Door bent by ice buildup

[310CUP]

It seems there might be an issue with the car in cold weather. Apparently ice forms inside the door and by that I managed to bend the corner of a front door. Safe to say not feeling happy, since it was impossible to see from the outside before you open the door. Seems like a design issue on draining side, because the block of ice formed was massive (hence the bent door). I will be visiting the dealer tomorrow - to address the bent door and hopefully more importantly - how to fix the issue of it happening again. Looking it up in the internet revealed VW has had the same issue in the past and some models had a TSB issued, that included fixing a foam block in that location to not let the ice form. So I would like to hope this falls under warranty. But anyways - something to look out for when driving in the winter for Leon owners.

 

[SRGTD]

That’s not good .

You‘re correct - bent doors through ice build up was an issue on the mk5 Golf in countries that have very cold winters. The mk6 and mk7 Golf did have a foam insert in that location but it was replaced with a hard plastic insert on the mk7.5 Golf. I think there were concerns that the foam becoming wet and retaining water would cause corrosion issues over the longer term - the foam insert was permanently saturated with water during winter months on the mk6 Golf GTD that I owned, and it also got saturated every time I washed the car. However, I can’t recall ever seeing a mk6 or mk7 Golf with corrosion on that lower section of the front wing - mine was still corrosion-free when I sold the car after nearly five years of ownership.

Please provide an update after you’ve visited your dealer.

 

[BigJase88]

Quality

 

[310CUP]

Visited the dealer. They understood the issue and my point, but their first reaction (from their experience) was, that Cupra will probably not accept this issue under warranty. Whatever way I look at it, I don't see this as my fault, or an "unexplained event" - the issue seems clear, and taking into account the same problem with previous VW models, even more so. So we will see, what comes out of it. Oh - and most likely fixing the bend won't be an easy "flex it back".

 

[Vinny2102]

As an addition to this, my cupra leon phev estate has to go down as the worst car I have ever driven in the snow it is absolutely useless and cant get up even the slightest incline. Tried it in battery mode, petrol, hybrid, dsc on, off, sport but to no avail. Just abandoned it after several attempts andwalked home.

 

[oldgitdave]

As an addition to this, my cupra leon phev estate has to go down as the worst car I have ever driven in the snow it is absolutely useless and cant get up even the slightest incline. Tried it in battery mode, petrol, hybrid, dsc on, off, sport but to no avail. Just abandoned it after several attempts andwalked home.

I'm going to put some decent all weather tyres on mine (Cupra Formentor phev) as I find the Bridgestone Turanza T005's terrible in any weather tbh. All weather's transformed my missus's fwd car in the snow and we only put them on the front. Obviously winter tyres would be a step better again but then there's the cost of changing every year, or having a second set of wheels and then you have to be able to store them. For me all weather's are a great compromise.

 

[310CUP]

The issue with the door was solved a couple of months later with a new door and a paintjob. To all that are interested - Cupra did not recognize it as a warranty case (!), but the dealer was kind to accept the issue and do the repair. All in all - I'm glad it got sorted, but safe to say I'm not feeling confident in the upcoming winter and warranty terms, and probably will check the door sills more than a normal person should.

It's worth mentioning, that the ice build up was not a one-time thing. It happened 2-3 times during the winter, but since now I was aware of the problem, I kept an eye on it and used warm water to melt the ice down before opening the door (funny enough - I did not find a chapter on that procedure in the owner's manual and did not know it was a prerequisite for owning this car ).

For anyone living in a colder climate, I would suggest keeping an eye on this issue and would be good to know, if other people have had that problem.

Added a couple of photos, how the build-up looked at other times.