On my previous car, which was a Fabia, I had a dashcam which I had got wired into a switched fuse by Halfords when I bought it. For obvious reasons, having it wired into the fusebox is much preferable to using the 12v socket.

 

When I part-exchanged it for the Kodiaq, they agreed to take the cable from the Fabia, and assuming the cable is still compatible with the Kodaiq they would wire it in for me.

 

They have now said they are reluctant to do this, as there's a possibility that it would invalidate the warranty.

 

I don't really see how, as it's a totally normal dashcam.

 

Has anyone heard about this?

 

Cheers

Bet if you opted to have a dash cam that Skoda/ dealers offer they would be more than happy to fit it with no mention of it invalidating any warranty.

Read the warranty to know. On my 2012 Superb (bought new), the warranty conditions only stipulated that if anything I had fitted caused the problem I would have to pay, and if anything I fitted increased the work required to fix a warranty issue I'd have to pay them for that. It very certainly did not in and of itself invalidate the warranty. Indeed I had a few bits of warranty work done in spite of fitting the towbar, Media Interface (MDI), TV tuner DAB antenna and CD auto changer myself. I haven't read the Ts and Cs on my Kodi as I haven't had any need to fit anything.

 

The only thing I would say is it's sometimes tricky to get a good answer. I have a caravan that I bought new. The Warranty Ts and Cs are very similar to the car. If anything I do causes the problem or makes a warranty repair more difficult then I have to cover it. But I specifically asked the manufacturer if I could add an alarm, and they said that it would invalidate the warranty, in spite of the Ts and Cs not saying that. I fitted one anyway, and have had no problem on that front getting warranty work done. The fact that the warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on is an entirely different story!

Edited 18 December, 20187 yr by lowedb

If it was part of the sales agreement then they either abide by what they agreed to, or they agree to reimburse you the cost of getting it fitted elsewhere. 

 

If there is nothing in print about the fitting of the dashcam, then best of luck, as in my experience Skoda (dealerships and SUK) are absolute schmucks when it comes to abiding to verbal only agreements. 

 

As for hard wired dashcam invalidating your warranty, I had at least one, if not both of mine hard wire fitted (not by Skoda) during the warranty period and there was no mention by any of the dealerships I visited about them invalidating the warranty. They even had it recorded on their records. 

 

The Skoda dashcam is manufactured by Kenwood (IIRC Dvr-410), go to their website and print off the pdf installation guide and ask them to install your cable as per the Kenwood guide. 

 

 

Thanks all.

My particular one is a Nextbase 312.

I've contacted Skoda direct to see what they will say. I'm sure the dealer will honour the agreement to fit if I ask them, and I don't blame them for checking with me if there's a possibility of warranty problems because of it.

 

I'll keep you posted.

Perhaps the salesman should have checked that fact before agreeing to do it. 

 

I'll hazard a guess they are reluctant to do it as it is costing them time and money to fit it (and apart from the salesman) , they are getting nothing in return, and they will be liable for rectifying any issues if they don't get it right. 

My dealer offered to fit a camera I supplied or I could pay from a choice of two models that they offered, which they’d fit for free.

Edited 18 December, 20187 yr by Jfhuk

Reply from Skoda

Quote

we have contacted the relevant team and they have advised that fitting the dashcam to your fusebox will voide the warranty because if another electrical component fails or suffers from a fault, it could be caused from the dashcam fixture. We hope that this helps.

 

That sounds like total nonsense.

First that it "will" void the warranty, not may, and then that it would do so no matter whether the cam had actually been responsible for it, only that it "could be caused".

If the electrics are so sensitive that another connection can fry something, they've built it wrong!

 

 

Edited 19 December, 20187 yr by thebenb

Direct the dealer to this thread, we'll put them right 

I would imagine Halford are nervous due to reported incidents recently of them causing warning lights to illuminate that they have been unable to remediate. Personally I would not have Halfords touch my car at all for anything. With all due respect they are just kids playing with your 35 grand vehicle. You are brave. Stick to the dealer if you are not wanting to do it yourself.

1 hour ago, jasoncmiles said:

I would imagine Halford are nervous due to reported incidents recently of them causing warning lights to illuminate that they have been unable to remediate. Personally I would not have Halfords touch my car at all for anything. With all due respect they are just kids playing with your 35 grand vehicle. You are brave. Stick to the dealer if you are not wanting to do it yourself.

 

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

When I first bought the dashcam, I had my old Fabia. Halfords, who I bought the cam from, wired it in to the fuse box. No issues there, they did a good job.

 

When I bought the Kodiaq, we agreed that the dealer would take the cable out from the Fabia and wire it in to the Kodiaq.

I don't think they are trying to get out of doing the work: I think they are genuinely concerned about voiding my warranty.

 

I think I'll just get the cable back from them and wire it in myself. There is such a vanishingly unlikely chance of it causing a problem, and they can't legally reject a warranty claim unless they can show that it was the dashcam that caused the problem.

1 hour ago, thebenb said:

I think I'll just get the cable back from them and wire it in myself. There is such a vanishingly unlikely chance of it causing a problem, and they can't legally reject a warranty claim unless they can show that it was the dashcam that caused the problem.

 

Do this - although I'd be sorely tempted to remove the wire from your Fabia yourself as well if you are able to.

 

And if you do have any unexplained electrical weirdness happen, simply unplug the dash cam from the fusebox and see if the problem goes away. If it doesn't, take it to the dealer and show them. If it does, then you do have a problem!

58 minutes ago, WiggosSideburns said:

 

Do this - although I'd be sorely tempted to remove the wire from your Fabia yourself as well if you are able to.

 

And if you do have any unexplained electrical weirdness happen, simply unplug the dash cam from the fusebox and see if the problem goes away. If it doesn't, take it to the dealer and show them. If it does, then you do have a problem!

 

Unfortunately I part-exchanged it, so the Fabia is at the dealers.

I'm sure they've either already taken the cable out or will do so now I've asked them.

 

3 hours ago, thebenb said:

 

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

When I first bought the dashcam, I had my old Fabia. Halfords, who I bought the cam from, wired it in to the fuse box. No issues there, they did a good job.

 

When I bought the Kodiaq, we agreed that the dealer would take the cable out from the Fabia and wire it in to the Kodiaq.

I don't think they are trying to get out of doing the work: I think they are genuinely concerned about voiding my warranty.

 

I think I'll just get the cable back from them and wire it in myself. There is such a vanishingly unlikely chance of it causing a problem, and they can't legally reject a warranty claim unless they can show that it was the dashcam that caused the problem.

 

Ah, my apologies, I had misunderstood. As everyone has suggested I think that is rather odd they would suggest it would affect warranty. I have hard wired in my Vicovation and had a warranty job and service since. Not a murmur of an issue from the dealer I go to. As mentioned above if they deemed the work to have directly caused a problem then maybe they might not honour the warranty job. More than happy to share the process and parts I used to do this if it would help you. If it would help you please message me and I will share what I did with pictures.

Due to consumer laws strengthened by the recent insurance act, it's impossible to 'void' an entire warranty. If there is no link between a part that goes wrong and the item you fitted, they cannot escape the warranty on the basis you have fitted something.

 

If you piggyback a fuse to get power for your dash cam, to avoid cover they would have to prove that your addition could have caused the problem. There are grey areas, like if your ECU blows up due to a short circuit it may be not the easiest for you to argue with 100% certainty that your dash cam couldn't possibly have contributed. But if the clutch fails, it'd be covered, as would be any unrelated failure.

 

Just do it. I've done mine.

Edited 19 December, 20187 yr by Dr_Pepper

Yeah, I'll just fit it myself.

 

15 hours ago, jasoncmiles said:

 

Ah, my apologies, I had misunderstood. As everyone has suggested I think that is rather odd they would suggest it would affect warranty. I have hard wired in my Vicovation and had a warranty job and service since. Not a murmur of an issue from the dealer I go to. As mentioned above if they deemed the work to have directly caused a problem then maybe they might not honour the warranty job. More than happy to share the process and parts I used to do this if it would help you. If it would help you please message me and I will share what I did with pictures.

 

Thanks. I've looked at the thread linked above, and looks straightforward as long as I take my time.

As long as my existing cable which they are retrieving from the Fabia is long enough, I don't think I'll need any parts.

 

The Ts and Cs haven't changed since I last checked. Its as I described earlier:

 

https://az749841.vo.msecnd.net/sitesengb/alv1/681e0567-9e39-4078-88de-df61013683c7/SKODA_Warranty_Terms_November_2018.59c8de521ff537083074db669bd4a47d.pdf