Rust on door sill

[jbc]

I got my car back from Smith Knight Fay bodyshop on Tuesday after it was in a week for the warranty repair to the rusting door sills. All looked OK from an initial glance when they handed back the keys but I've had a proper look today using an inspection lamp and this is what I find:









It looks like they've spent 5 minutes painting the sill (only) with a touchup brush. And they've managed to file off paint from the wing (right hand side of last picture)

No prizes for guessing who I'll be ringing first thing in the morning!

[G4V VW]

God mate thats look terrible, just cant seem to trust anyone nowadays, to do it right they need to take the wings off.

Hope you get it sorted 

Gav

[RedRobin]

An interesting thread.... Now subscribed.

[jbc]

Sent my pictures of the bodyshop's "repair" to the VW dealer who arranged the warranty repair yesterday and the bodyshop were on the phone to me within 30 minutes. The bodyshop manager said that the work they were requested to do and the work that was done "don't appear to match" and he does know why the wing wasn't repaired. It's booked back in for another repair in 2 weeks time. Lets hope they do a proper job this time.

I told them to collect the car from me (35 miles away) and drop off a courtesy car. I also asked to see photos of the repair work before they return the car to me. He agreed to all this, which makes me think they know they've screwed up and need to keep me quiet!!

[jbc]

Finally got my car back on Monday following it's second 1 week stay at Smith Knight Fay's bodyshop in Manchester. Thankfully they've done the warranty repair properly this time and it looks like new again - none of the surface irregularities, etc. that were left last time. They had to take the front doors and wings off to do the repair properly so it took longer than their estimated 2 to 3 days!

They showed me pictures of the repainted sections before they had reassembled the car to prove everything had been repaired properly but refused to let me have a copy for "data protection reasons". Somehow I don't think this is quite right, more like protecting themselves and stopping me posting them all over the internet.

[Richn83]

I get leaves collecting down in the sill between the wing only visible when the door is open and generally only on the drivers side.  The source of the leaves is from the vents in the plastic at the bottom of the windscreen if you open the bonnet on the left hand side remove the rubber seal at the top far left of the engine bay and look in you will see a mass collection of leaves and gunk just past the wiper arm worth a clean out, as you poke around you will probably find some of the leaves end up back down by the sill at the base of the wing.

[stealthwolf]

Thanks rich, will have a look this weekend. Last weekend I noticed crud in the door sill at the front where the hinges are. None of my brushes would reach the area so i resorted to pressure washing the area. 

[Ferrariflip]

I have this issue at the moment on my 05 GTI. I noticed the rust coming through about 6 months ago but thought nothing of it until stumbling upon this post.

Today i thought i would start the process of trying to get the issue sorted under warranty, First step i phoned customer service and was told to take it to nearest paint shop which i did and spoke to a very helpful salesman who informed me that he was aware of the front wheel arch issue but had no knowledge of the sill issue.

While inspecting my car he went to the wheel arches and said he was willing to compile a report as the arches are showing signs of rust which will be under the 12 yr warranty. on which he took photos of the areas L/H & R/H.

When back in the showroom he went onto VW database and brought up the issue regarding the sills and showed me pictures of other cars that have had the same problem, (Fixing bolt from front wing to sill) causes this and said that it isnt covered under 12 yr warranty but has put in a good will claim which is a sliding scale on age,mileage of vehicle, which turned out to be 50/50.

I got home and informed customer service and told them all about what had happened and was told they would call me back.

2 hours later i received a call from VW informing me that the cost of my half to repair of the sills would be £280, which i found totally unacceptable and told the adviser to take it higher, which is where i am now.

Could anybody give me some advice on how to get this under warranty?, any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jbc]

As you've seen from my post, I received this totally free of charge. This seems to be a common problem people with the wing rust issue have had - most come back as under warranty but a few say good will gesture and want you to pay a percentage.

When they confirmed my repair would be done free they said it wasn't being done as a warranty claim under the 3 year paint or the 12 year anti perforation warranty but because it is a known issue caused by a manufacturing defect during the production process. Told me the jig on the production line grips the sill to tight so when the wing is mounted it flexes the sill causing the paint to crack. Takes a few years for the water to get in but eventually rust appears.

He also said there is a Technical Bulletin Notice for this, but no-one on here has ever managed to get hold of it, unlike the wing rust one which RR has a PDF version of.

Sorry I can't be more help, I did try to get a copy of the Technical Bulletin and some paperwork for the repair work when I had mine done but they told me they weren't allowed to. Think they knew I wanted it to post up on the Internet.

If you don't get anywhere convincing VW to do it for free then don't dismiss their price of £280 too quickly, it's a big job to repair as the doors and wings have to come off before they can get to the area needing treating.

[Nodz]

I also got this done for free when I had my wings replaced, I was only getting one side done as it was visible but when they stripped the old wing off the near side it was also there so applied for more good will. If you still get no joy phone VW UK and see what they say

[Ferrariflip]

Thanks for the quick reply's,
I have phoned VW again and informed them that other cases have had this don FOC, Lady said she will put the info on my claim and hopefully the claims dept will have a change of heart.

Should be an open and shut case IMO as it is a know flaw.

Will keep you posted.

[Frodo-anni]

Good luck on this matter, i have just notified my local seat dealer about the girlfriends Leon, as the sills are showing signs of rust, but it is not something i have heard of happening on the leon, only the Golf's touchwood my edition 30 is ok so far. 

[SkyJawa]

Digging up an old thread but just noticed the same on our 2005 GTi this weekend.  Major design flaw the way the sill/wing is shaped and attached that allows all the crap to collect in there.  Going to take it to the dealer we bought it from 18 months ago and see how I get on, I'm bracing myself for lots of arguing!

[AndyBrown]

Digging up an old thread but just noticed the same on our 2005 GTi this weekend.  Major design flaw the way the sill/wing is shaped and attached that allows all the crap to collect in there.  Going to take it to the dealer we bought it from 18 months ago and see how I get on, I'm bracing myself for lots of arguing!

Good luck mate, you'll get offered 50% contribution at best