2010 1.6TDi EGR Valve replacement query

*geocass*

Guest
Hi all,

I have a Seat Ibiza 2010 (59 plate) 1.6TDi with 30k miles on the clock. Love the car, but it's now just out of warranty so typically something had to happen! ;) Noticed an intermittent flashing "glow plug light" for a little while which kicked the car into limp mode. :cry: A little later I got a constant "Emission Control Light" so I took it to the dealer to be diagnosed.

They diagnosed the fault as an EGR Valve. The part with bolts and everything included is around £370 which is fine, but apparently it's 5 hours work at over £90 an hour to do the fit. It's so far in excess of £800 for the job for a part that shouldn't have gone wrong with such a low mileage on the car. I was speaking to my normal mechanic and he says that he thinks my car has two EGR valves and by what they've said it's the one behind the engine which has gone. Does 5 hours work sound about right for this sort of thing? Looking online there is a lot about removing and cleaning EGR valves so I'm curious as to why it would take so long to do this unless there's something special about the 1.6 Ibiza. Any ideas? And would there be an advantage to getting this particular repair done at a dealer for a much higher cost rather than my usual mechanic who always did a good job on my old car?

Thanks very much!

Cass
 

benaston

Guest
Sympathy

Hi Cass,
You seem much more chilled out about this than I am. My 2010 Ibiza 1.6TDI has just been diagnosed with the same fault after 35000miles and 2 months outside of warranty. I have been quoted £710 to rectify the fault, however this isn't a part that should be failing. Do you recall a piece of EU legislation that states "products must last for a reasonable amount of time"? According to my Seat garage there is no 'goodwill' but I think it's got to be worth a go?!
Good Luck,
Ben
 

MJ

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Apr 22, 2008
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Clogs up a breaks the runner off and they are a pretty naff job. We do at least one a week and 5 hours is just about ample to replace them.

At the end of the day it's lasted 3 years and over 30k which is a reasonable amount of time.
 
Apr 28, 2012
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gravesend
Hello mate ive had same glow plug light pop up mine came up as emission problem which came up as a lambde sensor and new ijnector number 3 was on its way out i been quoted 880 quid so i know how u feel
 

*geocass*

Guest
At the end of the day it's lasted 3 years and over 30k which is a reasonable amount of time.

Really? So every 30k miles I should expect to pay over £800 to replace the EGR valve? That doesn't really sound right to me. In which case what about perhaps fitting an EGR delete? Keeping my fingers crossed for the good will gesture.
 

MJ

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Not at all but from a legal perspective it has surpassed its warranty period - a reasonable time set by the manufacturer.

Egr deletes are the way forward but I don't know if there's is one available for the 1.6CR.
 

garybuttle

Active Member
Oct 27, 2011
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3
Not at all but from a legal perspective it has surpassed its warranty period - a reasonable time set by the manufacturer.

Egr deletes are the way forward but I don't know if there's is one available for the 1.6CR.

Ithought warranty was 3years or 60000 miles which ever comes first, so would it not be expected to last at least 60000 miles???
 

garybuttle

Active Member
Oct 27, 2011
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Just a thought with this and the DPF problems ,how much is due to the use of cheap supermarket fuel
 

nightflight

Active Member
May 18, 2009
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Not at all but from a legal perspective it has surpassed its warranty period - a reasonable time set by the manufacturer.

I didn't thnk the warranty period really mattered. eg. Washing machines might come with a one or two year warranty, but he SoGA still covers you once it has left the warranty period as "the man on the london omnibus" would reasonably expect a washing machine to last longer than the warranty period.

As in this case, the average person would reasonably expect the EGR to last longer than 3 years.

A bit of googling suggests that the EGR is known to be problematic on the 1.6tdi, skoda seem to offer a fair bit of goodwill regarding it strengthening the argument that it is a defect from factory.
 
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benaston

Guest
Just a thought with this and the DPF problems ,how much is due to the use of cheap supermarket fuel

As much as I'd love to blame supermarket fuel I've never used the junk. I manage a fuel station and know what goes (or rather doesn't go) into it.
 
Apr 28, 2012
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Please share ben what goes into fuel i use asda diesal on mine...... when i get car back from seat am i best to start using the shell diesal instead
 

*geocass*

Guest
Thanks for the extra replies. I'm calling the dealer today to see if it can be done as a "good will gesture" as apparently the warranty guy who can deal with this isn't back until today. I've not quite had the car 5 months yet so can't say what fuel the owner before me was putting into it. I occasionally use supermarket fuel, but I also use BP ultimate. I'll argue against being charged for it and let you know how I get on! :)
 

benaston

Guest
Thanks for the extra replies. I'm calling the dealer today to see if it can be done as a "good will gesture" as apparently the warranty guy who can deal with this isn't back until today. I've not quite had the car 5 months yet so can't say what fuel the owner before me was putting into it. I occasionally use supermarket fuel, but I also use BP ultimate. I'll argue against being charged for it and let you know how I get on! :)

Good luck, fingers crossed for some positive results :)
 

*geocass*

Guest
*sigh* So I called them up and spoke to the girl on the service desk. She said the mechanic who is dealing with it is on holiday until next Tuesday. When they said Tuesday they meant next Tuesday!!!! I asked why the other mechanics couldn't fix it and she said as he's the Chief Technician he's the one that needs authorisation from Seat to do it as good will! So I said "So you're saying I have to wait a week for my car to be fixed?" and she said "Yeah if you want it done as a good will gesture". :-( She said she'd get the "Service Manager" to call me, so far no news. I suppose I don't mind waiting the week as long as it will be done as good will, but if they say no then they've kept me waiting for ages when I could have taken it to my mechanic and had it done last Friday! At least the car is driveable over short distances. Just have to turn it off and on again when in limp mode.
 

MJ

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I didn't thnk the warranty period really mattered. eg. Washing machines might come with a one or two year warranty, but he SoGA still covers you once it has left the warranty period as "the man on the london omnibus" would reasonably expect a washing machine to last longer than the warranty period.

As in this case, the average person would reasonably expect the EGR to last longer than 3 years.

A bit of googling suggests that the EGR is known to be problematic on the 1.6tdi, skoda seem to offer a fair bit of goodwill regarding it strengthening the argument that it is a defect from factory.

Most vehicle components have a life expectancy that is the same as that of the car itself but let's face it, what component actually does?

Things fail, unforseen outside factors cause issues that were never expected and some times the manufacturer will cover it.

VW AG cover vehicles for 2 years and unlimited milage, VW UK (or Seat) give an additional year but if you exceed 60k miles then it becomes void on some items. Also it's VW UK that will give a full fourth years good will covering repairs up to 100% of all costs providing you meet certain criteria.

Inside those 4 years many things are covered to a certain extent but outside of that period you got no chance, there's not many instances of 5+ year old cars getting non safety related problems fixed under warranty.
 

benaston

Guest
Sale of Goods act 1979

Consumers in England, Scotland and Wales are protected under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 for a period of 6 years from the date of purchase. Within this act it states that a product must be fit for purpose, as described, and of a satisfactory quality for a reasonable period of time. Where these conditions are violated it is the responsibility of the retailer (not the manufacturer) to repair, replace or refund the goods. In addition, the retailer must also replace the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer, and bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage).

Hope this helps all other victims :)
 

MJ

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Consumers in England, Scotland and Wales are protected under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 for a period of 6 years from the date of purchase. Within this act it states that a product must be fit for purpose, as described, and of a satisfactory quality for a reasonable period of time. Where these conditions are violated it is the responsibility of the retailer (not the manufacturer) to repair, replace or refund the goods. In addition, the retailer must also replace the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer, and bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage).

Hope this helps all other victims :)

So basically dealers should pay for a manufacturing defect?

It would require court enforcement for a start then the possibility of a dealer refusing to work on your car at all.
 

*geocass*

Guest
Right, a happy ending in my case here. The warranty guy for the dealer said no to the goodwill gesture. I then managed to speak to the service manager who escalated it to Seat UK. Apparently their goodwill fixes are based on if you've been loyal to the brand, had the car serviced with them, etc. Well I only bought the car in March so I was hoping the previous owner had! Lol! Had a call today to say that they would pay 70% of the cost. I think that's a good result and am going ahead with the repair through the dealer. I guess they agreed that this part shouldn't have gone wrong. Very pleased that its going to be sorted as the glow plug flashing has gone from intermittent to permanently on with my car permanently in limp mode :-( I stopped driving it completely as didn't want to do any further damage.

It's been 2 weeks since I first had the fault diagnosed and the service manager said that she couldn't understand why I had to wait that week, so there was some lack of communication on their behalf. Definitely not impressed with the after sales there. She, however, was very good at keeping me informed.

Can't wait to have my beautiful car back to normal. My colleague has lent me an electric buffer and I've got some decent polish and wax to give my beloved car a jolly good clean and shine as a reward for getting better!!! ;-)
 
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