My car went in today for a warranty repair to the common problem of rust around the registration number lamps area of the tailgate.

 

At the same time that I reported the tailgate rust (last October), I also reported the bubbling rust under the paint on the metal trims that sit at the top of each door.  This affects both sides of the car but is worse on the passenger side (see photo).

 

No explanation has been given, only that ”they believe this is not a defect” but I don’t see the difference between that and the tailgate rust.  Both are a result of rust under the paint and there is no paint damage that has allowed moisture to get in.  

 

Anyone else had the same rust and had it repaired under warranty? 

 

 

The difference is that they are trims and not the bodywork, "trim" implys a cosmetic function and they can be removed and replaced, quite how far they could take that I dont know as front wings are bolt on, knowing VAG they would try!

 

I expect if you look at the T&C's of the corrosion warranty it will have a definition for bodywork and what is covered.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/450331-fabia-rear-door-corrosion

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/481574-2011-fabia-boot-rust-is-it-covered-like-vws-are

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/448654-paint-sorrosion

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/461194-fabia-2-tailgate-rust

 

Did they not say there was no record of you having Inspection carried out?

 

That is OK, because the Paint (only 3 years) or Corrosion Warranty does not Say 'Bi-annual or Periodic Inspections are required.

(Was 10 years, then 12 years, and now not clear what they say about panels with corrosion from behind and how long for, if 12 years.)

 

The Service Books did have an 'Inspection Report' page after each Minor & Major Service, but Skoda stopped the Service books.

 

So your window rubber corrosion issue is common.

But by the terms of your Warranty the panel has no hole from behind.

Just how the design /engineering is crap. 

 

?

How old is your car?    Doubtful you will get anyplace even when the Warranty Claim goes as it does from the Dealership Employee to the actual people that decide and that can have an Inspection done by a qualified person.   As per T&C's. 

Edited 3 April, 20233 yr by toot

6 minutes ago, toot said:

Did they not say there was no record of you having Inspection carried out?

 

That is OK, because the Paint or Corrosion Warranty does not Say 'Bi-annual or Periodic Inspections are required.

 

The Service Books did have an 'Inspection Report' page after each Minor & Major Service, but Skoda stopped the Service books.

 

So your window rubber corrosion issue is common.

But by the terms of your Warranty the panel has no hole from behind.

Just how the design /engineering is crap. 

 

?

How old is your car?    Doubtful you will get anyplace even when the Warranty Claim goes as it does from the Dealership Employee to the actual people that decide and that can have an Inspection done by a qualified person.   As per T&C's. 

 

They tried that nonsense about missing paint inspections at the start but I put them straight on that!  Not only isn’t it a warranty requirement, I had job sheets attached to recent services by them stating that the car had been checked for perforation and nothing found.  That resulted in the claim being accepted, with Skoda paying for 60% and the dealer coughing the rest.

 

The car will be 12 in October this year so still inside the time limit.

 

If it’s easy enough to replace those trim parts I might do it myself.  I’d rather get it done by Skoda though as I still see it as their fault.

@harry vederci

?

Are you sure the warranty was not 10 years 12 years back?   I think if you have your Warranty you will find it was.

 

Just as well many at Skoda UK have not a clue about their products, warranties etc. If people get 12 years cover which they never had and still get repairs done.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/367782-successful-12-or-10-years-corrosion-claim-register

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/304809-warranty-rust-repairs

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/314085-yayyy-good-old-skoda-uk

 

 

To be perfectly honest the Warranty does not and should not be expected to cover that water trap.

But is is a fundamental design, engineering and material failing.  

If the first you notice it is at at 11 years it was doing OK, it was a few years back i pointed out the area as an issue. Over 5 years ago for Mk2 Fabia FL's.

 

Common among manufacturers.

The cars discussed here are discontinued.

 

Sadly there are issues arising with Mk3 Fabia and trim and water retention.  Vorsprung Durch Technik.  No way. 

 

The Member with this Yeti did have a real lemon and luckily got matters resolved finally with Skoda.

 

They should have had his bucket of rust in the Skoda CZ HQ to show their employees / engineers the importance of Quality Control and good design and what getting it wrong can look like.

Edited 3 April, 20233 yr by toot

19 minutes ago, toot said:

Are you sure the warranty was not 10 years 12 years back?

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, says so in my handbook 🙂.  

Besides, Skoda wouldn’t be fixing it now if it wasn’t still covered.

 

 

@harry vederciyes they would.

I used to do repairs on cars they approved because of the inspection report but i knew had not a valid warranty. 

I was not and am not a warranty manager, that is AN Others job.

Edited 3 April, 20233 yr by toot

I’m going to have a look around YouTube for videos showing how to replace those window strips and do it myself.  They aren’t that expensive.  I’ll maybe replace the vinyl on the B-pillars at the same time as they’re pretty rough now too.

 

I got the car back a couple of days ago and the paint job on the outside of the tailgate is good enough but they’ve cut corners when finishing the interior.  Much of it (the ‘unseen’ area behind the plastic boot trim) has been left as undercoat and not painted at all!  And there’s an area the top of the rear window, for its whole width, where the undercoat is still visible and there’s an obvious run in the paint.

 

I’ve emailed them with photos and asked for it to go back in.  I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have it properly painted, the way it was when they got it.

The body shop is saying that the state they left the interior of the tailgate is normal and that “it does not get painted, it is just coated with cavity wax”.

 

I think the tailgate should be restored to what it was like before the defect, and that was fully painted.

 

Here’s how they returned it:

 

And if that yellow sticky stuff is the wax coating, they’ve managed to apply it anywhere but where the rust was!

 

 

Here’s how it went in:

 

 

 

They also messed up the area at the top of the rear window as you can see from these photos:

 

 

 

Am I being unreasonable in rejecting this repair?

 

The repair is to be to the factory standard, which can be sh!te, but not that sh!te.   They are muppets.

On 12/04/2023 at 16:15, toot said:

The repair is to be to the factory standard, which can be sh!te, but not that sh!te.   They are muppets.

 

Are you referring to the crappy paint around the top edge of the window, or the whole job?

 

It seems to me that not painting the inside is a cost-cutting exercise by the body shop and I had expected it to come back fully painted, as it was when it went in.

 

The dealer has come back to me claiming that Skoda has confirmed the inside doesn’t get painted and that what’s been done satisfies the warranty repair terms.  

 

According to the dealer, Skoda said: “The inside of panels are not fully painted as would the outside be and the cavity wax is used to protect them from moisture without this wax corrosion can start from the inside of the panels.”

 

I still feel they’re having a laugh.  Has anyone else had similar with a warranty respray?

There's no way you can reasonably expect the interior of a part to be painted like it was at the factory when it was bare steel with no other parts or glass fitted, there's no way to duplicate that and it's completely unnecessary since they're standing behind the repair anyway.

13 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

There's no way you can reasonably expect the interior of a part to be painted like it was at the factory when it was bare steel with no other parts or glass fitted, there's no way to duplicate that and it's completely unnecessary since they're standing behind the repair anyway.

 

 

Look at the picture of the inside of the resprayed tailgate up thread.

 

If they can reach all of it with undercoat (which they obviously did) then they can paint it as well.

 

15 minutes ago, harry vederci said:

 

 

Look at the picture of the inside of the resprayed tailgate up thread.

 

If they can reach all of it with undercoat (which they obviously did) then they can paint it as well.

 

 

I've looked and I think you're being unreasonable.

 

It's not on show and it's protected so it's good enough, the only reason the original panel has topcoat there is because of the way it got painted, if you were to open up other cavity's such as under the bonnet bracing you'd find the topcoat was patchy at best but it would still be protected properly.

 

There's no reason to have topcoat on internal spaces that are sheltered from the weather.

 

I agree that the other minor repair is substandard however.