Last October I noticed very slight bubbling on the tailgate, just where the body panel turns horizontal for the reg plate recess.  When I checked where the number plate lights are mounted there was heavy rust staining.  I pointed this out to the dealer when it was in that week for its annual inspection and service and they said I’d have to bring it back and leave it for the day so they could take off the interior trim to establish the cause.

 

After that inspection, they requested a scan of my service book to supply to Skoda, which I provided.

 

They subsequently emailed to say that, in their opinion, the corrosion must have been evident for at least two years and the car had missed several paint inspections.  I pointed out that they had inspected & serviced the car for 11 years and if this corrosion was ‘evident’ for me to have seen then it equally should have been picked up by their service staff.   I drew their attention to the text on each service page which states, “Make sure that the corrosion protection of the body is intact or note any possible damage.”  No possible damage was ever recorded and I asked them to explain this failure.  I also challenged them to explain how paint inspections could have been missed when the car was presented to them every year for service and inspection purposes.

 

I didn’t get a direct answer to any of my questions but they did come back to say that they would resubmit my claim, based on the proof of  regular servicing and the fact they had  since checked the job sheets which showed that the car was inspected for corrosion but they hadn’t recorded this in the service book. (That still didn’t explain how they’d missed the rust; they’d obviously just ticked the box to say they’d checked without actually doing so.)

 

They now advise me that Skoda will pay for 60% of the repair with the dealer paying the balance “as an apology for the inconvenience caused”.

 

What I don’t know yet is what form this repair will take.  Having read through the numerous similar threads across Briskoda, I see that the most common fix is a replacement tailgate.  However, I suspect they will try to fob me off with a sand/fill and respray only.  What was the argument for successfully getting a replacement tailgate?  I don’t trust that a filler job would last or that should other rust appear elsewhere they wouldn’t try to get out of fixing that because the panel had been resprayed.

 

Any advice welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 9 February, 20233 yr by harry vederci
Additional context

1 hour ago, harry vederci said:

they had  since checked the job sheets which showed that the car was inspected for corrosion but they hadn’t recorded this in the service book.

 

How very convenient for them.

 

1 hour ago, harry vederci said:

they’d obviously just ticked the box to say they’d checked without actually doing so.

 

Yeah right! Retrospectively maybe.

 

They are probably under orders to never tick the box or record it on the service book unless a customer specifically asks in writing for a corrosion inspection to be carried out with the service.

Edited 9 February, 20233 yr by J.R.

4 hours ago, J.R. said:

 

How very convenient for them.

 

 

Yeah right! Retrospectively maybe.

 

They are probably under orders to never tick the box or record it on the service book unless a customer specifically asks in writing for a corrosion inspection to be carried out with the service.

 

They had recorded the first few inspections correctly in the service book but none since.

 

However, attached to previous annual service invoices I have their job sheet copy which states the paint inspection was carried out and no defects noted. 🙂   I hadn’t made them aware of that detail as I wanted to see how they handled the claim but it’s obvious that no such inspection was actually performed.  It makes me wonder what else they didn’t do at each service but charged me for anyway.