Ateca Design Fault

W19KED · Mar 10, 2017

I took delivery of a Xcellance 1.4 EcoTsi 4 days ago and have discovered a fault in the design which will unfortunately lead to premature corrosion. Even though the vehicle is spotlessly clean on the outside, on opening the rear doors I noticed that dirt, grit & mud is collecting near the bottom on the inside of the doors. See photos. The channel where debris collects is formed by the way in which the lower black plastic door trim is attached to the door panel. On the majority of vehicles, the rear door is seperated from the wheel arch and therefore this problem does not exist. However, on the Ateca, the lower part of the rear doors are directly exposed to spray from the rear wheels & tyres. It appears that this problem affects all models.

Having been involved in the motor industry for many years, I would advise the following:-
Please check your vehicle and if any dirt is collecting in this area then please help us all by writing (with photos if possible) to your dealer. Ask them to contact the manufacturer regarding this issue. Also write to Seat (which can be done at www.seat.co.uk/contact-us.html) . The more of us who do this, the sooner a fix will be available. In the meantime I would advise that owners take the time to keep this area clean until Seat comes up with the required fix.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Ghiggz · Mar 10, 2017

You are right!
This has been brought up on a thread previously by someone, and following that a few of us checked ours and all noticed it too..

W19KED · Mar 13, 2017

Update:

After writing to Richard Harrison the MD of Seat UK regarding the above, today I received a telephone call from Seat. They have requested photographs of the road dirt collecting on the rear door panels as they said they are totally unaware of this issue. If anyone else has noticed this problem on their Ateca, send your photos together with a description of the problem to talkto@seatcars.co.uk. Put your registration number and 'Design Fault' as the subject.

Cheers

Phosphoric · Mar 13, 2017

Thanks for your work on this W19KED.
I haven't got my car yet but will be sure to keep an eye on this issue as I intend to keep the car long term.

JimBob · Mar 13, 2017

You would have thought that the manufacturers in the VAG group would have sorted this by now. I know of similar issues on MK1 Leon's, VW Passats and Golf's. You only have to Google water in doors for xxxxx to see how many people have had similar issues.

I suggest we do all take up the advice and report any problems we see in this area.

Jim

Ghiggz · Mar 13, 2017

Dang it, I washed mine yest, first time in about a month, and they were both bad again so I opened the doors and gave em a blast with the pressure washer..
Will be a few weeks before it builds up again now...

Goodbye Golf · Mar 14, 2017

Thanks W19KED. I have just checked my Ateca and also have the problem.

I shall be writing to SEAT UK today!

tonychurly · Mar 14, 2017

Is not just a corrosion issue but also very inconvenient as rear passengers will tend to brush past and get this on their cloths. A secondary seal attached to the bodywork to track the door edge is what is required.

supreme · Mar 15, 2017

Ouch. There is no question that this is design fault. Keep us updated what Seat will do about it.

W19KED · Mar 15, 2017

Update:

In an attempt to keep the ball rolling, I have also provided my dealer with photos and asked them to submit a Technical Report to Seat regarding the problem. If you are ever driving past your dealership when your rear doors are full of rubbish and you have a minute to spare, feel free to call in and do the same.

Magpie86 · Mar 15, 2017

Mine are also full of rubbish. Will do just that if I drive past. Mine just needs a wipe away but it's still something I wouldn't have noticed without the forum. Cheers.

supreme · Mar 18, 2017

After looking rear wheelarches and comparing to other cars in this segment like Tiguan or Peugeot 3008 i think i understand why.

They didnt put enough protection layer or wide enough to cover the door where wheelarch is.
I'm really dissapointed i ordered car that has so basic faulty implementations. Did the yeven test it? It should have been noticed on some dirt or snow driving.

gavlar · Mar 18, 2017

I have checked my car and I don't have this issue. We were driving in heavy rain last weekend, through country lanes and the exterior of the car got quite dirty but when I cleaned the car on Friday, I didn't notice anything like what has been displayed in the photos on the rear doors, just a very light dust/dirt that you would normally find on this area. Is the any chance that the doors weren't shut properly ? - just a thought. I have noticed that the doors on the Ateca need a bit of a slam. On a number of occassions, people have closed the door on my Ateca but it didn't close fully.

Leon · Mar 18, 2017

gavlar said:
I have checked my car and I don't have this issue. We were driving in heavy rain last weekend, through country lanes and the exterior of the car got quite dirty but when I cleaned the car on Friday, I didn't notice anything like what has been displayed in the photos on the rear doors, just a very light dust/dirt that you would normally find on this area. Is the any chance that the doors weren't shut properly ? - just a thought. I have noticed that the doors on the Ateca need a bit of a slam. On a number of occassions, people have closed the door on my Ateca but it didn't close fully.

It certainly isn't a door not shut correctly problem. It's probably because it was extensively tested in a dry country (should have used the UK during winter for some of it) and the problem wasn't noticed. It will cause corrosion problems over time. It needs addressing.

Cupcakecresta · Mar 18, 2017

Seems a good reason to go out and give the car a good blast on the roads and drive in a few muddy puddles and down a lane or 2 to check this out. Will take photos of what I see. Thanks for this. Will report back

Tell · Mar 18, 2017

It doesn't help that it has a drainage type of vein on the edge / fabrication area where dirt can collect. Presume the door does not recess into the car enough and just picks up splatter inside. Got a Nissan Xtrail for a period so I'm going to photograph that area and the area where it goes into the car and compare when I get home with the Ateca to see the difference.

gavlar · Mar 19, 2017

No doubt a door shutting issue looking at some of the photos posted - how else could so much crap gather in that space where my car has almost zero ? Unless SEAT have left a seal off your car ? You probably need to speak to your dealer so that they can explain why you have a problem. Good Luck !

Saggy · Mar 19, 2017

I've seen it in mine

Will get pics and report on next build up

Tell · Mar 19, 2017

Looking at an Xtrail it has a fin in the plastic underside moulding before the end of the door. I think that's the cunning aerodynamic device that has been left off the Ateca. The fin will cause air and muck to move sidewise away from the bottom of the door. No fin and the edge of the door gets the blast of air and muck. Those clever Japanese creating a vortex. Picture to follow. Will let others go fin spotting on other cars.

Will be interesting to see whether the Kodiaq has the same design fault and weird fabrication point which I think doubles up as inside door drainage. Perhaps they got in a tiss about air flows around this area due to that.

daesimps · Mar 19, 2017

On the topic of design faults, the right hand drive versions suffer the same issue as the Skoda I just got rid of. If the battery is dead you can open the driver's door with the key but not the passenger door. You can't open the passenger door from the inside due to the Safelock mechanism. The bonnet release can't be pulled with the passenger door closed, so how do you get under the bonnet to use jump leads?

jimbrimble · Mar 20, 2017

Can someone who has spotted the issue post some pictures that are zoomed out a bit. I don't have my car yet, and I can't see from the pictures already posted where on the car I will need to look.

Thanks y'all.

Tell · Mar 20, 2017

You will see a gap that light passes through in the rear door when clean, it's that area that gets gunged up and then above. The picture on the first page above by Goodbye Golf » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:05 am gives the best navigation point on the rear nearside door (left) weird fabrication point at the bottom, mud running up on the left.

You will see about three threads on here since last year when it was first spotted. VW Dunn Vag was the first as I recall. About November time when owners started to take displeasure in it.

Edit

Think this was the first post on the subject although the image needs rotating by 90'.

http://atecaforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=440&p=4906&hilit=Rear+door#p4906

Another one... needs rotating by 90' also

http://atecaforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=705&p=8466&hilit=Rear+door#p8466

Seems the gunge starts off at the weird fabricated area at the bottom which grit can get in and grot forms up the side door from there.

Wondering who's got mud flaps or not.

Goodbye Golf · Mar 20, 2017

Update - I have had a response from talkto@seatcars.co.uk - "Thank you for contacting SEAT UK Customer Services regarding your SEAT Ateca. I am sorry to hear you are experiencing problems with your SEAT Ateca and would like to assist you in resolving this matter. We would therefore require the vehicle to be taken to one of our SEAT Dealerships for them to complete a diagnosis"
I am hoping to take the car into the garage today.

I have taken some more photos this morning, trying to show exactly what the problem is and I agree with supreme

supreme said:
They didnt put enough protection layer or wide enough to cover the door where wheelarch is.

If you are regularly on muddy roads, the wheelarches get very clogged with mud and this then transfers up the side of the door.

This photo is with the door ajar to try and show how the mud gets up the outer edge of the door.

I live in a very rural location and drive through a dairy farm 4/5 times a day so the problem is severe. I do have mud flaps fitted which could make issue worse? It will be interesting to see what solutions SEAT come up with.

Tell · Mar 20, 2017

I knew my Nissan Xtrail pictures would come in handy I took today. That's the issue that the Ateca door is exposed to the wheel arch whilst in say the Nissan it fits snuggly behind its surround. The red is the door, grey plastic is the body.

Ateca design team didn't want plastic wheel arch lines on the body they wanted to save a few inches one assumes by building the moulding into the door rather making the recession part of the car body proper... the Ateca has the moulding on the door, think I know what's going on now. A design slight of hand. Now you see the moulding the door fits in, now you don't, it has no moulding just made to look as if it does to get the wheel arch lines giving no added protection of a recessed door.

Golfmk56 · Mar 20, 2017

Goodbye Golf said:
I do have mud flaps fitted which could make issue worse?

Exactly what I was thinking and something I alluded to in a recent post re: optional extras. But that's still no excuse for what indeed looks like a flawed design.

Owner complaints do make a difference. I seem to remember when Ford first lauched the Sierra there were lots of complaints about high speed handling, the result being Ford introduced a tiny strip around the rear 3/4 which altered the airflow. Same when the TT came out, VW's solution was a tiny rear spoiler.

Hope you get a result with SEAT.

Goodbye Golf · Mar 20, 2017

Not great news - I have spoken to my local dealership who forwarded last week's photos to SEAT Technical. They have now fed back to the dealership that they have NO solution to the issue and that this was the first time they had heard of it. Neither the dealership or I can quite believe this, given the number of reports on this website alone.
I find it somewhat strange that a car with off-road capabilities has been designed, in such an unpractical way, that dirt from on-road driving only is potentially damaging the internal paintwork. Surely my 4x4 should be able to cope with mud?!
For now, until SEAT comes up with a modification, I intend on regularly checking & cleaning the area so that I can minimise the longterm damage to the paintwork.

Ateca Design Fault

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