Hello,

I am a newbie here!

Just after some friendly advice please.

We have a plugin hybrid that went into the dealership due to issues with the 12v battery not charging.

While in the garage, they found a liquid substance inside the central console. There was no sign of this in the cars interior, only inside when they took it apart. ŠKODA are claiming that we have spilt tea/coffee & therefore the repairs are not covered by the maintenance contract. Firstly, we are not aware of ever spilling anything and secondly, it is a sticky liquid that is still wet! I have attached pictures.

We are disputing the repair cost with Skoda at the moment but just wondered if anyone has had anything similar? Also, how best to proceed in these circumstances?

Thank you

36 minutes ago, coalminer said:

We are disputing the repair cost with Skoda at the moment

On what grounds?

Because we have not spilt anything in the car. If something had leaked, wouldn’t there be signs of it that we could see on the interior?

Also, my husband has been to see the liquid and doesn’t believe it’s consumable? It’s sticky and oily and still wet after 12 weeks?

9 minutes ago, J.R. said:

On what grounds?

Because we have not spilt anything in the car. If something had leaked, wouldn’t there be signs of it that we could see on the interior?

Also, my husband has been to see the liquid and doesn’t believe it’s consumable? It’s sticky and oily and still wet after 12 weeks?

Not spilt is different to "not aware of spilling" which was an interesting choice of words.

What repairs do they claim to have done to allegedly rectify the non charging and are they plausible?

The liquid might be a smokescreen in which case it has worked for them thus far, for example you are getting bogged down into a non issue, whether said liquid is consumable, if what they are claiming to have repaired/replaced was due to contamination by said liquid it's not up to them to forensically prove what it is and how it got there.

Edited 18 March, 20251 yr by J.R.

10 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Not spilt is different to "not aware of spilling" which was an interesting choice of words.

What repairs do they claim to have done to allegedly rectify the non charging and are they plausible?

The liquid might be a smokescreen in which case it has worked for them thus far, for example you are getting bogged down into a non issue, whether said liquid is consumable, if what they are claiming to have repaired/replaced was due to contamination by said liquid it's not up to them to forensically prove what it is and how it got there.

The issue relating to not charging is separate and not caused by the liquid

Then please confirm what "repairs" they have done that they want you to pay for.

Do you own the vehicle or is it contract hire/lease/PCP or whatever they call it?

What proof has the garage given that this alleged spillage caused the 12 volt charging issue?

4 hours ago, coalminer said:

The issue relating to not charging is separate and not caused by the liquid

Who authorised the work to be done?

If the "spillage" hasn't caused a problem then I can't see what grounds there are for charging you?

When did you buy the car? Was it a new, or used purchase?

I've had some experience with VAG warranty. On one hand it's not worth the paper it's written on, but on the other hand I'm only in my vRS as a result of a warranty on my previous car.

23 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Then please confirm what "repairs" they have done that they want you to pay for.

Do you own the vehicle or is it contract hire/lease/PCP or whatever they call it?

It’s lease hire with a maintenance contract

8 hours ago, OccyVRS said:

When did you buy the car? Was it a new, or used purchase?

I've had some experience with VAG warranty. On one hand it's not worth the paper it's written on, but on the other hand I'm only in my vRS as a result of a warranty on my previous car.

It’s lease hire but we got it in Oct 2023 it was fine for 6 months & then nothing but trouble with charging since then

Repairs:

Liquid spilt over selector lever including cable end

Liquid spilt over shift control

Liquid spilt over sound generator

Total cost £1800

Repairs have not been done yet as not authorised by us or Skoda

There are tons of Octavias out there with 12V issues, including 2023 models which do not charge 12V battery at all. It is fun to see them trying to avoid fixing yours, making it look like your fault. I would request them to provide evidence that anything was damaged by the supposed spill, I'd say simply picture of something liquid near something won't be a proof enough in court, would it? Let em show what short circuited there. Perhaps they could also demonstrate how supposedly spilled stuff got there inside? On pics you posted I see no signs of it being leaked from above.

Edited 19 March, 20251 yr by Edela

I'd also ask them to demonstrate how any liquid damage to the components listed would lead to an issue with the 12v charging system as MHO they are talking *******s and trying to connect unrelated issues.

I’m not 100% sure on the newer hybrid models, but on every single other VAG car, the Soundaktor is on the firewall, underneath the scuttle panel.

If liquid has been spilled on the shifter area, how do the two correlate???

As others have said, issues with battery charging aren’t uncommon, but are in no way related to this - that’s what fuses are for.

Skoda (and everyone else) will do absolutely everything in their power to not honour the warranty - otherwise they don’t make any money. I’m not entirely sure about previous comments on whether you spilled the liquid or not (obviously this is a public forum), however regardless it is a classic tactic to blame a problem on something unrelated (often that you did). I.E. my car went to SEAT for a clunking noise, turned out to be a rock in the subframe an Indie found, but SEAT spent all day replacing the instrument cluster glass…

We are only getting this second hand but the OP appears to eventually say that the repairs supposedly needed due to liquid spillage are not being claimed to be the cause of the charging problem:

22 hours ago, coalminer said:

The issue relating to not charging is separate and not caused by the liquid

It's the usual story of having to request relevant information peacemeal whilst disregarding what has been written but irrelevant.

We still don't know what repairs they are wanting to do in regard of the spillage because what was written after "repairs" was simply an observation that liquid was present, are any of these systems not functioning?

As the garage it seems will not carry out the repairs without an authorisation of payment then the OP has no problems in this regard unless they have yet to reveal that these systems are not working.

Given that its a lease car they might be charged at the end of the lease, if everything (v battery charging aside) is working then they should simply clean off the residue instead of challenging how it got there.

In their shoes I would be reading the lease T&C's.

3 hours ago, coalminer said:

Repairs:

Liquid spilt over selector lever including cable end

Liquid spilt over shift control

Liquid spilt over sound generator

Total cost £1800

Repairs have not been done yet as not authorised by us or Skoda

@coalminer was the taken to the Dealership for any other reason than the 12volt charging issue?

37 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

@coalminer was the taken to the Dealership for any other reason than the 12volt charging issue?

No

You're sure there were no signs of liquid on the outside? I wonder why Skoda went into there then... likely they read a fault code relating to the selector or something.

You'll need to look at the T&Cs - you only rent the car and don't own it, so there will likely be a provision that all relating damage must be fixed blah blah (which, of course, is down to the warranty provider, Skoda, to determine).

You should in theory only be charged for a cleaning bill upon return, but if the shifter area has thrown a code then that's another story...

19 minutes ago, coalminer said:

No

In that case, and if everything is working as it should be (which I assume to be the case since it wasn't taken to the dealer for a fault related to the shifter), decline those particular repairs and ask for the vehicle back. Then carry on as normal?

If necessary you could clean the area yourself and the relevant connectors but if there are no functional issues then leave them be. I may be, as @OccyVRS has suggested they plugged a code reader in and found a historic logged fault code that hasn't been cleared and is causing no issues but decided to investigate anyway off their own back to try and create some work / income..

There were no issues other than the battery, until it went into the dealership. They then said they ran a diagnostics check and that’s when the fault came up.

It had also been into the dealership approximately 1 month before for the same battery issue and nothing picked up with regards to the spillage on this occasion. The car was sent back as being repaired with no fault codes remaining

If that's the case and you know you haven't spilt anything then as said above reject the repairs they are suggesting in relation to the shifter - and maybe ask them slyly why they investigated something unconnected with your 12v issue without notifying you and what their technician has spilt 😁.

Once you have the car back it should be possible to get someone else to scan for any shifter related codes, clear them (if the dealer hasn't already done so to cover their tracks) and see if they come back.

Edited 19 March, 20251 yr by skomaz

Sorry I can’t help with the repair issue, but would like to know more about the 12v issue as mine is going back AGAIN next week

12 x 12v errors since beginning of Feb.

Had the car since December 2023 and they really don’t want me rejecting it.