Cupra Leon 2025 PHEV 12v issues

[nch45167]

Hi, I have the 272 Cupra Leon Estate and after just 2 weeks have had a total failure due to the 12V battery.
After much arguing with Cupra Assist they have taken it to the dealership who advise me that they currently have 3 (yes three) Leons in with the same issue.
Cupra Assist (AA) diagnosed dead battery cells however the dealership are saying the battery is fine and it appears to be a known issue (they have a TPI??) to correct this.
They are applying the updates and will wait 24 hours to ensure the battery does hold its charge.
The potential obstacle for them completing the repair is that they do not have the necessary equipment to recalibrate the matrix headlights??

Does this sound familiar to anyone - having had Seat Leons previously which worked without fault I am more than a little disappointed in a car failing with just 604 miles on the clock.Warning lights

 

[Seastormer]

Hi, I have the 272 Cupra Leon Estate and after just 2 weeks have had a total failure due to the 12V battery.
After much arguing with Cupra Assist they have taken it to the dealership who advise me that they currently have 3 (yes three) Leons in with the same issue.
Cupra Assist (AA) diagnosed dead battery cells however the dealership are saying the battery is fine and it appears to be a known issue (they have a TPI??) to correct this.
They are applying the updates and will wait 24 hours to ensure the battery does hold its charge.
The potential obstacle for them completing the repair is that they do not have the necessary equipment to recalibrate the matrix headlights??

Does this sound familiar to anyone - having had Seat Leons previously which worked without fault I am more than a little disappointed in a car failing with just 604 miles on the clock.Warning lights

Try posting/searching in the Leon threads of the CUPRA car forums as this one is for web site problems not your car.

 

[James_R]

We had 4 PHEV Cupra Leon estates that we took of VWG UK, oddly enough, all 4 needed new 12v batteries.

 

[Nquit]

I have the exact same problem and a similar car as the person who started this thread.

I had my car for about 3½ months before this issue started, and honestly, it’s been a complete nightmare.
AA came out and managed to start the car the first time. I then took it to an authorized Cupra mechanic, who investigated the issue. I was told that my car has a TPI (Technical Product Information notice), and that there was nothing they could do about it at the moment.

They completely ignored my comments about receiving multiple warnings that my 12V battery was low.

Eventually, I got the car back because the mechanic said they weren’t allowed to do anything yet. It worked fine for six days, but now I’m experiencing daily issues. It’s gotten to the point where the infotainment system shuts off because of the low 12V battery—and still, no one is taking responsibility. They're just shrugging their shoulders.

I was literally handed back a car that won’t start without a power booster, and now I have to hook it up myself every morning just to get to work.

 

[nch45167]

I have the exact same problem and a similar car as the person who started this thread.

I had my car for about 3½ months before this issue started, and honestly, it’s been a complete nightmare.
AA came out and managed to start the car the first time. I then took it to an authorized Cupra mechanic, who investigated the issue. I was told that my car has a TPI (Technical Product Information notice), and that there was nothing they could do about it at the moment.

They completely ignored my comments about receiving multiple warnings that my 12V battery was low.

Eventually, I got the car back because the mechanic said they weren’t allowed to do anything yet. It worked fine for six days, but now I’m experiencing daily issues. It’s gotten to the point where the infotainment system shuts off because of the low 12V battery—and still, no one is taking responsibility. They're just shrugging their shoulders.

I was literally handed back a car that won’t start without a power booster, and now I have to hook it up myself every morning just to get to work.

Thanks for the reply.
Think we are in the same situation. Since I originally posted, the battery failed a second time at the dealership so a new battery was provided. The vehicle remained with the dealership as the matrix lights had not been fixed but within 48hrs of the new battery that failed.
On Friday the dealership advised me that Cupra have told them to postpone all further work until they have a fix.
Cups will provide a hire car (I know that's not the point) but might save you having to jump out daily.
I picked to the car on 6 June and the dealership have had it longer than I have.
Keep me updated with your progress and I will do the same. This is a widespread issue and like you say, no one is taking responsibility.

 

[Timeoutformike]

Has anyone else had this issue had an update? Picked my car up at the end of May 3 weeks ago Handed my car back to Cupra dealer as the 12v kept draining. Have been given a formentor. But I'm pretty annoyed as it's not the car or quality I bought for myself.

Tempted to ask for a full replacement or my money back at this point.

 

[James_R]

There is going to be a software update suite released at some point, but it is not currently available.

 

[Timeoutformike]

There is going to be a software update suite released at some point, but it is not currently available.

I’ve been told “at some point” by the dealer, but surely this isn’t good enough for those of us who have spent a lot of money on cars that are now not fit for purpose?

My main frustration is that no one seems to know when the issue will actually be fixed. In the meantime, the hire car I’ve been given is costing me a fortune in fuel and isn’t anywhere near the same spec as the one I bought. On top of that, I’m still paying insurance for a car I can’t even drive.

Thank you for your comment I completely understand you are just handing what little information you have and that's really appreciated. I'm just fed up and frustrated.

 

[James_R]

Seat and Cupra seem to be 12/18 months behind VW with these issues. The PV2.2+ update for VW was supposed to be released in Q3 last year, it was eventually released late Q4. The PV4 update for VW is already available so I can only assume the other brands aren't far behind.

The customer services team are the best people to register your concerns with.

 

[James_R]

You're welcome to DM me your VIN and I'll see what the latest version of the update information says.

 

[Timeoutformike]

Seat and Cupra seem to be 12/18 months behind VW with these issues. The PV2.2+ update for VW was supposed to be released in Q3 last year, it was eventually released late Q4. The PV4 update for VW is already available so I can only assume the other brands aren't far behind.

The customer services team are the best people to register your concerns with.

Yeah in my homework I've seen that VW had similar issues with some of their cars.
If Cupra and Seat are 12-18 months behind this doesn't give me good feelings towards this being sorted anytime soon.
I've raised this with both the dealer and Cupra customer services.

Thank you for your comments. It just seems a shame I love the car and spent a while deciding on what I wanted.

 

[Nic4908]

Hi. Just today had the same issue with a formentor 204 phev. Total dead on 12v. Only had it a week but not used it for 36h and not ran the engine much. The vag group tech came out, boost started and checked the alternator and hv>lv charging was going in. Mentioned the tpi but came with the advice to NOT PLUG IN HV CHARGER SIGNIFICANTLY BEFORE THE SCHEDULED CHARGE as this is the root cause of the 12v drainage.

I will monitor and report back in a few days

 

[nch45167]

Hi. Just today had the same issue with a formentor 204 phev. Total dead on 12v. Only had it a week but not used it for 36h and not ran the engine much. The vag group tech came out, boost started and checked the alternator and hv>lv charging was going in. Mentioned the tpi but came with the advice to NOT PLUG IN HV CHARGER SIGNIFICANTLY BEFORE THE SCHEDULED CHARGE as this is the root cause of the 12v drainage.

I will monitor and report back in a few days

I do think there is some truth in this - if I plug in say late afternoon and then Octopus takes over the charging schedule and communicates with the car on and off over night, there have been numerous times when the Cupra App is unable to connect with the car (even when not charging) and I do put this down to low 12V battery issues. Still clearly some fault within their software. The sooner we can rely on Cupra scheduling instead of third party solutions the better.

 

[Nic4908]

Hi. Just reporting after a good week and a half of only plugging in about an hour before charging schedule and an hour after cheap period ends, things have been normal. I’ve even put the keys even further away from the front door, as the keys seem to set off the lights.

 

[Werdna123]

Hi. Just reporting after a good week and a half of only plugging in about an hour before charging schedule and an hour after cheap period ends, things have been normal. I’ve even put the keys even further away from the front door, as the keys seem to set off the lights.

I mean not really a solution, I don’t fancy getting out of bed at 11:30am and 4:30am to start and stop charging manually….

 

[Nic4908]

I mean not really a solution, I don’t fancy getting out of bed at 11:30am and 4:30am to start and stop charging manually….

For sure it’s not a solution, it’s a work-around, until this much fabled update arrives, meaning I don’t have to hand the car back to the garage and drive something else. I probably did sound like I was living like an owl. But, to clear, I still have scheduled charging 11:30 til 5:30. I plug in ~10:30 and unplug 7:30 and all is good. If I’m relatively high charge and just topping up, I use the limit ac current option to avoid long periods of non-charging.

 

[Werdna123]

For sure it’s not a solution, it’s a work-around, until this much fabled update arrives, meaning I don’t have to hand the car back to the garage and drive something else. I probably did sound like I was living like an owl. But, to clear, I still have scheduled charging 11:30 til 5:30. I plug in ~10:30 and unplug 7:30 and all is good. If I’m relatively high charge and just topping up, I use the limit ac current option to avoid long periods of non-charging.

True, feeling rather irritated by the whole thing. Just had to refuse mine being taken into workshop because they wouldn’t provide a courtesy car.

Only got the car because of low BIK and fact that my journeys are mostly 60mi but sometimes further, boss wouldn’t be happy if a brand new car starts costing company money for hire cars. The last car I had caused grief too and that was a mild hybrid (Renault).

Leon has been faultless since August, am wondering if low temp is causing 12v to show its failings. I’ve charged HV every day to 80% apart from weekends but last couple of days I’ve been working further afield and doing more miles so returning home after an hour of 0% driving. It usually gets plugged in around 6pm and I just forget about it until the morning. Car always has full charge when AA has boosted so I know it’s taking the charge. Just the 12v is dead.

waiting for dealership to tell me they have a hire car available then hopefully get it to workshop.

Considering getting a timer switch and just using the granny charger not what I signed up for but like you said “it’s a work around” also means more cost as can’t risk a cheap timer burning in the socket.

Only alternative is to plug it in. Let it kill the battery and phone assist. Get them to recover the car and provide onward journey assistance otherwise dealing with dealerships and getting a courtesy car whilst they look into this issue is not how I want to spend my Christmas break. What a **** show. If it wasn’t for ridiculous BIK rates on a diesel and new emissions tech, I’d go back in a heartbeat. My 2016 Leon FR was faultless for 90,000 miles!

 

[Nquit]

Hi all,

I was active in this thread around 8 months ago regarding the same issue that quite a few of us seem to be experiencing.

My latest experience unfortunately hasn’t been great either — and it feels like many of us are still in the same situation.

Back in August, just before going on holiday to the UK, I finally managed to get the dealership to replace the battery. However, it only took about 4 days before the new battery had drained completely to the point where nothing in the car worked. The alarm even started going off randomly and woke up the whole neighbourhood… more than once.

The car then stayed at the dealership for almost a full month. Cupra only managed to provide me with a replacement vehicle for 14 of those days, which nearly caused serious issues with my job.

I honestly don’t know what they did during that time, but they replaced the battery again and wiped all my personal settings in the car. After that, it actually worked fine for around 6 months — but now the same problems are back. Constant failures and a completely dead battery. It’s now so drained that I can’t even jump-start it with a booster.

I’ve seen some of you mention that Cupra might be 12–18 months behind VW in resolving these issues. Regardless of the reason, it’s really frustrating to own what feels like a “Sunday car” — a car you love when it works, but can’t rely on for daily use.

Sorry for the rant. I just needed to share this somewhere, as it honestly feels like we’re being somewhat ignored by the dealership.

I genuinely love the car when everything works as it should… but with moments like this, it ain't great.

Best regards,
Mike

 

[James_R]

Hi all,

I was active in this thread around 8 months ago regarding the same issue that quite a few of us seem to be experiencing.

My latest experience unfortunately hasn’t been great either — and it feels like many of us are still in the same situation.

Back in August, just before going on holiday to the UK, I finally managed to get the dealership to replace the battery. However, it only took about 4 days before the new battery had drained completely to the point where nothing in the car worked. The alarm even started going off randomly and woke up the whole neighbourhood… more than once.

The car then stayed at the dealership for almost a full month. Cupra only managed to provide me with a replacement vehicle for 14 of those days, which nearly caused serious issues with my job.

I honestly don’t know what they did during that time, but they replaced the battery again and wiped all my personal settings in the car. After that, it actually worked fine for around 6 months — but now the same problems are back. Constant failures and a completely dead battery. It’s now so drained that I can’t even jump-start it with a booster.

I’ve seen some of you mention that Cupra might be 12–18 months behind VW in resolving these issues. Regardless of the reason, it’s really frustrating to own what feels like a “Sunday car” — a car you love when it works, but can’t rely on for daily use.

Sorry for the rant. I just needed to share this somewhere, as it honestly feels like we’re being somewhat ignored by the dealership.

I genuinely love the car when everything works as it should… but with moments like this, it ain't great.

Best regards,
Mike

Have you had the latest software update suite installed by your dealer?

 

[nch45167]

Have you had the latest software update suite installed by your dealer?

I am due to have the update installed next month (my local dealership cannot do it as I have Matrix headlights so having to take it to a dealership about 40 miles away). Fortunately as it is on their system as requiring the update, the update and the hire car are free.
Once updated, what can I expect. I understand the 12v issues and the flickering internal lights should be fixed but will I get scheduling for charging etc?