2015 Ibeza ST doors filling with water.

Gezz49

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
13
0
Hi,
I have a 2015 Ibeza ST and all four doors fill with water when it rains. It can stand for days after it has stopped raining but when you open the front doors about 2 litres of water pours out of each door, the rear doors hold about half a litre. It's been to the dealers twice and they gave me an invoice saying it is doing "as designed". Now after over 30 years of driving many different car manufacturers veihicles, old ones and new, from American to Japanese and British classics, I have never had a car that had doors that held water.
Has anyone else expierienced this? The dealer said he tested an identical vehicle and it did exactly the same.
It is obviously a design fault. I am now trying to get SEAT to either do something or give me my money back. This involves getting the opinion of a second SEAT Dealer, why I don't know, maybe they don't trust the first one or the don't want to admit the design fault. I have owned another Ibeza mk5 and a Leon neither had this problem and my wifes friend has the same model as us on a 13 plate and its fine.
Apart from being a pain I am worried that the electrics in the door will suffer and the doors will rot out despite a 12 year guarentee. Hot in summer freezing in winter will have some adverse effects on the paint and the metal, especially as water expands when it turns to ice! Humidity is worse as it will penetrate everything, doesn't help being Monsoon Grey. I can't do any home fixes as this would invalidate the warranty.
Any expieriences of this?
 

Oldbutswift

Active Member
Mar 23, 2016
285
91
Interesting,but alarming since I have just taken delivery of a new ST.
I find it hard to believe that every ST behaves like that,
The model is not new and if it was a fault with every one that has been made then you would expect there would be widespread knowledge of it.
Perhaps it's just one batch of door seals that were faulty.
Please keep us informed.
 

Gezz49

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
13
0
Hi,
I will post the results of my complaint to SEAT customer services. I'm not too happy with the dealers lack of concern over this but I am sure they are aware of it as they tested my car last year. I put up with it for a while but finally get sick of splashed trousers and shoes. I am following the procedures, I have booked it into a different dealer so they can confirm the known problem all this takes time and they keep the car all day even though 5 minutes with a hose is all it takes as they fill up when you wash it too. The door seal must cover the drain holes. If I can post a video on here it would make a good screen saver, 30 second deluge followed by 30 seconds of drips. It doesn't fill up when on the move in the rain, must be enough flexibility to allow draining. Give it a try and let me know.
 

hilly81

Active Member
Apr 28, 2014
265
43
Little Sutton
I imagine this will be similar to the issue that affected the MK4 Toledo (And also the Skoda Rapid). The drain holes I think were coming out of the factory blocked. Seat (and Skoda) did a 'fix' on these that I believe modified the drains so they worked better. They certainly did on my old Toledo. Have a search on here and also on Briskoda.
 

Oldbutswift

Active Member
Mar 23, 2016
285
91
If the drain holes in the doors were blocked then the doors would fill up and water would just seep out,not cascade out when the doors were opened?
Also,I think the front doors on the ST are the same as the five door hatch so same issues?
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
Eh, wait a minute, you have left out the SC - it does it as well, daughter's late 2009 Ibiza SC - when I open a door I stand back, that car gets parked slightly nose down.

I can't help but get annoyed that someone did not think that cars could end up being parked slightly nose down, or nose up for that matter of fact.

Have a look at the under side of the door, the only lower face drain point is about half way along the door, so I can see why that Ibiza SC gets filled doors when it rains!

I think that as the cars left the factory, the electrics will have a sheet of plastic to cast the water off - though why allow so much water to run down into the door in the first place, I'll need to look at wife's August 2016 Polo 5 door to see where its drain holes are, it tends to be garaged most of the time so I have not noticed water running out of doors when they are opened, her previous Polo a 2003 MY car did not have that problem.
 

Gezz49

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
13
0
It's been in the dealers twice, the first time they checked the drain holes but if they were blocked it wouldn't come out in a deluge? I think the seals are so tight they stop water leaving altogether. Maybe its to stop water entering the cabin as appears to happen to some cars?
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
Eh, wait a minute, you have left out the SC - it does it as well, daughter's late 2009 Ibiza SC - when I open a door I stand back, that car gets parked slightly nose down.

I can't help but get annoyed that someone did not think that cars could end up being parked slightly nose down, or nose up for that matter of fact.

Have a look at the under side of the door, the only lower face drain point is about half way along the door, so I can see why that Ibiza SC gets filled doors when it rains!

.

I was wrong, on daughter's late 2009 Ibiza SC, there are 4 drain holes and the first one is about 9 inches back from the hinge end of the door.
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
It's been in the dealers twice, the first time they checked the drain holes but if they were blocked it wouldn't come out in a deluge? I think the seals are so tight they stop water leaving altogether. Maybe its to stop water entering the cabin as appears to happen to some cars?

Remember that these are budget model cars and I don't think that they have double door seals like VW and Audi do. So that leaves the door drain holes being outside of the only door seal, I think. Still down to water getting into door cavity in large quantities and being held in there due to positioning of drain holes. Comments about water freezing, then expanding when thawing mean that there could be a bit of stress placed narrow areas at times, not good for life time rust issues!
 

Gezz49

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
13
0
Second dealer inspection on 22.08.16. Very short letter saying doors hold water and it is a design characteristic. Never saw that in the brochure. Handy if you live in a desert maybe. Email to SEAT with copies of both reports. I await their response. More to follow.
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
I compared daughter's late 2009 Ibiza SC and wife's August 2015 Polo.

Polo has very few drain holes, maybe a single one and inner and outer door seals, the outer seals stop rain getting in.

Ibiza, like I said before, only has a single door seal, an inner seal, so rain water gets into the door very easily!
 

Gezz49

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
13
0
It's the water not getting out is the problem! The second dealer said it was a "head scratcher" but really its a design fault. They checked the door hang to make sure it wasn't too low but everything is as should be. I did say the glass felt thinner compared to our friends Ibeza but I don't have any verniers so I can't measure it but I can push my glass and it deflects slightly while theirs doesn't. That may let more water in. Doesn't solve my problem. Anyway just waiting for SEAT to respond. I just want my money back, I don't think I could sell it privately do you? They would bring it back as soon as it rained.
 

Gezz49

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
13
0
Interesting,but alarming since I have just taken delivery of a new ST.
I find it hard to believe that every ST behaves like that,
The model is not new and if it was a fault with every one that has been made then you would expect there would be widespread knowledge of it.
Perhaps it's just one batch of door seals that were faulty.
Please keep us informed.
Has it rained on your new Ibeza yet?
 

Vini

Active Member
Aug 18, 2016
67
1
Wife picked up a 5 door hatch last week, and we had our first downpour this weekend. I noticed the very same thing, water literally gushing out.

Haven't investigated further, or given it a second thought, until I just read this...
 

Oldbutswift

Active Member
Mar 23, 2016
285
91
I've had it happen after I washed it.
If that's how it's designed then I'm not concerned because there is a rust warranty and I can't see me keeping the car beyond say 5 years.
However,it doesn't seem the best design and there must be concerns over long term corrosion issues.
 

Oldbutswift

Active Member
Mar 23, 2016
285
91
It's the water not getting out is the problem! The second dealer said it was a "head scratcher" but really its a design fault. They checked the door hang to make sure it wasn't too low but everything is as should be. I did say the glass felt thinner compared to our friends Ibeza but I don't have any verniers so I can't measure it but I can push my glass and it deflects slightly while theirs doesn't. That may let more water in. Doesn't solve my problem. Anyway just waiting for SEAT to respond. I just want my money back, I don't think I could sell it privately do you? They would bring it back as soon as it rained.
Of course you could sell it anyway you wanted.
Can't see you having any joy from Seat.They will say that that part of the design has no adverse effects and there are warranties to cover consequent defects,if any.
It's not as if water was getting INSIDE the car.
 

Gezz49

Active Member
Aug 11, 2016
13
0
Thanks for your inputs. I will go through the complaints process right up to the Ombudsman, Small Claims Court, if no joy then it's Youtube, Face Book , Twitter and an email to all the car mags, Which, What and Not that Car. I can see myself standing outside SEAT dealers with my sign board "Talk to me before you buy a SEAT." Worked for me with my Tiny Computer dispute back in the day. I'm that kind of guy.
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
can't see you getting your money back here.

It's not faulty, it's behaving as designed.

buy a 3 door next time ;)

Eh? 3 door, ie SC also has this problem.

Edit:- you can't fool me, I know it (also) rains in North Ayrshire!

Another Edit:- seriously, if you are not having water getting into the doors in a big way with your SC then something is wrong somewhere! Or you are parking bang on level or slightly nose up.
 
Last edited:

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
Thanks for your inputs. I will go through the complaints process right up to the Ombudsman, Small Claims Court, if no joy then it's Youtube, Face Book , Twitter and an email to all the car mags, Which, What and Not that Car. I can see myself standing outside SEAT dealers with my sign board "Talk to me before you buy a SEAT." Worked for me with my Tiny Computer dispute back in the day. I'm that kind of guy.

Tiny Computer problems, maybe I was lucky, my old steam powered Win95 tower lasted long enough, basically it was only the fact that it had Win95 and the power supply would not restart immediately if shut down after a long time running - then broadband > WiFi came along and so entered desktop replacement laptop and tower when into skip!
 
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