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How a failed ABS sensor forced me to break the door glass on my Rapid

10th April 2024, 09:04 by Ananth Iyer

No matter how advanced, reliable the locking system is, never leave the key inside the car while going out.

BHPian KratosMr recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Skoda Rapid ABS Sensors vs My Peace of Mind

Hi folks, I welcome you all to my first post! I'm Anand from Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, and I mostly go by the name Kratos on all handles. As a little background, I own a 2012 Polo 1.2 TDI and a Rapid 1.6 MPI. The love for VAG cars paved the way for the Rapid in 2018. By owning VAG cars, I was obviously hit by their service costs and the pathetic after-service experience. Considering VW service centers, I have had a pleasant experience with Skoda.

By today, the Polo has crossed around 2.1L kms, and the icing on top is for some small nifty jobs. DIYs are attempted using genuine parts, and overdue general service came under that DIY, which I really love for its satisfaction. As a result, for the last 3 years, the VW service center in Tirunelveli neglects to take in my car even for a small paint job or small part replacement, stating, "As per VW's policy, cars will be authorized to enter their service center only if the general service is done by them." I have unlimited experiences like this with them, a story for another day.

Coming back to the Skoda service center, their service rates and after-sales experience were far superior when compared to VW. In the first 5 years of ownership of the Rapid, every single issue was resolved promptly, and the quality of work was also very satisfying. Everything went smooth until December 2023 came with a never-seen flood. Luckily, both the cars were on a high surface, and no damage was suffered.

Little Background:

By February 10, I went for a long trip, and all of a sudden while braking, there was some noise, and the cluster greeted me with an ABS warning. I have the habit of carrying VCDS along with some basic tools while traveling. Immediately after firing up VCDS, it clearly showed an issue in the right rear ABS sensor. My trustworthy Skoda SA advised not to cross 80 Kmph, and I followed the same for the rest of the journey. After two days, I reached home, and using VCDS, I scanned for errors again, but this time it started showing issues on both the rear sensors. After clearing the errors, I used advanced measuring values to check the readings, and both the rear sensors are showing 0, clearly indicating their death. The wirings are good as it was showing voltage readings.

Picture 1: ABS Warning

I then inquired with my trustworthy SA about sensor availability, and he mentioned that there are no stocks available for ABS sensors, and it will take another 10+ days to arrive. I assume many flooded vehicles in the service center seem to be the reason for sensor shortage. Upon digging further, there is a whole lot of users struggling with the same ABS issue and their sudden failures. There were some newer versions of sensors released by VW, but the availability was a little limited. I didn't pull the trigger by purchasing online as they don't provide any type of warranty, since Skoda service is providing 2 years of warranty for the same.

I waited for 10+ days; still, no words about sensor availability. I avoided the Rapid for most of my commute as I'm not comfortable driving around with ABS issues. On one fine day, February 29, I needed to purchase some electrical components. Since they are quite big, I took the Rapid for purchasing. The shop is located in a busy one-way road under a bridge. As usual, I parked the car in an open place 500 meters before entering the one-way, went to the shop by walk, did the necessary purchase, and returned to the car by walk.

My only objective now was to go with the flow into the one-way, quickly open the boot near the shop, and guide the shop workers to place the components inside. Now my worst nightmare begins. The Rapid has an auto-locking and unlocking feature - it locks all the doors when the speed is above 20Kmph or so and unlocks all the doors when I open the driver's door. I'm used to this feature from the early days.

Incident 1:

Around 2:30 PM, I entered the road with the Rapid, and upon nearing the shop, I quickly opened the driver's door with the ignition on. As usual, all the doors were unlocked. Then the driver's door was closed, and I went ahead to open the boot. To my surprise, the boot switch was not working. Immediately, I ran towards the driver's side, only to find that the car locked itself up. I could see the speedometer fluctuating around 40Kmph with a brake warning. This caused the auto-locking to trigger on its own while the car was still. By now, it dawned on me that I was stranded, with lots of cars behind me.

I called my SA, and he confirmed that there was no other way other than using a spare key (since it's a 1-hour drive from my place there is no way to choose this option). Some nearby people suggested breaking the quarter-panel glass, but I was determined not to make that mistake. I made another call to my SA to inquire about power window glass availability, and he kept me on hold for 5 minutes as it was lunchtime. In the meantime, a nearby mechanic came to the scene and tried pulling the glass down with a suction cup, but the glass never moved. Most people suggested pushing the car or towing the vehicle, but pushing the car was not possible as the handbrake was engaged, and steering was almost impossible. I was deeply worried about forced towing. Now, the SA came to my rescue around 2:40 PM. He confirmed the availability of the passenger-side glass.

Without wasting a moment, I got a hammer from a nearby shop and broke the left-side passenger window, and took the car from that traffic situation. I drove the car straight to the Skoda Service Center by 3:30 PM (determined to replace the glass before night). But my trustworthy SA was very busy, and they assigned me a new SA. He took nearly one and a half hours to attend to me, and as expected, he asked me to come back by tomorrow morning, which I agreed to as it was a time-consuming cleanup process I didn't want them to rush. I left their premises, and upon reaching my place, I fired up the VCDS only to find that the front left ABS sensor had also failed, which triggered the wheel speed issue, brake warning, and speedometer fluctuation. Now, a total of 3 sensors have failed in a span of a month, except the front right (The front right sensor was changed during the warranty period before a year; they have already replaced the particular sensor with a newer revision - WHT003860B. I hope that's why it's holding up).

Picture 2: Broken window

Picture 3: Shattered Glass Pieces

Incident 2:

By the very next day, March 1, I reached the Skoda Service Center by 10 AM, and they started the work immediately. I was waiting patiently in the customer lounge. By 2 PM, the car was ready. I was charged Rs. 3957, which I promptly paid and took delivery. They did a very good job vacuuming the interior, but they have scratched a lot in the door card fabric rest (I didn't create a scene considering all the other things done to perfection). They removed every single glass piece from the interior and inside the door. Overall I was quite happy with the job they did.

Picture 4: Bill for Power window glass replacement (Wrong Part Number)

Upon reaching home, I looked into the billed part number using Dlinker ETKA, and to add insult to the injury, they charged me for the Skoda Fabia front right side glass while the replacement was done on the Skoda Rapid front left side glass. For comparison:

5J0845022D - Fabia Front Right glass costs: Rs 3072
6RU845201D - Rapid Front Left glass costs: Rs 1705

Picture 5: ETKA - Fabia Front Right glass part number

Picture 6: ETKA - Rapid Front Left glass part number

After informing the new SA regarding this, he told me to wait till the next day as it was day closing time. After collecting necessary proofs from ETKA, I contacted the new SA on March 2nd morning, and as expected, the new SA argued with me, stating that the part is a modified part. Since most of the parts are interchangeable, they made the Fabia glass fit in Rapid after calmly listening to this. I raised the question, "How in the world is a right glass from a smaller car modified to fit a left-side glass of a large vehicle?" Upon raising this, he lost his words. At this point, I am pretty sure they are trying to mess with me. I asked him to discuss this issue with his manager or someone from the parts department and get back, and after 2 hours, he called and apologized for the issue and offered me a deal on painting or some labor-intensive works, which I politely denied and demanded a refund and corrected bill. He was very hesitant initially, as this process requires approval from his general manager, but as I was determined to get the correct bill, he agreed to my demand.

Incident 3:

After following him for a couple of days, by March 6, he sent me a revised invoice, and the credit amount of Rs. 1367 was updated on my car's account. After this, I inquired again about the ABS sensors' availability, and still, they are asking for 10+ days lead time. I bit the bullet and ordered the sensors from online.

Picture 7: Revised bill with lesser amount and still wrong part number

The revised invoice now has the front right side glass part number - - 6RU845202D of Rapid, instead of changed left side glass - 6RU845201D . They came with a story that their parts stock has some issue, and they can't bill the correct left side part. I don't have the mind to argue with them any further and left this issue.

But still I can never get this thought out of my head - Did they try to scam me? or This is a genuine mistake?.

Additionally, in a service center with rigorous quality control and 5S implementation, such errors are completely unacceptable.

Lessons Learned:

No matter how advanced, reliable the locking system is, never leave the key inside the car while going out.
In an unavoidable situation - getting off the car with the ignition on, lower a window as a backup.
Always take time to check about the billed particulars.