Electric Drive Not Working Correctly - Please Visit Workshop

[andycalvia]

Seat Leon FR Sport PHEV registered 29/06/2021. 3 year manufacturer's warranty expired 29/06/2024, 8 year battery warranty still in place plus manufacturer's extended warrany purchased for 1 year expires 29/06/2025.

PROGRESS REPORT

So my car developed this fault about 2 months ago now, had to wait 1 month for a slot to get it looked at at the dealer.

The car went into them on the 30/09/2024 and I was provided a courtesy car.

An initial inspection happened the next day and I was informed it looked as if the coolant from the electric drive system was leaking onto the batteries but further diagnosis was required.

Was told there would be a charge of £470 for the diagnosis if the fault is not covered under warranty.

Today marks one month exactly of them having the car and still I am awaiting a diagnosis of the fault. They need 2 master technicians to work on the vehicle at any one time and due to holiday, sickness etc my car is still in the queue to be looked at, I've been informed it will be at least another week before a diagnosis can be offered.

I've started this thread, to enable others who have similar issues to get a realistic expectation of what this fault entails in terms of timescales, potential issues and potential costs involved.

Looking across the various VAG forums, this fault seems to be increasingly common.

 

[mrtndbs]

Best of luck buddy.. I've actually had this very same warning appear once, vents on full blast but that was most probably due to me plugging the home charger via an extension cord. Silly mistake, I've learned from it. After a hard reset of the vehicle = unplugging the 12V battery, car works fine since. I hope in my case it was just a question of incorrect readings or delivery of juice to the car.. Future will tell in any case, thanks for creating this thread, hopefully car will be back with you in no time!

 

[Richiepoos]

I've just had that error appear this morning along with, front assist unavailable, lane assist unavailable and SOS error. Trying to get it booked into dealers now but hoping it'll unshit itself after being left alone all day.

 

[andycalvia]

I've just had that error appear this morning along with, front assist unavailable, lane assist unavailable and SOS error. Trying to get it booked into dealers now but hoping it'll unshit itself after being left alone all day.

The front assist and lane assist errors are quite common this time of year, due to a build up of condensation on the sensors.

It may not be linked to the other two errors but fingers crossed.

 

[Richiepoos]

The front assist and lane assist errors are quite common this time of year, due to a build up of condensation on the sensors.

It may not be linked to the other two errors but fingers crossed.

Thanks! Those two buggered off when I stopped it and started it again. It's booked in tomorrow morning but no courtesy car available so hopefully it'll be sorted within the day (next available courtesy car was 18th Nov!!)

 

[Richiepoos]

Took it in and left it with Cupra - got a text at about 4 saying the car was ready. Went up to get it and was told that the faults were logged and the ECU had a software update and I was to monitor it going forward!

 

[mrtndbs]

Took it in and left it with Cupra - got a text at about 4 saying the car was ready. Went up to get it and was told that the faults were logged and the ECU had a software update and I was to monitor it going forward!flad

Glad they got it resolved at first sight. Hopefully the update is a permanent fix. Please do keep us posted! Just goes to show how our ECUs don’t get updated enough and the only solution is to take the car to the official garage every now and again..

 

[Richiepoos]

Glad they got it resolved at first sight. Hopefully the update is a permanent fix. Please do keep us posted! Just goes to show how our ECUs don’t get updated enough and the only solution is to take the car to the official garage every now and again..

Annoying thing is that it was there less than a fortnight previous getting it's first service!!

 

[andycalvia]

STATUS : Resolved
FAULT: High Voltage Coolant Heater
REPAIR COST: £0 (Battery Warranty)
TIME TAKEN: 6 Weeks and 5 days

So just a quick update. I finally have my car back. Despite initial concerns the fault turned out to be with the High Voltage Coolant Heater which has now been replaced under the 8 year/100,000 mile battery warranty.

Upon asking for an estimate of what the cost would have been had it not been covered under warranty, it was roughly broken down as:

£570 Diagnosis
£740 New Part
+ 4 Hours Labour
TOTAL: £1600 (approximately)

 

[SRGTD]

@andycalvia: good to hear it’s finally been sorted - even better, at no cost to you. It’s just a shame it took nearly seven weeks.

 

[andycalvia]

It's back.....

This time it's yellow.

Stay tuned for updates.

 

[andycalvia]

And today, another new fault.

This car is definitely the worst I've ever owned in terms of reliability.

Last Seat/VAG car for me

 

[BoomerBoom]

Either a full ICE or EV is the way to go, having a hybrid means both in one car and there's twice as much to go wrong, plus all the bits to integrate each system together.

Previously it wouldn't really matter while the car was in warranty but, with the drastic reduction in dealership network and Seat's stingy approach to authorising repairs, even that is too big a risk now.

I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to own a VAG hybrid when it's out of warranty, the repair bills will be ruinous.

 

[andycalvia]

Either a full ICE or EV is the way to go, having a hybrid means both in one car and there's twice as much to go wrong, plus all the bits to integrate each system together.

Previously it wouldn't really matter while the car was in warranty but, with the drastic reduction in dealership network and Seat's stingy approach to authorising repairs, even that is too big a risk now.

I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to own a VAG hybrid when it's out of warranty, the repair bills will be ruinous.

I took the extended warranty and so far I'm glad I have. The car is literally one warranty rejection away from being scrap.

This appears on first glance to be linked to the previous warranty work, so I shall keep my fingers crossed and hope that when the dealer looks at it, it's confirmed.

 

[andycalvia]

Update:

Car is booked in for the 17th April, to diagnose the faults. Until then, the car is parked up and going nowhere.