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Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr

I parked my car on the street the other day. When I came back, I noticed the headlight and fog light on the driver's side looked a bit wonky and the bumper was scuffed and wasn't seated properly. Clearly somebody has backed into it and driven off.

I managed to get the bumper back on and opened the bonnet to see what was up with the light(s). They're one unit, bolted in two places to a metal support above and with a further bolt to a plastic strut on the lower side. A little bit of wiggling and the plastic strut dropped off. It has sheared off one end and snapped a piece of headlight case off the other end.

Into the garage today. Diagnosis - new headlamp unit needed. A mere £837 sir. All because some joker can't park and doesn't have the decency to leave a note when they thump into another car.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Bromptonaut

CCTV?

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr

CCTV?

Sadly not outside my house and it was parked for several days so, even on the off chance that someone else had it, I don't know what day it happened.

The damage amounts to a broken plastic bracket (about a tenner) and the moulded bracket on the back of the headlamp. For the sake of a few pence saved in the Skoda factory, I have to cough up hundreds for a whole new unit.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - focussed

CCTV?

Dashcam?

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - corax
Into the garage today. Diagnosis - new headlamp unit needed. A mere £837 sir. All because some joker can't park and doesn't have the decency to leave a note when they thump into another car.

I suppose that's because it's LED. Wonderful until you have to replace them.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr

Partly that, and partly that it's all one big unit.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - elekie&a/c doctor
Did you enquire if repair brackets were available for the headlights.? A lot of makers now make these to reduce the cost .
Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Andrew-T
Did you enquire if repair brackets were available for the headlights.? A lot of makers now make these to reduce the cost .

A headlamp on my 207SW lost its attachment lugs in 2016 in a minor collision. My local indy reattached them with some kind of superglue I guess. If nothing has been seriously shattered you should be able to do likewise - no point paying through the nose unnecessarily.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Dave N
Plenty of lug repair kits for these.
Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - badbusdriver

I've heard an advert on local radio for an Aberdeen based bodyshop who specialise in plastic welding. I'd be surprised if there wasn't similar in your nearest big town/city?. If you have the broken parts from the bracket, maybe even if you don't, they could probably fix it.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - corax

I've heard an advert on local radio for an Aberdeen based bodyshop who specialise in plastic welding. I'd be surprised if there wasn't similar in your nearest big town/city?. If you have the broken parts from the bracket, maybe even if you don't, they could probably fix it.

Not applicable here, but I saw one of the Car SOS programmes where they used a 3D plastic printing service to replicate a part from an 80's car that wasn't available anymore. It's amazing what technology can do these days.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr
Plenty of lug repair kits for these.

Interesting point. I might get my head in there and work out what's actually happened. It's so tight you almost have to get the lamp out (bumper off first) to see what's what. By the time you've done that you might as well fix it.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr
Plenty of lug repair kits for these.

Could you show me where please? I can find lots.of Skoda ones, but not for a Karoq.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - badbusdriver
Plenty of lug repair kits for these.

Could you show me where please? I can find lots.of Skoda ones, but not for a Karoq.

Another option is 2nd hand or recycled, found this on Ebay,

183720578623

Not exactly pocket changed, but a lot cheaper than you were quoted for the new one!

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - badbusdriver
Plenty of lug repair kits for these.

Could you show me where please? I can find lots.of Skoda ones, but not for a Karoq.

Another option is 2nd hand or recycled, found this on Ebay,

183720578623

Not exactly pocket changed, but a lot cheaper than you were quoted for the new one!

Upon further looking, there are actually others from under £100

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - bazza

I'm sure that it is fixable. If you can get at it or off the car, you can most probably use an epoxy resin to repair both ends of the plastic strut. I'm saying this without seeing it but I've repaired many similar things before. You can strengthen the repair by embedding steel wire or wrapping with fibreglass resin possibly. It may be possible to plastic weld using a soldering iron, using paper clips like stitches melted into the plastic. I repaired a fiat panda bumper bracket like this. Just some ideas really, but worth a morning of your time on a sunny day with some coffee! Got to be worth a go to save a grand, totally ridiculous money. Good luck

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr

Thanks all. I've asked the garage if they can get hold of a repair kit. I can see from the workshop manual that one exists, but don't know the part number and can't find one.

I probably could remove it and glue it myself, but I have a million other things to sort out and a nasty habit of breaking things that I'm trying to repair....

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - John F

It's all grist to the mill of the essentially unproductive car body repair industry. Billions of pounds would be wiped from the 'economy' if cars had to have functional cheap bumpers at a similar height, as used to be the case before the arty f***y brigade triumphed over practicality, turning what is essentially a carriage with a motor into a delicate ornament on wheels.

Four years ago my Audi A8 reversed into an old parked Ford Focus at approx 2mph. No visible damge to it, tiny almost invisible crack in plastic bumper to the Focus. Instead of driving away I dutifully knocked on the door of the owner. She insisted on involving insurance company. Result - 4 figure sum for new bumper (approaching the value of her car), and - get this - 4 figure sum for her hire car while it was being repaired.

This sort of absurdity occurs umpteen times a day in our increasingly stupid country.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr

I went back today and had a bit of to and fro about this.

Service manager came out for a look and told me the bracket I had in my hand was part of the headlamp. I said it isn't, but the snapped off lug connected to it was.

He then told me that there is no way of fixing a new lug to a headlight and I explained that I had found the workshop manual with instructions for how to fit the repair kit to do exactly that. I then showed him the screw holes for the repair lug to connect to.

The latest is they're ordering the repair kit and the bracket and will try to fit it in a couple of weeks. Of course, this means one of us will be enjoying a plate of humble pie when the day arrives and it either works or doesn't.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Andrew-T

Of course, this means one of us will be enjoying a plate of humble pie when the day arrives and it either works or doesn't.

A risk worth taking !

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr

Just an update on this. They took it all to bits and found the damage to the headlamp was too much for the lug repair kit to resolve. Net result one brand new headlamp, two new brackets and £975 less in my wallet.

I'm going to get it's of it ASAP and will not be buying any VAG products ever again.

For info - the labour was £150 of that total, so it's VAG who are having a laugh, not the garage.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - gordonbennet

Pity no indy supplier of original parts at discounted prices.

In modern headlight terms probably not too bad, collegaue tells me his all singing/dancing headlights on his BMW are something around £3000 a side, utterly ludicrous, the more i hear of these ridiculous figures only spurs me to apply yet more underbody rustproofing to my ageing Landcruiser, for which i can get brand new genuine headlights for £264 each.

People? long ago gave up on them, dogs are far more honourable and loyal..

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Chris M

Pages and pages of secondhand Karoq headlights available on a certain auction site and, funnily enough, the majority have broken lugs. Would appear to be a bit of c*** design which VAG are happy to cash in on.

And perhaps, a few body shop fitters visiting the bins.

Edited by Chris M on 25/03/2024 at 16:32

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Xileno

I agree it's ridiculous but it's not just VAG.

No wonder we see cars parked around with bits nicked. I heard steering wheels on some prestigious makes can be a few thousand.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - corax

Just an update on this. They took it all to bits and found the damage to the headlamp was too much for the lug repair kit to resolve. Net result one brand new headlamp, two new brackets and £975 less in my wallet.

I'm going to get it's of it ASAP and will not be buying any VAG products ever again.

Hold your horses though. Aren't LED headlights expensive on all makes? I know what you'll be doing now when you look for another car.

The headlights on my 11 plate Focus are a nice candle yellow when they are on. Do I care, no, they'll be cheap to sort out if anything happens. It won't be long though before I'm stuck with a machine with silk wrapped components that can't be replaced without a bank loan.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr

Just an update on this. They took it all to bits and found the damage to the headlamp was too much for the lug repair kit to resolve. Net result one brand new headlamp, two new brackets and £975 less in my wallet.

I'm going to get it's of it ASAP and will not be buying any VAG products ever again.

Hold your horses though. Aren't LED headlights expensive on all makes? I know what you'll be doing now when you look for another car.

The headlights on my 11 plate Focus are a nice candle yellow when they are on. Do I care, no, they'll be cheap to sort out if anything happens. It won't be long though before I'm stuck with a machine with silk wrapped components that can't be replaced without a bank loan.

Yes, they're expensive on all makes. I will try to find something without them as they're a bit pointless really. My gripe isn't that they cost a lot, it's that a collision that has only.left.a small mark on the bumper was enough to break off two plastic lugs that necessitate the entire unit being replaced. There is no reason why that light couldn't be sold with a moulded rear cover that could be replaced when this happens.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - elekie&a/c doctor
Our local Porsche main dealer has 24hour security on their sales front . Headlights are getting stolen all the time. About £3 k a pop for every car .
Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Andrew-T

I'm going to get it's of it ASAP and will not be buying any VAG products ever again.

That sounds like pique. I don't think VAG are the only makers to charge silly money for complicated spares, so the same 'accident' could happen to almost any other car of a similar age ?

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - badbusdriver

Nearly £1k is shocking but not altogether unexpected on a modern car.

But, as I said further up the thread, 2nd hand examples are available from as little as £100 on Ebay.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr

Nearly £1k is shocking but not altogether unexpected on a modern car.

But, as I said further up the thread, 2nd hand examples are available from as little as £100 on Ebay.

And they all have broken lugs.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - badbusdriver

Well I haven't looked through them all, but it does appear on photos of the cheapest ones that some bracket or lug has been broken. But there is one with repaired brackets for £160 and there is one at £350 which definitely has no damage.

There is also a brand new Hella (OE?) unit for £526 from Lithuania.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Chris M

"There is also a brand new Hella (OE?) unit for £526 from Lithuania."

Which would be ideal if Adampr's car was LHD.

You have to read the small print when buying car parts off the bay.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - Adampr

I'm going to get it's of it ASAP and will not be buying any VAG products ever again.

That sounds like pique. I don't think VAG are the only makers to charge silly money for complicated spares, so the same 'accident' could happen to almost any other car of a similar age ?

Oh, absolutely, but I don't think such a tiny impact should kill one of these complicated components.

Skoda Karoq - What's worse; modern cars or other people? - barney100

Maybe some clever indie could fix it for a lot less. Got quoted mega bucks for a non working cabriolet roof, local indie did it for £100.