Bought a 2019 and getting errors

[GhostSixFour]

Brand new to the forums, as it happens I suppose when you have issues.. This happens intermittently, I thought I had it narrowed down to when it is raining, but today it started before rain. Additionally, today I had an issue where the central locking stopped working completely, couldn't get into the car at all, but suddenly the windows all opened and we were able to reach inside and open the door that way.

My line of thinking was, that initially I thought it was a low battery giving me the christmas lights, then it all went away when we had a few days of dry weather. So I shifted my thinking to a faulty wheelspeed sensor or similar - I only have a very basic OBDII scanner that keeps giving me a ABS module error, but this error is there even if the errors isn't appearing on the dashboard.

Then, today the errors came back, even with no rain, but perhaps colder weather. So it seems that the battery could be a cuplrit. Especially with the central locking issue.

Anyone seen any similar issues? Any ideas? My central locking is still not working, opening and closing the door using the key. Can't try the reprogram dance as I have a start/stop button - no ignition to turn.

 

[RUM4MO]

One thing, and I don't have an Arona, you said that when you failed to be able to unlock the car, and then the windows opened, and you then reached in and opened the drivers door, you should not have been able to unlock a door by reaching in through the opened window, as the car should have been dead locked.

I'm guessing that why all the windows opened was that this function is enabled in most of the VW Group cars, ie, if you press and hold the unlock button, the windows will get opened, and the reverse is true, if you press and hold the lock button any of the windows that are open will close - I'm telling you this just in case you did not know this.

Also, I'm be quite confident that any ABS related faults will force the ABS light/indicator to flash and the dash to "tell you something". When you finally get into this car and, without pressing the brake pedal etc, then press the Start/Stop button, does the ABS light/indicator come on? I'm asking that just in case the previous owner had an ABS problem and covered up the ABS light/indicator.

A weak, under charged battery can cause all sorts of electrical problems - but you would need to get that battery tested before replacing it. My younger daughter's 2019 Arona 1.0TSI 115PS manual gearbox, suffered battery failure at the start of last winter, ie in October 2022 - now that, I think, was possibly due to that car having been bought by them as a used car, back in June 2022 and they did not use it very often. They got their motoring breakdown service (AA) to supply and fit a new Bosch EFB the same size as the one fitted by SEAT at the factory - the original battery was, I think, an Exide EFB.

Edit:- ah, the ABS light/indicator works, the engine being limited to 3000 rpm indicates that something is causing the engine to be in "limited operation" mode.

 

[GhostSixFour]

Thanks for the reply. The whole windows thing happened to my wife. But since it happened we haven't been able to lock or unlock the car using the key fob. And, when starting we need to press the FOB against the "ignition" part of the steering wheel.

The place I bought the car from is send a flatbed to take it to a workshop to diagnose and repair. Will update here once I have a resolution incase someone else has weird issues.

 

[RUM4MO]

Fair enough, needing to place the fob near the Start/Stop button suggests that the fob(s) button cell battery is running out of life.

 

[GhostSixFour]

Fair enough, needing to place the fob near the Start/Stop button suggests that the fob(s) button cell battery is running out of life.

Replaced that, same thing. And the car is doing it with both fobs, my suspicion is that it is very unlikely that both fobs ran out of juice within the same day, but, still tried that. No difference.

 

[GhostSixFour]

As promised, an update.

It seems that some marsupial got into the cabling and munched on the insulation. Hence all the weird and wonderful errors and variety in what was happening as well. Vehicle with workshop to confirm all damaged cables and replace. At this point in time, I'm no longer considering giving the car back, but will keep it once it's been fixed.

Once I get it back, I'll update my profile pic as well, as it seems I might be a member here for a while.

 

[GhostSixFour]

Another update. Seemingly, when one issue gets fixed, another appears. So currently there is an expert being sent out from VW factory or something to assist with the electronics.

 

[GhostSixFour]

So, a question to the Seat hivemind present here. I have the ability to cancel this purchase - what would you do if you were in my shoes? Kill the deal and try to find a different vehicle? Or hope to hell this is a once off tricky issue to solve?

 

[seatgraham]

What warranty did the car come with?
I'd be considering returning if it's not readily fixed.

 

[GhostSixFour]

What warranty did the car come with?
I'd be considering returning if it's not readily fixed.

So the place I bought it from offers a 2 year warranty and a 21 day return policy. So I'm debating giving it back and unwinding the deal. Before trying to struggle through 2 years of warranty fixing..