Exploding window covered under warranty?

[djrichard]

Now the latest event in the great "SEAT UK WE COVER NOTHING UNDER WARRANTY" event is that I was asking about my front cup holder which does not work. They said that due to me changing the head unit it would not be covered under warranty. Its a self contained unit! What are they like!

When I mentioned that it was like the time when I had to prove that loads of other people had problems with the rear washer thing breaking and pouring water into the boot before they fixed it, they then told me that that particular problem was no longer covered under warranty as people were not buying the official washer fluid from SEAT themselves. As other fluids did not have the exact mixture of anti freeze then that was causing the water.

 

[Triple D]

What a crock of sh*t. Seat don't half come up with bullsh*t excuses dont they. :birdy:

 

[rayko]

I recall Smart cars (the little 2 seater ones) had a issue with the rear screen heater being left on that could blow the window out.

Probably not the case, but theres no harm looking. Have a look at your rear heater switch (is it on?) and fuse

 

[Jas]

Evening all !

you say it happened in the evening,was there a change in temperature??
usally happens in the cold months when you get frosts in the morning and then the sun hits it, iv'e seen loads like that!

cheers jas

 

[djrichard]

I recall Smart cars (the little 2 seater ones) had a issue with the rear screen heater being left on that could blow the window out.

Probably not the case, but theres no harm looking. Have a look at your rear heater switch (is it on?) and fuse

They kept on asking me about whether or not I had my rear heater on. I told them I didnt know but that it was unlikely as I had driven about 35 miles and it switches itself off after a while anyway. They said that the heat would build up quicker with the tinted film in place and that could have caused it to blow out. I explained that it was pouring with rain yesterday and when you take into consideration the wind chill factor travelling at about 60mph average speed, it would not be comparable to your car sitting in the baking heat elsewhere in thw world. I also pointed out the fact that these rear windows are treated at an extremely high temperature to temper them. The reply to that was that the heat from the sun would be on the outside of the window, whereas the heat from the rear heater would have built up on the inside against the tinted film! BRICK WALL HEAD BANGING!

I ended up in a 3 way conversation with Sandy from Livingstones and a woman called Kelly from SEAT customer services. Ultimately they are not willing to do ANYTHING without seeing the car.

After much deliberation and me trying my best not to lose control of myself they agreed that they would pay for the window if I could find a third party expert ( Autoglass) who would give it to them in writing that there was a defect in the manufacturing of the glass.

I called Autoglass and the guy there was really nice and told me that it would be impossible to tell by looking at a fractured window if there was a manufacturing fault or not. He did however say that to blame the tint was a standard excuse that they would expect ANY company to use to get out of paying for warranty work. In his opinion it was EXTREMELY UNLIKELY that a tint could cause the window to blow out at all, especially considering the fact that the windows had been tinted for about a year!

The guy from the tinting company is coming to my house tomorrow morning to have a look at the car. He understood my dilemma about moving the car at all as there would be nothing to examine. He has years of experience with windows. He said that there are loads of cases of windows blowing out on cars, but as the window is not intact due to their being no tint, they just get put down to projectile damage. He said that he has had windows blow up in his hands when carrying them through into the store at the back of the shop. Spontaneous explosion.

He said if I want he can fit a brand new window that is not SEAT approved but is made to the same spec and tint it for me for £115 + vat. Im not giving SEAT anything else so they can **** right off.

Im so determined to see this through. These big companies think they can just fob us all off and we will eventually just give up and accept defeat. Im going to start by registering and logging reports with every single car review guide on the net in the UK and slate them.

Even if it does not make a difference to anyone else they will at least have lost one customer in me. That new Leon is a 100% no go anymore.

Im trying to think about ways in which to inflict as much damage as possible to them. Im on my one man war at the moment.

Why do they not just come to my house and inspect it and then accept it has nowt to do with the tint and then fix it for me and they would have a happy customer who would be spending even mopre money in the future?

 

[djrichard]

No change of temperature. It was a miserable day all day long. Constantly raining.

 

[MrMischief]

Have you tried calling Seat Assistance?
Surely Seat would accept his inspection of the window?

Are they not meant to provide an RAC type service if your car is immobilised....or have I been told a bunch of lies by my salesman?

Good luck!
Steve

 

[nick radwell]

i can understand u my front windscreen cracked for no reason at right across the front tho i did get it done under warranty but my latest issue is with the rear pads wearing after 24000 miles with the front pads that do 70% of the braking having 25% life in them but as usual they can not comprehend this blatant fact!!!!

 

[djrichard]

Well it was suggested that I call the AA. Its the AA who have the contract for SEAT Assistance. I told them that the window would cave in if the car was moved at all. I said would you take the opinion of the man from the AA if he said he believed the window had a manufacturing defect. I was put on hold (well they thought they did but I could hear every word ) and the technical *cough cough* advisor told Kelly that teh AA man was not a glass expert, only a mechanical expert and as such he would not be qualified to make a decision.

I said to them that what was the point of me getting the car in for inspection anyway, as even if it did stay in one piece and even if they agreed it was not damaged by a projectile, they would simply turn around and say that due to the tint it was not covered under warranty. I never got a proper reply, just that they could not do anything without seeing the car, window intact or not.

 

[nick radwell]

its annoying they know it makes sense but probably just being stubborn now they would prob tell me my brake pads wore faster than the fronts cos i put alloys wheels on??? by the way have u spoke to sarah at seat uk she is very helpful and got my window fixed! not spoke to seat uk bout brakes yet just a few dealers who were after my money so u can guess what i told them to do??

 

[djrichard]

UPDATE:

The guy from Auto Tinting Centre came out to my house this morning at 8:30 to have a look at my car.

After drying the rear window very carefully with wads of kitchen roll he inspected it very closely. He said there was definetly not a single impact mark anywhere on the glass. He checked the contacts where the power wires actually join the window and he said there was no rpoblem there either as SEAT had those parts coated in plastic. He explained that in the past most cars had exposed metal connectors and sometimes they would touch the metalwork of the car and would cause the whole area to heat up. He said the explosion would normally happen when the window was cooling down.

He then started examining the edges of each and every heating strip that runs along the window. At the very bottom left hand corner he noticed that the edge of the strip where it went into the blackened area of the windows border, was discoloured and in his opinion was certainly burnt out.

When I was on the phone to SEAT I had told them that you could see from the pattern of the broken glass where the centre of it started. I described it to them as being similar to the effect of ripples spreading out from a central point when you throw a stone into a still pond. Guess where the little scorched bit of element was? Thats right, bang in the epicentre!

Guess what SEAT are going to say? Not covered under warranty due to tint!

Strangely enough when I phoned my work to tell them I would be in later today due to my rear window having exploded, my boss instantly said without any prompting from me that he had heard of it and that it was caused by the rear heater not switching off and causing an explosion.

Im getting the window fixed by the tinting company for £135 in total and that includes the tint. I've discovered since that when I took out my insurance I had got all of the extras taken off so that i could get cheaper insurance! oops!

I'm just glad to have it sorted out in the end. Im very dissapointed that SEAT could not have sent someone out to check the car and see what they would say. I suppose that Kelly was actually being quite nice to me considering that I was going on and on, but its just that they were not willing to flex the procedures any considering my window would cave in if moved. I accept that they would need to have seen it in the flesh, or metal!

At least my wee car is back on the road and I will be happier knowing that no-one can steal all my stereo equipment easily!

I have attached the same pic that I posted up earlier which is what I believed top be the centre of the explosion judging by the direction and pattern of the broken glass. This was taken BEFORE I saw the tinting man this morning. I have circled the area which he pointed out to me was the scorched element which had actually burned through the black border that was actually in the glass when sold by SEAT. Not the actual tint itself.

What do you make of that? Would never have been able to see that if the window did not have a tint on it. Pretty interesting actually.

Im never turning my rear heater on again. What is it that you're meant to rub on your window to stop misting? Is it a potato or an onion os something? Probably an old wives tale!

 

[CHR15B]

So when you told Seat that having the windows tinted was the only way to proove that the car design was at fault, they still wouldn't accept it?

If your happy with it now then fair enough, still pretty poo that Seat are not doing anything about it!

 

[djrichard]

So when you told Seat that having the windows tinted was the only way to proove that the car design was at fault, they still wouldn't accept it?

If your happy with it now then fair enough, still pretty poo that Seat are not doing anything about it!

They simply stated that if any part of the vehicle which is under scrutiny regarding a warranty claim is modified, then the warranty is invalid. They said its impossible to prove whether or not the tint did or did not affect it. They had tried to state that the tint could have caused the temperature to become so great that the window exploded.

Im far from happy with the outcome. Im just happy that my car is secure once more and I can actually use the thing.

 

[muddyboots]

What is it that you're meant to rub on your window to stop misting? Is it a potato or an onion os something?

Well, you go and rub the inside of your windows with an onion and report back the results !

You might stop the windows misting, but your eyes will be watering and give the same effect !

 

[MrMischief]

Glad that you've managed to get your rear window sorted (even without Seat's help), you should go & take the remains in to show them it (and leave it with them to dispose ).

Also, there's a law that states a manufacturers' warranty has to stand unless there they can prove without a doubt that a modification has caused the fault - I had Toyota replace 2 engines in my last MR2 Roadster even though it had a Blitz exhaust, decat pipe, Toda flywheel, Helix paddle clutch & a K&N on it...they didn't have a leg to stand on - quite glad at £6.5k a pop + labour

Steve

PS Watch the onion juice doesn't bugger your new tints

 

[nick radwell]

well i have a liitle stick of pink stuff dont know what the hell it is some sort of wax or summit but works wonders at stopping misting in my motorbike helmet visor mayb i could find the company and give u the email addy ?? or try asking at ur local bike shop?? hope that helps

 

[djrichard]

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Last night I was driving back from Oban in the middle of the country at about 3am. No chance anyone threw anything at it unless sheep have developed monkey like skills!

Back window exploded again! OMG! I feel like crying. I have the window insurance thing back on my policy so it will only cost me £60. Whats goping on though???

Im going to have to phone SEAT UK and complain again.

 

[CHR15B]

Thats crazy man!

Hope you get it sorted out!

 

[depresion]

Seat will try anything to getout of a warrenty clame most of it is just trying it on and under EU law isn't an acceptable excuse to get out of a claim. (IE they need to prove that anything you change is the direct cause of the problem). They seem to be big on the BS factor having had lots of VWs I'm very unimpressed with Seat customer support.

 

[Nath.]

I would deffo look into your rear screen heater not switching off or your tailgate latch adjustment letting the tailgate rattle when you go over bumps or it could be to do with the fact that the rear wiper goes through a hole in the rear screen maybee?