Question on Fabia mk1 jacking points and underbody material

[sandrogalli]

I have a Skoda Fabia mk1 1.4 tdi that has been the most reliable car I've ever owned.

 

Unfortunately I took it in to the garage and it looks like they have lifed the vehicle in the wrong place, between the jacking points and the sills, causing damage to the underbody material.

 

According to the manuals the Fabia's jacking points are placed according to the diagram included below. The garage have place the lift arms just off these points on the non-metallic underbody material. It appears to be a non-metallic material that tears away like a tough cardboard. Due to the age of it I can't tell what it is.

 

Just hoping for any advice on whether this can be fixed or how to best approach it with the garage, who are blaming it on rust and are currently not admitting that the vehicle was lifted or damaged.

 

Does anyone know what this material is called, should it need to be ordered for a replacement? The second photo i've attached shows the greyish material i'm talking about.

 

 

 

[J.R.]

The photo is not much help as the arrow is pointing to an exhaust hanger.

 

Non metallic underbody material can not rust, later vehicles have composite plastic underbody guards which are close to the lifting points, maybe yours has.

 

You have a circa 20 year old car that seemingly has cosmetic damage to an unseen part, unless you are the only owner and have only ever used this one garage and never had tyres fitted, a puncture repair or even an MOT then you are not going to get anything from them other than a diminished relationship.

 

My last 2 vehicles had cracked underbody shields, at least one caused by myself, all of them had damaged cill bottom flanges where they had been jacked away from the jacking points and/or without the correct form of crutch pad, without more detailed and informative photos I doubt your vehicle is any different to most other MK1 Fabias.

[sandrogalli]

I understand where you are coming from, but still hoping for some help from any helpful members. Perhaps I didn't explain clearly enough...

 

The garage showed me photos they had taken of the section between the jacking point and the sill, where the vehicle should definitely not be lifted, and the non-metallic underbody material has now been torn. I have worked on this car a lot having recently done the CV joints. This damage was not there before taking it to the garage.

 

They said the car was too rusty to lift and that they had not lifted the car, saying the metal had gone soft from rust. I initially took them at their word as I tend to trust people unless they give me a reason otherwise. The reason I'm posting is to find out more information as I have to admit that if the garage is being dishonest and this is due to a reckless lift, that is a real bugbear of mine. I'd much prefer if things could be settled like grown ups.

 

10 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Non metallic underbody material can not rust

 

The material is not in fact metal, and underneath is the painted metal chassic which is not showing any signs of rust. However due to the age, I'm not sure if this material is a thick anti-corrosion coating that is painted on and become more solid over time, or if it's a distinct seperate layer of material. I'm hoping to find out exactly what this material is, which is non-magnetic and has the consistency something like tough cardboard when torn.

 

I'm not able to take a photo right now but the photo shows the area in question, and the greyish material I'm trying to find out more details on. I've cropped away the arrow pointing to the exhaust hanger in case it is confusing, and the red circle shows the point the material has been punctured.

 

 

 

[Breezy_Pete]

Under the longitudinal box section or under that console mouting point are good places to lift, or support once lifted.

 

[@Lee]

If there's no physical damage to the floorpan then you can probably go ahead and use some Hammerite Underbody Sealant or CarPlan 'Tetroseal' to cover over what's been damaged/ removed.

 

Edited 15 March by @Lee

[DC2990]

If it's the same stuff as on the lower sill area then it will be the factory under seal

I know that the damage on yours isn't on the sills but when i started having a closer look at my sills i found that where the factory under seal must have been slightly damaged that water had got between the sill and under seal so that you could pull quite big chunks of it off.

These areas looked solid but were rusting away unseen if that makes sence

I'm guessing for you make sure that ALL the loose under seal is removed and then under seal it although i ended up painting my lower sill areas because i like to see what's going on 

I've had a tyre place wanting to jack my range rover classic up under the sill which would have ended very badly if i hadn't been there to stop them. 

 

[sandrogalli]

4 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Under the longitudinal box section or under that console mouting point are good places to lift, or support once lifted.

 

Yes those are the jacking points I normally use too when working on the motor, as well as under the console bush arm.

 

4 hours ago, @Lee said:

If there's no physical damage to the floorpan then you can probably go ahead and use some Hammerite Underbody Sealant or CarPlan 'Tetroseal' to cover over what's been damaged/ removed.

 

Thank you, this is helpful. I actually have some Tetroseal, but ideally I'd like the garage to admit their mistake rather than try and lie their way out of it. Still waiting to hear back and see what their position is, and I'm hoping they will be sensible rather then let things get silly. Feel like I have had only good experiences with garages for a long time now so this one has been a bit of a shock. If it comes to it, I'll certainly apply some new underseal to keep the car running.

 

17 minutes ago, DC2990 said:

f it's the same stuff as on the lower sill area then it will be the factory under seal

I know that the damage on yours isn't on the sills but when i started having a closer look at my sills i found that where the factory under seal must have been slightly damaged that water had got between the sill and under seal so that you could pull quite big chunks of it off.

 

Ah, yes I believe it's the same stuff as under the sills. Where the floorpan is now exposed it still looks like fresh paint, no signs of rust so it seems to have done a good job protecting the metal.

[prt57]

Garages not admitting liability is a major itrritation, especially main dealers. 
I have an Audi S3 which at the time had only ever been to my local main dealer for any work. 
I had to remove the undertray so I could remove the front bumper so I could fit an uprated intercooler as part of my modification programme. 
Most of the flat clips that the undertray screws attached to were missing and there were even holes where the clips should be. Obviously, too much use of the zip gun by them in the past. 
Audi Birmingam would not accept liability as I could not prove the car had not been worked on elsewhere but out of “good will” were prepared to pay for half of the damaged parts. 

As you can imagine, the car has never been back to that dealership!

 

We also have a GTi that I bought new in 1998. At the time it only ever had brake fluid flushes at the VW main dealer. I took it in for a flush and 45 mins later the receptionist told me sorry mate, the bleed nipple has rounded off with the spanner so nothing they can do. 
I had an even bigger row with them as apparently, a VW garage cannot fix a VW car! 
I knew the master tech who came to my assistance. The car went back into the workshop, he extracted and changed the offending nipple, then flushed the brakes. 
We avoid main dealers like the plague, preferring to use specialist garages if we cannot do the job ourselves