Cupra 280 problems.

FR dagley

Active Member
Jul 21, 2009
18
0
Mansfield
Hi all

Just putting a post up as i wonder if its just me having the worst luck or if other people are having similar trouble and is a semi rant at times so i apologise in advance.

I had a 2014 Leon cupra 280 manual and the first problem i had was clutch slip in higher gears and gearbox issues turned out to be a common problem especially in remapped cars but mine was totally stock.

Second problem was the stupid plastic water pump which should not be an issue for this sort of car and vw should have recalled these in my opinion as a car 4 years old should not have this problem.

Third problem is the big one. When setting off one morning i noticed a noise like a bearing had gone i thought it was the clutch release bearing at first as when yoi start the car you have to depress the clutch but to my surprise just as i pulled into the garage a fault code came up and it said it was the timing chain. I heard of the older gen engines having problems and vw had a massive lawsuit over it but i could only find one example in America of a gen 3 e888 engine having a timing chain issue bearing in mind the car had only covered 40000 miles. So even though the car is out of warranty i went to seat about it as this should not happen on the mileage i uad done. Long story short seat agreed to pay 50% of the parts and labour after nearly a month of arguing may i add so i agreed for the work to be done. Turns out it wasn't the timing chain afterall it was tiny bits of black silicon sealant that had got into the oil supply for the variable valve timing which seat argued had been done when the water pump was replaced as they said they might have used silicone to seal the oil cooler as its a water cooled oil cooler.
Me and my usual mechanic disagreed we think the sealant came from the bottom timing chain cover as there was no sign of the sealant in the rest of the engine none in the oil filter and none in the oil pan where the oil pickup is which points towards a localised source of the silicone reinforcing my and my normal mechanics diagnosis of the silicone from the cover that had dropped off due to vibration and age amd worked its way into the chain then the chain takes it up to the vvt oil supply.
When sest head office heard this they pulled their 50% contribution and said it wasn't a defect from the factory while i still argued that it was but as you can imagine it was like trying to talk to a brick wall.

So after 3 seats in total a Ibiza fr 130, a leon fr 170 supercopa and a cupra 280 i will not buy any seat or vw products personally ever again. I have been loyal to the brand for over 10 years and in my time of need they basically spat back in my face.
 

paddy6789

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Aug 31, 2016
1,627
1,079
Preston, Lancs
My work colleague had a battle with VW over his DSG that failed on his Golf GTD - he was the second owner, the car was out of warranty and the car had done like 70k miles. He fought and fought and fought, and only ended up paying £100 for a job the shouldv'e cost like £5k.
His argument was the car and the parts were not fit for purpose. He had the car serviced properly by a main dealer, the car was never modified.
VW originally offered what you have been offered - 50%. But he argued and spent days on the phone to them and finally got most of it done FOC.

It sucks that people have to do that - I agree with you that the water pump housing should've had a recall notice and all replaced. But it's like a £700 job I beleive so it doesnt make sense for them to recall if more stay working than ones that fail (I imagine that's their stance on it). I've read a lot of warranty jobs where the main dealers have disagreed with other mechanics. I've also read so many arcticles and posts where main dealer mechanics actually know nothing about the cars - the most famous one is where the dealer didnt even know a Cupra had a front diff when someone wanted to get the diff serviced.

I've always trusted my Cupra with a specialist garage - they know the cars inside and out, and I'd hope that in the case of a warranty repair, their report would be enough to get the warranty repair done without issues.

I do feel that the after sales support once you have the car is shocking - not just from SEAT, but any brand. It's taken me 4 or 5 months just to get a new wheel for my car - but SEAT wouldn't sell me one. In the end, @PP Mark at Progressive Parts worked his magic and threw some legal ramblings at SEAT and they allowed him to order one, so I could buy it from him.

It's a shame this experience has put you off having a SEAT again, especially with their cars being (usually) great value. But I don't blame you. I get wound up with stuff like this and usually get myself in trouble if I find myself in a similar situation. I don't agree with the 'your query will be responded to within X days' - I want an answer the same day, so I have several ways of making that happen :)
 

FR dagley

Active Member
Jul 21, 2009
18
0
Mansfield
Thank you for your reply.
I should have said in my original post the dealer who i took it too apart from the 'master technician' not knowing sod all on how an oil system works the dealer was otherwise very helpful it was SEAT head office who were the offenders.

Recently SEAT has improved its sales very well and i do see why look like good value when the equivalent VW is considerably more expensive for essentially the same car. But to retain those customers they have to improve their customer service otherwise people will go elsewhere. Also i can see the warranty not being enough in a few years as other manufacturers have fantastic warranties and SEATs is rubbish in comparison.
 

Butty

Active Member
Sep 7, 2018
156
46
Was the water pump work carried out by a SEAT dealer and a waranty job?