So today I became a Kodiaq owner but unfortunately the excitement has quickly been replaced by hassle of many things not being as they should.

 

Please may I ask, All Kodiaqs have 2 compartments on the front passenger side correct? I was told that the top was just panelling but can clearly see in the manual it's a compartment that clearly doesn't open.

The smaller bottom one does.

I need this sorting obviously.

 

Secondly, the electric towbar doesn't work. It whirrs but doesn't move. Any advice?

 

Other more minor issues include scratches on the skoda sign in the middle of the wheels, missing wheel nut covers and some weird white coating on the existing wheel nut caps, some weird white spray on the silver window frame drivers side.

 

Obviously I'm now in a dispute with the garage who I'm waiting to hear back from but this whole thing is turning out to be a headache.

 

They've you'd me I can't ask for a refund but I think I can given that things they advertised are faulty and they lied about visible scratches.

I actually love this car and want to keep it but wonder if I can trust these guys to sort it. I won't name and shame just yet but they are apparently a reputable dealer if not an official Skoda one

 

Any help or advice would be much appreciate thank you.

 

It's a 2018 DSG Petrol 1.4 TSI 7 seater.

 

Thank you

 

 

1 hour ago, hanf said:

All Kodiaqs have 2 compartments on the front passenger side correct? I was told that the top was just panelling but can clearly see in the manual it's a compartment that clearly doesn't open.

 

You are correct. Two gloveboxes - the larger left button opens the lower, the adjacent square right button opens the upper.

 

1 hour ago, hanf said:

Secondly, the electric towbar doesn't work. It whirrs but doesn't move. Any advice?

 

It's poetic licence describing it as electric. What happens is you pull the switch in the boot and this releases a catch on the spring loaded towbar, it drops down and you manually lock it in to position. Same with stowing it away,  you pull the button to release it, then manually push the towbar back it to it's 'stowed' position underneath the car.

 

When you say it 'whirrs' - it might be the catch isn't releasing or I'm just wondering if it's correctly stowed away - i.e. is it in it's locked position?

 

1 hour ago, hanf said:

 

Other more minor issues include scratches on the skoda sign in the middle of the wheels, missing wheel nut covers and some weird white coating on the existing wheel nut caps, some weird white spray on the silver window frame drivers side.

 

Nut covers were notorious for coming loose on earlier cars. The white 'milky' coating is actually a form of corrosion - it's been a common problem on ALL VAG models for at least the past 40 years!  These are typically replaced under manufacturer warranty but if you're driving a 2018 car bought outside the Skoda dealership then don't expect Skoda to come to the rescue. If it's just the centre caps then you're only talking a few pounds to replace them. Same with nut covers.

 

White spray on window frame is another matter. Does it look like bird pooh? If so then a common cause of this is using stong chemicals to clean the car. Many VW Group owners have complained of the silver trim discolouring after visiting hand car washes.

 

1 hour ago, hanf said:

Obviously I'm now in a dispute with the garage who I'm waiting to hear back from but this whole thing is turning out to be a headache.

 

They've you'd me I can't ask for a refund but I think I can given that things they advertised are faulty and they lied about visible scratches.

I actually love this car and want to keep it but wonder if I can trust these guys to sort it. I won't name and shame just yet but they are apparently a reputable dealer if not an official Skoda one

 

Didn't you notice these things before buying / taking delivery of the car?

 

Legal advice? I'm only playing Devil's Advocate here, but if I were an unscrupulous dealer, all I have to say is the nut covers were present when you bought the car and there were no scratches. If you didn't point these out at the time of accepting the car then I'm afraid legally you don't have a leg to stand on as it comes down to their word against yours.

 

At this stage, your dealer is correct - you can't ask for a refund. ( well I suppose you can ask but they'll refuse ).  You can certainly reject a car but to do so the problem has to be significant -  both the glovebox and towbar are at this stage deemed minor problems. You need to give the seller the chance to rectify them. If they refuse to do it, or make a mess of it, then rejection becomes easy as they've sold you faulty goods.

 

Might not be what you wanted to hear - hope it helps.

5 hours ago, hanf said:

Secondly, the electric towbar doesn't work. It whirrs but doesn't move. Any advice?

Others have posted that it can get stuck in the stowed position due to lack of use, mud and stuff holding it in the stowed position,

If I recall they had to get under the car and pull it down manually, like already posted, the button just releases it and you still have to physicaly push/lock it either in position to tow or back under where it is stowed.

7 hours ago, hanf said:

 

Please may I ask, All Kodiaqs have 2 compartments on the front passenger side correct? I was told that the top was just panelling but can clearly see in the manual it's a compartment that clearly doesn't open.

The smaller bottom one does.

 

 

What happens when you push the button for the top glovebox? Is it completely loose, or is there resistance? 

 

There is a cable that goes from the button to the catch on the top glovebox. It's possible someone disconnected it at some point while removing the lower glovebox, and forgot to reconnect it. It could also be broken. I can give you some tips on taking the upper glovebox out to examine it, but the dealer should really be sorting this for you, so I would push them to do so. 

Wow super helpful responses. Thank you SO much.

 

It's a shame to have this hassle but hopefully it's all easily resolvable. I love the car otherwise.

 

Regarding the compartment (which wierdly is annoying me more than the towbar!) they totally dismissed me when I went to collect the car (it had all been done online). I was trying to open it (I couldn't remember how) and he laughed and said it was 'just the trim'. It was only when I got home and looked at the manual I remembered how to open it and therefore that I was correct and had been incorrectly dismissed.

 

When I push the button there doesn't seem any resistance. I'm quite handy but to be honest as a single parent with a million things to do I don't really have the time and need them to sort it (but please do feel free to give me some tips and I could take a look if I can find the time. But I'm certainly pushing them. Especially since there is the towbar issue too).

 

With the towbar, I've seen on youtube how it should drop down and you then lock it into place but it's not doing this. It just 'whirrs' but nothing is actually moving (or dropping down)...

 

As you say, the wheel nuts, centre cap as  are pretty cheap to replace so I'm not soo bothered. Thank you for the info about this being notorious. That's good to know. 

I did point out the white coating on the nuts but the dealer dismissed me saying I could scrape/clean it off... it would take me forever to do that.

As you say I've discovered these are cheap to replace so not tooo bothered. Just annoyed at being dismissed. 

 

I clearly asked via email if there were any obvious makings/scratches/damage to the car and was told no.

 

 

In terms of the white markings. No sign of bird poo but I suspect strong cleaning chemicals are to blame? It literally looks like spray paint but think it is some kind of strong treatment. Elbow grease, my nails and nail polish remover did nothing. A lovely lovely local repair guy did a good job when I drove to him almost in tears! with some strong white product and an electric polisher. It's still faintly there but doesn't bother me now. So I can live with that and would pay him to do it properly if need be. 

I think as you say some strong chemicals were to blame? 

 

I would definitely like access to the upper storage though. And obviously would like the electric towbar working since I paid a premium for it, whether I use it or not (I was thinking could be good for a bike rack)

 

Thank you so much

A couple of pics

Looks like aggressive cleaning agents have been used, probably by a local roadside hand wash  gritty sponge crew.

In terms of getting the towbar repaired and the upper passenger-side compartment working again, does anyone happen to know if I should just (if I even have a choice) let the car dealer's technicians attempt to sort it which is what they want, or am I within my rights to insist on an authorised Skoda dealer sorting these and them reimbursing me?

 

Does anyone know if it's an easy job (for someone qualified) sorting the compartment and/or tow bar?

Best case scenario, the tow bar only needs freeing off with some lubricant. The upper glove box could be really simple fix also. Have you tried tapping the cover whilst pushing the button in may just be stuck. 
Both jobs should be an easy fix for any competent vehicle tech.

Thank you Kenny for the reassurance. I'm actually going to try a squirt of WD40 on the towbar tomorrow (it's all I have to hand) as I saw it helped someone else. Id probably hasn't been used for a while and has perhaps just seized up. I hope that's all it is
And yes I've tried that for the glovebox but don't want to damage it so was scared to use too much pressure. It's very tempting to try sticking things between the gap but I think I'd better leave it.  But it sounds hopeful that both are easily fixeable. Thank you so much.

23 hours ago, hanf said:

With the towbar, I've seen on youtube how it should drop down and you then lock it into place but it's not doing this. It just 'whirrs' but nothing is actually moving (or dropping down)...

Have a look underneath and you'll see the towball. As mentioned above spray some WD40 or other similar lubricant to assist in releasing it. Give it a couple of minutes then pull on the release button whilst holding the ball (to the right side of center) and pull down. The ball should rotateriund and lock into position. Don't get any of the WD40/oil on the ball (or make sure you clean it off) if you are using a caravan with an Alko hitch). 

I believe Skoda started using some specialist lubricant on these. Don't know what though; I'm guessing a fairly sticky oil that doesn't easily wash off.

I do this a couple if times a year to keep it moving.

 

Also - the white marks on the driver's door silver trim; that's damage from traffic film removers when cleaning the car in hot weather. It's very common on VAG cars. It happened to my Kodiaq twice; once caused whilst at the dealer's for a service when the cleaned it and once when I took it to a hand car wash, both in Summer, bright sunshine and over 30c. You'll need to get the trim changed if you want to see an improvement.

The damage to the nut covers will have been caused by the same.

Edited 27 March, 20224 yr by apshep

Honestly, thank you So much. This has been the best response ever.

 

I have just managed to 'fix' the towbar. Sprayed a little WD40, left for a while, tried again while gently pulling the ball down. It's now working fine. I'll get it checked over but looks like was just stuck as hadn't been used in a while. Should I give it a good spray of WD40 over the mechanism (not the ball part?). 

To be honest the towbar isn't something I'm actually planning to use right now (it came with the car) but will be handy at some point I'm sure and want to make sure it doesn't seize up again. 

I guess I should just check it once a week or so?

 

If anyone could help me with my stuck upper glovebox I'd be so helpful but I've tried everything other than forcing it open which would do more damage than good so think this is for the dealer to sort out. (They are still claiming it's NOT a glovebox but is just a nice bit of trim!) but both my manual, Skoda and youtube clips of similar spec Kodiaq's hopefully confirm they are wrong.

 

Thanks so much all!

 

Still need to sort the residue on the wheels and drivers window trim. But it's not too bad. A local guy used some strong white stuff and a hand polisher and it's not very noticeable now at all. I'll post a pic

 

Still noticeable if you are looking but not really obvious at all and this is a vast improvement to my previous picture so I'm happy with this.

You shouldn’t need to look at towbar weekly, it’s basically road grot that splashes up, and gunks it up, so just periodically move it, say 6-9 months

 

The chrome window surrounds are best tackled with a specialist metal cleaner (available in big supermarkets, where tap and stainless steel cleaning trigger bottles are).  Should get it lot better, but if they have used something heavily corrosive in past then might never be perfect unless replaced.

 

Thank you every so much. That's so helpful.

 

Would something like this one of these 2 products from Amazon work on the window frame/trip do think? I'm not entirely sure what material the silver frame is? It seems to have some sort of laminate coating on it. Is it chrome? 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autosol-Metal-Polish-75-ml/dp/B003XJ1ODM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/JENOLITE-Metal-Polish-Aerosol-Industrial/dp/B08MB4YT98/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=V575NGYH5HSV&keywords=METAL%2BCLEANER&qid=1648384732&sprefix=metal%2Bcleaner%2Caps%2C313&sr=8-2-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExODlLSFlUU1JPQTJGJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDA4MDM1MTAwMThNTU9FWFg2NSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDY4OTUzMURIRjU0QlJWRjNBWSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

 

If so, it may work on the wheel nut caps too

53 minutes ago, hanf said:

Thank you every so much. That's so helpful.

 

Would something like this one of these 2 products from Amazon work on the window frame/trip do think? I'm not entirely sure what material the silver frame is? It seems to have some sort of laminate coating on it. Is it chrome? 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autosol-Metal-Polish-75-ml/dp/B003XJ1ODM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/JENOLITE-Metal-Polish-Aerosol-Industrial/dp/B08MB4YT98/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=V575NGYH5HSV&keywords=METAL%2BCLEANER&qid=1648384732&sprefix=metal%2Bcleaner%2Caps%2C313&sr=8-2-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExODlLSFlUU1JPQTJGJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDA4MDM1MTAwMThNTU9FWFg2NSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDY4OTUzMURIRjU0QlJWRjNBWSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

 

If so, it may work on the wheel nut caps too

I tried the Autoglym and it didn't improve any more than your local guy achieved. Mine was in warranty and although not a warranty issue asked Skoda nicely and they replaced all the affected trims (90% of them). The second time it was the dealer who had to bear the cost. 

Anyway - the Autoglym is probably the right 'tool' for the job but I don't think you will see much/any improvement.

On 27/03/2022 at 14:44, apshep said:

I tried the Autoglym and it didn't improve any more than your local guy achieved. Mine was in warranty and although not a warranty issue asked Skoda nicely and they replaced all the affected trims (90% of them). The second time it was the dealer who had to bear the cost. 

Anyway - the Autoglym is probably the right 'tool' for the job but I don't think you will see much/any improvement.

Thank you so much again for the helpful replies. I'll try to get the dealer to sort it for now.

On 27/03/2022 at 11:45, hanf said:

Should I give it a good spray of WD40 over the mechanism (not the ball part?). 

 

 

.

 

Lots of peeps may not agree with this, but I wouldn't be using WD40 as a lubricant on anything on a car. 

 

It leaves a gummy residue over time which attracts dirt, and it isn't very kind to rubber seals. It's great for getting the sparks in a damp HT system back where they should be, but that's pretty much a problem from a bygone age.

 

In my humble opinion there are much better things to use; anything with PTFE or silicon will do the job more efficiently.

 

.

9 minutes ago, Phutters said:

.

 

Lots of peeps may not agree with this, but I wouldn't be using WD40 as a lubricant on anything on a car. 

 

It leaves a gummy residue over time which attracts dirt, and it isn't very kind to rubber seals. It's great for getting the sparks in a damp HT system back where they should be, but that's pretty much a problem from a bygone age.

 

In my humble opinion there are much better things to use; anything with PTFE or silicon will do the job more efficiently.

 

.

Good point re WD40. I've used that once but other times used PTFE and also some 3-in-one oil (although that is difficult to get to the joint unless you have a traditional trigger oil can to drop it in the right place). I'd love to know what lubricant Skoda/VAG garages use.

There is a TPI (service action issued by Skoda) for the sticky towbar.

 

I had the same issue, took it to my dealer and they let me know of the TPI, they had to order in some parts, including some 'special grease'.

16 hours ago, silver1011 said:

There is a TPI (service action issued by Skoda) for the sticky towbar.

 

I had the same issue, took it to my dealer and they let me know of the TPI, they had to order in some parts, including some 'special grease'.

Oh this is interesting. Do you have any more details at all please? Is there a reference number or something? I'd love to know so I can pass on.

Wonder what the 'special grease' was !   

I drove to my local dealer on Monday and have also emailed and they didn't mention anything?

 

Some dealers are better than others, too many don't even bother to search on the system.

 

Dealers are under strict instruction from Skoda UK not to share the details of TPI's, the dealer that found it for me was Des Winks in Scarborough.

 

The 'special grease' was probably just regular lithium grease in a 'special' VAG-branded tube 😂

Just to add to this, my towbar stuck again, the dealer provided me with the part number for VAG's 'special grease', it is G052172A1.

 

It's called Krytox and is very expensive, especially given the bottle is only 30ml. It seems to be aimed more at convertible roof and sunroof mechanism squeaks than tow bars, but it is the stuff listed on the tow bar TPI.

 

I used a tube of silicone grease instead. On my back, with the tow ball released it's pretty clear where the grease needs to go. swinging the tow ball up and down several times whilst working the grease into the joint seems to have done the trick.

Another good thing to try is motorcycle chain lubricant - it's specifically made for high durability in adverse / wet conditions (obviously) and has been my go-to for 'external' greasing etc.

 

 

I had my Superb towbar freeze in place before, I'll lube this one before winter to try and avoid the issue.