Water leaks outside warranty?

[grayham]

Hi all. I've had the familiar water leakage problems with my 2001Y Leon Cupra. My local dealers (who I believe to be good people) initially suggested that the only way to be sure of fixing it was (approx. prices):

- £300 for new ancilliary carrier seals on all four doors
- £200 for new bulkhead seals (they couldn't be sure that they were leaking, but reasoned that the amount of water ingress was unlikely to be caused only by failed door seals), plus
-£300 for new carpets and sound deadening.

I was hoping that they might be wrong about the bulkhead seals, and also the need for new carpets and soundproofing, so have sealed the ancilliary carriers myself with silicone. This appears to have done the trick - I've tested the doors and can't see any water coming in.

However, after heavy rain, there's definitely some moisture in the driver's footwell, and consequent misting on the windows. Not a lot, but definitely some, and definitely only after rain. So I don't think it's just residual moisture in the foam. I don't have the time or garage space to try pulling out the seats, carpets etc. myself in order to confirm the precise location of the leak.

So... now I'm faced with paying £500 for new bulkhead seals and carpets etc. Seat UK have refused to help with the cost, since it's 4.5 years old, and well outside the warranty period. Has anyone had any luck with similar claims? As far as I can tell, the Sales of Goods Act applies, since I bought it less than 6 years ago (actually 2 years ago, from a dealer in Derby), and any "reasonable person" would expect such a car to be impervious to rainwater. So it was clearly supplied to me "unfit for purpose". The problem is, of course, that the sale was between me and that particular dealer (which is about 1.5 hours from me), not Seat UK.

I've not contacted the dealer from whom I bought it yet, simply because I'm pretty sure that they'll say "oh, that's a shame, bring it in for us to look at it", which will be a big old pain. Then they're likely to say "oh dear, looks like your seal has gone. That's a wear and tear thing though, not our responsibility, you have to pay". Then I'd have to decide whether to try to fight them legally, and frankly I'm not sure that I can be arsed.

So - anyone got any relevant tales to tell from similar circumstances?

Cheers. Oh, and hello all - I think this is my first post here, though I've read the forum lots on-and-off over the last year or so.

Graham

 

[paul h]

i wouldn't replace the carpets myself just leave them somewhere warm for a week or so to dry out or try a local scrapyard for a secondhand one

 

[grayham]

Well, I don't actually think that there's anything much wrong with my carpets - when there's no rain for a day or two, there's no misting on the windows in the morning, all is fine. So I don't really hold with the "it's ruined, must replace or remove and dry" theory - I'm still optimistic that if the leak weren't there, all would be well.

The dealer said, though, that since the water seems to be coming in under the carpet in the driver's footwell, it's impossible to trace the exact cause without removing the carpets and foam. I assume that a good part of the £300 for carpets and foam is labour, so maybe they figure that fitting new stuff isn't much more expensive than the labour plus drying out old stuff. Maybe I should ask them how much it would be to lift the old stuff and try tracing / fixing without fitting new.

Cheers Paul.

 

[paul h]

i wouldn't imagine it's that big a job to lift the carpets yourself tbh.would save you quite abit of cash.
The Leon is well known for leaking water so they should at least offer to help with some of the costs

 

[chriz1]

the dealers recommended you change the carpets for one reason to get more cash out of you,if it was still in warranty i bet they would of said the carpets didnt need changing!

 

[Pabs]

Slightly off topic:
When work flooded we had to change ALL carpets by law due to the fact that legionaires disease can be carried in rain water...... ANYTHING that may have been touched by the rainwater was thrown away and NOT sold on...

Totally off topic - Everytime I see a post by "Paul H" i think its me posting cos thats my name too! LOL

 

[paul h]

Slightly off topic:
When work flooded we had to change ALL carpets by law due to the fact that legionaires disease can be carried in rain water...... ANYTHING that may have been touched by the rainwater was thrown away and NOT sold on...

Totally off topic - Everytime I see a post by "Paul H" i think its me posting cos thats my name too! LOL

good name

 

[JohnBeard]

My door seals went and my dealer charged me £500 for replacing them and giving me new carpets - they didn't do the bulkhead seals, I don't think, so hopefully they won't go at some stage!

 

[Wheely]

the dealers recommended you change the carpets for one reason to get more cash out of you,if it was still in warranty i bet they would of said the carpets didnt need changing!

Correct. When my old LC was done, I found the carpets hanging over the radiators in the main showroom !!! As long as they're not degraded they get dried and reused.

I also followed this thread for a door seal leak on the TDI110, :

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=44216&highlight=door+seal+repair


...and never saw a drip afterwards.

MARK

 

[mik]

It may just be a windscreen leak. This was the cause of 14months leaking nightmare with my car.

See THIS THREAD

 

[Cupra_power]

I have just had my door seals & incorrectly replaced Pollen filter fixed by Camberley SEAT today. I got 50 % contribution to the cost from SEAT and my car is a 02 model.

So SEAT will contribute , do not let the Dealer give you a bullsh&t story as Camberley tried last year when I asked about it, but after getting proof from Autoglass about the leak that is was a poorly fitted Pollen filter not a windscreen leak and the door leak( which I asked the to check before), they finally saw the light. Seems even 03 models are getting the rain leak from the doors problem.

 

[WaveyDaveyGravy]

Mine's an 05 model and my rear passenger footwell turns very wet after rain. Going to dealers next week.

 

[deezal]

My old Ibiza was leaking water into drivers footwell for months,rear footwell damp as well, I didnt replace the carpets just lifted it slightly and put newspapers underneath and turned the heater on and it was fine after taht . Why replace it unless its smelling so bad you cant stand it ?

 

[m0rk]

My money is on the pollen filter / windscreen (especially if it's been replaced) as others have suggested

you can dry it out easily enough - I whipped my seats out of the ibiza & stuck an electric heater in there with the windows open 1/2" to let the heat & moisture out.

2 days later (and someone elses electric bill) it was dry

 

[deezal]

Other course of action (less practical and more expensive) would be go and live somewhere where it hardly ever rains

 

[redarosa]

water leaks / wet carpets

I have now had 3 of the 4 doors leak on my '02 Toledo. Additionally I had the leaking pollen filter problem and I now have a leaking rubber seal in the plenum chamber under the plastic electrical grommet.

I fixed each of the doors myself with a tube of silicone and am having a couple of failes attempts so far to fix the problem in the plenum which is causing water to run down under the dash under the steering whell onto the driver's footwell after heavy rain. However, I won't let it beat me; someday my dream is to have a dry toledo !!

As regards wet carpets, I have had all 4 footwells soaked many times with rainwater - the carpet is no problem as it is very thin and porpous; it is the soundproofing pads underneath that soak water literally like sponges. The one good thing about rainwater is that it is CLEAN - it does not leave a bad smell once it has dried fully unlike water from the road, which is both filthy and very smelly and destroys the soundproofing permanently (as on an old FIAT I had once).

To dry your carpets / soundproofing pads, just remove the plastic trim strips along the inside of the door sills (very easy to do, only 1 screw and a few plastics clips), leave them off for a few days / weeks, depending on the severity of the problem, and you will be able to get your hands in under the carpet / pads to feel how much water you have in there.

Then place a full newspaper underneath the soundproofing pad, leave it for a day and then remove the sogging newspaper and replace with a new dry newspaper. Keep doing this daily until the newspaper is still dry after 24 hours.

Another material that is almost as good as newspaper but recyclable many times is 'floor cleaning cloths' that are sold in LIDL. These are highly absorbant thick synthetic white cloths that soak up vast amounts of water very quickly .....leave them in there on the steel floor as before for 12-24 hours and then remove the wet cloth and dry it out on your domestic radiators, while you put another dry one in there; keep cycling them until they come out dry.

Dont put the trim back until you are sure that the steel floor under the soundproofing stays dry for several days (preferably after heavy rain / garden sprinkler)....easily monitored by sticking your hand in under the carpet on each side.

Good luck in your drying out !!

 

[WaveyDaveyGravy]

Turns out mine was also leaking from the scuttle panel, running down the accelerator pedal and then back to the rear footwell. Got it back now so hoping that the dealer has done a good job!

 

[markmck]

I've had the polen filter cover incorrectly fitted issue a number of times.

Now I get greated with a gush of water when I open the door driver and passenger side fronts. It looks like the water is getting trapped between the door and seal as it doesn't wet the carpet.

Any ideas on how to let the water run out rather than accumulating?

 

[IBD]

Mines wet in the rear passenger footwell too, so looks like I need to do a dose of experimentation work.

 

[WaveyDaveyGravy]

Turns out mine was also leaking from the scuttle panel, running down the accelerator pedal and then back to the rear footwell. Got it back now so hoping that the dealer has done a good job!

First heavy rain since I got it back - soaking rear footwell.

Oh cruel fate, why do you mock me so?