Water held in doors because of bottom seals?

[gldgti]

I've yet to see a wind-up window that doesn't let water inside the door — for this reason doors normally have protection (usually a bit of cheap plastic film) to keep water off the interior trim, and one or two holes to let the water drain out over the sill.

To this extent your dealer and VW are correct, but this draining should be continuous — not just when the door is opened.

Just checked mine and it has two drain holes in each door — when the doors are shut these holes are between the lower rubber strip and the door seal, so if you have a tight seal on the lower strip (have you had the doors adjusted because of wind noise, or do the doors actually contact the sill?) then the water will accumulate in/under the door until either it seeps into the car or the door is opened.

Incidentally, I've seen lower door panels eaten out by tinworm because the drain holes were either non-existent or blocked, so it's a good idea to check them now and then.

If you don't get anywhere with VW, a fairly simple cure might be to glue a small strip of thin neoprene to the lower seal either side of each drain hole to make a channel for water to escape.

HURRAH - someone with some common sense! Best post!

[Jasonpb]

Are you able to get some video of this? I will test it out next time it rains (if the door isn't needed to be opened before hand) and try and get some video also.

I have recently joined the NRMA to speak to one of their "experts" and they have referred me to a guy called Geoff Senz who is an automotive consultant (great waste of $75). He is able to come out and assess what is happening for a fee of $990.

I explained the issue to him and he said it is definitely not normal, and a "reasonable person" would not expect this to happen on a new car, but he needs to do some tests first to confirm what the issue is.

I don't really have the $990 to put into this, but I will see if it is needed by the Dept of Fair Trading for my case against VW, and if I have to bite the bullet and fork out, I will be putting this as a part of my case and any subsequent claim.

And before anyone says anything, this guy (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f112...ler-53080.html) was patient and waited and waited and now has been told 4 more weeks of waiting. He should have already been offered a full refund at a minimum, and if he lodged his complaint with Fair Trading sooner, he could have always have cancelled it or put it on hold if a suitable resolution was forthcoming. Unfortunately it hasn't been and for the dealer to ask for the car back and then not waive excess recduction on the hire car etc is gob smacking.

The only person who is going to look out for you is you, and like the original poster said "they (the dealers) are your friend when the cheque is in your hands, but once it is in their hands you're on your own" (or something to that effect).

Making a purchase of this size is about trust. When situations like this happen, you are able to see what the business is about and you can gain more or, in somce cases, lose all trust entirely in the companies you are dealing with. The original poster in the thread above no doubt has and I have lost my trust with Volkswagen because of they way they have handled this situation.

Here are some links:
Guarantees on goods - NSW Fair Trading

In Particular:
For major problems with goods

You can:

* reject the goods and get a refund
* reject the goods and get an identical replacement, or one of similar value if reasonably available, or
* keep the goods and get compensation for the drop in value caused by the problem.

You get to choose, not the supplier or manufacturer.

A major problem with goods is when:

* a reasonable person would not have bought the goods if they had known about the problem. For example, no reasonable person would buy a washing machine if they knew the motor was going to burn out after three months In my case I did not expect water to leak from the doors after rain.

Well you might be waiting a bit for it to rain in Perth but if I remember I will make a video of it when it rains. I don't think there's a VW golf 6 out there that doesn't do this as the hole in the door that allows the water out appears to be blocked by the door seal when the door is closed, I know on other cars they generally have a hole in the door seal as well....

[elephino]

In Particular:
For major problems with goods

You can:

* reject the goods and get a refund
* reject the goods and get an identical replacement, or one of similar value if reasonably available, or
* keep the goods and get compensation for the drop in value caused by the problem.

You get to choose, not the supplier or manufacturer.

A major problem with goods is when:

* a reasonable person would not have bought the goods if they had known about the problem. For example, no reasonable person would buy a washing machine if they knew the motor was going to burn out after three months In my case I did not expect water to leak from the doors after rain.

You'll find that this issue is technically a minor issue as it doesn't impact on safety or the normal use of the car. As explained by others, the drain holes are normal and do work but they don't necessarily function fully as intended. This means that VW will get some time to rectify the issue - and that, assuming VW continue to state that it is 'normal', would be after Fair Trading find in your favour.

[kjh]

I've had my GTI for just on a week now and I've noticed that when I open my car doors, either after washing or having it sit in the rain, that there seems to be a reasonable amount of water trapped by the bottom door seals.
Depending on how much water has been on the car I can also hear it sloshing around in the doors then coming out of the drain holes in the bottom when the door is opened.

It looks like part of the new noise reduction work that VW did was this extra weather sealing on the doors including the bottom.
This wasn't on the previous MKV GTI that I had.
I'm wondering if this seal is pushing onto the holes covering them up.
Then when you open the door the hole in the bottom of the door is clear and the water come out.
Happens on both front doors and a bit on the rears as well.

Anyone else noticed this?

Yes, my MkVI GTI does this too - I just open all doors after washing it and it all drains out quickly. Haven't noticed it after leaving car in rain at all.

[Orient Express]

If it is any consolation, American GTI/Golf's do exactly the same thing.

[9inchRob]

As a metallurgist interested in corrosion, and working in Quality Assurance for one of Sydney's few remaining manufacturing organisations, and owner of many cars since 1968, I agree that this is an issue.

The provision of CONTINUOUS drainage in essentially closed sheet steel box sections with lap joints is a total "no brainer".

On a number of my cars I have "assisted" door drainage with drilling extra or enlarged holes, always painting around the exposed steel with cold galvanising primer, and epoxy finish coat, etc.

No doubt the painting and other coatings applied to the steel before and during Golf manufacture will keep rust at bay for a long time, but no bent and welded and screwed together sheet steel boxes make effective small "swimming pools" for long.

I will be looking carefully at how I can make the new Mk VI doors constantly drain, while not voiding warranty, etc.

Has anyone done the neoprene strip as suggested by Idle?

Until I see the extra sealing layer on the Mk 6 I can't envisage what to do here.

Sounds like it would make the seals too wide at that point to me, but reserve judgement until next weekend.

Thanks for raising the issue!!!

[RSOK]

Yes, my MkVI GTI does this too - I just open all doors after washing it and it all drains out quickly. Haven't noticed it after leaving car in rain at all.

Ditto, I have a 2010 Skoda Octavia RS and after I wash it, I open the doors and any water that has collected in the lower door sills drains out... we're talkng maybe 50-100ml here and there... not an issue for me... I clearly fail to appreciate the gravity of this 'problem'... would it have stopped me buying my $40k car? No way. I don't get what the fuss is about, it's such a minor 'complaint' if that, but each to his own, good luck.

[dingdong]

Hi, I got the same problem with my Golf twist 1.4, bought 2 month ago. It parked on my drive way with a small slope. rain will be trapped in door if the car is head up. When open the front door the water is released from the front drain hole under the door. My car dealer had same altitude as one with Dente, saying it is normal which I dispute on.
Having read you guys suggestions, I investigate the effect of seal but only figure out it has nothing to do with the extra seal. My experiment is following:
park on slope, head up.
keep door open to only 1-2 inches, so the seal was not compressed and would not block the drain hole.
use a bottle to pour water through the window sill
I saw NO water came out of the both drain holes underneath. Continue pouring water I saw water came out from the front drain hole.
Repeated the experiment but left the door fully open this time, the water came out of the front drain hole immediately.
Conclusion: when door is fully open the bottom of the door is leveled so the water can be drained properly through the front drain hole. When door is shut its bottom is tilted so water will not drain until its level reaches the front hole. This indicates my back drain hole of front door is not working, even if it looks unblocked.
It seems a bit different from your video show where water came out from two points, but it may depend on the slope of ground?

[RosscoMK3]

So whatever happened with this issue? I never read any damning reports.

Normally a little dribble after heavy rain wouldn't bother me. Unfortunately it never seems to stop raining lately and the water squirts out every time I open the door.

[SMOK3Y]

So whatever happened with this issue? I never read any damning reports.

Normally a little dribble after heavy rain wouldn't bother me. Unfortunately it never seems to stop raining lately and the water squirts out every time I open the door.

most of this thread has been dribble