Water leak into Auris spare wheel well and battery compartment

[Lou G]

I have 2018 Auris Hybrid estate and discovered water (big puddle) in the spare wheel well, also into tool tray, soaking felt pads on bottom of carpeted well cover and, worryingly, a small amount in the Battery compartment next to the wheel well. Toyota dealer says can't find source of water ingress despite 'painting' it with revealer and "sealing everywhere" and says next move is to strip out interior roof! Sounds drastic on a 4 yr old car. Toyota dealer says cos I didn't buy from them they can't be sure if car has had previous damage causing seals not to seat correctly etc so if stripping out work shows anything it would be at my expense. Brake light right side intermittently doesn't work - especiallly in damp weather from cold, drive a bit and it miraculously works again - I asked if it could be connected to ingress. Toyota dealer says it can't find intermittent fault. Bought the car 2nd hand from other garage who assured me any problems would be picked up under remainder of 5yr Toyota warrant. The 3mth secondhand purchase warranty has long expired. I had usual hpi/crash clearance checks before purchase which came up clear - don't see what else I could have done to ensure the car was genuine & as previous owner details are no longer appear on log book, I can't contact them to find history.

Surely the faulty brake light is a warranty issue? Surely the leak is a warranty issue? Toyota dealer is claiming water getting in is an unusual problem - a brief search online seems to indicate water in boot is actually a fairly common Auris problem....Any ideas how to approach this please?

[furtula]

Strip boot interior (around lights only), sit inside the car and have someone pour water from a hose. Find the leak, plug the leak.

Or just take rubber plugs from the bottom of the boot, make small holes, water will seep out, if it gets in.

Water getting in is not that bad, it only seeps in small amounts, problem is it stays there, causes rust, i even had it frozen half way around the wheel, in the winter.

So i would atleast advise on making holes in rubber plugs, which are in spare wheel well.

[FROSTYBALLS]

First of all, water leaking into the boot mainly affected the first generation Auris (2007-2012) rather than the second generation (2012-2018).

Sounds as though the dealer you bought the car from has tried to pass the buck re future faults. as with any manufacturer, the new car warranty (5 years/100,000 miles, whichever occurs first) covers manufacturing faults. If the water leak and brake light fault are down to something else (ie other damage), it could be down to you too get it fixed.

Have a look at the following on the Consumer Rights Act 2015: 

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl

With intermittent faults, unless the fault is present when the Toyota dealer has the car or shows up a fault code, they can be difficult to trace/rectify.

As regards the HPI/crash clearance checks, if the car has been damaged it depends whether the car has been written off or repaired by an insurer, reputable garage, etc as to whether it will show up on a check. In the event there is some accident damage to the car, I would look at what support the company who did the check offers in the event of incorrect information being provided.

[Hornet3D]

It is a really difficult position to be in, as far as I can see you did everything right in buying the car although I do think it was brave or foolish of the garage to state that any problems  found would be covered under the remainder of the 5 year Toyota warranty.  There are plenty of situations when the warranty cover would be on a case by case basis no matter who you purchased the car from.  On the other hand I think the Toyota dealership is being a bit unfair by saying anything they find would be at your expense to rectify when it should really depend on what they find.

Coming from a maintenance background I would say it is a statement of fact that you cannot find an intermittent problem, unless you are lucky enough to witness it happening of course.  It does sound as though the dealership has tried at least and you are both in the unenviable position that the detailed history is not known.  

Furtula's suggestions appear to be a good way forward and give you the opportunity of either curing the leak or finding the true nature of the leak which might actually strengthen you case for a warranty repair.

[Lou G]

Thank you to furtula, frostyballs & hornet3D for your answers, much appreciated.