Skoda Octavia experience with Continental motors Delhi.

[kapiljolly79]

Hi. I have a NOV 2005 Octavia 1.9 and it has only been serviced by Conti. Well, It has a real history to it. First, within five months of its run, it underwent a deisel injection unit replacement. then both the headlights went defective, and then after two years of painful dealings with Conti for wrong charges and cheating which they were caught in the act, they even have the nerve to talk rudely to their customers whom they treat like crap. Well, the wiring in the car got short circuited.

They kept the car for five months and then one fine day called me to collect the car after regular follow ups with Continental Motors regarding the proceedings. I kept the company Head office in the loop also and have exchanged a series of mails which I shall be really glad to share anytime.

now when I finally went to pick up the car, they tell me the battery is dead. they have put in a new one. HUH?? I have been calling them day in and day out and no one could tell me about the battery then.

OK. To top it all, the car is lying all wet, ash tray broken, D pillar dressing damaged, both front grills missing, mudguard lying in the trunk, a/c vents broken, burnt fuse box installed without battery clamps, no air in the front tyres, and a dent on the lower skirt. And they say the car is ready for delivery. AND the service technicians say that the car came with these damages.

Man I had no option but to get furious. I showed them their job card and they then admitted that these things happened during the time the car was with them.

Then they also had no clue why the wiring got burnt. They just changed it. I mean atleast find out the cause of the short circuit so that it doesn't happen again.

Continental motors service guys talk rudely to customers. So much so that their main guy Joshi is telling me on my face that such damages will occur when the car is lying here for five months.

Their service incharge Mr. Vijay, he says that we have not delivered the car to you yet and will rectify the stuff. And when I told him that I need everything replaced, not repaired, you should have seen the way he spoke back.

We have filed a criminal case against them. They also broke my indicator lamp and damaged the entire windscreen dressing. And then they say that they are a company that is obsessed with quality. I think this obsession has gone to their head.

This is my last time buying a Skoda car and definitely the last visit to continental. I shall try my hands at a private service shop like Pandit or someone else. All the best guys.

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[ashish22]

really sorry to read about your experience with skoda service.
i suggest you take legal action against them and make sure that they pay for all the damages done to your car
skoda service is really gonna take it down someday...

[evo]

Welcome to the Skoda Club!

Its one company with pathetic dealers nationwide.Which can only mean one thing. Its the company thats to blame!

The Kolkata dealer JIA AUTO took it one step further by replacing my working Lighting Control Unit (For the xenons) with a faulty one and then asking me to pay Rs.32000 for it.

I suggest you go the whole hog with Skoda service, and please record all telephone conversations, if Kolkata is an indication,then these guys will claim that they never said this or never said that.

If you have not already done so already, then take pictures of your car in its current state at the workshop.

[abhinav.gupta88]

That's Strange.

My Experience has been good with my vRs
and also with my cousin's 1.9Tdi Rider automatic
They have been quite good to me. ( know some people quite well)
Do 1 thing, if you need any help, pm me, i will give you the contact info of the general manager & a sales man.

They will be in a position to assist you better.
( you can give my reference if needed)

[Ricky_63]

Well sorry to hear the ordeal - but why did you leave your car with them for such a long period of time ?

Believe me your deisel injector unit was fraudulantly replaced as the car was under warranty, they probably took yours off & put it into a "pay to repair" car & claimed yours under warranty. Old trick at dealer workshops.

I had a not so good time getting my defective tyres replaced by SKODA on my 1.9 TDi. But after persistent contact with Aurangabad, I managed to get 4 new tyres at 50% cost borne by me.

Hope your car gets sorted out soon.

[evo]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

Believe me your deisel injector unit was fraudulantly replaced as the car was under warranty, they probably took yours off & put it into a "pay to repair" car & claimed yours under warranty. Old trick at dealer workshops.

Exactly what Skoda did with my RS`xenon Lighting Control Unit! They stole it from my car, replaced it with a defective one and now are offering me 50% off on it!

[akshay1234]

stories like these are the only thing keeping me away from getting a used rs or something.

[ajmat]

There are some good Skoda dealers - JMD in Mumbai and Vinayaka in Bangalore.

[abhinav.gupta88]

Continental Auto is good dude. ( Atleast i think so )

Silvertone is bad

I've heard Sai automobiles in Noida is quite good too.

[kapiljolly79]

I am glad you feel that its a good dealership. However, I have three cars and paying service bills above 8k everytime is not normal. Infact many a time I have been charged 550 in the bill for 3M poplishing and the car is being washed in the workshop in front of me. I have never seen polishing done before washing. hahhahahaha. Man, they are a real joke to me.

Anyways, the car had to be with them for five months because they had to get a complete new wiring harness.

I have not yet taken delivery of the car as they are still doing road tests. Imagine hearing this now. This is after getting a call that the car was ready for delivery. Then the damages, and now they are still doing road tests. Jesus!!

Well, all the best to all my friends who visit Continental for any service. It looks like a khandar as it is. Dirty, broken walls, rude staff and highly inferior service.

[kapiljolly79]

Dear fellow BHPians. I am enclosing my latest correspondence with Skoda Auto and Continental Motors. If you have read my starting thread, you'll know what the condition of the car had become. And till now, it is with them. My father has been following it up and this is what the final mail to them is like. There is a lot in between but I guess I shall leave that to myself.

The car was delvered to us initially with a leaking intercooler. That they said they have now replaced. They delivered it back to us then and it was noticed that the turbo is malfunctioning now. That they say is rectified. Then they even went ahaed and changed the ECM. and since then the car has been with them. I have all plans of highlighting this with the Autocar people and the media. I guess I have no other choice. Its been more than 6 months now and emagine going without a car for that long. plus, its a 14lac rupees car. And this is the service?? The mail is as under and I have kept it short keeping out the above. Feel free to fit it inn wherever you see the delivery dates. I'm ashamed of this company and their service.

I request Team BHP to advice me as to what should be my step to brig both the company and dealer to task.
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Dear Mr.Kulkarni,(Skoda After sales personal)

We are really surprised to note the casual manner by which you are trying to address our concerns about the car DL 4CR 9123.

Do you think that we have no other work but to attend to this car, getting it repaired at Continental Auto again and again and keep on corresponding with you endlessly-?

We would like to bring on record the following facts:-

A- We had purchased this car from Continental Auto and the same has been maintained / serviced solely at Continental Auto through out.
B- Though this car is used by Mr.Kapil Jolly who is based at Rampur, it was always sent to Continental Auto, even for small jobs and we never got it serviced / repaired outside.
C- After each service / repair, we took delivery of the car with full confidence on Continental Auto as it is not possible for any owner / driver to check the work done in the car by an authorized dealer.
D- During one of the service visits we had reported of Side Blinkers not functioning and the car was delivered to us after servicing and correction / rectification of this fault.
E- After running for few days, we noticed some smoke coming out from inside the dash board and the car was promptly sent to Continental Auto during 3rd week of March, 08. After inspection we were told that the Harness Wiring of the car has burnt (which was due to the work of able technicians of Continental Auto who wrapped high current copper wire in place of Fuse when they could not find the fault of side blinkers not functioning) and we should lodge insurance claim for the same.
F- After regular follow up with Skoda Auto India and Continental Auto, the car was finally offered to us for delivery (after about 5 months) on 16th August but when we went to take delivery, we were highly shocked to see the bad condition of the car, please refer our mail of 17th August in this regard.
G- After rectifying the damage done by able engineers of Continental Auto, the car was delivered to us on 25th August but it was sent back to them the very next day on 26th August with “Orange Light glowing, indicating Engine Trouble”.
H- After doing some work here and there on 26th August itself, the car was delivered to us with the assurance that the car is now O.K. and we can safely drive it to Rampur but after running for about 100 Kms, the same fault “Orange Light glowing, indicating Engine Trouble” reappeared.
I- After our various calls and mails, you were kind enough to instruct Continental Auto to send their engineers to Rampur to inspect the Car wherein they came to the conclusion that the Intercooler of the car is Leaky and the car is to be sent back to Continental Auto for rectification.
J- The car was again deposited with Continental Auto on 6th Sept and after rectification and after another few hundred kilometers of driving and testing it was again delivered to us on 14th Sept with the assurance that the car is now in perfect condition.
K- Surprisingly after driving only few Kms in Delhi, the fault of “Orange Light glowing, indicating Engine Trouble” again reappeared and the car was once again sent back to Continental Auto on 16th Sept and since than the car is lying at Continental Auto.

Keeping in view the above, hope you appreciate and realize that this car has been ruined by able engineers of Continental Auto who have been experimenting on it making it highly unreliable and can put the occupants into serious problem / inconvenience if it is driven on long routes and / or at odd hours.
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[Jaggu]

Kapil your mail is quite clear and captures well the details of what has happened so far. Wait for Skoda's reply now, also ensure that you keep all the records like (job cards, service slips, bills etc) which will substantiate the above mentioned events. If Skoda comes forward with a suitable solution with minimal cost, accept it and close the chapter.

If not i would suggest you take it to a consumer court.

[kapiljolly79]

Dear Jaggu. I totally understand what you have said. However this is after very long series of mails that have been exchanged. They have already charged us 1.15 lacs for replacing the wiring harness which again was due to their malpractises. Skoda company on the other hand has been extremely shameless and has very clearly quoted in the mails that they are not responsible for this at all and all matters are to be settled with Continental. Now what kind of a company is this? I have all mails to prove the above, all job cards, service records extra in files with me. The only way I see it is that this has to be highlighted as I am sure I am not the only one.

[ankit.jhamb]

there was another case with a skoda dealer.i think your case is similar except for the fact that the car is new in this case.there is a mention on one of the threads on TBHP.
I Think you should follow this case with skoda india and show all the details/records as a proof.dealer might not be taking this issue seriously.

edit:just read the whole thread rigth now,i think since the time period has been more than 3 yrs i think they are not taking this issue.i think continental is owned by BHASIN GROUP who have mahindra dealer ship in delhi.TAKE THIS ISSUE WITH THE MAIN MANAGEMENT of BHASIN GROUP

[ashish22]

orkut -

similar problems faced by another individual who owns a skoda. Skoda dealers are thieves!