[KratosMr]

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:

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

Picture 8: Fixed window glass


Picture 9: Cleaned Interior

Happy Motoring!

Moderator: Kindly relocate this post to the appropriate section if it does not belong here.

[GeeTee TSI]

Invaluable sharing, breaking open the glass might have felt torturous like letting go of a limb. From the shattered passenger side window, how did you unlock the doors as VAG does not have a button or lever on the doors to unlock

[5252rpm]

I read this post while having breakfast earlier today. I was thinking I should keep my spare key ready in case such emergency as was unable to find the same since I moved to new place. I procrastinated the efforts considering that my car all fine.

Just now on the way to office the abs sensor warning popped up on my MID. What a coincidence yaar!

[KratosMr]

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

Invaluable sharing, breaking open the glass might have felt torturous like letting go of a limb. From the shattered passenger side window, how did you unlock the doors as VAG does not have a button or lever on the doors to unlock

Yes, it really shattered my feelings. But I'm happy in one way that there is no scuff marks on paint or panel gaps as I didn't try any jugaad approach nor permitted anyone to try anything.

I opened the passenger door using the inside handle and crawled my way inside using a towel over the seat as leverage and pressed the unlock button in the driver's door.

Originally Posted by 5252rpm

Just now on the way to office the abs sensor warning popped up on my MID. What a coincidence yaar!

What a coincidence Replace the sensor asap, if there is a delay kindly disable the auto locking feature using vcds or by requesting showroom guys, thus completely avoiding this headache.

[5252rpm]

Originally Posted by KratosMr

what a coincidence , replace the sensor asap, if there is a delay kindly disable the auto locking feature using vcds or by requesting showroom guys, thus completely avoiding this headache.

Sure! I have read in other threads that if one fails, all four has to be replaced as they are connected in series. Any idea on this? Also how much SVC charges? Is there any warranty for abs sensors?

[KratosMr]

Originally Posted by 5252rpm

Sure! I have read in other threads that if one fails, all four has to be replaced as they are connected in series. Any idea on this? Also how much SVC charges? Is there any warranty for abs sensors?

Unfortunately Yes, SA told me this - An abs sensor has a life span of 3 to 5 Years, beyond that is pure luck.

There seems to be a kit with all the 4 updated sensors costing 12K approx + Labour

Individual sensors are costing around 3.5K - 4K each + Labour.

If installed from Skoda Service centre, it carries 2 years warranty.

[dmaheshkumar]

Hi,
Is it not possible to open the door using the Glass beeding in latest skoda cars, which we normally do in older cars?
Just Remove the beeding and then use scale or similar to the scale peace and press or slide based on the model. Normally this was the steps we follow to open locked doors in cars.

[KratosMr]

Originally Posted by dmaheshkumar

Hi,
Is it not possible to open the door using the Glass beeding in latest skoda cars, which we normally do in older cars?
Just Remove the beeding and then use scale or similar to the scale peace and press or slide based on the model. Normally this was the steps we follow to open locked doors in cars.

Rapid doesn't have a mechanical locking system in doors, it has electronic locking system which is concealed. And I guess - the scale trick is almost fixed in all newer cars.

[AKSarkar1]

Thanks for sharing this post! What makes me most happy is seeing these cars like your Polo crossing huge milestones like 2L+ Kms on Indian roads which IMHO are equivalent to around 4L on European roads.

Without doubt, the Achilles heel of the Polo 6R/Vento and for its Skoda siblings is the ABS sensor. In my 13+ years of owning VW cars I have changed ABS sensors at least a dozen times.

Within my 2nd year of ownership, I realized that it just makes more sense to procure a couple of sensors of OEM quality keep it spare with me and find a trustworthy FNG for these changes. VW used to charge me around 6K for each sensor change (part price, labour and taxes incl) but outside I can get the same thing done for under 1.5K. Thought of sharing as this may be handy for fellow owners.

Each cars have their own flaws but the Polos and Ventos have come to develop a special place in my heart and I can easily overlook this small pain as compared to the massive amount of joy these cars bring when driven. Wishing you many happy miles ahead too!

[vinodvayyat]

Similar case happened with me - left key inside the car for a second or two and closed the door of my 2017 Tata Hexa and the car got locked. Luckily this happened after 6 hours of driving and reaching the home car park in my in-laws house and not on the road. I usually carry my spare key and it will be with my better half. This time though, she had changed her sling bag and spare key was forgotten at my home in Bangalore.

We called Tata RSA and nearby service center - even though they said they will come and do "something", upon enquiring further I figured out that there is no clue from their side other than trying some good old tricks. Further, I got my key shipped using a combination or Porter.in and through one of my colleagues who was travelling from Bangalore.

People say that this won't happen in new age cars with keyless entry/app unlock etc. But learned my lesson too - so never leave key inside car!

[RunGaDa]

Originally Posted by KratosMr

Skoda Rapid ABS Sensors vs My Peace of Mind

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.

Valuable experience. Thanks for sharing. The one part of breaking the window to get access shows cool mind. I would’ve been in two minds.
I wish you have lots of miles on your Škoda.

[sagarpadaki]

I heard that there is ABS sensor for polo/vento/rapid from Hitachi that cost 1/3rd the OEM and are far more robust than OEM. Why don't you try them?

[mathewanil]

Originally Posted by vinodvayyat

Similar case happened with me - left key inside the car for a second or two and closed the door of my 2017 Tata Hexa and the car got locked. Luckily this happened after 6 hours of driving and reaching the home car park in my in-laws house and not on the road. I usually carry my spare key and it will be with my better half. This time though, she had changed her sling bag and spare key was forgotten at my home in Bangalore.

That’s my OCD too. My wife or co passenger will carry the spare key on person when we travel out of town. My Citroen eC3 will self lock if the car is running or not after a few minutes. I have to constantly remind myself to take the key out while exiting.

[jeeva]

Originally Posted by KratosMr

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 found myself locked out and briefly considered breaking the front side glass. The folks at Mahindra was sure about breaking the glasses, and thereby my heart. I looked up on Google and contacted a random car lock specialist, even though it was the middle of the night. To my surprise, the specialist arrived in about 10 mins, equipped with tools I never imagined could be used for car unlocking: air bags, hand pumps, a 12V DC portable compressor, and an assortment of wedges in different shapes and sizes.

Using the airbags, he inserted them between the front door and the body, inflating them to create enough space. Then, with the help of wedges of various shapes and sizes, he skillfully maneuvered and unlocked the door within minutes. Absolutely no damages to the door, paint or the glass. To be honest, I was flummoxed to see how easy it is to unlock a car equipped with decent amount of electronics, sensors, and tech.

To me, he was an angel in disguise that rode in on a Honda Activa!
When I thanked him profusely, he was like," Ah, c'mon, no big deal. I just unlocked a Porsche 911 on Carnet, on my way"! This was in Kozhikode, Kerala.

[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by jeeva

I found myself locked out and briefly considered breaking the front side glass. The folks at Mahindra was sure about breaking the glasses, and thereby my heart. I looked up on Google and contacted a random car lock specialist, even though it was the middle of the night. To my surprise, the specialist arrived in about 10 mins, equipped with tools I never imagined could be used for car unlocking: air bags, hand pumps, a 12V DC portable compressor, and an assortment of wedges in different shapes and sizes.

Using the airbags, he inserted them between the front door and the body, inflating them to create enough space. Then, with the help of wedges of various shapes and sizes, he skillfully maneuvered and unlocked the door within minutes. Absolutely no damages to the door, paint or the glass. To be honest, I was flummoxed to see how easy it is to unlock a car equipped with decent amount of electronics, sensors, and tech.

To me, he was an angel in disguise that rode in on a Honda Activa!
When I thanked him profusely, he was like," Ah, c'mon, no big deal. I just unlocked a Porsche 911 on Carnet, on my way"! This was in Kozhikode, Kerala.

My friend was in a similar situation and we got a local mechanic to help. He used something similar and it took him exactly 15 mins to close the job. I am surprised that the issue required breaking the window glass altogether. Since the OP was blocking everyone's way, am sure he was tensed and something had to be done quickly. But the showroom should know how to handle such issues. Am sure they play by the book but sometimes, you need these small hacks to turnaround big issues.