Newly Received Raval V1...issues

[jezyg]

Hey mate! My service was today and they managed to get my Cupra finally online. They deeply rebooted all hardware components and then it finally worked. I hope they my get it fixed for you too!!

Why that cannot be don

Just a quick update. I had tried all the suggestions people have made without success. I asked for the issue to be escalated to a senior manager but got no response within 48 hours. I have explained the problem to five different people at Cupra. I contacted the local dealer (not the supplying dealer) but they can only look at it at the end of January and say they'd need it for two days.

I contacted Cupra to reject the vehicle and ask them to collect it. I have now disappeared down a rabbit hole of whether it will be the dealer or Cupra who takes responsibility for this bin fire.

That is bonkers, part of the issue is the lack of EV technicians and technicians in general which is causing the long waits. VAG should have like BMW a proper mobile service who can fix such issues on the drive it is a pure software do the diagnosis then send report to a dealer if parts need to be ordered and fitted. It is not just Cupra either Renault and Alpine owners are being left with unusable brand new cars. One individual in on their second car after rejecting their first Alpine A290 with long waits for repairs too.

 

[Tell]

Well in the past Seat / Cupra recover, AA I think, never used them, touch wood, were fully trained up and worked wonders on traditional Seat ICE cars.

Problem with these EV cars is that they were not fully commissioned. Dropped off on the door as if it was a dealer ($). Not so sure whether recovery would roll up their sleeves on a car that had not been "commissioned". Like the old days, a main frame delivered but nobody plugged it in.

(BTW the British Computer Societies Bletchley Park exhibition round the corner from the house is good for anyone who likes to go down memory lane even to the BBC Computer kids... there were errors with their exhibition thou in a chart).

($) I see Lloyd's is linking up with two others so you'll get Lloyd's operation dropping your lease car off .

 

[James_R]

Just a quick update. I had tried all the suggestions people have made without success. I asked for the issue to be escalated to a senior manager but got no response within 48 hours. I have explained the problem to five different people at Cupra. I contacted the local dealer (not the supplying dealer) but they can only look at it at the end of January and say they'd need it for two days.

I contacted Cupra to reject the vehicle and ask them to collect it. I have now disappeared down a rabbit hole of whether it will be the dealer or Cupra who takes responsibility for this bin fire.

The issue you're going to have rejecting the car as a lease user is that you haven't personally made a purchase, so you don't have the coverage of the consumer rights act. You have to contact your lease company who made the purchase and they have to approve your request then put the wheels in motion to reject the vehicle on your behalf.

Considering this issue has occurred on a couple of vehicles now, it's likely something not being done right at prep.

 

[James_R]

Why that cannot be don


That is bonkers, part of the issue is the lack of EV technicians and technicians in general which is causing the long waits. VAG should have like BMW a proper mobile service who can fix such issues on the drive it is a pure software do the diagnosis then send report to a dealer if parts need to be ordered and fitted. It is not just Cupra either Renault and Alpine owners are being left with unusable brand new cars. One individual in on their second car after rejecting their first Alpine A290 with long waits for repairs too.

VWG use the AA, re-badged as "VWG assist", a glorified version of the normal AA.
They're generally not diagnostic or master technicians and what they can do by the side of the road or on your drive is limited to warranty policy and logistical constraints.
The majority of the time, even software updates can't be completed due to the time and data required, most are update suites that take hours to complete and need to be in a stable environment to be completed safely.

 

[James_R]

Problem with these EV cars is that they were not fully commissioned. Dropped off on the door as if it was a dealer ($). Not so sure whether recovery would roll up their sleeves on a car that had not been "commissioned". Like the old days, a main frame delivered but nobody plugged it in.

The steps required to activate the data transmission on these vehicles could be easily completed by anyone with access to online ODIS, VWG assist included. Would they know what to do off their own backs? Probably not.

 

[JohnD3]

The steps required to activate the data transmission on these vehicles could be easily completed by anyone with access to online ODIS, VWG assist included. Would they know what to do off their own backs? Probably not.

As I understand it, the AA won't come and look at a pre-existing fault, so it's a bit of a moot point whether they could do it...

I'm currently on hold while a senior case manager tries to find a dealership which can do it in a reasonable timescale. One suggestion was Swansea which is a 4hour drive away.

 

[Tell]

Oh dear basically it's like spinning a roulette wheel with lease cars in the scenario of EVs. Commissioning is suppose to be done by the dealer network but they aren't being sold by the dealer network, leased by a leasing operation. If you get a duff one recourse could be tricky from above.

Presumably VWG assist could be trained up but as indicated a number of hours of updates can be required and thats not something that on the road repairer would want to get involved with if it's not just software registration. On the board there was one post where series 6 update was being made and the dealer delayed handover till after.

Some take aways from these posts. It would appear Cupra shouldn't be releasing through the lease network if they haven't sorted out the commissioning of them or it's a buyer beware. That experimenal store operation the Seat / Cupra did was carried out by an American company that fronted it up for them. You got the gloss but there was a dealership behind it.

Bit like "grey imports" but in that scenario accepting that the language is loaded on the device there is no commissioning. These are grey imports to the dealer network . You need to get it the queue.

 

[James_R]

They're being sold by a dealer to a leasing company, prepped by the same dealership then delivered directly to the driver.

 

[Tell]

If they did that it would be fine if they were "commissioned". The customer still needs the training when the car turns up on a trailer at their door. The red or green SOS light seems to be the give away for the car not being sorted.

 

[James_R]

If they did that it would be fine if they were "commissioned". The customer still needs the training when the car turns up on a trailer at their door. The red or green SOS light seems to be the give away for the car not being sorted.

Commissioning the vehicle during prep and carrying out a handover are two different processes. The lack of a handover in the cases mentioned on here are nothing to do with the flashing red SOS light and lack of connectivity. That issue is purely down to whoever has carried out the PDI not completing the activation tasks fully or checking their work afterwards.

I have dealt with 7 vehicles in the last few weeks that have had exactly the same problem and resolved them in a matter of minutes.

 

[JonnyG]

My new personal lease Raval is coming from a Cupra dealer (Snows in Poole, Portsmouth & Southampton). VW are the finance company "funding" the car.

All my previous leases have come through main dealerships (even if it is the corporate arm who don't like to communicate directly with private customers !!)

I would expect Snows to do a thorough PDI on the car before sending it out to me up in Leeds.

I'm not sure of my rights if on delivery I have a red SOS and no white comnication globe !!

 

[JohnD3]

Commissioning the vehicle during prep and carrying out a handover are two different processes. The lack of a handover in the cases mentioned on here are nothing to do with the flashing red SOS light and lack of connectivity. That issue is purely down to whoever has carried out the PDI not completing the activation tasks fully or checking their work afterwards.

I have dealt with 7 vehicles in the last few weeks that have had exactly the same problem and resolved them in a matter of minutes.

Thank you. That's very helpful to know. It puzzles me therefore that dealership which has now been booked by Cupra to look at my car in six weeks says that they'll need it for two days. It's thirty miles away and I'd be quite happy to hang around while they sorted it. Is the methodology you have employed to resolve this issue shared across the dealership network?

 

[Tell]

Commissioning the vehicle during prep and carrying out a handover are two different processes. The lack of a handover in the cases mentioned on here are nothing to do with the flashing red SOS light and lack of connectivity. That issue is purely down to whoever has carried out the PDI not completing the activation tasks fully or checking their work afterwards.

I have dealt with 7 vehicles in the last few weeks that have had exactly the same problem and resolved them in a matter of minutes.

Indeed. One is training the customer, the other is getting the commissioning right.

 

[JonnyG]

.........I have dealt with 7 vehicles in the last few weeks that have had exactly the same problem and resolved them in a matter of minutes.

Is that part of your normal PDI's of new cars, or is it fault resolution after the PDI has already been done and car delivered to the customers (which would be a bit worrying !! ?) Any tips how to resolve the problem in a matter of minutes ?

 

[Tell]

Thank you. That's very helpful to know. It puzzles me therefore that dealership which has now been booked by Cupra to look at my car in six weeks says that they'll need it for two days. It's thirty miles away and I'd be quite happy to hang around while they sorted it. Is the methodology you have employed to resolve this issue shared across the dealership network?

Thats going to be that big 6.1 or 2 or whatever it is update that James will tell you about that they probably think they may be doing or building in time for it. Someone else had to wait whilst their dealer did that before they could have it. Arrived in the dealership, they had to wait.

 

[James_R]

I'll share the information that I've gathered about the issue and the prerequisites for successful commissioning.

The issue occurs after failed activation of the online services during PDI. The person who carries out the "work prior to handover" test plan needs to check the outcome of the process and make sure the SOS light turns green. This is clearly not being done and the assumption "it'll sort itself out" is being made. I made a real stink about this at our site because I was fed up of resolving issues caused by the incompetence of others.

To resolve the issue:

The diagnostic machine needs to be bang up to date.

A re-run of the handover test plan needs to be carried out.

Activation of the SOS module needs to be carried out.

Finally, a full system silence needs to carried out before rechecking.

It hasn't failed me yet.

 

[JonnyG]

...........I'm not sure of my rights if on delivery I have a red SOS and no white comnication globe !!

It woud appear that we have the right to reject the car immediately as the "red SOS warning light and a non-communicating white globe icon (meaning the built-in telematics/eCall system is failing to connect), the vehicle has a pre-existing electrical or software defect. Because the mandatory European/UK eCall safety system is not operational, the car fails to meet legal standards of quality upon delivery"

 

[James_R]

It woud appear that we have the right to reject the car immediately as the "red SOS warning light and a non-communicating white globe icon (meaning the built-in telematics/eCall system is failing to connect), the vehicle has a pre-existing electrical or software defect. Because the mandatory European/UK eCall safety system is not operational, the car fails to meet legal standards of quality upon delivery"

Are you leasing? Is that response off Google?

 

[JonnyG]

Yes I'm leasing and yes it's from Google ! Do you have a different opinion ?

 

[James_R]

I know Google has probably come straight back with an AI answer like "Yes you can 100% reject a lease car!!!" And provided you with a string of links, but you need to read the information in those links carefully, because it's not so black and white with a leased vehicle.

You need to inform the finance company as soon as you notice an issue, because in the eyes of the law they made the purchase and own the vehicle. You need to liaise with them if you wish to start the "rejection" or "cancellation" process, especially if you're out of the cooling off period. They tend to have a lot of weight behind them and will always try to get the issue resolved as fast as possible rather than starting the rejection process, it's in their best interests to keep you in that car after all.

It's a real grey area because there's a "middle man", but fortunately they're your biggest ally in the situation - the finance company.