Door seal corrosion / warranty.

[Paddy Dyson]

Hi Paddy,

Hi Paddy, I had exactly this on my 2017 Beach which was due out of warranty at start of March 2020. Heritage in Bristol were great and replaced the door seals as this seems to be a ‘known weakness’. We are now trying to be ultra careful about where we put our feet when getting in and out of the van, as clearly if you can avoid ‘straddling the seal’, it will help preserve it in best possible condition. Just make sure you point it out to them when you take it in.
Best wishes Ian

Thanks Ian. Hopefully my local dealer will be as accommodating. Seems to be luck if the draw.

 

[Paddy Dyson]

As promised. Pictures of the sliding door rubber:
View attachment 57716

And of the right front door rubber:
View attachment 57717

The van was built in november 2009, always sleeps outside (rain, dry) about not 1,5 miles from the seaside (salty humidity).

Thanks. Will be useful when I take it in.

 

[Perfectos]

I replaced all door seals and tailgate on my T5.1, mainly due to damage, (110k miles) it’s an easy job, several trim panel need to be removed to carry out the front door rubbers, but nothing too onerous. Front Door rubbers are available on EBay or from automotive rubber suppliers, they are the exact same profile and decent quality.
The sliding door seal need to be an original one as the after market ones are the same profile as the front doors, which is not correct for the slider. (Albeit being sold as sliding door seals)
I can’t remember how much the door seals were, as it was about 5 years ago, but they weren’t expensive, from memory the OEM slider seal was about £90 from a supplier of VW Oem parts (body shop supplier).
I agree that these seals are a poor design and should last more than the warranty period, particularly as these are designed to be used in a high mileage / high foot traffic environment, I.e driver getting in and out regularly. I cannot see why or rather how a dealer could argue that a rusty seal is normal water on tear. The fact that people have had them replaced under warranty shows that VWUK accept the warranty claim, if the dealer can’t or rather won’t help, take your money and custom elsewhere. (Make that clear to them and mention the Forum and the fact that others have had them replaced irrespective of “Damage”.
Remind them the UK law states goods must be fit for purpose, a door seal that cannot be avoided when entering / exiting the van in the normal designed manner is as much use as a chocolate tea pot and is quite frankly insulting to suggest that it’s user error or “fair” wear and tear.
The California is a premium Brand, if the parts used cannot withstand limited wear on a Cali ( considering most Cali’s are not used like commercial vans and do not have the high wear and tear associated with commercial use) The parts are simply “not fit for the purpose they were designed”
The issue of having the van for a day is so the dealer can use the “job as a filler” and buy them time to get the approval from VWUK. (Order parts)
If a dealer cannot fit a new door seal in under 30 minutes that must be employing monkeys. Monkeys who should not be working on a Premium California!
They should (could’ do it) while you wait in their lovely waiting area whilst you read the dailies and sip the free coffee, (but they don’t) stuff like this should be considered a gesture of good will and an attempt to retain your business (particularly post lock down) and should be carried out while you wait ( by prior appointment)
Remember the dealer reclaims all cost from VWUK.

 

[Paddy Dyson]

I replaced all door seals and tailgate on my T5.1, mainly due to damage, (110k miles) it’s an easy job, several trim panel need to be removed to carry out the front door rubbers, but nothing too onerous. Front Door rubbers are available on EBay or from automotive rubber suppliers, they are the exact same profile and decent quality.
The sliding door seal need to be an original one as the after market ones are the same profile as the front doors, which is not correct for the slider. (Albeit being sold as sliding door seals)
I can’t remember how much the door seals were, as it was about 5 years ago, but they weren’t expensive, from memory the OEM slider seal was about £90 from a supplier of VW Oem parts (body shop supplier).
I agree that these seals are a poor design and should last more than the warranty period, particularly as these are designed to be used in a high mileage / high foot traffic environment, I.e driver getting in and out regularly. I cannot see why or rather how a dealer could argue that a rusty seal is normal water on tear. The fact that people have had them replaced under warranty shows that VWUK accept the warranty claim, if the dealer can’t or rather won’t help, take your money and custom elsewhere. (Make that clear to them and mention the Forum and the fact that others have had them replaced irrespective of “Damage”.
Remind them the UK law states goods must be fit for purpose, a door seal that cannot be avoided when entering / exiting the van in the normal designed manner is as much use as a chocolate tea pot and is quite frankly insulting to suggest that it’s user error or “fair” wear and tear.
The California is a premium Brand, if the parts used cannot withstand limited wear on a Cali ( considering most Cali’s are not used like commercial vans and do not have the high wear and tear associated with commercial use) The parts are simply “not fit for the purpose they were designed”
The issue of having the van for a day is so the dealer can use the “job as a filler” and buy them time to get the approval from VWUK. (Order parts)
If a dealer cannot fit a new door seal in under 30 minutes that must be employing monkeys. Monkeys who should not be working on a Premium California!
They should (could’ do it) while you wait in their lovely waiting area whilst you read the dailies and sip the free coffee, (but they don’t) stuff like this should be considered a gesture of good will and an attempt to retain your business (particularly post lock down) and should be carried out while you wait ( by prior appointment)
Remember the dealer reclaims all cost from VWUK.

That’s a quality reply. Thank you. It will make my discussion much easier.
I can’t get in until June so I’ll see what happens. Can’t see how I get out of leaving it with them for the day though. Also not sure what I do with myself for the day if we’re still in lockdown!