Whilst refilling the washer fluid, I noticed hairline cracks running along the top of the right hand headlight casing. These run pretty much the full length of casing, and in places the crack goes right through so that the integrity of the unit is breached.

Looking at the left hand headlight I found the same, although the cracks haven’t broken through yet.

Needless to say I haven’t been involved in an accident at any point, nor am I in the habit of slamming the bonnet shut etc. Has anyone else suffered from this?

The car is a late 2022 vRS Diesel, so still under warranty. I’m going to speak to the Dealer re. repair/replacement under warranty (although I can’t imagine they are repairable).

I have tried taking photos, but they don’t show up clearly.

Hi.

This is a known issue. The issue is in the bonnet not being correctly set causing too much pressure on the casing when you close it.

Hmm, just noticed this too on my car. When you say known problem, does that mean they have taken ownership of it and are replacing them?

3 hours ago, TheUltraRunner said:

Hi.

This is a known issue. The issue is in the bonnet not being correctly set causing too much pressure on the casing when you close it.

Right, thanks for that. Will the bonnet need adjusting too?

7 hours ago, vfr said:

Hmm, just noticed this too on my car. When you say known problem, does that mean they have taken ownership of it and are replacing them?

Not sure. I just saw quite a few reports of the same issue in different Skoda groups on Facebook.

5 hours ago, chur1996 said:

Right, thanks for that. Will the bonnet need adjusting too?

Yes.

You can check the two rubber stoppers that are mounted on the each fender. If they are screwed all the way in, you can try to unscrew them a bit. This can help. But maybe also the lock on the front will need to be adjusted.

I’ll let the Dealership sort it I think.

Booked in for examination in a few week’s time. Usual frosty reception when ‘Warranty Work’ was mentioned, along with a degree of scepticism.

There’s a £168 ‘Diagnostic Fee’ to pay if they deem it isn’t a warranty issue either.

Yeah. I feel you. It's really pain in the a** to deal with warranty claims.

Driver’s side headlight. The crack runs mostly along the ‘corrugated’ section.

Passenger side.

Hello can anyone let me know if the dealer did authorise an exchange? The broken lights under warranty as I am currently experiencing issues getting one sorted and they are being nothing but awkward pretty much straight refusing to sort the problem out thank you... to buy the lights brand-new they are £948 each and they are pretty hard to source a secondhand without being damaged

Edited 21 October, 202521 Oct by Yoda_the_blue_skoda

On 21/08/2025 at 05:04, TheUltraRunner said:

Not sure. I just saw quite a few reports of the same issue in different Skoda groups on Facebook.

Hello, sorry to bother you. Would it be possible if you could get me the link for the group with them? Will discuss discussing the matter please? Thank you.

37 minutes ago, Yoda_the_blue_skoda said:

Hello can anyone let me know if the dealer did authorise an exchange? The broken lights under warranty as I am currently experiencing issues getting one sorted and they are being nothing but awkward pretty much straight refusing to sort the problem out thank you... to buy the lights brand-new they are £948 each and they are pretty hard to source a secondhand without being damaged

Still waiting for an update from Skoda actually, I’ll chase them up - it’s been about six weeks now.

Headlight salt…?

Fault...sorry

On 21/10/2025 at 15:15, Yoda_the_blue_skoda said:

Fault...sorry

No, not yet

So: spoke to the garage today.

Long story short, it’s still being ‘looked into’ by Skoda UK.

Interestingly though, they said that they had no record on their systems of anybody reporting a similar problem before. I pointed out that I had found a number of people via Online Forums with the same problem.

SO: if anyone has made an official complaint/warranty claim attempt regarding cracks along the top of their headlight(s) (and not just condensation/water vapour inside the units) then please can they let me know?

Any official reference numbers, dates of correspondence etc. would assist, you can PM details to me if not comfortable posting in public.

Many thanks!

On 17/11/2025 at 18:01, chur1996 said:

So: spoke to the garage today.

Long story short, it’s still being ‘looked into’ by Skoda UK.

Interestingly though, they said that they had no record on their systems of anybody reporting a similar problem before. I pointed out that I had found a number of people via Online Forums with the same problem.

SO: if anyone has made an official complaint/warranty claim attempt regarding cracks along the top of their headlight(s) (and not just condensation/water vapour inside the units) then please can they let me know?

Any official reference numbers, dates of correspondence etc. would assist, you can PM details to me if not comfortable posting in public.

Many thanks!

For some reason, my account won't let me message you, but feel free to message me

Any more luck with this?? I’m experiencing the same issue with my Mk IV Octavia VRS, looks like an identical fault, but the local dealer is saying that it’s damaged and therefore not covered under Warranty! Although they even admitted in the workshop that they couldn’t find any signs of damage anywhere else and therefore couldn’t explain the cracks in the casings!! They even used a paint thickness gauge in-front of me which obviously showed no anomalies as if they were expecting to find that it had been damaged and resprayed!

Waiting for them to get back to me and attached images for reference below.

Drivers side

Passenger side

I cant message on here

Email address removed by Briskoda staff

This is my email

Emil removed by Briskoda staff.

It is not a good idea to post personal information like this online.

On 10/12/2025 at 23:20, Brucey24 said:

Any more luck with this?? I’m experiencing the same issue with my Mk IV Octavia VRS, looks like an identical fault, but the local dealer is saying that it’s damaged and therefore not covered under Warranty! Although they even admitted in the workshop that they couldn’t find any signs of damage anywhere else and therefore couldn’t explain the cracks in the casings!! They even used a paint thickness gauge in-front of me which obviously showed no anomalies as if they were expecting to find that it had been damaged and resprayed!

Waiting for them to get back to me and attached images for reference below.

Drivers side

Passenger side

I need to chase them up, been busy with work/Christmas etc. I’ll try this week 👍🏻

I’ve had a reply from Skoda advising that they won’t cover it under Warranty, but will cover 50% of the costs as a good will gesture! They’re basically trying to say that it’s been involved in a low level impact which has caused the cracks to both sides of the headlights 🤷🏻‍♂️!

I know some people on here and other forums have suggested that they have had this issue covered under warranty. If that’s the case can anyone who has had this covered advise as to which Skoda branch they went to or supply any evidence of having it sorted under warranty, so that I can build a case against Skoda?

21 hours ago, Brucey24 said:

I’ve had a reply from Skoda advising that they won’t cover it under Warranty, but will cover 50% of the costs as a good will gesture! They’re basically trying to say that it’s been involved in a low level impact which has caused the cracks to both sides of the headlights 🤷🏻‍♂️!

I know some people on here and other forums have suggested that they have had this issue covered under warranty. If that’s the case can anyone who has had this covered advise as to which Skoda branch they went to or supply any evidence of having it sorted under warranty, so that I can build a case against Skoda?

A quite ridiculous ‘explanation’ for the problem. So the only damage caused was to the headlights, and not your bodywork?

Yep exactly what I’ve said to them, absolutely no signs of damage anywhere else and they’re trying to say that it must have been involved in a slow speed front end collision which has caused the bumper to flex slightly but gone back into position and only caused the damage to the headlights!

Ridiculous really, I’m still awaiting a response to my latest email.