Rear window and seat questions :D

[Chrispy]

Ok, 2x questions for you knowledgable chaps.

1. When I get my leather fitted at Seat Surgeons, are the old cloth seat covers salvageable? As in, will they be ok to donate to someone else to fit into their vRS if their own seats are knackered?

2. I spoke to the dealer this morning (FR Pulleyn in York) to get my rear windscreen looked at as it appears to be coming unglued at the bottom 2x corners. You can see white wavy lines under the glass in the black areas where it looks like the glue is coming undone. They said they'd never heard of that one before.
Anyway, will they be replacing the entire rear glass or simply re-attaching the current one?
I've heard of the glass 'de-laminating' but is this the same thing?

Thanks,

Chris.

[P-A]

I've noticed that with the back window on my VRS too. There are white wavy lines down both sides. Can't say that it really bothers me though as it doesn't appear to be causing a problem.

I believe the original seat covers are removed and thrown away! I doubt if you'd be able to re-use them as the removal process is likely to damage them.

[skudmissile]

Originally Posted by Chrispy

Ok, 2x questions for you knowledgable chaps.

1. When I get my leather fitted at Seat Surgeons, are the old cloth seat covers salvageable? As in, will they be ok to donate to someone else to fit into their vRS if their own seats are knackered?

2. I spoke to the dealer this morning (FR Pulleyn in York) to get my rear windscreen looked at as it appears to be coming unglued at the bottom 2x corners. You can see white wavy lines under the glass in the black areas where it looks like the glue is coming undone. They said they'd never heard of that one before.
Anyway, will they be replacing the entire rear glass or simply re-attaching the current one?
I've heard of the glass 'de-laminating' but is this the same thing?

Thanks,

Chris.

Dealers you got to love them,

Maybe they all do it chris? or possibly a "Characteristic".

When they swapped mine they smashed the old one out and put a new one in.

Having thought about it i dont think it is de-laminating as the rear screen isnt laminated? but it looks just the same.


_____
john

[ap0gee]

My rear window's done this too! I think there's another thread on it, which is a bit of a coincidence as I hadn't given it a second thought until today, and suddenly it seems to be as big a concern as the leaky rear doors problem!!!

As Skudmissile says, it won't be delamination, as the side and rear windows are toughened, not laminated (as perfectly demonstrated by his dealer - a laminated window wouldn't have shattered!) What it looks like to me is that the black paint that goes round the outside edge of the window has come away from the glass in certain areas. I haven't noticed any leaks, so I think the sealant is still sound. It just appears to be a cosmetic thing, so I guess it's up to the individual owner whether you do anything about it. I'd be surprised if it'll come under warranty, but you never know! As far as I'm concerned, it's just another 'war wound' to go with the scratches on the boot lid from a collapsing cycle carrier, the dent on the bonnet from where some git ran over the front of my car, and the parking scratches round the edge of the alloys. If it gets to the stage where I want to trade in the car, I might do something about all of the above, but in the meantime they just add character!

[Conshine]

They just said the rear window is not a warranty item as apparently the black stuff is peeling off, going to check though.

[Chrispy]

Interesting.
I'll ask them then about the rear window when I take it in to see if they will replace it under warranty or not. If not, I'll just leave it. I'm not paying for a new one as it's not gotten any worse.

As for the seats, I'll ask Seat Surgeons when it goes in if the old seats will be worth keeping or if they'll just rip em off in a brutal fashion. I imagine it will be the latter. lol.
In which case then John, I've got some seat shampoo instead if you want it?

[ap0gee]

Time for some more of my (in)famous cameraphone pics!

I had a look at what's going on with my back window, and there are definite areas where the black paint has faded, in the bottom corner (arrowed), and in a narrow line, about 1" in from the edge, right the way up the window (bracketed):

Lifting up the boot lid, you can just about see that the black paint's more-or-less disappeared in the bottom corner (bracketed area again - look for the pale flecks):

I reckon that it's got like that because of either something I'm using to clean the car, or the stuff I've got in the washer reservoir. I also reckon the line up either side of the window marks the edge of the sealant, and the mystery liquid's running down, taking the paint with it. The good side of that is that it seems to stop at the sealant, so isn't leaking in!

My claim that "I've used non-VAG washer fluid for years, and it hasn't done me any harm" may be coming back to haunt me, but as long as it's just cosmetic I'm not all that fussed...

[Lummox]

IIRC SS return the original seat covers to you.

[skudmissile]

I had my rear window replaced under warrenty. It was exactly the same as the one in the pic above. I would guess it would come under the paint and bodywork warrenty?

cheers chris. i had a go with some groom today and they have come up a little better. cant wait to see your leather its gunner look really really nice

________
john

[Chrispy]

No probs John, if as Mr Lummox says they get returned to you then they're all yours. You've helped me out plenty of times so I might as well return the favour.

I'll see then about the rear window. If you managed to get yours replaced under warranty then I feel a bit more hopeful.

It looks very similar to yours Ap0gee, except on both bottom corners. It's like it's either coming away or the black has simply gone a bit funny. Either way, it shouldn't be like that. I saw a brand spanker in the showroom a few months back (yellow thing covered in stickers) and thats rear window was perfect.

[skudmissile]

Originally Posted by Chrispy

No probs John, if as Mr Lummox says they get returned to you then they're all yours. You've helped me out plenty of times so I might as well return the favour.

I'll see then about the rear window. If you managed to get yours replaced under warranty then I feel a bit more hopeful.

It looks very similar to yours Ap0gee, except on both bottom corners. It's like it's either coming away or the black has simply gone a bit funny. Either way, it shouldn't be like that. I saw a brand spanker in the showroom a few months back (yellow thing covered in stickers) and thats rear window was perfect.

Thanks muchly, one set of seat covers gets you lifetime subscription to vagcom and when its raining a nice warm tiled floor to fix your motor on.

If they are struggling to remove the faulty window get them to ring the dealer in halifax and they will direct them further (i.e. in the direction of the biggest fecking sledge hammer on the planet)

You going to mention that knocking also?, when i think about the probs uve had so far the top gearbox mount is the most likely cause of the knocking. If the dog mount has been knackered for a long time the top gearbox mount will have been under more strain i would imagine so might have worn out abit faster than normal?


anyhow good luck with dealers

-------
john

[Decron]

Originally Posted by Chrispy

Ok, 2x questions for you knowledgable chaps.



2. I spoke to the dealer this morning (FR Pulleyn in York) to get my rear windscreen looked at as it appears to be coming unglued at the bottom 2x corners. You can see white wavy lines under the glass in the black areas where it looks like the glue is coming undone. They said they'd never heard of that one before.
Anyway, will they be replacing the entire rear glass or simply re-attaching the current one?
I've heard of the glass 'de-laminating' but is this the same thing?

Yep apparently happens a lot with the Seats. It's not the glass coming unstuck, it's actually delaminating (Coming apart).

I have just had mine replaced under warranty today by the dealer for exactly this.

Gotta buy more stickers now

[Wardy]

I've got a bit of this occuring at each side of the back screen. I'm out of warranty though. Do you reckon it's a call under paint and bodywork, as asked above? Skoda give 10 or 12yrs on these don't they?

If not I suppose it's not the end of the world if it can't be covered, and I can claim on insurance, for the £50 glass XS. But as you say, I'd rather not buy new stickers again! I just put them on at the weekend!

Steve

[Chrispy]

Righto, cheers Decron. I shall mention the word 'delaminating' if that's what's happening. Seems a fair fewe of us have this issue. The dealer said on the phone "ooh I've never heard of that one before". Pfft, yeah right.

[ap0gee]

Originally Posted by Decron

Yep apparently happens a lot with the Seats. It's not the glass coming unstuck, it's actually delaminating (Coming apart).

I have just had mine replaced under warranty today by the dealer for exactly this.

I'd love to know how your dealer came to the conclusion that the toughened glass in your rear window was delaminating... Toughened glass and laminated glass are two completely different things. And it even says what kind of glass it is on the little label in the bottom corner ("Laminated" for the windscreen, and "Solid Tempered" - aka Toughened - for all the other windows.)

If the dealers are prepared to replace the glass under the paint and bodywork warranty, then that's great. But there's no need to come up with implausible explanations for what's caused it. It's just the black paint coming off, I don't think it can be anything else, and in fact I'm willing to stake money on the fact that it's nothing to do with delamination.

[Chrispy]

Is laminated where it has a layer of plastic covering the glass to stop it shattering when broken? If so, then wouldn't this not be possible on a rear window as that's not laminated. Or is it?

[ap0gee]

The laminated glass in your windscreen has a thin layer of plastic (polyvinyl butyral to be precise) between an inner and outer layer of toughened glass. This means that if a stone hits your windscreen, you won't be covered in tiny shards, as you would do with plain toughened glass. The side and rear windows of your car don't have this intermediate plastic layer, but are still toughened, basically because you need the glass to be stronger than normal glass, and to shatter safely when it does break, but the chance of it breaking under normal driving conditions (i.e. a stone impact) is so small that going to the lengths of fitting laminated glass isn't justified. You can retrofit a layer of sticky-backed plastic to the inside of the glass for added security, but this has the disadvantage of making it harder to get out if you have an accident and can't open the door (another reason for not fitting laminated glass except in the windscreen).

But enough of the science lesson. I know for a fact that my car doesn't have any security coatings, and yet the black stuff's coming off. I suppose you could call the black stuff a "laminated layer" (technically it's a coating, because it's on the outside), but it's got nothing to do with the integrity of the glass itself, as Decron's dealer has indicated. I suspect it's purely there for cosmetic reasons (otherwise you'd see a squidgy layer of sealant all the way round the front and rear screens), but it might also be there to assist the sealant sticking to the glass. I doubt this, however, and the areas where the black stuff's coming away from the glass isn't where the sealant is, anyway (hence, I was able to take that pi$$-poor photo from the underside, looking straight though!) Plus, there's no black stuff behind the rear-view mirror on my Fabia, and that's stuck pretty darn firmly to the screen - yet other cars do have black stuff surrouning the place where the mirror's attached.

In case you hadn't already guessed, I'm convinced it's a cosmetic issue only and nothing to do with the glass coming apart in any way. Like I've said before, if it bugs you that much, and the dealer will replace the screen under warranty then go for it, but don't be worried that your rear window is about to implode if you don't!!!

HTH

[Chrispy]

There you go, another thankyou to add to the list.

[ap0gee]

Originally Posted by Chrispy

There you go, another thankyou to add to the list.

You're a gent. Have a thank-you to say thank you!

(Not that I'm abusing the system, or anything! )

[Chrispy]

Well, the car went in to have the rear window bonding looked at today (FR Pulleyns in York) and I've been told that it's not covered under warranty.

This isn't the original warranty, but the extended one that I got with the car through buying it from a dealer in January (it's an 04 plate). Just goes to show it's not worth the paper it's written on.

They suggested I try my insurance for glass cover.

Sigh.