Front Assist Unavailable

[wobbler123]

Hi fellow superb owners,

 

Having gone to the dealer with my 67 plate 220TSI superb sportline for a service and a slight wobble on the steering they informed me they had a lovely white 272TSI 4x4 sportline plus ex demonstator for sale. I test drove the said car and fell in love. Drove like a different car alltogether i must say. I got a good deal on the car so i bought it. 28k for a car with extras and only 3k on the clock i just couldn't walk away. After putting a further 1k on the clock the warning "Front assist Not Available" appeared. I read some threads about this issue and most people seemed to think it would go away. I called the dealer and they said "The front assist can be temperamental. Switch it off and back on, It will sort itself out." After 4 days the message was still glaring at me. I had to book it in at a dealer 35 miles from where i live. They told me it wasn't covered by the warranty and could cost me £400 to be recalibrated. Imagine my surprise after having the car for only a week. Luckily i have had the car for only 10 days so i could take it back so with this threat the dealer i bought it from agreed to pay the cost. I am shocked that this is the case. the car does seem fine but they dealer couldn't swear this wouldn't happen again. I had a golf GTD for 4 years and had no issues. Have skoda really become so stingey with their service? i had a mk2 superb and thought the service i got was great. not so sure now.....

 

Bob M

[Danny 57]

Without tempting fate I have had my SII for over 7 years without any fault like that and for a dealer to start by saying it is chargeable after such a short time is terrible service.👎

[BriskodaJeff]

Firstly, congratulations on the new car

 

I remember reading something about this problem on here a while back. As I understand it one of the possible reasons for the warning is because the car has been bumped at the front, knocking the radar out of alignment (ie driver's or someone else's fault so not covered by warranty). Unfortunately this seems to be used by some dealers as a reason to reject any claims, regardless of the real reason. Did they give you an explanation why they wouldn't cover it? @Adrian55555 any insights based on your time in the trade?

[Adrian55555]

Hi, yeah, tbf i think its more the get out of jail card that dealers use. However 1 week after purchase... Where i worked before we would just sort it recallibrate and bill sales for it.  For the hassle its worth, unhappy customer, potentially a customer kicking off in showroom etc etc.  Any decent dealer should just sort it, esp sooo soon after picking up!  If you had had it a few months it may be diff.  The issue is warranty whether manufacturers/the skoda approved (mondial) wont cover callibrations so the time spent doing it wont be paid to the dealer. Catch 22 in a way. 

 

I would speak to the saleman and salesmanager that sold you the car. 

[wobbler123]

13 hours ago, BriskodaJeff said:

Firstly, congratulations on the new car

 

I remember reading something about this problem on here a while back. As I understand it one of the possible reasons for the warning is because the car has been bumped at the front, knocking the radar out of alignment (ie driver's or someone else's fault so not covered by warranty). Unfortunately this seems to be used by some dealers as a reason to reject any claims, regardless of the real reason. Did they give you an explanation why they wouldn't cover it? @Adrian55555 any insights based on your time in the trade?

Jeff they did say i could have had a bump or a stone could have hit the front of the car but there isn't even the smallest mark on it anywhere, i certainly haven't bumped it. I had only drove from Manchester to Carlisle and back and then to work and back 2 days which is 44 miles. I hadn't even left it unattended in a busy car park. I guess this is the price you pay for technology. The car is good again now thankfully but am not confident. Hope my return to skoda from vw is going to be a good one

[penguin17]

The UK weather is pretty wet at the moment; were you driving through particularly heavy rain at the time the warning appeared? 

 

IME the sensor can have a wobble in heavy rain but it will defo complain if it gets covered in snow. 

[wobbler123]

I can imagine the weather causing problems but the weather on the day the warning came up was sunny. If there was an issue down to weather surely it would clear but this warning did not. The dealer said the sensor was out of alignment slightly. I was on the motorway when this happened with light traffic. I had already done at least 10 miles. I just can't figure out why. So far so good I hope it stays that way

[Mik3F]

58 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

The UK weather is pretty wet at the moment; were you driving through particularly heavy rain at the time the warning appeared? 

 

IME the sensor can have a wobble in heavy rain but it will defo complain if it gets covered in snow. 

 

Mine had a major moan when it last snowed, only time it has ever happened so far

[BriskodaJeff]

1 hour ago, penguin17 said:

IME the sensor can have a wobble in heavy rain but it will defo complain if it gets covered in snow. 

+1.

 

I had an "ACC unavailable" message come up  this morning, just after driving through some of the worst rain I've seen since I had the car. Re-engaged it and all was well. 

 

As to @wobbler123's concern, I've had my car 18 months with no Front Assist problems and it hasn't come up on here very often, so I would just put it down to bad luck and find a more responsive dealer to build a relationship with in future (as I am now looking to do for similar reasons of poor customer service).

[SpeedyB79]

I get it in mine in heavy rain or snow. It uses the sensor in the middle of the grill so make sure thats clean  and also no snow on it. Also the sensor behind your mirror in the window screen. Make sure wipers are not leaving behind any grease. Also use rainx on your window screen as this doesnt mist up and you'll find it will work better in the rain.

 

Poor form from the dealer they should of just told you that. Scaring you into paying out for something they cant fix. They will just have it in for half a day and reset the software. Absolute jokers.

Edited 14 June, 2019 by SpeedyB79
added dealer message

[CoolC]

16 hours ago, SpeedyB79 said:

I get it in mine in heavy rain or snow. It uses the sensor in the middle of the grill so make sure thats clean  and also no snow on it. Also the sensor behind your mirror in the window screen. Make sure wipers are not leaving behind any grease. Also use rainx on your window screen as this doesnt mist up and you'll find it will work better in the rain.

 

Poor form from the dealer they should of just told you that. Scaring you into paying out for something they cant fix. They will just have it in for half a day and reset the software. Absolute jokers.

 

The camera mounted behind the windscreen has it's own little heater pad to ensure the aperture is always clear of misting. 

 

For calibrations of cameras and radar sensors, come to the aftermarket. We've been onto this long before the dealers were. 

[k.young]

I got the Front Assist Unavailable today during a bit of "brisk manouvering" on a very congested stretch of multi lane carraigeway (extremely heavy rain)

 

Is it just a glitch that rights itself??

[wobbler123]

52 minutes ago, k.young said:

I got the Front Assist Unavailable today during a bit of "brisk manouvering" on a very congested stretch of multi lane carraigeway (extremely heavy rain)

 

Is it just a glitch that rights itself??

Mine warning came on and was there for 4 days. Only certain dealers have the kit to recalibrate the radar if it's out of adjustment so a fair amount of travel may be involved. If the issue went away it's probs just a glitch

1 hour ago, CoolC said:

 

The camera mounted behind the windscreen has it's own little heater pad to ensure the aperture is always clear of misting. 

 

For calibrations of cameras and radar sensors, come to the aftermarket. We've been onto this long before the dealers were. 

Aftermarket?

[CoolC]

10 hours ago, wobbler123 said:

Mine warning came on and was there for 4 days. Only certain dealers have the kit to recalibrate the radar if it's out of adjustment so a fair amount of travel may be involved. If the issue went away it's probs just a glitch

Aftermarket?

 

As in the automotive glazing companies. We've had to deal with it from day one, so have all the equipment and trained staff, charging a lot less than dealers do.

[nicknorman]

On 12/06/2019 at 22:29, wobbler123 said:

Jeff they did say i could have had a bump or a stone could have hit the front of the car but there isn't even the smallest mark on it anywhere, i certainly haven't bumped it. I had only drove from Manchester to Carlisle and back and then to work and back 2 days which is 44 miles. I hadn't even left it unattended in a busy car park. I guess this is the price you pay for technology. The car is good again now thankfully but am not confident. Hope my return to skoda from vw is going to be a good one

Mine is in its 4th year with no permanent problems with front assist. However as said, it is pretty sensitive to anything obstructing the Radar (which comes from the flat pad in the centre of the radiator). Doesn’t take much snow to upset it! But I’ve only had it get upset twice in really heavy rain. One time it stopped working I pulled over and found a wet leaf stuck to the sensor!

 

But in all cases, once the obstruction is removed (packed snow wiped off etc) it works again.

Edited 18 June, 2019 by nicknorman