Floor rail issue

blondebier · May 15, 2018

Hi All,

We've had our T6 beach for a few weeks and have an interesting issue present itself. Whilst taking grandma out for a drive over the weekend she commented that the seat was "a bit wallowy". She was sitting on one of the middle row seats swivelled around to face the 3 seat bench. (Typical back seat driver! I thought nothing of it)

However, when I helped her out of the seat I noticed that it wasn’t as secure as the other one.

I then proceeded to remove the offside seat and then removed the nearside seat(that she was sitting on) and discovered this…

Here's an image showing the side of the trim...

The fixing is shown below...

I measured the gap between a good rail. This side is pretty much bang on 5mm.

The gap of the side that does not slide in is bigger. Circa 6 - 7mm

I am concerned that this is a safety issue and the seat could come out of the rail as the fixing is not secure.

Any thoughts?

Two final points of clarification:

1) This is our second T6 Beach so I'm not being stupid - we've removed and reinstalled the middle row seats many times

2) Grandma is a little lady and doesn't need to go on a diet.

Is this something that anyone else has experienced?

Jabberwocky · May 15, 2018

Not experienced this but if safety concern (and it looks as if it is) I'd be booking my Cali into a dealer to check and sort out. After all your Cali is an '18.

blondebier · May 15, 2018

Thanks Jabberwocky. I've sent the photos to a dealer for their view.

It's clearly a warranty issue, but I was more interested how it could be fixed. (I wondered if anyone has had this before)

The thought of having a rail (or worse even the floor) replaced doesn't fill me with much joy. It's brand new!

I'm surprised this made it out of the factory... or even passed the PDI.

WelshGas · May 15, 2018

blondebier said:
Thanks Jabberwocky. I've sent the photos to a dealer for their view.

It's clearly a warranty issue, but I was more interested how it could be fixed. (I wondered if anyone has had this before)

The thought of having a rail (or worse even the floor) replaced doesn't fill me with much joy. It's brand new!

I'm surprised this made it out of the factory... or even passed the PDI.

My understanding is that the Aluminium strip with rubber insert is Not part of the locking mechanism of the seat. The actual Locking mechanism lies within the rail and is part of the seat and when the seat is unlocked it runs forward or backwards on wheels which sit on the Aluminium trim.
The actual rail is bolted to the vehicle floor pan and will stand proud. The flooring then levels everything off and the aluminium trim provides a cosmetic finish to the floor/rail junction + the runner for the seat wheels.

If the seat was moving it is unlikely to be anything to do with the aluminium rail and more likely to be something to do with either the seat locking mechanism or the rail.

The Aluminium cover should clip in using some downward force to compress the flooring - that might be why you have the height difference.

Have you tried both seats for stability in each rail. Just to rule out a faulty seat locking mechanism?

blondebier · May 15, 2018

Thanks WelshGas.

I've removed the seat now. It's not right and I don't want to drive with passengers if the seat isn't secure. You're probably right in that it wouldn't come out, but I don't really want to risk it.

The underlying strip moves easily when pushed or pulled. I wonder if the seat wobbles when this gives way?

WelshGas said:
The Aluminium cover should clip in using some downward force to compress the flooring - that might be why you have the height difference.

Have you tried both seats for stability in each rail. Just to rule out a faulty seat locking mechanism?

I have given the trim as much downward force as I can whilst sliding it to the left and it won't slide under the fixing in the rail. The floor is pretty solid and there isn't much flex in it. (Probably a good thing!)

Trying to make up approx 2mm of gap by depressing it doesn't seem right (or very likely).

I'm waiting for a reponse from the dealer. As soon as I have any more to share I'll post back.

RobSWBeach · May 15, 2018

I had similar this past weekend when removing the middle seats. Was a simple case of remove and position back in. I assumed it had just gone the other side of the aluminium strip and it now sits securely and flush.

andyinluton · May 15, 2018

The aluminium trim is purely for show, but I could see how it could prevent the seat locking properly.

Can you make the seat lock securely without the trim in place?

GreggB · May 31, 2018

One trim on my Beach has a similar issue, I can see one of the sprung tabs alongside the rail is bent back too far to allow it to secure the trim. Not enough room to simply bend it back and I suspect a proper repair will involve a new rail. It never affected the seats though, with both the bench and individual seats being secure or free to slide as required.

It may be coincidence the trim is poorly located and there is a fault with the seat or another obstruction in the rail.

Stoneybroke · Jun 1, 2018

The small clips in the rails of our T5 Caravelle were better than these sliding strips in our TY Beach; progress?

Have you tried swapping the seats between the rails to establish if it's the rails or the seat?

blondebier · Jun 19, 2018

A little progress update...

It took ages to get a warranty booking but is now with a dealer to sort. Agreed it is a manufacturing defect and parts will arrive tomorrow.

The initial 2 day estimate is now over a week as they need to "strip the interior" and "drop the tank". Probably due to the fixings being mounted on the chassis.

The outcome was probably worst case in my head. Needless to say I feel pretty sick.

The new van feeling has been well and truly tainted.

blondebier · Jul 23, 2018

This sorry saga continues. "Repair 1" was a fail.

It needs to go back for a new floor (and all that entails) - a complete interior strip out this time.

The new floor is on back order from Germany. Yay!

"Jump on the Wagen?" I'd love to VW. I'd love to!

westfalia · Jul 23, 2018

blondebier said:
The new van feeling has been well and truly tainted.

Yeah. i bet it has.
Ffs. is backorder the new buzzword for VW.

When they do get all the gear together to do the job i hope
your dealer puts he´s best lads on it.

I would want to do it with them to make sure it´s done right.

blondebier · Jul 24, 2018

Unfortunately they put their best guy (aka "Cali expert") on it last time.

I can't really take it anywhere else due to the inevitable liability shift if dealer 2 were to cock it up as well / further.

I'd go so far as to say that the dealer support for California's is not really fit for purpose if anything other than routine servicing is required.

I'm also staggered that there hasn't been an acknowledgement from VW(or apology) that this was a fairly significant manufacturing fault and that they're going to take ownership of it and fix it properly.

I was grateful for all the email questionnaires and GDPR emails though VW. They made me feel a lot better!

At the moment I'm just having to cross my fingers that it'll be fixed on the next visit. The experience so far doesn't fill me with much confidence though.

This will be visit number 4 - YES FOUR!

Stoneybroke · Jul 24, 2018

Shocking.... Keep us updated.

blondebier · Sep 11, 2018

Well I can report that this was a manufacturing defect and the resolution was a new floor.

It was with the dealer for 6 working days. (Total resolution time just shy of 4 months)

It took me an hour to clean the inside as the interior had been sprayed with some sort of silicone spray and there were smear marks everywhere. (All over the black panels, front dash and steering wheel)

It also picked up a scratch on the shut of the rear hatch. Thankfully it's not on the exterior panel and I can touch it up.

I don't think I'll be going back there any time soon.