So I got my Sportline 280 back in December and have done about 1600miles now. We have always felt the suspension was harsh when going over speed bumps etc., going over a speed bump always gave a real bang and felt like you had hit something and bottomed out the suspension. But not noticeable on general driving.

 

Turns out we weren't going mad - the dealer hadn't done the PDI properly and had left the transport blocks in. One on each side one mine - some googling suggest some models have up to 3 each side.

 

To see them you need to jack the front of the car up (please make sure you put something under it other than the jack to make sure it can't fall on you), or you may be able to get away with just turning the wheels to lock. Then you have to lift the rubber boot up - easier if it is jacked up and the suspension has dropped down. And see if there are and blue plastic bits inside - they can get stuck up inside the boot as well so have a good feel around.

 

If you do have any they simply pop sideways off the suspension and are taken away.

 

The car now drives nicely with no bangs or harsh impacts over speed bumps. For a bit of googling it sounds like this is all too common with VW group cars.

 

Fairly common, from what I've seen on here.

Mine still had them in, and the pedi did not fully ‘disable’ transport mode.  That was back in 2015 when mine was the first that Dealer had sold.  Almost 3 years later that sort of error just should not still be happening!

2 hours ago, Wino said:

Fairly common, from what I've seen on here.

Fairly common within the industry (although when you crunch the numbers it’s actually not that common if that makes sense ) 

6 minutes ago, FelisBengalensis said:

Mine still had them in, and the pedi did not fully ‘disable’ transport mode.  That was back in 2015 when mine was the first that Dealer had sold.  Almost 3 years later that sort of error just should not still be happening!

Ime it’s either in transit mode, or not. 

Report the error to the dealer and insist that it is recorded on your 'file' for any possible subsequent suspension issues.

... and so they can advise the pdi people to be more attentive in future.

22 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

Report the error to the dealer and insist that it is recorded on your 'file' for any possible subsequent suspension issues.

... and so they can advise the pdi people to be more attentive in future.

 

And ask for a print out of the PDI inspection report

Either the box isn't ticked, or if so the report has been falsified

If its the latter, what else was skipped, perfectly reasonable to ask the senior technician to do another full PDI because they might be other missed items

 

Just threaten to tell Skoda UK that their franchise falsifies records and ask what are they going to do about it if they moan

 

 

 

 

Just been driving mine around cursing the ride for a year!  It was only a knocking noise - because presumably it eventually snapped - that made me take it in to the dealer.  They came up with some convoluted story - 'mounting bracket needed tightening mate' - as to how it was a simple fix.  Well the ride is now transformed.  I hope it hasn't done any damage, being in that state over 10,000 miles?

So, can someone who's actually done this confirm - to check a car, is it just a case of jacking the car up at each wheel, in turn, reach into the coil and push the concertina bellows up from the bottom and check if there are any blocks in there? Obviously pulling the bellows down after checking.

 

Do you need to check rear as well as front? Both normal and DCC shocks?

Worried about mine now, as ride seems harsh over speed bumps or pot holes might take it to nearest tyre place just for check 

2 hours ago, xman said:

So, can someone who's actually done this confirm - to check a car, is it just a case of jacking the car up at each wheel, in turn, reach into the coil and push the concertina bellows up from the bottom and check if there are any blocks in there? Obviously pulling the bellows down after checking.

 

Do you need to check rear as well as front? Both normal and DCC shocks?

Yes, for mine (non-DCC), you just jack up each front a bit and push the boot up as it the pic at the top of the thread. As far as I know there aren't any at the rear.

Front only, no rear transport blocks have ever been reported in many similar threads for all Skoda models.

 

 Mine the same. Three, on one side only! And this after I had asked the salesperson to check they had been removed having previously read items on the forum about the issue. 

 

 When I first saw the car prior to delivery it had four dents in the boot lid, subsequently repaired. 

 

 Did not take long to realise the headlights were hopelessly misaligned. 

 

Utterly hopeless PDI.

 

Compensation obtained and not my dealer any more.

 

 

1 hour ago, Lol6 said:

 Mine the same. Three, on one side only! And this after I had asked the salesperson to check they had been removed having previously read items on the forum about the issue. 

 

 When I first saw the car prior to delivery it had four dents in the boot lid, subsequently repaired. 

 

 Did not take long to realise the headlights were hopelessly misaligned. 

 

Utterly hopeless PDI.

 

Compensation obtained and not my dealer any more.

 

 

Were they halogen or xenon headlights?

Xenon

1 hour ago, Lol6 said:

Xenon

Were they suffering from the sticking pointing down initialisation problem that was a software issue that affected quite a few superbs, or was it more a general misalignment (slightly low).

I need to check mine, I've not driven in the dark yet in 7 months!

 

As for dents on a new car, totally disgusting.

 

I wonder how many Skodas are running about with transport blocks? Incredible!!

1 hour ago, xman said:

I wonder how many Skodas are running about with transport blocks? Incredible!!

 

How else do you think Škoda have ‘stiffened’ the suspension on Sportlines? 

Xman:  The o/s light was simply too high.  I drive a lot down country lanes in the dark.  It was easy to tell.

 

As for the transport blocks I wrote to the Skoda MD suggesting a possible solution.  No response.  That was two years ago.  The problem remains.  ‘ Nuff said,

1 hour ago, Lol6 said:

Xman:  The o/s light was simply too high.  I drive a lot down country lanes in the dark.  It was easy to tell.

 

As for the transport blocks I wrote to the Skoda MD suggesting a possible solution.  No response.  That was two years ago.  The problem remains.  ‘ Nuff said,

 

Not sure what you would expect Skoda UK to do about this as the blocks are installed to try and prevent damage in transit. As you’ve already illuded to, this is a PDI problem that rested solely with the dealer as it is their responsibility to remove them after receiving the car. 

Surely their could be legal implications in this?  Fair enough a PDI check sheet isn't exactly a legally binding document but is there some sort of 'duty of care' that a dealer must adhere to?  e.g; all our checks and PDI indicate this car is safe, roadworthy and free from faults and defects. 

 

Or is it always a case of unload, PDI, wash, attach plates and handover as quickly as possible, f*ck the consequences ?!

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Lol6 said:

Xman:  The o/s light was simply too high.  I drive a lot down country lanes in the dark.  It was easy to tell.

 

As for the transport blocks I wrote to the Skoda MD suggesting a possible solution.  No response.  That was two years ago.  The problem remains.  ‘ Nuff said,

 

Not sure what you would expect Skoda UK to do about this as the blocks are installed to try and prevent damage in transit. As you’ve already illuded to, this is a PDI problem that rested solely with the dealer as it is their responsibility to remove them after receiving the car. 

Terrible echo in here.....Somebody's turned the audio enhancer on again

 

3 minutes ago, xman said:

Terrible echo in here.....Somebody's turned the audio enhancer on again

 

Off topic: A great feature in theory, in practice it's absolutely awful! 

Jars:  I wrote to Skoda UK to highlight the dangers that this problem can cause as suggested by another member on the forum and also to suggest a system of working to prevent recurrences which they could pass down to their dealers as a procedure to be followed during PDI.  

 

Seems they were not impressed.

5 minutes ago, Lol6 said:

 

Seems they were not impressed.

 

I'm not surprised as it would involve them putting down their tea and biscuits, and stop surfing the internet for a minute to do some thinking and/or real work.