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Auto braking driving me nuts

50K views 94 replies 42 participants last post by  JCB22 
#1 ·
I'm now getting seriously fed up with the auto braking :x . I've already set it to its lowest setting but it still went off twice yesterday in 10 minutes. The first time I got the big red scary warning in the middle of the dash, the warning sound, but oddly no brakes. Also, oddly, nothing anywhere in sight. The second time the brakes did slam on, as usual, in a country lane but this time I couldn't see any overhanging vegetation which is the usual culprit. Nearly gave me a heart attack :shock: . I'm now getting overly conscious of it rather than having it sit in the background like ABS.

In two months it's now happened on about 9 or 10 occasions and it's only a matter of time before it causes the accident it's trying to prevent. Any advice? Should I log this as an official safety problem with SEAT HQ. I don't want to have to go through the faff of turning it off every start up because it's not as simple as pressing a button like the Stop / Start. Also, if I turn it off and I run someone down, can I ever argue that it wasn't my fault?.
 
#2 ·
I can imagine how scary this might be and the reduction in confidence that you have for the vehicle. I believe that that the frequency of these occurrences warrant a strong word with the dealership, saying that will they take responsibility ofr any accidents that occur due to a computer malfunction. I suggest that you record future occurences in terms of speed/environment (rural/urban/suburban, narrow or wide road) and this can act as evidence, should you require it. A direct involvement with the dealership is a first step under the warranty and if you fail to get any satisfactory response then quote some evidence from this forum, for you are not the first to experience this. The dealership will, on the defensive, contact SEAT HQ, to point out the position they have been put into. Good luck with this, for no-one on this forum would wish this to happen, for it undermines one's confidence and increases stress whilst driving.
 
#3 ·
Agree, first port of call is your SEAT dealership - it's clearly either overly sensitive or malfunctioning so has become a safety issue. Get them to look at it on that premise and see if they can do anything.

If they can't your next step is get through to SEAT UK.
 
#4 ·
Thanks guys. I'm popping into the dealership next weekend anyway so they can fit a new set of wipers. They've been driving me nuts as well because they badly smear on the return sweep and have done since day one. Might have to leave the car with them to sort the auto braking.
 
#5 ·
tobydog said:
Also, if I turn it off and I run someone down, can I ever argue that it wasn't my fault?.
That's an interesting point. Auto braking is now mandatory on new cars if they want to get a 5 star NCAP rating. You could argue that turning it off is deliberately decreasing the safety of your car.
 
#6 ·
I mentioned that to the service manager at my dealership this afternoon. He said that the auto braking is just an auxiliary back up to which I said "Well that should make me fell better at the funeral". He's going to do some homework on the matter and the car will go in next Saturday anyway. It's interesting that he told me there's a sensor behind the lower front bumper and on the windscreen :? . I questioned whether these are actually anything to do with the various other driver assist options and that the auto braking sensor is behind the SEAT badge. The line went quiet which didn't fill me with confidence. I'll report back.
 
#7 ·
Lower bumper is for adaptive cruise control, upper screen is for headlight assist, lane assist, rain wipers, auto-lights.

Problem with service managers is that this is such a new car they don't really have the experience with them yet. There has to be a way to calibrate the sensitivity of the front assist sensor.
 
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#8 ·
Etchings said:
Lower bumper is for adaptive cruise control, upper screen is for headlight assist, lane assist, rain wipers, auto-lights.
ACC uses the same radar sensor as Front Assist. I happen to know this very well, because I've had numerous Front Assist errors (sensor being "blinded" by water etc.) and both Front Assist and ACC stop working when this happens.

As far as I know, there isn't any sensor on the lower bumper. :? Unless you meant the ParkPilot ultrasonic sensors?
 
#9 ·
Tet70 said:
ACC uses the same radar sensor as Front Assist. I happen to know this very well, because I've had numerous Front Assist errors (sensor being "blinded" by water etc.) and both Front Assist and ACC stop working when this happens.

As far as I know, there isn't any sensor on the lower bumper. :? Unless you meant the ParkPilot ultrasonic sensors?
You are quite correct, poor choice of words :oops: I was writing from the previous post. Should have said "Front bumper / SEAT badge sensor is for adaptive cruise control...".

In the UK manual - page 211, figure 185 it even highlights this with a big arrow! ;)
 
#10 ·
Had it happen today for the first ever time.
We are in Cornwall on holiday.
Was driving down a narrow lane to a small cove, and a tight bend approached that I was aware of, but before I could brake or steer, the auto brakes slammed on, it was hard too, the ABS kicked in, the wife and kids all screamed, caught me by surprise I did my load..
 
#11 ·
Did you adjust the sensitivity levels when you got your car, or have you left them at the recommended medium setting? Just curious to see how sensitive your car is compared to others.
 
#13 ·
Happened again at the weekend. This time only the big warning sign came up. The car in front was pulling into a short slip lane to turn left. As he slowed I went to go by him (as you do) and the warning came up. In day to day driving terms I wasn't even close. It seems to be sensing things too far to the right and left and no just directly in front as I know from the parked cars in the multi story car park.
 
#15 ·
I've had my Ateca 6 weeks and driven about 1300 miles (town, hills, small rural roads, motorway, A roads etc) and this has never happened on my car. So it sounds like something is wrong somewhere.
 
#16 ·
I only had the warning come up twice before I reduced the sensitivity. Once was in a snow shower, but the other time was heading into Hatfield from Junction 3 of the A1(M).

Sky Car Street light Wheel Road surface


It seemed to read the road signs or the guard rail as a problem, but I started turning before the brakes kicked in.
 

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#18 ·
Wookiee said:
I can see my wife absolutely hating this feature when she finally get her Ateca.
I'm sure it's not a feature, it's a fault. I've driven more than 9000 km now and not a single auto braking. I think I've had one warning. Only when I use ACC, it auto brakes when the car in front of me steers to the next lane and brakes. If the ACC is off, no auto braking. Never. And I have not touched the settings, it's on the middle sensitivity.
 
#19 ·
I am in the same boat as those who have had warnings but never any braking yet (touch wood!)
 
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#20 ·
And again :roll:. This time with brakes. Bit of a narrow road but two marked lanes. I must have picked up the hedge.

Losing count of with and without brakes now. Going to dealer tomorrow but I'm only expecting someone scratching their head.
 
#21 ·
Picked mine up today - deliberately drove it on a mixture of highways and winding narrow country lanes to see if it was overly sensitive before scaring the daylights out of future passengers and not once did it go off despite all the barriers, sharp bend signs and triffid-like undergrowth.

I did also experience a legitimate warning though - courtesy of a dangerous twit in front of me. So I know it works :cool:

So I'm very much agreed that yours sounds like it's faulty / overly sensitive.
 
#22 ·
I have trouble with white and silver cars on sunny days and also silver cars to the left or right of me set the parking sensors off. I mentioned this to the dealer and they said they've never heard of this happening before.
I've also experienced the auto brake when a silver car was in front of me, but as we were still a safe distance away, you can accelerate through it and it disengages.
 
#23 ·
Took the car to the dealer as planned. They checked the diagnostics but, as expected, nothing showed up. I suppose, as far as the car is concerned, everything is normal. They took it for a run but couldn't replicate it. They said the front badge was dirty but I wouldn't say it was any dirtier than the badge on most cars. If the system requires a totally clean badge then that's not a great design given the location of it.

I had adjusted the sensitivity from medium to later thinking that would mean the system kicks in later. It's now been changed to early thinking that a warning might come up earlier but not the brakes :? All a bit baffled as to the cause and cure but I'm now going to be logging every future occurrence.

I have a feeling there will be more to report.
 
#24 ·
Yeah, intermittent faults are always a nightmare to trace - do you have a dash cam at all? Might be helpful for you to show it doing it - speed, road, conditions; that way you can at least get them to agree (or not) that it's abnormal behaviour?

I took mine out for a long drive on the South Coast on some winding country roads and after your experiences was petrified it was going to do something similar with steep turns and high embankments, windy bushes flapping in front of the car, but not a peep. So comparably your sensor sounds like it's misbehaving!
 
#25 ·
No I don't have a dash cam. Would probably end up incriminating myself :roll: . Good idea though.
 
#26 ·
This is not an intermittent fault as some are saying. Just because it doesn't happen to them doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

I've been driving the car now for 8 months and 5000 miles and I've had regular incidents of the alarm AND braking. I was amongst the first to comment on it on this site as I got an early car. It has happened frequently enough to me that I have detected some patterns.

Driving along narrow roads with dense foliage that comes close to the side of the road is a common cause. Another common one that causes the braking is on narrow roads with an oncoming car but around a corner - the trajectories of the 2 vehicles are extrapolated by the system and it anticipates a collision and brakes. What it can't know is that the road turns and the other car will follow the road and pass by.

Drive in open spaces, with wide lanes or at low speeds and it doesn't trigger.

As others have said, it's more dangerous than whatever incident it's trying to prevent, so I've turned the system off.
 
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