Wet Seat - 800 Dollar fix?!

[Bluebaron]

Hey guys,

So I had a water bottle that I had filled up this morning, that had some water residual sticking to the sides after filling it up. I tossed it into my passenger seat thinking nothing of it. We're talking a very small amount of water.

To make a long story short: air bag light went off, drove to the dealer since I was in the area, spent hours there for them to tell me a code is popping up saying the a sensor got wet and it will cost 800 dollars to fix. My car has 4000 miles on it.

I told them to leave it over night to see if it dries out by morning and only needs a reset.

So my question is whether or not this is normal? I don't feel like I should have to pay 800 dollars on such a new car. Its not like I dumped the water bottle on the seat. And even if I did, shouldn't these sensors be sealed? I read no warning in the manual saying the seats have to remain dry. What if you're walking out to your car and it's raining?

Has anyone had any experience with this? If so, please advise! I don't want to spend 800 dollars and I definitely want to bring light to this issue at VW if their sensor is this finicky.

Thanks guy!

Anyone TDI owners get their free money yet?

 

[Rico567]

While I don't know about the business of having to pay on "such a new car" (you did spill water onto the seat, after all*), it won't hurt to drive it a while with the light on. That's what I would do— eventually I bet that light will go out on its own.

*I backed out of the garage a month ago and tore off the passenger side RVM on the doorframe, and yeah, I believe that the $700 it cost to replace it was on me. All of it. I did it.

 

[gforce1108]

I've had a good amount of liquid spilled on the passenger seat with no damage. First mistake was telling the dealer that you got it wet! Never admit anything or they will use that against you...

You are correct that such a small amount of water should not cause a problem.

 

[czeetah]

Yep, its on you.

I would take it home leave windows down on dry days maybe a fan on floor blowing on seat see how it is in two weeks.

 

[Lincoln]

I'm inclined to agree with gforce. I've gotten into my car after standing in the rain several times (watching soccer in the Pacific Northwest - it's a hazard of parenting). I'd be upset if a little moisture from my wet butt ruined the air bag sensor. Had you spilled your water bottle, or something more substantial (cup of coffee, etc.), I'd say it's on you. A sensor going bad due to a little moisture is unreasonable in my opinion. Hopefully it just dries out and is okay, but if not, you're certainly justified in being frustrated, even if you aren't able to get any satisfaction from the dealer.

 

[dropnosky]

Sounds coincidental to me. A sensor is either bad or good, i doubt it says "i got wet".

It comes down to did you tell the dealer you might have got a little moisture on the seat before they looked at it? Then its easy to say " you must have got the sensor wet"

If you spilled water from the bottle id have a different response, but you are describing a bottle with condensation on it. I find it had to believe that got through the surface or the padding

 

[TDIEQNY]

This one sounds like its on you-sorry.

hope it dries out and stops on its own

 

[hhead]

Since the light is out, I would find someone with VCDS and scan. See if the fault is still there in memory. Reset, and see if the light comes on again. I don't see a little water killing the sensor.
Especially since we are talking less than a tablespoon of water on the seat. Even less would reach the sensor.
If the sensor is bad, it would trip a fault. Since the light went back out, I would assume all is well. The fault would be in memory, but that's not the same as a bad sensor. I think the dealer might be trying to pull a fast one.

 

[tdiatlast]

^^^I agree with this...

 

[shak911]

Hey guys,
So I had a water bottle that I had filled up this morning, that had some water residual sticking to the sides after filling it up. I tossed it into my passenger seat thinking nothing of it. We're talking a very small amount of water.
To make a long story short: air bag light went off, drove to the dealer since I was in the area, spent hours there for them to tell me a code is popping up saying the a sensor got wet and it will cost 800 dollars to fix. My car has 4000 miles on it.
I told them to leave it over night to see if it dries out by morning and only needs a reset.
So my question is whether or not this is normal? I don't feel like I should have to pay 800 dollars on such a new car. Its not like I dumped the water bottle on the seat. And even if I did, shouldn't these sensors be sealed? I read no warning in the manual saying the seats have to remain dry. What if you're walking out to your car and it's raining?
Has anyone had any experience with this? If so, please advise! I don't want to spend 800 dollars and I definitely want to bring light to this issue at VW if their sensor is this finicky.
Thanks guy!
Anyone TDI owners get their free money yet?

light off means the airbag is armed and will deploy in case of an accident, you will also have the seat belt light on in the instrument cluster....this is because the sensor is detecting the seat is occupied...just 2 days ago I placed a very light netbook computer on the leading edge of the passenger seat (for vcds)..and the light went off and the seat belt light came on.

I wouldn't worry about it, I would firmly tap the seat with a closed fist, just in case the contacts are stuck....you can't hurt it by doing this...hair drier will also help if it is actually wet...will speed up the drying....even better if you have heated seats...turn them on....

 

[eshawger]

To Bluebaron: Now that the seat is dry you could get a second opinion at a different dealership... They could thoroughly check out correct operation based on the indicator lights & symptoms you experienced. A little bit of water on the outside of the bottle as you described should not have caused any trouble. Like it has been said if you hop in the car during a rain storm it might often present more water on the seat than what you described, and any car should be able to withstand a little residual rain water (or snow) from your clothes or what may blow in while the door is open. If you spilled an entire bottle of water then I'd agree with those here stating any repair is more likely your responsibility. As you described with such a small amount it seems to be coincidental and it should be a warranty repair.

On your emissions story question, VWGoA sent out goodwill letters describing the $1,000 plus 3 years of roadside assistance on November 9th. Any affected owner can join in immediately at www.vwdieselinfo.com and simply enter the VIN to begin the process.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

If the error doesn't clear on its own after drying out, replace seat with junkyard seat for $cheap. I have a driver's side leatherette seat sitting in the carport right now if anybody wants it. Seats are cheap and plentiful... no sense in paying dealer pricing for repairs.

 

[shak911]

If the error doesn't clear on its own after drying out, replace seat with junkyard seat for $cheap. I have a driver's side leatherette seat sitting in the carport right now if anybody wants it. Seats are cheap and plentiful... no sense in paying dealer pricing for repairs.

If you were to do this, you may be permanently losing the airbag protection for that seat, better off with the status quo, "protection always on."

Many cars do not even have the feature to disable the passenger air bag unless it is occupied....it is not like you are driving without the airbag protection...but the opposite....
all it means the airbag protection is ready to deploy regardless of the presence of a passenger.....

And should the unfortunate happens....the insurance will most likely cover the repair to include a passenger airbag.(since it had deployed)

Personally, I do NOT like airbags....they are only useful if you are not wearing a seat belt, there was a study done in Canada...10 year span or so, included 10k accidents, where the airbag was blamed for the death of 3 occupants...the deaths were actually attributed to the airbag.....did I hear anyone say HONDA!!!

I am only referring to frontal collision airbags...the side curtains give good protection that the seat belts do not do.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

In 10 years and 10,000 accidents, airbags were found to be responsible for three deaths? That number doesn't seem particularly alarming, or even mildly concerning, to me. That's a discussion for another thread, however.

As for my recommendation to find a junkyard seat, I meant a factory VW seat with the airbags and all systems intact. I did not mean replace with a seat without airbags. Airbag functionality would be fully retained.