

I can see no reason to fit them, why would you be treading/dragging gear over the top of the sill anyway, Its not like it's a step.

I haven't said they were to protect the sills from rust. They were advertised as sill protectors that protect the sills from scratching that could in time turn to rust. They have caused rust because they have trapped water, therefore they have by design damaged my vehicle and are not fit for purpose

As far as I see this is that Skoda designed the protectors and should have either designed them to not let water underneath buy installing a rubber seal around the outside edge, or protect the sills themselves with enough anti-corrosion protection to stop the rust IF protectors are fitted, either way non or this is not my fault.

If there are scratches from penetration that have turned rusty OK, then they have failed as advertised.

 

However if it's just rust due to accumulated dirt/moisture eating away at the paint then you've only yourself to blame, the concept is flawed and you bought it.

 

Sorry if It sounds harsh but it's common sense.

 

It's like the crap door to door salespeople try to get you to buy from their catalogues, a protector for a protector to protect your item from whatever when it's best left as is.

 

 

Edited 4 March, 20179 yr by MicMac

You said the concept is flawed, a multi million pound company like Skoda should have tested them and as a  consumer you trust they have, the design is flawed, I hope the judge will see this. If the parts were not from Skoda then yes it would be my fault but you don't expect manufacturer parts to damage a vehicle by a faulty design. I don't know what you are on about protector for protector, the internal sills are only painted and as my children were toddlers when I bought the car it was recommended to fit them as they would use the sills as a step into the car, I am sure the sales men who sold me the car will be happy you referred him as crap.

If the original sills were undamaged then I can't see how stick on protectors would cause rust. Even if water is trapped on the surface, the paint should stop it making contact with the bare metal which would cause rusting. If I placed unbroken painted metal in water, I would expect it to remain rust free for its lifetime unless it was rusting from the inside or had a break in the paint. The only other thing I can think of is movement over time of the protector has worn through the paint layer, allowing water in to the bare metal?