[Carpainter]

That's insane. This is another case of Skoda horror story. I thought all these stopped already but I was so wrong. What are they thinking. Their sales have already diminished and still they haven't changed their attitude. That's some feat. Not many manufacturers can show this courage in a market like ours. Have you thought of going to consumer court or something. It seems like Skoda don't service their cars until the customer take resort to some higher authorities or the likes.

[saket77]

Cost of Engine Rebuild = 6.6L
Cost of New Car = 5.3L
=> Joke of the Day!

Why does Skoda think that a customer will choose to pay this obscene amount out of his pocket to get this car repaired? Feels like Skoda itself does not want to repair this car. The best bet will be to claim it as total loss anyway and utilize the funds to get a new car. For less than half of the quoted repair amount added to the insurance proceeds, you can be driving a brand new B+ segment top variant car.

The decision to take is no brainer I guess

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

I meant the check engine oil warning light. Sensor or not isn't it supposed to light up when there are oil related issues? The gist is that warning light didn't come on, hence he continued driving the car albeit was only about a kilometer before it stalled.

I too think the ASC are clowns to quote the rates they did for repairs! But generally it is a good practice to pull over and check for any fluid leaks/other damage if a car suffers an impact like what you have mentioned. This is to be tempered by the area we are in and time of day, of course, but should be done asap. Never rely on warning lights alone. For instance I learned in Maruti cars, the temperature gauge will not show anything wrong if there is a sudden total loss of coolant from the radiator.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I too think the ASC are clowns to quote the rates they did for repairs! But generally it is a good practice to pull over and check for any fluid leaks/other damage if a car suffers an impact like what you have mentioned. This is to be tempered by the area we are in and time of day, of course, but should be done asap. Never rely on warning lights alone. For instance I learned in Maruti cars, the temperature gauge will not show anything wrong if there is a sudden total loss of coolant from the radiator.

My friend is a noob around cars. He's learning through some expensive mistakes. The only hope left is for the insurance company to declare it as total loss and pay out. Don't think he would want to pay a huge amount on repairs

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

The problem with rebuilding the engine at a garage outside is that i'm not very sure of availability of parts. For one Skoda does not sell parts over the counter and also the Fabia has been out of production for a while now.

That's one valid point. If your friend is very much attached to the car (or) every other part of the car is intact and niggle free, you have below options
1) Find a FNG & trust worthy mechanic. Source new parts as much as possible and for the rest get it from scrap yard (from accident vehicle)
2) Find an accident / donor vehicle, transfer the complete engine and replace the necessary parts to make it run

Spending 5L on a Fabia is not worthy. If there is no sentimental attachments, sell it as it is and get another car. There are people who but cars in this condition (perfect condition except for the engine) and they source engine from donor / accident / xyz cars, but make sure he transfer the car to his name immediately.

PS: Owners manual says about the presence of Oil pressure warning lamp in instrument cluster.

[pgsagar]

6.6.lakh for an engine rebuild? And for an engine which sounds and moves like a tractor. Heaven help Skoda car owners should something go wrong. If this is what it costs for a hatchback car engine rebuild, I wonder what would be dealer quote for a Superb engine rebuild under similar circumstances.

[Turbanator]

We got a similar quote for Octavia Petrol couple of years back , when we asked them to pack everything back , service advisor offered us half engine from some unsold inventory lying with them / Skoda at around 1 Lac which we accepted and settled as lump sum including labour .

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

My friend is a noob around cars.

The husband of a colleague of mine is an insurance lawyer. I checked with him about warranty claim and total loss of oil from the engine. He wants to know which insurance company it is. If you mention it, it will be useful.

PS: What was the time when this happened?

[S2!!!]

Been in the same situation as your friend. Only thing, in my case it was the Maruti Ritz and the guys at Vitesse, Prabhadevi were very frank. To start of with, in my case there wasn't an impact and the engine seized for a cause which still remains a mystery. Even we tried claiming insurance but the surveyor said that if there was an impact, they could cover it but since there is no visible impact, it would be not be covered under insurance. In your friend's case, since the engine is already ripped apart it will be very difficult to make the surveyor believe that there was an external impact.

Did your friend actually give the service centre guys the go ahead and rip up the unit? In my case Vitesse clearly told me that merely to open the engine to detect the fault, they would charge me Rs. 15,000; repairs were estimated to the tune of Rs. 1,10,000 (as suggested by an experience service advisor). In my case since the IDV was Rs. 2.40 lakhs, we decided to sell off the car in as is condition and to our luck, the car was sold the very next day!

I'd suggest your friend to question the service centre guys as to why the block was ripped open and make sure they assemble the unit and gives it back to you as is. Find a dealer (preferably Skoda pre-owned) who would purchase the car. Get whatever you can by selling the car for peace of mind, rather than repairing it and then haggling for a discount of repairs and all...

[puchoo]

Most unfortunately but reaction from Skoda not surprising , with each passing month and drop in sales they have no choice but to milk a customer like a cow for whatever last drop is possible.

I would definitely get a second non Skoda workshop evaluation done as a comparison for cost quotes that have been received. Would look around to see if an engine from a damaged car is available and explore the possibility of using that here , ofcourse writing the car off completely might be the best option if the insurance discussions work in your favor.

Also page 23 of the owners manual which i found online on the skoda website clearly explains in detail about the engine oil warning lights and system

(http://www.skoda-auto.co.in/worldwid...ers-manual.pdf)

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

Did your friend actually give the service centre guys the go ahead and rip up the unit? In my case Vitesse clearly told me that merely to open the engine to detect the fault, they would charge me Rs. 15,000; repairs were estimated to the tune of Rs. 1,10,000 (as suggested by an experience service advisor). In my case since the IDV was Rs. 2.40 lakhs, we decided to sell off the car in as is condition and to our luck, the car was sold the very next day!

..

Unfortunately yes. They called to inform him that the only way to diagnose the problem would be to rip apart the engine for which he was quoted Rs.20000. He gave them the go ahead without realizing the consequences. He's been away from India for the better part of the last decade and he has no idea how things work around here especially with cars and service centers.

May i ask how you found a buyer for as is condition and what formalities did you have to do regarding transfer of ownership etc? Also would be helpful if you can give a picture as to how much he can expect for the as is condition.

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by humyum

I find the quote of 4.97 lakhs INSANE to say the least. What is he rebuilding, A PSLV Engine ?

Please list down the parts they have asked for replacement along with their prices as I don't think a Skoda Fabia engine rebuild should COST this much.

At this cost and a little more Humyum, our ISRO can make a half engine for a rocket to Mars!!

Absurd practices by Skoda!!

[zombiedriver]

I've attached the revised quote. As you can see they have quoted Rs.1,60,000 for the short engine alone. They say the clutch has worn out and is due to be replaced. The car has done 46,000 kms. The funny thing is when we asked to see the ripped apart engine the mechanic pointed out to the service advisor that the car had been opened elsewhere because there were some writings on the crank shaft and he said TAFE doesn't do that. I had to tell them that the only place the car has ever gone for any work was to TAFE and the service advisor immediately gave a nonchalant he doesn't know what he's talking about look.

These are things that can happen to any car and anyone especially on our non existent roads and gigantic speed breakers but yes he could have handled it better if he we more aware of things. I don't think he wants to spend a huge sum (read anything over Rs.50000) to get the car repaired so just have to wait for the insurance surveyor and if that doesn't work out resort to the option of selling as is.

[the VTEC guy]

I would advise following.
1. Find a good multi brand service center
2. Give them the idea about the issue. Get rough quote from them
3. Pay the current service center the bill for disassembling the engine
4. shift the car and engine to new service center and get it repaired there
5. The cost of repair or even a brand new engine from Skoda will not be 6.6 or even 4.9 lakhs as quoted now.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by Gansan

The husband of a colleague of mine is an insurance lawyer. I checked with him about warranty claim and total loss of oil from the engine. He wants to know which insurance company it is. If you mention it, it will be useful.

PS: What was the time when this happened?

The insurance is with ICICI Lombard and it the incident happened late evening.