Leaking Doors?

[andykb999]

Door leaks

Picked up my 2003 Cupra R last sunday from IMG Warrington, noticed splashes of water on my hand driving home on monday night in the rain and all over my pants...thought nothing of it but decdided to have a look around and there appeared to be tide marks on all door seals,rear 1/4 light window seals and splashes of water on interior plastic door trim just wondered what could be the fix for me??
Also i appear to have a squeek/whine when braking and reversing from rear left wheel dealer says its the pads bedding in any advice woudl be great.
PS absolutley LOVE the car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[TallFella]

:cool2:
Mine's a 2003 Cupra, not noticed any leakage problems with the doors. My only "gripe" is when I open the bootlid, and the water run pours from the door lips on either end. Other than that, dry as a bone me.
My other arf has a similar gripe with her Polo (2003 model) but she also gets wet when opening the driver door. water pours in from the gulley above the door. Another VAG design fault perhaps?

 

[Taurean]

Guys

Be careful as my car went into both dealers in my area and I continued having leaking doors.

When I tried rejecting the car as a lemon vehicle (as it had been in and out of the garage approx 10 times over 15 months - sometimes for 2 weeks at a time). Seat took my car in for a thorough investigation, they then found out that I had fitted after market speakers in the doors, they turned round and said it was coming through my speakers, and as a result it was my problem and that I MUST!!!! put the original speakers back (Hey!! who owns the car, and how can changing a speaker have the impact that was happening) I was getting a flood in the front footwell:devil: :devil: :devil: :devil:

I have now fitted a plastic liner behind all my speakers and therefore they are waterproof. Low and behold due to the recent climate I have got a lake in my front footwell.

When the weather clears I am going to have the door off and try and trace where exactly it came from.

I have spoken to a solicitor, and they say as soon as you give them the chance to fix the car and you accept it back it negates your rights to reject the vehicle for a replacement. I suggest you use the sale of goods act before you get them to repair and get them to fix the fault before you take delivery - else refuse the car.

Our legal system over here is stupid, in USA they have a specific law called the Lemon clause, which means if a car goes back to the dealer so many times for the same fault then they have to replace the vehicle completely.

Why can't we have the same consumer assurances as we are spending more money on our cars than the American's are!!!!

 

[Tamworth Jim]

Leaky Leons

My leaking Leon Cupra May 01 has now been in the garage 3 times, for a week at a time each time it goes in..... Leaky doors all round and yes it still leaks!!!!!! I am contacting SEAT again tomorrow. This seems to be a major problem and manufacturing fault. Moldy carpets and a car that takes 5 minutes to de steam before you drive anywhere is not my idea of fun.

Has anybody thought about approaching Watchdog?

Seat if you are listening I will be speaking with you AGAIN tomorrow.

 

[Tamworth Jim]

Hi HRP,

Yep mine still leaks too. I have owned my Leon form new - May 01 Cupra, its a great car but they cannot stop it leaking. 3 one week seesions over the last 18 months and in 2 seperate garages has still not fixed it.

I am speaking with SEAT tomorrow and if they do not take drastic action I am going to organise for a good number of us to exchange details, I will then write a press release and send it to Driven, Watchdog, Top Gear etc etc.

What say ye?

We will deffinately get some press if we can gather enough owners who are all having the same problems.

Yep our Cupra is still leaking, front passenger door has always been the worst but rear off side passenger door also leaks and very occasionally you see the odd weep from the others.

All leak from inside the door through the interior trim at the bottom.

Luckily our Cupra is garaged every night without fail so although the carpet gets slightly damp we don't get puddles.

I must admit we have been sitting on this problem now for too long (house decorating, work etc.....). Its time to write to our local garage (again), Seat UK and Seat Headquarters.

Does anybody think Top Gear or Driven might be interested in this little thread? Perhaps Seat might take a bit more notice then?

 

[hamblyman]

Picked up my 2003 Cupra R last sunday from IMG Warrington, noticed splashes of water on my hand driving home on monday night in the rain and all over my pants...thought nothing of it but decdided to have a look around and there appeared to be tide marks on all door seals,rear 1/4 light window seals and splashes of water on interior plastic door trim just wondered what could be the fix for me??
Also i appear to have a squeek/whine when braking and reversing from rear left wheel dealer says its the pads bedding in any advice woudl be great.
PS absolutley LOVE the car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I picked up my new R on the 2nd of March and I too have had water drip onto my hand whilst driving. I will mention it to the dealers on Monday when the car is going in for a few other niggles....including random power loss, chipped windscreen (from new!), boot lid a b1tch to shut, creaking rear suspension, breaks sqeak loudly in reverse, and its pulling to the left (even on an adverse camber)....I think thats all for now!!

Still lovin it tho!

 

[Taurean]

Sorry to hear of your misery.

If you decide to go down the public route then please contact me as I have quite a lot of documentation that may prove useful.

If you threaten them with Watchdog, it won't make the slightest difference to the way they treat you.

With regards to the water leak, it isn't just the doors that leak there is also a pollen filter housing modification that needs to be sealed also (or so my dealer said - and carried out the mod in accordance with), but Seat refuse point blank to acknowledge that such a fault exists in that area, even though the water was dripping constantly from behind the glove compartment.

My car as you will see has been into the garage approx 15 times in 2 years, and due to the fact that I spoke to a solicitor and was told I was unable to pursue anything as the compensation I had received was substantial. I also contacted Watchdog to get a 'Thanks for your correspondence - we have put it on file and may contact you in the future' reply. I tried rejecting the car 'AGAIN' through the dealership to be told that in order to do so I would have to give them the car back with my rejection letter and then they would 'hand it over to their solicitors'. When asked how long it would take, they said don't know!!!

When asked what I do about getting to and from work, I got a reply that basically meant that it wasn't their problem.

Based on getting absolutely nowhere either with the dealership and or Seat Customer Services, I regretably parted company with my Leon and traded it in for a car from a different manufacturer (not even a member of the VW group, as they are all getting slated recently for poor customer service) - I WONDER WHERE THEY GOT THAT IDEA FROM

The bottom line is, yes VW group cars are reliable, but GOD help you when something does go wrong as nobody knows how to repair them (well not the first time of looking at the problem at least).

If I were you as you haven't had your car that long, get a solicitor involved now before they offer something in compensation and you accept (no matter how large a compensation package they offer), and by doing so it totally destroy's all rights that exist, and the car and all its faults become yours.

 

[ceejay]

Wet Feet!

Been watching this for a while, ever since I discovered wet carpets in the drivers side front & rear footwells! Haven't had the car long and wondered why the dealer kept the car in the garage!
Had a ring round the dealers & found out (as most of you have!) that this is a very common problem. The last dealer I rang was the local VW dealer & he said that VW Golfs have the same problem which has just started since VW started fitting the new type inner door metal membrane (the bit the window lift mechanism is attached to). He says that the problem has not been resolved as nobody seems to know why water is running down the membrane of the door rather than the inside of outer skin but VW supply a seal (a loop of dum dum type body putty) to replace the existing seal between the membrane and the door. (Stopgap?)
I thought I'd have a go and see if this actually was the problem. First I checked the drain holes in the bottom of the O/S/rear door with a 6 inch electricians screwdriver and found no problem, clear and dry. I then started to take the trim off the door and as soon as I started to prise the door trim away at the bottom about 1/2 a pint of water promptly drained onto the ground! This water appears to get trapped between the plastic door trim and the door due to the seal on the door trim. The water eventually leaks into the car above the level of the door seal and onto the carpets!
After removing the door trim completely I discovered that the VW dealer was correct and that the seal around the edge of the membrane had disintigrated. I removed the 10mm headed bolts that retain the membrane, cleaned the disintigrated seal off and replaced it with a good quality silicone sealer, also putting an extra bead of sealer on the inner edge of the door metal in the hope that it will prevent the water getting to the membrane seal in the first place!
Will let you know if this works after the next downpour!
ceejay

 

[Zamot]

ceejay, did it help??

 

[NOSman]

only the drivers door leaks, being a company car there is rarely more than one person in it,the reaar door are stilllike new to open where to front feels well worn in in comparasion

 

[red line fun]

I'm surprised (and disappointed ) that SEAT haven't found a solution to this problem. Guys with 2003, possibly 2004 build cars having the same probs as guys with 2001 cars. Have SEAT altered the design of door seals etc at all or are they still circa 2001?

I appreciate it's not simply a case of thinking of a solution and slapping it onto production line cars the next day but I would have thought a couple of years was long enough to pretty much solve the problem .... unless it's a deep rooted design fault that would cost too much £ to solve?

 

[andrewuk]

I believe you cant do that because the seal is on the outer edge of the inner door, this means you would need to drill the holes on the outside of your doors to let the water out !!!

Is this the same on all the current SEATs? The Rover 200 I have at the moment (and every other car I have owned thinking about it) just has holes in the bottom of the door for water to drain out. It seems odd SEAT don't do this too. This is really bugging me (and I don't even own a Leon yet!!) because I'm really looking forward to replacing my car with a Curpa TDI this year but this is putting me off

Damn you SEAT for blemishing an otherwise perfect car with this problem

 

[Zamot]

Because of reaaly much rain lately, I finally got real fed up with the problem and went to my dealer today and told about the problem. He looked at the pool of water behind the drivers seat, and he set up an appointement to fix it. It surprised me that I didn't have to argue at all, to get them to fix it without paying for it. (Luckilly the law here in Norway sais you can complain within 5 years, even though its hard to get the dealers to fallaw it).

(It's really heavy rain nowadays, here you can see for your self: http://www.adressa.no/bildegallerier/article.jhtml?articleID=510369)

 

[ceejay]

ceejay, did it help??

Yes it works, at least on my car! Dry carpets and no water lying on the sills.
Don't know how long it will work for, I hope it's permanent!
I hope your dealer can sort your car out because they are such good cars otherwise!
Good luck,

ceejay

 

[red line fun]

(I think the answer to this might be no but, selfishly, I'll ask anyway ) ...

... now that I've decided to buy an 04 Cupra, has the leak problem been resolved in 04 cars

 

[Zamot]

By they way, the dealer told that the way the fix the problem, is to replace the mebranes/seal in the doors.

 

[venger]

Just to continue this thread...

Got in the car this morning and there must of been a couple of mm of water just sitting in the passenger footwell. Took out the carpet mat so hopefully I can dry it all out quicker. Spoke to my normal dealer and they will look at the car next thursday

From the other threads I've read it looks like one of two problems: seals on doors or pollen filture. The dealer seemed to be aware of this so Im hoping for a first time fix. Pretty this morning!

..forgot to add mine is a 03 Cupra and I only have water in the passenger footwell....so far!

 

[dreamer]

Water in the passenger footwell is usually the pollen filter. A quick and easy fix but it is worth getting the dealer to remove the carpet to let it dry out underneath.

 

[venger]

Took the carpet out before I started the journey to work and drove for an hour and a half with the climate on 29 on full fan pointing down! Although there is now no free water sloshing around the footwell and it completely sodden

 

[Zamot]

#()/)=( Q/ (YEFKAH(O #U"&¤!=H§§!!!

I left my car at my dealer today to fix the problem (without cost).
I just recieved a call from him, and he said that they will not cover the expenses after all. This is due to the fact that I have tinted windows, and those who tinted them have done things poorly. I didn't quit understand what, but it has got to wo with the sealing in the door.. What should I do now?? I told him the car was leaking before i tinted the windows, but ther is of course no proof...

(I also have to get new loudspekaers, because they where destroyed by water)