The Definitive discussion. Is a Skoda more expensive to own than the rest?

[carboy]

Mod Note: This thread has been split from the original thread given here. as it has gone off topic.

Originally Posted by sinhsha

Thanks all for your response.
Yes this Rs 9662 for regular routine service with diesel filter of 1472.82, air filter for Rs 710, oil filter 378.68, engine oil RS 4460 paid service for Rs 1250, Shampoo wash for Rs 200 plus 1190 of VAT and other taxes.

I think that's daylight robbery for a routine service. I think even the
Accord Service costs less than Rs. 2500 (not sure, though).

[Rtech]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Shantanu,

These service costs are really not justified.

Again, and I'm crying myself horse here, but look again at the costs.
diesel filter 1472.82
air filter for Rs 710
oil filter 378.68
Labour Rs 1250

Are these some incredibly high figures? I keep saying this, but guys, LOOK where the cost is going. Into the oil, which the dealers charge at MRP or close to MRP (Rs1000/litre or so). Get real people.

And if you noticed, the service cost is not what this issue is about. Its about the shabby service given out and getting a car back after a service only to have it break down! Lets stick to that subject.

Shantanu, we are following this thread to check your progress and see how Skoda tackles it. Hopefully they have started to take these customer complaints seriously now.

[anandpadhye]

Rtech,

I had earlier agreed to you that considering the quality of oil, their charges may look OK. But why are you discounting the fact that they are charging you for a "wash" when it actually is a part and parcel of routine service (they are charging labour and that includes inspections, checkup and all - so must be the wash). It's not about 200 rupees, it's about the attitude.

And technically speaking oil, oil filter and diesel filter replacement I can understand as it may depend on the particular engine. But why change air filter every 7500 KM? Is the air that Skoda breaths also special and different from what Honda breaths?

Again, I may be happy to replace air filter every 7500 KM, but if they force me to do that, I don't like it bacause for my Honda I know they clean the filter every 5000KM and replace every 20000 KM. And car is running fine.

And, here an example of the responses I got from the sales guy to my queries:
(Quoating "as is", including all the spelling mistakes from the excel sheet he sent me) -

Query No. 1 DSG Gear Box Service Interval.
Interval for gear box is after 60000 km and the cost will incurred approx Rs 7500-8000.

Query No. 2 Zenon Light Charges.
Zenon Light Charges including control unit and Bulbs will be approx Rs 40000-45000.

Query No.3 Overall Service Cost
Service Interval is every 7500 KM or 6 months whichever is earlier and cost approx Rs 7000.

Query No.4 Diesel Paticular Filter
There is no above components in car ,but it is having Diesel Filter and Diesel Cooler which
cool the hot diesel in the car.

[normally_crazy]

AFAIK - Skoda always uses synthetic oil from Day 1.

And I have had a email exchange with Sudhir Srinivas too (will put it up later) and he was most helpful in pointing me to the correct person.

The charges are (as RT says) majorly for the oil , else the bill comes up to 6000 bucks. 4.5L oil @ 700 Rs = 3000 bucks approx + taxes and you get 9000 bucks.

Accord service costs 2500 ? Including all filters changing + oil change + labour ? Can some Accord owner confirm.

Also NOT ONE Civic owner came back with servicing costs / part costs on the other Honda Civic v/s Skoda vRS thread.

[Rtech]

But why are you discounting the fact that they are charging you for a "wash" when it actually is a part and parcel of routine service (they are charging labour and that includes inspections, checkup and all - so must be the wash). It's not about 200 rupees, it's about the attitude.

Yup, charging that little bit extra is not really needed. But, some dealers try and get away with it. Its not a problem unique to Skoda. And there are some half decent stories to be told as well. This is what I wrote after my first service.

Hell, there have issues where Honda dealers have tried to palm off a damaged car to our very own GTO. So shoddy dealers are everywhere.

Again, I may be happy to replace air filter every 7500 KM, but if they force me to do that, I don't like it bacause for my Honda I know they clean the filter every 5000KM and replace every 20000 KM. And car is running fine.

There is no compulsion to change. The car is out of warranty. The owner can do what he wants. However, cribbing about spending Rs.700 once every 7,500 km after paying 11 lakhs for a car is a bit of penny pinching if you ask me. But hey, thats me. To each his own. But around here, filters get filthy fast.

Is it compulsory to use synthetic oil? What if I dont want to? Is there an option for the same?

While in warranty, and assuming you want to keep the warranty, you will need to use a VW approved oil of the correct spec. Most of which I know of are synthetic.

Once out of warranty, its your call ofcourse. I do know of a Octavia that has gone past the 100K mark using nothing but regular mineral oil but changed more often and its running great. All comes down to personal preference at the end of it.

[normally_crazy]

Washing and Cleaning has always been free for me at any dealer. At JMD, I feel they are too enthusiastic to wash the car (might wash it even if you go there for an opinion).

Maybe it's my looks (sindhi long nose) that maybe gets them to give it free to me always.

[amit]

What are the service intervals for the Octavia? Since they use synthetic oil, the service intervals should be much more longer compared to other cars.

In Canada, VW's have a service interval of 16,000kms which justifies to some extent the higher cost of using synthetic oil. I believe the Civic's, Corolla's, Accord's, Camry's are called in for service every 8,000-10,000 kms over there.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by Rtech

And there are some half decent stories to be told as well. This is what I wrote after my first service.

Thanks for pointing to your thread. You seem to have had reasonably good experience of Skoda A.S.S.

But then i read your post somewhere that you don't give your car to the A.S.S. anymore.

May I ask why? Even if warrantee is over, one would stick to what has worked well in the past? Are the costs/attitude finally bothering after the warrantee? And what's the alternative to Skoda A.S.S. you have discovered? Please share so all of us will benefit.

[Rtech]

Me not giving the car to an A S S is a result of many years (before I could drive and before he took my opinion on things) of watching my father give our car to official dealers and see the terrible state it used to come back in.

The moment I started driving & was in charge of the vehicle, no more dealers for me. I've been to them off & on for some things which just had to be done with them, but overall, I much prefer going to a friend who runs a place, sit down with him and talk cars while helping out in the work being done on my car. Nice way to spend a free saturday. Its not a secret. But then not many bother to take the time out of their schedule for these sort of things and are happy to stick with dealers.

That said, the best thing to do at a dealership is build up a relationship with one particular service adviser. Usually they is always atleast one nice guy around. However, these days, not too many stick with one place for too long, hence everytime you go there, someone new attends to you. And getting them to understand that the car is more than just a car to you is not the easiest thing.

To make a long story short, I would only give the car to a dealer while the warranty is valid. After that, I don't see the point. Regardless of which car it may be.

[extreme_torque]

Using synthetic oil is OK but changing it in every service just defeats the purpose of putting in synthetic oil at first place.
Approx 9000 Rs. on an average for a regular service is downright expensive, equates to about 1.5 Rs/ Km in service cots alone. Here goes the diesel efficiency out of the window!

Skoda is ripping its customer's like there's no tomorrow.... sheesh it fills me with disgust when I think abt it, its cheapo brand outside especially UK, nobody cares for a Skoda.
No offence meant to the owners but the attitude of the company sucks to the core.

[Rtech]

Strange you blame the car company for the ridiculous pricing of synthetic oils in India. The same oil which is priced at Rs.800-1000 per litre here is sold for Rs.200-300 in other countries.

So which company's attitude don't you like??

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Rtech

Strange you blame the car company for the ridiculous pricing of synthetic oils in India. The same oil which is priced at Rs.800-1000 per litre here is sold for Rs.200-300 in other countries.

So which company's attitude don't you like??

Thats the case with every company. If Skoda were really serious abt it, why not increase the drainage interval to say 15k kms.
Everybody is here to rob us, including our own. This is India, which we are so proud of!
And if honda can do with normal mineral oil why not skoda?

[GTO]

AFAIK - Skoda always uses synthetic oil from Day 1.

While in warranty, and assuming you want to keep the warranty, you will need to use a VW approved oil of the correct spec. Most of which I know of are synthetic.

Well, in that case, I strongly insist that the Skoda Octavia is very expensive to service indeed.

Rt, yes the engine oil forms a significant component of the service costs, but it is still a part of every service isn’t it? Why should I view that number as an exclusive and not as a part of the whole? Any car owner is going to look at the *total* service costs. And if a 10 lac car costs 7,000 - 9,000 to service each time (as in the case of this thread starter), it is simply not justifiable.

Why? It’s all a matter of personal choice. The sales of synthetic oil in our country prove that 99% of car owners do NOT want to spend 5 times the cost of regular oil, on synthetic oil. Why not give them that choice? You yourself have stated that Octavia’s run 1,00,000 kms comfortably even on regular oil. What gives Skoda the right to compulsory shove it down your throat then? Bottom line is that each time my Skoda goes for a service, it costs me 9 grand for the same. My friends Toyota Corolla or Chevy Optra doesn’t. And if the manufacturer requires you to use oil that is 5X more expensive resulting in a far more expensive service bill, YES…that car is very expensive to service.

Which other 10 lakh sedan insists on using expensive synthetic oil. Not the Toyota Corolla or the Chevy Optra that I know. Of course, synthetic oil keeps the dealership happy. Because when a Skoda service station charges Rs. 1,000 per liter of Mobil1, they make anywhere between Rs 450 - 550 per liter.

To car enthusiasts like you and me, the price differential between regular and synthetic oil may be justified. But to the other overwhelming majority of car owners, it simply isn’t. Primarily because the car functions just as well on regular oil too! The Octavia TDi engine aint no complex modern marvel; it’s a plain ol’ TDi that uses old school technology albeit very efficiently. Heck the Scorpio common-rail is more modern....can you imagine what would happen if Mahindra started charging 7,000 per service ONLY for the engine oil? Rural India would strike!

Quick research shows me that VW doesn’t compulsorily require synthetic oil in their TDi cars everywhere they are sold. They simply have recommended grades…grades which some regular / semi-synthetic also meet. If Skoda India truly cared about offering value to the customer, they would sell that cheaper oil officially and at a lower price (like Honda does). It’s also called adapting to local circumstances. Mobil 1 doesn’t cost $20 / liter elsewhere in the world. Also, like someone mentioned, the service interval for a Canadian VW is 10000 miles / 16000 kilometers. So each liter of synthetic oil is used for a longer duration.

I remember seeing a comparison between an Octavia’s service costs versus that of an Optra / Corolla. For 50,000 kms, the Octavia cost anywhere between 3 – 6 times that of its competition. To me, that does make a car expensive to service. Relative to its competition.

[Rtech]

Lol. ET, I'm not here to argue with you. You don't like something, I got no problem with that. There is a reason why more than one car sells in a market, and that is because different people want different things from a car.

P.s. I find it ironic that you own a Fiat though.

Edit: oh boy. I just post what I thought would be the last for me on this thread, and there goes GTO! Oh well. I'll get to it later.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Accord service costs 2500 ? Including all filters changing + oil change + labour ? Can some Accord owner confirm.

Yup NC, that's what they cost on a normal service including all the above mentioned consumables & labour.