Warranty Claim for wheel arch paint bubble 2016 Anti-Perforation Warranty

[NeilHH]

Hi

My 2016 Seat Leon has rust on a part of the front right wheel arch. I have taken the car to a car body shop and they say that there is a lip on the inside of the wheel arch and that is where the damage has started causing the paintwork to bubble. They see this a lot on Seats and VW Golfs

I then went to the Seat garage that services the car and they sent me to an approved coachworks place. This was in September 2025. The Seat garage has told me that my car is not covered under warranty

I have tried claiming under their Anti-Perforation Warranty which I understand lasts for 12 years

Does anyone have any advice ?

Thanks

 

[James_R]

There are no items covered under warranty where the cause of the issue is damage.

I take it they suggested road debris had broken the paint on the wheel arch lip?

 

[Nathan penney]

There’s a 67 reg Passat in our street that looks like it was made by British Leyland in 1975 there’s that much rust on the rear wheel arches.

 

[NeilHH]

There are no items covered under warranty where the cause of the issue is damage.

I take it they suggested road debris had broken the paint on the wheel arch lip?

Hi.
There has not been any reason given by the Seat garage as to what their thoughts are for the reason this has happened. I have written to Seat UK to see if they can explain it to me
I think the independent car body shop is right and that it is where the water collects in the back lip of the wheel arch, which has a sharp edge when you run your hand along it, and causes this to happen. The fact that he said he has seen it on other cars e.g. VW etc makes me think that it maybe a design / manufacturing fault

 

[Lucas90]

My last Leon 2015 Reg got a bad patch of rust on the sill that I had repaired, the body shop said most likely from a stone chip letting water in.... I've still got the photo from when I was getting quotes....

 

[Lucas90]

Also, my boss has a 2018 Leon Cupra 300 , he had to get the boot lid resprayed as rust developed by the boot badge, so I think it can be a common issue.

I doubt Seat will cough up anything on a warranty claim, the will most likely argue it had been caused by road debris so not covered.

It shouldn't cost much for a body shop to sort it. I paid 180 quid to get the sill rust repaired and repainted.

 

[SRGTD]

Historically, from what I’ve read on various VAG forums over the years, rejection of claims seem to be fairly common, and ‘external influence’ is often cited as the reason for rejection.

From memory, the anti corrosion / anti perforation warranty cover is limited to through-rusting from the inside out as consequence of defective workmanship or materials, so any claims for surface rusting from stone chips or other external influences won’t be covered.

IMHO it’s always worth buying a paint touch up pen when you buy another car and check for new stone chips as part of your regular car washing routine. I do this and touch in any new stone chips I notice after every car wash. It stops any stone chip damage developing into anything more serious (and costly) to fix.

 

[Mr Pig]

You've got no chance of a warranty claim on that.

Both of my front arches are rusty. I know what happened. Stone chip and I did not catch and fix it promptly. If you catch a stone chip quickly there is a good chance you'll be able to get it fixed and it won't develop, not for a long time anyway. Once rust is right into the metal, forget it. Only permanent fix is to replace the wing.

Seat will just say the paint was damaged and you didn't deal with it, and they are right.

 

[SuperV8]

You've got no chance of a warranty claim on that.

Both of my front arches are rusty. I know what happened. Stone chip and I did not catch and fix it promptly. If you catch a stone chip quickly there is a good chance you'll be able to get it fixed and it won't develop, not for a long time anyway. Once rust is right into the metal, forget it. Only permanent fix is to replace the wing.

Seat will just say the paint was damaged and you didn't deal with it, and they are right.

Agreed, it will be impossible for anyone to determine if it started from a stone chip (99% likely) or from under the metal.
Wheel arch areas are a very harsh environment area on a car, exposed to flying rocks, high pressure water and salt.
You might have a case if the corrosion was on the back end for example where it would be impossible for any foreign bodies to impact the paint, but not on a wheel arch or bonnet.

 

[NeilHH]

Hi All
I have had a response about my warranty claim from the car dealership.....

The dealership identified a foam component located behind the wing. This foam was found to be absorbing water and applying pressure to the panel, ultimately causing corrosion to develop.

Following this further review, the response received confirmed that the corrosion was not caused by a defect in the panel itself. Instead, it was determined to be consequential damage resulting from a mechanical issue. As a result, the claim was not approved under warranty.


Does this mean it is a manufacturing fault ??? I am presuming that this foam was there from the begining as we have owned the car since new. It has not been in any accidents

If so should the manufacturer be responsible for damage caused by this defective design, even after warranty ceases

The defect existed and caused the rust problem. There seems to be evidence that the defect was inherent from the start.

Any thoughts / help greatly appreicated

Thanks

 

[SRGTD]

@NeilHH - apologies for the long post but here goes.

I don’t know if VW still fit these foam support blocks to their cars but they certainly did in the early 2000’s. There were quite a few reports on forums of front wing corrosion due to the contact between these (permanently) water saturated foam blocks and the reverse side of the car’s front wings. If VW (and Seat as you’ve discovered) used these foam blocks then I’d anticipate they were used by the other VAG brands too.

The issue was quite well documented on various VW forums - and I’m assuming other VAG forums. With VW, they seemed to adopt a very inconsistent approach with regard to warranty claims, some owners got new front wings fitted, others were offered a repair or a contribution towards the cost of repairs and some warranty claims were outright declined.

If I were you, I’d spend some time searching the internet (try searching ‘front wing corrosion caused by water saturated foam support blocks’ or similar search). It will hopefully give you plenty of background information and how best to challenge the response you’ve received from your dealership with the view to obtaining a successful outcome to your corrosion issue.

On a realistic level, don’t lose sight of the fact that in most instances these car manufacturers corrosion warranties aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, so be prepared for Seat to push back and continue to use their ‘mechanical issue’ reasoning for your car’s corrosion. However on an optimistic level, as the saying goes; ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ so thorough research, keeping copies of all communications between yourself and Seat and a large dose of persistence on you part might result in a successful outcome. Ideally your research needs to find some cases where Seat owners had their claims covered under the corrosion warranty and had their corroded wings replaced; IMHO that could be viewed as Seat acknowledging the corrosion warranty does apply to situations such as yours.

Good luck! - please keep this discussion thread updated with progress and the outcome for the benefit of others.

 

[Seriously?]

@NeilHH - apologies for the long post but here goes.

I don’t know if VW still fit these foam support blocks to their cars but they certainly did in the early 2000’s. There were quite a few reports on forums of front wing corrosion due to the contact between these (permanently) water saturated foam blocks and the reverse side of the car’s front wings. If VW (and Seat as you’ve discovered) used these foam blocks then I’d anticipate they were used by the other VAG brands too.

The issue was quite well documented on various VW forums - and I’m assuming other VAG forums. With VW, they seemed to adopt a very inconsistent approach with regard to warranty claims, some owners got new front wings fitted, others were offered a repair or a contribution towards the cost of repairs and some warranty claims were outright declined.

If I were you, I’d spend some time searching the internet (try searching ‘front wing corrosion caused by water saturated foam support blocks’ or similar search). It will hopefully give you plenty of background information and how best to challenge the response you’ve received from your dealership with the view to obtaining a successful outcome to your corrosion issue.

On a realistic level, don’t lose sight of the fact that in most instances these car manufacturers corrosion warranties aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, so be prepared for Seat to push back and continue to use their ‘mechanical issue’ reasoning for your car’s corrosion. However on an optimistic level, as the saying goes; ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ so thorough research, keeping copies of all communications between yourself and Seat and a large dose of persistence on you part might result in a successful outcome. Ideally your research needs to find some cases where Seat owners had their claims covered under the corrosion warranty and had their corroded wings replaced; IMHO that could be viewed as Seat acknowledging the corrosion warranty does apply to situations such as yours.

Good luck! - please keep this discussion thread updated with progress and the outcome for the benefit of others.

As you state, it has been a known issue on VW group cars for a number of years; my 2004 B5.5 Passat Estate had exactly this problem. VW didn't want to know (even though in the USA there was a technical bulletin covering this very subject)