fabia Faulty Air Conditioning from new.

[JesmondJester]

Long time listener, first time caller.

 

I am on my 4th Fabia but my 1st Estate. 

 

Purchased the vehicle (brand new) on 1st June and travelled from Newcastle to Norfolk to see my family the next day. Unfortunately, no cold air came out of the air conditioning unit until Doncaster and then it kept warming and cooling.

 

Since then, I haven't been able to get cold air out of it reliably. Sometimes it takes five minutes, sometimes I can drive for 15 minutes until it is reliably cold.

 

I have had it back to dealership who have tested it and said there is nothing wrong and asked me to monitor it. Given I have done 900 miles they have agreed this has already happened. It takes 15 minutes to get to the dealership so by this point it is usually working so they are now asking for it over night so can test it when the car is properly rested and experience what I do. They can't do this until 2nd July.

 

I probably do 6000 a year and whilst I do some long trips, the majority of journeys I make are under 15 minutes and as such it is important to me the a/c works properly.

 

By properly, I mean that I can get cold air very quickly as has been the case with every single Skoda I have ever owned. I can't believe a brand new vehicle can perform worse than one 3 y ears old - never mind the older Fabias I had.

 

As an aside, when the a/c does come on it feels like only half the air coming out of the vent is cold, some of it is blowing warm but maybe this is just me.

Also, the fan seems to speed up and slow down randomly (ie, nothing to do with vehicle speed, engine speed or the stop/start mechanism) even though it stays on '2'.

 

Has anyone had this experience?

Am I imagining the air coming out of the vent being different temperatures?

Does your fan change speed?

 

Any help/advice greatly appreciated - even if that is my expectations are too high!

 

I suspect they'll test it and say it falls within their acceptable parameters but I'll let you know the outcome regardless.

 

Cheers.

 

[rkenny]

Hi Jesmond - welcome to the forum. I would advise posting this important query in the MkIII forum - there are many estate owners posting on there. (If you have an estate, it can’t be a MkIV as Skoda decided not to produce one).

[JesmondJester]

What an idiot - good plan - thanks! 

[Ootohere]

@JesmondJester

Welcome.

A mod can move this from the Guide section. So no need to repost.

 

?
How cold do you want the cars interior soon after tuning on if the outside temp is hot or the interior is?

Modern cars are sadly now set up to pass the WLTP / RDE2 and passenger comfort was not part of Skoda's 'Simply Clever' features or engineering.

 

The temperature that needs measured is in the cabin once you request,

'Lo'  or 14 *oC or 16*oC or what ever.

Do not measure it at the vents, but they at the Dealership need to get their act together and see what temps the AC / Climate can achieve.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/504209-my-aircon-not-very-cold

 

 

Edited 16 June, 2022 by roottoot

[JesmondJester]

Well it has the manual blue for cold, red for warm air con rather than actual temperatures.

 

I don't expect it to cool the entire cabin down instantly but I do expect consistently cold air to blow through the vents within a couple of minutes of turning the key. 

 

Have companies realistically compromised the air con to pass WLTP/RDE2? I appreciate they probably have but does that mean I need to turn the fan to 3 to get enough cool air in the cabin? Doesn't this just bypass the test if I am asking it to do the same work? 

 

These are probably hypothetical questions. 

[Ootohere]

VW Group had to compromise many things because they were not ready even for Euro 6 let alone the WLTP / RDE & now RDE2. 

 

Have you tried just the coldest air to the vents to your face so nothing to the screen or feet.

 

I know nothing about setting on the newer Fabias but on nearly every newer car i drive it still needs Screen demist running to stop fogging even in good weather and vents to the face.

Everything including EV's is as cold as i want which is under 15*oC and often i deflect from my face or shoulders when at that temp or lower.

[nta16]

Sorry if it's a Mk3 I forgot about all the manufacturers and dealership delays.

 

On my wife's 2015 I always find it more effective to set it to windscreen to feel the cold air sooner from start, I turn off the recirculating and got to fan speed 2, the car's owner doesn't like the noise on speeds 3 and 4 anyway even if I instruction that the passenger shouldn't interfere with the driver's controls.

 

[JesmondJester]

Normally I just have it blasting at my face, never on windscreen demist or mix of that and feet. 
3 is definitely too noisy in my opinion. 
It’s  just so frustrating that the old cars performed so well and this just blows. Pun intended. 

[nta16]

With my old car I have 4/60 air-con, open 4 windows and go at 60.

 

Try starting with it at screen, and not recirculating, and see if that's better before switching to face.  I loathe to get into a hot cabin, with the Fabia I have to open the door(s) then put the key in to turn the ignition on to drop the (front) windows with the door(s) open to let some hot air out before I get in the car.  Normally I don't like having the air-con on but for a hot interior it's a must, if possible.

[JesmondJester]

Thanks for the advice!

 

I’ll try it!

[nta16]

And just thought of this - you could also try angling the sun visor so that the air deflected towards you rather over your head and other sun visor to deflect the air back down.

 

I've not tried this with the air-con but I angle the sun visors to deflect the air to the windscreen when clearing the windscreen with heat and/or air-con.

 

[JesmondJester]

Tried all manner of things this morning and whilst the air was at least cold within a moment of starting - the performance is just awful.

It doesn't cool the cabin down at all well in the same way the old one used too. I used to have the vents pointed away from me it was so cold and now even right at me I have to wonder if it works.

Fan still changes speed and the temperature still fluctuates. Not that I should expect any different, nothing mechanically has changed.

 

What's becoming increasingly concerning is that this is normal. The demist on the last Fabia was horrendous. If their aircon on this is bad then the demist will be non-existent.

 

I did change to not circulation for a little while but then the air coming out was warmer than was in the car so back to circulation and it cooled somewhat.

 

The dealership have managed to move things so its getting dropped off on Tuesday morning and picked up Wednesday night. If they say it is fine, be prepared to see news reports of an explosion the size of a small nuclear warhead just north of Newcastle as I become apoplectic.

[JesmondJester]

A little update. The dealership have had the car for a week and whilst they replaced the relay and then a switch to ensure the fan near the condenser ran properly - they still can’t get the a/c to work consistently. 
 

Apparently there is a UK Skoda technical centre to which they have sent all the details and technical data. Those guys are able to review it and make suggestions. They’re also able to contact the factory in the Czech Republic in order to try and solve the issue. 

 

And if they can’t then I guess it is time to replace the whole unit or maybe the car!

 

 

 

[rum4mo]

Progress then, in my experience, when any VW Group workshop initiate this request for assistance, a reply is sent to them within 4 working days, usually a lot less than that, so if your dealership don't get back to you within a week, you will need to chase them up.

[JesmondJester]

Thanks! When I spoke to the dealership yesterday they said they sent the request over on Monday and should here back within 48 hours. So we'll see!

[Ootohere]

Skoda Dealership employees & Skoda Customer Services staff have been saying for many years that 'We will contact the technical department'.  Also we will contact the Factory.

 

They even say this when the issue has been know for years.   They did contact VW UK,  there are Technical people.  

Oddly when someone gets a New Model and there are Snagging faults,  or 'We have never seen that before'  or They all do that'. 

The car is not taken to the VW GRoup technical department in Milton Keynes or whereever for a Technical Inspection.

The VW Group Technician is not out and about in all these 'Management Cars' they have and checking out the car at Dealerships.

 

There is a BS response that Dealership Employees are trained in, it is like the Up-selling training they get.  

 

Customer Services, Communication & Resolution Managers were maybe working selling trainers in a sports discount shop recently, or doing a NVQ in Communications, keyboard skills.  Not in Mechanical Engineering or Electronics. 

Edited 30 June, 2022 by roottoot

[Ootohere]

It is only Special People with Special Needs & all the gear and no idea or proper training to work on vehicles they see in their hundreds that need the Emergency Number on the red phone to the BAT CAVE where Technical People will jump onto a problem only they know how to resolve on vehicles launched over 6 years ago using part used in millions of vehicles globally that VW Group produce.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/464781-contact-skoda-technical

 

[rum4mo]

23 hours ago, JesmondJester said:

Thanks! When I spoke to the dealership yesterday they said they sent the request over on Monday and should here back within 48 hours. So we'll see!

 

Yes that was the answer I got from a SEAT dealership, I was just adding in some "time padding" - these technical official calls for help go directly to Skoda/VW/SEAT/Audi Mothership(s) and so are not subject to any of this 3rd party "fault deflecting"/gatekeepering set of clowns.

[JesmondJester]

Well, after the “technical centre” told them to do something, the dealer thought they’d fixed it but wanted to keep it for the weekend to be sure. 
 

Today they said it hadn’t worked. 
 

So, I said I wanted a new vehicle. Turns out they are looking into changing it over like for like (colour might be different) at no extra cost to me. 
 

I’ll let you know if they pull it off or not. I suspect not.

[JesmondJester]

Got a call today to say the new vehicle would be available at the end of the month but they had fixed the fault in my original car: they had to replace the compressor.

 

So, I bought the car on 1st June, had it to them for one afternoon where they told me there was nothing wrong with it and to monitor it. Then they reluctantly agreed to look at it again - four weeks later. So I complained and they got it in on 21st June. I may be able to collect tomorrow. I told them I wouldn't collect it until someone called me to confirm they could give me a £200 fuel card as some form of compensation given I had a broken car for three weeks and then a courtesy car for three weeks.

 

Am I being unreasonable? I expect them to push back but never having had to go through this process before - I wonder whether this is the thing dealerships to tend to to demonstrate their "customer service excellence"?

 

Advice or examples of similar appreciated.

[J.R.]

Tell them to poke it and you will wait for the new vehicle however an offer of compensation may make you reconsider.

[Breezy_Pete]

Good plan that.

 

[JesmondJester]

The left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing: the new one is now at the dealership. 
 

They’re effectively saying, the new car is compensation enough but they will also fill it with fuel. 
 

Are they being reasonable?

 

 

 

[J.R.]

Very.

[JesmondJester]

Thank you.