Seat Leon 2008 and Goodwill from Seat.

[Subc]

I have a SEAT Leon 1.4Tsi 2008 that has being looked after meticulously, serviced by SEAT for its first 3 years and the last two via independents using genuine SEAT Parts invoiced.

My Car starting showing indications of Timing chain problems since the last year rattle on start up. It has been back to the SEAT dealer twice for diagnosis and no definitive diagnosis offered.

However today it was evident that it has failed as you can hear it rattling on idle,this problem is common in the VW marque but their are not many Leons with this engine.

My Local dealer has advised me to take the car to them for the engine to be partial dismantled to find the fault and for the diagnosis to be passed to SEAT for consideration for a goodwill payment as a timing chain/components should last the serviceable life of the car.

Having spoke to a representative of SEAT the only stumbling block I may have is my last two services by independents although I have the documents to confirm SEAT parts used and both VAT registered garages.

I will update this as things happen as we have bought four SEATS since 2007 and feel like loyal customers and hope SEAT rise to our plight.

 

[Mikey-D]

Good luck mate, hope it goes your way. Let us know

 

[Subc]

Thanks for your support.

 

[Ritchie624]

Hope all goes well, keep us posted

 

[J400uk]

This seems to be caused by a badly designed part so really VW/Seat need to own up and replace free of charge as its there fault

 

[Subc]

Cheers Guys hope to get her transported to the Garage. will advise what happens.

 

[olitaylor07]

I got 70% from Seat when my turbo went and it was 6 months out of warranty and the company who manufacturers the turbo coughed up the remaining 30%.

From what I know there usually good, however I did have FSH with Seat though.

 

[Subc]

Thats the breakdown on its way thanks to Green Flag, Keep your Fingers and toes crossed all goes well.

 

[J400uk]

That's the best thing for it, hope the dealer investigates properly

cleared my pm inbox btw

 

[MJ]

A six year old car without full seat service history? You might struggle.

Timing chain failure was rife amongst 1.2 12v owners, I don't recall vw coughing up the cost to cover any of those.

 

[J400uk]

A six year old car without full seat service history? You might struggle.

Timing chain failure was rife amongst 1.2 12v owners, I don't recall vw coughing up the cost to cover any of those.

The Auto Bild article (shown here translated from German to Russian to English - http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...tp://vwts.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=204747 ) seems to suggest they are aware of the fault in the 1.4 TSIs and goodwill contributions are possible

OPs car is only 5 years old and not particularly high mileage, the chain should last the life of the car

 

[Copra68]

I used to work in a VW garage. Your out of warranty by at least 2 years and without full service history at a seat dealer i would be shocked if you get any contribution to parts/labour.

 

[BrettBlade]

Yet you can buy a Kia with a seven year warranty...

You really do have to question so called German reliability.

 

[jimbo1876]

"I got payment in full from Seat for Leon FR TDI ABS pump repair - car was 5 years old."

And last three services were done at independent garage - was told by Seat dealers this was not an issue with Seat - as long as it it could be proved the servicing was done to the same standard/parts/oil as dealership.

 

[Al]

Your out of warranty by at least 2 years and without full service history at a seat dealer i would be shocked if you get any contribution to parts/labour.

^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Nath.]

"I got payment in full from Seat for Leon FR TDI ABS pump repair - car was 5 years old."

That's because the fault you had was a known safety issue. Every car that is reported to have this fault gets a free repair, regardless.

 

[jimbo1876]

I could have sworn I still saw people being refused goodwill re this. Have you a link to confirm Seat now regard this as a safety issue? VOSA certainly didn't a few months ago. The warning lights on the dash give you ample alerts to allow you to get to dealers according to them. Seat were refusing goodwill payments on that basis.

 

[Subc]

Thanks for you interest and without turning this into a debate just an informative post.

A Timing chain is supposed to last at least the serviceable life of a vehicle not 5 years as theoretically if it slips it could kill the engine.

In fact mine never lasted 4 years as it has been showing symptoms before its 4th service and was taken to dealer for investigation, (no Fault found).

I have a degree of hope they will help as mentioned it has been serviced with genuine SEAT Parts and oil by VAT registered garages twice and has been to dealer 3 times with the problem.

Will update thread as I hear more but please keep your fingers crossed as I paid a lot of money for this car new and hoped it would last longer than 5 years without a major malfunction.

 

[robdf2]

Don't get me started on this thread !!!!!

 

[Al]

Maybe a 2 line summary from robdf2's experience will suggest how big your chance of success is.