Post Sales Terror: Skoda Continues to Rule

recker_us · 18th July 2011, 09:28

Pasting a mail thread from my companies internal mailing list on how a Skoda Octavia customer was quoted Rs. 28000 to fix something which he finally got done for just Rs. 2500 from a local mechanic.

I am writing this mail to share one of my experiences in getting the car service work done. You really have to judge the worker before agreeing to their advices for getting the problems fixed in your car. Two well-known service centers just bluffed whatever they can for fixing some issues in my friend’s car.

FAST CARS, Palace Road Branch, Behind Hotel Atria.
One of my friend own a SKODA Octavia, and he was getting it serviced from FAST CARS. In the previous service he was advised that the lower arm bush is worn out and needs replacement. However the FAST CARS, service people informed that only the bush is not available and that the entire assembly will have to be replaced which would cost him about 13000/-. Along with that he had some other issues like,
the Car AC was not working, (although the air was blowing it wasn’t cool)
. He was getting an indicator alert in the dashboard continuously, which resembles a coil.

Well for the first one you might think the issue was with the AC GAS, but that was fine. Now the advice from the FAST CARS people was that a relay is completely missing from the car and because of that the AC is not working and the only place to get that relay is from the SKODA SERVICE CENTER itself as it is not available outside.
For the second one they had used a system connection and erased the alert, which apparently was not the fix and started again just after 2-3 days
So at that time we decided not to get these things fixed from the FAST CARS and drove back.

SKODA SERVICE CENTER, K.R Puram
Firstly, you have to take an appointment with these people to take your car over there. And after reaching there they will make you wait at least for 2-3 hrs before even they can put a worker card and start asking you about the problems in your car.
Well after all this, we explained them only about the AC problem. They took another 2 hrs just to do their inspection and let us know the estimated amount. As per them there was a crack in the AC assembly and it required replacement and would cost 28000/-.
Again we took back the car without getting it fixed, but still we were charged 380/- for the inspection done.

A private mechanic, who fixed all of the above problems in just 2500/-.

Fortunately previous week we came across a mechanic who works on only SKODA cars, he has no workshop as such and will service your car at your door step.
This person was working in SKODA service center but has left that job long back.

For the AC problem, one wire had broken in between due to some rat bite or whatever. He took that wire out connected it and plastered. Well, it’s done the AC is working fine for more than a week now. And the best part is that it took him only 10 mins to identify that fault, well he actually predicted it before itself when we explained him the problem.

For the lower arm bushes, they are available and he got the original ones for us and fixed it. Each charge about 700/-, so a total of 1400/-, it’s fixed. And these have to be replaced every 30K-40K Kms.

For the alert in Dashboard, well it was a problem with the break light switch and he replaced it with a new one costing 350/-. And for all these he charged only 750/- as his service charge.

ajmat · 18th July 2011, 10:10

Interesting

The KR Puram folks changed the bushes for me for Rs 2000. yes they do make you wait, it is more that they need to enter details in the system and there are only 2 terminals available. Add to that they only start at 9.30. Trick is to go at 10.30 when initial crowd has gone.

I heard the brake light switch triggers the warning if defective.

Do let us know the mechanics details

MAS · 18th July 2011, 10:15

Your friend is very lucky to get a good local mechanic and get his problems fixed. SKODA dealers are only for swindling money from the owners. This cheating issue has kept my away from SKODA.

If you could give out the name and contact details of the local mechanic, it would be very useful to the community and especially poor SKODA owners.

VW2010 · 18th July 2011, 10:42

Hi Recker_Us

I guess this experience will help all others here by sharing the persons contact details so many of our fellow Skoda and VW owners can get some of the problems checked out initially.

Did the guy also have a VAG-COM system to reset the error codes?

shashank.nk · 18th July 2011, 22:00

The experience at the KR puram service centre leaves a lot to be desired. I i was very happy with them when my car was handled by a person who left sometime in 2009, ever since i've been unhappy with their work.
I was there last Monday to get our Octavia's headlight combination switch replaced and the beam adjusted, check the cause for noise in 1st and 2nd gear. I reached very late at around 12 15, was made to wait till 1 30 for them to look at my car. Had to park the car on the road as there was no parking in their premises. Got my car back the same day with a 4k bill. Only thing replaced was the combination switch. Though the noise in the 1st and 2nd gears wasn't heard in the test drive it re-surfaced in 3 hrs. Even though i went to the service bay and specifically told the mechanic to adjust the beam he didn't bother doing it. Since it was not dark i couldn't check it to my satisfaction and when i reached home i found it was as bad as before.

By any chance are you referring to Mr. Fayaz the ex-service advisor at the service centre ?

recker_us · 18th July 2011, 22:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

By any chance are you referring to Mr. Fayaz the ex-service advisor at the service centre ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by VW2010

I guess this experience will help all others here by sharing the persons contact details so many of our fellow Skoda and VW owners can get some of the problems checked out initially.

Did the guy also have a VAG-COM system to reset the error codes?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAS

Your friend is very lucky to get a good local mechanic and get his problems fixed. SKODA dealers are only for swindling money from the owners. This cheating issue has kept my away from SKODA.

If you could give out the name and contact details of the local mechanic, it would be very useful to the community and especially poor SKODA owners.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajmat

Do let us know the mechanics details

Sorry, I dont have the complete details of the Mechanic. His name is Ganesh and he is reachable at 9448911455.

shashank.nk · 19th July 2011, 00:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by recker_us

he has no workshop as such and will service your car at your door step.
This person was working in SKODA service center but has left that job long back.

[/b]

Thanks for the contact details. Do you mean to say that this person visits your house and services your car ?

recker_us · 19th July 2011, 07:45

yeah, thats what the understanding is, Shashank. Please speak to him to get more clarity on it.

18th July 2011, 09:28	#1
recker_us BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 189 Thanked: 28 Times	Post Sales Terror: Skoda Continues to Rule Pasting a mail thread from my companies internal mailing list on how a Skoda Octavia customer was quoted Rs. 28000 to fix something which he finally got done for just Rs. 2500 from a local mechanic. I am writing this mail to share one of my experiences in getting the car service work done. You really have to judge the worker before agreeing to their advices for getting the problems fixed in your car. Two well-known service centers just bluffed whatever they can for fixing some issues in my friend’s car. FAST CARS, Palace Road Branch, Behind Hotel Atria. One of my friend own a SKODA Octavia, and he was getting it serviced from FAST CARS. In the previous service he was advised that the lower arm bush is worn out and needs replacement. However the FAST CARS, service people informed that only the bush is not available and that the entire assembly will have to be replaced which would cost him about 13000/-. Along with that he had some other issues like, the Car AC was not working, (although the air was blowing it wasn’t cool) . He was getting an indicator alert in the dashboard continuously, which resembles a coil. Well for the first one you might think the issue was with the AC GAS, but that was fine. Now the advice from the FAST CARS people was that a relay is completely missing from the car and because of that the AC is not working and the only place to get that relay is from the SKODA SERVICE CENTER itself as it is not available outside. For the second one they had used a system connection and erased the alert, which apparently was not the fix and started again just after 2-3 days So at that time we decided not to get these things fixed from the FAST CARS and drove back. SKODA SERVICE CENTER, K.R Puram Firstly, you have to take an appointment with these people to take your car over there. And after reaching there they will make you wait at least for 2-3 hrs before even they can put a worker card and start asking you about the problems in your car. Well after all this, we explained them only about the AC problem. They took another 2 hrs just to do their inspection and let us know the estimated amount. As per them there was a crack in the AC assembly and it required replacement and would cost 28000/-. Again we took back the car without getting it fixed, but still we were charged 380/- for the inspection done. A private mechanic, who fixed all of the above problems in just 2500/-. Fortunately previous week we came across a mechanic who works on only SKODA cars, he has no workshop as such and will service your car at your door step. This person was working in SKODA service center but has left that job long back. For the AC problem, one wire had broken in between due to some rat bite or whatever. He took that wire out connected it and plastered. Well, it’s done the AC is working fine for more than a week now. And the best part is that it took him only 10 mins to identify that fault, well he actually predicted it before itself when we explained him the problem. For the lower arm bushes, they are available and he got the original ones for us and fixed it. Each charge about 700/-, so a total of 1400/-, it’s fixed. And these have to be replaced every 30K-40K Kms. For the alert in Dashboard, well it was a problem with the break light switch and he replaced it with a new one costing 350/-. And for all these he charged only 750/- as his service charge.
	(1) Thanks

18th July 2011, 10:10	#2
ajmat Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 14,861 Thanked: 27,962 Times View My Garage	Re: Post Sales Terror: Skoda Continues to Rule Interesting The KR Puram folks changed the bushes for me for Rs 2000. yes they do make you wait, it is more that they need to enter details in the system and there are only 2 terminals available. Add to that they only start at 9.30. Trick is to go at 10.30 when initial crowd has gone. I heard the brake light switch triggers the warning if defective. Do let us know the mechanics details
	(1) Thanks

18th July 2011, 10:15	#3
MAS Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 1,940 Thanked: 1,614 Times	Re: Post Sales Terror: Skoda Continues to Rule Your friend is very lucky to get a good local mechanic and get his problems fixed. SKODA dealers are only for swindling money from the owners. This cheating issue has kept my away from SKODA. If you could give out the name and contact details of the local mechanic, it would be very useful to the community and especially poor SKODA owners.
	() Thanks

18th July 2011, 10:42	#4
VW2010 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: electricity Posts: 2,763 Thanked: 3,413 Times	Re: Post Sales Terror: Skoda Continues to Rule Hi Recker_Us I guess this experience will help all others here by sharing the persons contact details so many of our fellow Skoda and VW owners can get some of the problems checked out initially. Did the guy also have a VAG-COM system to reset the error codes?
	() Thanks

18th July 2011, 22:00	#5
shashank.nk Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,696 Thanked: 1,048 Times	Re: Post Sales Terror: Skoda Continues to Rule The experience at the KR puram service centre leaves a lot to be desired. I i was very happy with them when my car was handled by a person who left sometime in 2009, ever since i've been unhappy with their work. I was there last Monday to get our Octavia's headlight combination switch replaced and the beam adjusted, check the cause for noise in 1st and 2nd gear. I reached very late at around 12 15, was made to wait till 1 30 for them to look at my car. Had to park the car on the road as there was no parking in their premises. Got my car back the same day with a 4k bill. Only thing replaced was the combination switch. Though the noise in the 1st and 2nd gears wasn't heard in the test drive it re-surfaced in 3 hrs. Even though i went to the service bay and specifically told the mechanic to adjust the beam he didn't bother doing it. Since it was not dark i couldn't check it to my satisfaction and when i reached home i found it was as bad as before. By any chance are you referring to Mr. Fayaz the ex-service advisor at the service centre ?
	() Thanks

19th July 2011, 07:45	#8
recker_us BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 189 Thanked: 28 Times	Re: Post Sales Terror: Skoda Continues to Rule yeah, thats what the understanding is, Shashank. Please speak to him to get more clarity on it.
	() Thanks