Hi all, looking at the faults and technical board it certainly seems the Ateca isn't without it's teething problems and this may be something that someone has experience of so any pointers will be gratefully received. If SEAT resolve our issue then I'll post up the findings.
We picked up the wife's Ateca 1.5 Xcellence Lux DSG (with a few added toys, pan roof, towbar) on 26th November, initial thoughts as a Cupra 290 driver were "it's a bit nicer than mine inside"
A week or so goes by then...and these are Mrs BCC's words to the dealer as I've only actually driven it twice.....
Further to my visit on Wednesday and your conversations with Gary this morning I just wanted to send you a detailed description of the issues I've been experiencing with my Ateca (picked up on the 26th October).
I'm suffering from a total lack of any throttle approx once / twice a week seemingly at random times. I have tried changing various settings like turning off start/stop, turning off the auto-hold and driving the car in sports mode (done for the last 2 weeks). Although the autohold not being on does make a noticeable difference in pulling away in general it's not fixing the 'lack of throttle' issue I'm having.
This morning really affirmed my belief that there is a serious technical fault with the car not related to my personal driving style/any of the settings I have been adjusting.
I have been documenting issues in the last week as I became more sure there was an actual problem. Please see the log below of various incidents.
Few weeks ago
Stopped at traffic lights on the way home from Hersham (so the car had had a long run to Hersham already parked for an hour and a half, this was the journey home)
Autohold on, start stop off pulling away from the car being in park with the handbrake on.
Problem long enough for me to check I was in drive, try the accelerator maybe 3 times before it moved.
The same has happened on a journey the following day but I can't remember as much detail as above but was very similar, stopped at traffics lights, warm car.
Last week
First thing in the morning, stopped to turn right into our road after driving a mile down the road and back in a traffic jam (10 mins driving, prob with a couple of min stop off) Cold outside maybe 3 degrees.
Autohold on, start stop probably on. Stopped just with the brake pedal, no power for long enough for me to check I was in drive, try the accelerator maybe 3 times before it moved. And when I did the pull off was very very slow and then jerked into full acceleration after I had made the turn.
Earlier this week - before I came in on Wednesday
First thing in the morning, pulling off the driveway 10 degrees outside.
Autohold on, start stop off reversing off the driveway, stop to change from R into D nothing.. Stopped long enough for me to check I was in drive, try the accelerator maybe 3 times before it moved AND a few seconds later then turning out our road onto the main road, just stopped at the junction with the brake pedal, went to pull out, nothing.
Stopped long enough for me to check I was in drive, try the accelerator maybe 3 times before it moved.
Today
Mid Reversing off the drive this morning 7 degrees outside
Autohold off, start stop on, reversing slowly off the drive probably took my foot off the accelerator for a couple of secs as I have to go slow between the pillar and the other car. Foot back on accelerator, nothing. Put car into Park left for a couple of secs, then back into R still nothing, tried D, nothing. Back into P and then R again nothing. Engine was running but no revs showing on display (I've changed the display so the revs are easy to read on the dial now).
This all lasted about a minute, long enough for me to phone Gary in the house to say the car wasn't moving!! When he came out it still wasn't going anywhere, then while we were looking at the rev counter it suddenly crept up a little to 1 and I was able to drive the car again. Car was fine all the way to my folks (4 miles) stopped, dropped off then drove 1 mile to the office also fine.
It started happening a few times before the first instance above - I put it down to driver error but as it kept happening I've started to take more notice. There have probably been a couple between the first above and last week too, but again I've not taken as much notice of the detail until this week.
As you know we have a young child who is usually in the car with me daily, safety has been extremely high on our agenda when we were choosing a new car. To be honest after this morning I am worried about the safety of this vehicle. It's not stopped whilst I've been moving before and now that's happened I've lost total confidence. The thought of losing power whilst driving is dangerous enough, let alone it happening on a motorway. The outcome could be fatal.
I would like Seat to take urgent action to investigate the issues above, and would suggest the problem is not an isolated case just on my car. From my visit on Wednesday your colleague Martin who we discussed the problems with seemed to be experiencing the same issues with his new Ateca. I'm sure safety is a priority for a family car manufacturer like Seat, so I am sure you will be treating this matter with the seriousness required.
We look forward to hearing your plans for investigating this matter.
That went off on 30th (I'd previously spoken to them verbally in person) and we dropped the car back to the dealer on 1st December, they lent us a car from the forecourt and they got set to investigate. They're a pretty decent bunch to be fair to them, I can't grumble about the sales team, they're always extremely professional to deal with and they get a solid 9/10 from me (SMC Alderhot)
To clarify a bit of the above, the chap Martin who's mentioned, is actually the SMC brand manager so to have him experience exactly the same issue on the same model/spec vehicle, registered within days of ours has actually been a blessing really as it confirms the Mrs isn't being daft or over reacting. I've been a passenger when the issue has occurred and it's quite nerve wracking, especially when it happens at a busy junction/roundabout.
The dealer has investigated both cars, Martins was found to have some loose wiring and has subsequently been fixed (hhmmmmm.....) but they can't find anything on ours although they have experienced the fault themselves a number of times in the week they've had our car, so it's now been escalated to the bods at SEAT HQ to look at.
Whilst googling this particular issue I looked at most of the obvious things and can't really find anything 100% similar. I also can't see that any 1.5 Kodiaq owners seem to be experiencing the same issue so maybe it's the first batch of 1.5 DSG Ateca's that are affected? I'd be interested to hear about anyone else's experience of this specification car?
I think we'll give them the opportunity of sorting it out, another week or so would seem reasonable before we do anything drastic like reject it. If it gets sorted then great, if it gets sorted and then goes wrong again then it's definitely history.
I will add though, the petrol consumption is blooming woeful. I had to try VERY hard to get over 30mpg in Eco mode. Generally it seems to hover around 28-29 which is the same as our previous D4. Maybe it will improve once it's done a few miles.
Apologies for the long winded post
We picked up the wife's Ateca 1.5 Xcellence Lux DSG (with a few added toys, pan roof, towbar) on 26th November, initial thoughts as a Cupra 290 driver were "it's a bit nicer than mine inside"
A week or so goes by then...and these are Mrs BCC's words to the dealer as I've only actually driven it twice.....
Further to my visit on Wednesday and your conversations with Gary this morning I just wanted to send you a detailed description of the issues I've been experiencing with my Ateca (picked up on the 26th October).
I'm suffering from a total lack of any throttle approx once / twice a week seemingly at random times. I have tried changing various settings like turning off start/stop, turning off the auto-hold and driving the car in sports mode (done for the last 2 weeks). Although the autohold not being on does make a noticeable difference in pulling away in general it's not fixing the 'lack of throttle' issue I'm having.
This morning really affirmed my belief that there is a serious technical fault with the car not related to my personal driving style/any of the settings I have been adjusting.
I have been documenting issues in the last week as I became more sure there was an actual problem. Please see the log below of various incidents.
Few weeks ago
Stopped at traffic lights on the way home from Hersham (so the car had had a long run to Hersham already parked for an hour and a half, this was the journey home)
Autohold on, start stop off pulling away from the car being in park with the handbrake on.
Problem long enough for me to check I was in drive, try the accelerator maybe 3 times before it moved.
The same has happened on a journey the following day but I can't remember as much detail as above but was very similar, stopped at traffics lights, warm car.
Last week
First thing in the morning, stopped to turn right into our road after driving a mile down the road and back in a traffic jam (10 mins driving, prob with a couple of min stop off) Cold outside maybe 3 degrees.
Autohold on, start stop probably on. Stopped just with the brake pedal, no power for long enough for me to check I was in drive, try the accelerator maybe 3 times before it moved. And when I did the pull off was very very slow and then jerked into full acceleration after I had made the turn.
Earlier this week - before I came in on Wednesday
First thing in the morning, pulling off the driveway 10 degrees outside.
Autohold on, start stop off reversing off the driveway, stop to change from R into D nothing.. Stopped long enough for me to check I was in drive, try the accelerator maybe 3 times before it moved AND a few seconds later then turning out our road onto the main road, just stopped at the junction with the brake pedal, went to pull out, nothing.
Stopped long enough for me to check I was in drive, try the accelerator maybe 3 times before it moved.
Today
Mid Reversing off the drive this morning 7 degrees outside
Autohold off, start stop on, reversing slowly off the drive probably took my foot off the accelerator for a couple of secs as I have to go slow between the pillar and the other car. Foot back on accelerator, nothing. Put car into Park left for a couple of secs, then back into R still nothing, tried D, nothing. Back into P and then R again nothing. Engine was running but no revs showing on display (I've changed the display so the revs are easy to read on the dial now).
This all lasted about a minute, long enough for me to phone Gary in the house to say the car wasn't moving!! When he came out it still wasn't going anywhere, then while we were looking at the rev counter it suddenly crept up a little to 1 and I was able to drive the car again. Car was fine all the way to my folks (4 miles) stopped, dropped off then drove 1 mile to the office also fine.
It started happening a few times before the first instance above - I put it down to driver error but as it kept happening I've started to take more notice. There have probably been a couple between the first above and last week too, but again I've not taken as much notice of the detail until this week.
As you know we have a young child who is usually in the car with me daily, safety has been extremely high on our agenda when we were choosing a new car. To be honest after this morning I am worried about the safety of this vehicle. It's not stopped whilst I've been moving before and now that's happened I've lost total confidence. The thought of losing power whilst driving is dangerous enough, let alone it happening on a motorway. The outcome could be fatal.
I would like Seat to take urgent action to investigate the issues above, and would suggest the problem is not an isolated case just on my car. From my visit on Wednesday your colleague Martin who we discussed the problems with seemed to be experiencing the same issues with his new Ateca. I'm sure safety is a priority for a family car manufacturer like Seat, so I am sure you will be treating this matter with the seriousness required.
We look forward to hearing your plans for investigating this matter.
That went off on 30th (I'd previously spoken to them verbally in person) and we dropped the car back to the dealer on 1st December, they lent us a car from the forecourt and they got set to investigate. They're a pretty decent bunch to be fair to them, I can't grumble about the sales team, they're always extremely professional to deal with and they get a solid 9/10 from me (SMC Alderhot)
To clarify a bit of the above, the chap Martin who's mentioned, is actually the SMC brand manager so to have him experience exactly the same issue on the same model/spec vehicle, registered within days of ours has actually been a blessing really as it confirms the Mrs isn't being daft or over reacting. I've been a passenger when the issue has occurred and it's quite nerve wracking, especially when it happens at a busy junction/roundabout.
The dealer has investigated both cars, Martins was found to have some loose wiring and has subsequently been fixed (hhmmmmm.....) but they can't find anything on ours although they have experienced the fault themselves a number of times in the week they've had our car, so it's now been escalated to the bods at SEAT HQ to look at.
Whilst googling this particular issue I looked at most of the obvious things and can't really find anything 100% similar. I also can't see that any 1.5 Kodiaq owners seem to be experiencing the same issue so maybe it's the first batch of 1.5 DSG Ateca's that are affected? I'd be interested to hear about anyone else's experience of this specification car?
I think we'll give them the opportunity of sorting it out, another week or so would seem reasonable before we do anything drastic like reject it. If it gets sorted then great, if it gets sorted and then goes wrong again then it's definitely history.
I will add though, the petrol consumption is blooming woeful. I had to try VERY hard to get over 30mpg in Eco mode. Generally it seems to hover around 28-29 which is the same as our previous D4. Maybe it will improve once it's done a few miles.
Apologies for the long winded post