[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by shivasuma

Hopefully someone from VAG group is looking at this thread (and innumerable other threads) and learns that buying a car is comparatively easier than living with it. This is one of the reasons why Maruti sells. Their cars might not be the best, but living with the car is usually painless.

Someone from VAG group will probably look at this thread, but I'm sure it wont make a difference. They evidently don't learn from their past mistakes.

Originally Posted by M00M

Unfortunately we are left with limited cars to purchase if we rule out VAG.

I don't think so. Other Germans like BMW and Mercedes are far better than VAG. At least the companies are responsive and try to rectify issues.

Originally Posted by ajmat

They were about to return the car but VW have offered to fly in the parts so I should get the car by Monday.

Wow that's good to hear. I'm still wondering how they can take over a day to get parts to Mumbai from Aurangabad.

Originally Posted by coolboy007

I was very close to buying an Octavia but thanks to advice from members like Akshay and GTO, i went for a 3 series instead. BMW workshop guys had put black marks on a few areas of my interiors and when i mentioned about it, they sent people home to clean the whole interiors, can not even dream of it with VAG.

The 3 was a great choice. BMW may have some issues but at least they are responsive.

Originally Posted by Ketan T

So yes, it depends on your luck and the ASC in your city.

I had similar thoughts which is why I ended up with 2 of the damned things in my garage.

When only a minority (and I mean a real minority) of the dealers are acceptable in terms of service, it is definitely a problem with the company itself.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

To conclude - VAG makes some good VFM cars, but until they can sort out their service its just a NO GO.

Superbly written Akshay - that one line is the sad but true summary.

Every few months I hanker to add a Polo TSI to the garage. This thread will be a good reminder to stay away from all things VAG. Forever!!

Separately, would good after market service providers not be a possible mitigant? Although if OEM parts availability is a problem then that could limit the effectiveness of these chaps as well I guess.

[itwasntme]

Caveat: Am only a lowly Polo TDi owner but seriously considering an Octavia, 2016 Superb or 2016 Passat!

My worry especially with Skoda is that they are aggressively leading the way in adding electronics and integrating them into the MFD/ECM/BCM of the MQB platform.

While this is probably good, what I feel is that their service technicians don't seem to be up to the task of diagnosing issues and simply decree replacement of the mechanical part when it could be a simple electronic sensor or sensor interface issue. Added to the trauma to the customer is that the part will probably not be in stock and needs to be shipped. Needless to say, part prices and labour rates (roughly 1k/hour) are also unreasonably high!

Most of us have enough stress in our lives even without a VAG car :-)

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

But specifically for India their after sales has always been the biggest negative.

And that is in terms of the people being competent, and majorly an issue of part availability.

To conclude - VAG makes some good VFM cars, but until they can sort out their service its just a NO GO.

I can totally relate to everything you have written in your starting post! I cannot understand why a company like Volkswagen cannot work towards improving the quality of their dealers' (for VW & Skoda especially).

Sending the car to a VW dealer even for a routine service is nerve wracking. God knows what condition will they send the car back in.

I am listing some of the issues I have faced till date (not in chronological order):-

1. Windshield cracked - Faulty windshield installed. Replaced after numerous angry calls and a long wait for the part to arrive.
2. Water Pump - Had a leaky seal. Had to wait 10/15 days for the part to arrive.
3. Accident repair - Major accident repair job took 2.5 months to complete. Actual repair was done in about 15-20 days. Rest was spent waiting for parts. (Job done was good though)
4. Engine fault - Got the car retured with a noisy and rattling engine. Fixed under extended warranty. Part was unavailable for 15 days.
5. Extended Warranty claim - Had gotten the HMSL replaced and was told it was covered under EW. When car goes to the garage 3 months later for the engine issue, they tell me to pay as they had made a mistake. I refused and made them pay.
6. Others - Car returned dirty on a number of occasions, calls not returned, car scratched and blamed on me, etc.

Really thinking hard about replacing my Passat with the 2016 model when it is introduced, but I do not want to deal with the headaches that come along with the after-sales service.

Great cars, pathetic service. Stay away!

[landcruiser123]

This is horrible. Good thing that no one in my family owns a VAG car!

We compare some the handling of some Japanese/Korean cars and VAG cars and indicate how the Japanese/Korean car makers can learn something about steering and suspension tuning. The same applies to VAG cars with respect to service. VW should care about it's dealers and part supply. Japanese/Korean car makers (except nissan) have extremely competent ASS and great customer satisfaction. Don't get me wrong, my friend loves his Micra, but hates Shahwar Nissan

Even Nissan's cars are extremely reliable unlike VW. It's just that Nissan's servicing isn't in the league of Toyota/Maruti/Hyundai.

Anyway have had to replace an antenna in their VW/Skoda? If yes, how much time did it take?
Nandi Toyota got me the part from their factory! (Claims the SA)

[fine69]

Once bitten twice shy. Unfortunately, we aren't really learning from the mistakes of others and would definitely want to make one ourselves before we learn.

I might be going against the tide here but I've seen enough threads where people say, we all know how Skoda/VAG is but I still decided to take the plunge. Well, you asked for it then.

I understand Akshay's frustration but anybody who's going the Skoda/VAG way is asking for it. When we have enough evidence to substantiate that these guys simply don't give two hoots about after sales then why the surprise?

Akshay has already mentioned the pre-requisites for owning a Skoda/VAG car and so have many others across different threads (including me) but if people are still going to buy it then go ahead by all means but don't act surprised if you are taken for a ride later.

Imagine a Maruti/Hyundai/Honda thread like this and you go, "What really happened here, let me check it out!"
vs
"Oh, another Skoda horror story" (without an exclamation mark at the end)

Its become so routine that most of us aren't surprised anymore. I mean we are all appalled but not surprised. I think there can simply be a thread consolidating all the horror stories titled, "<Insert horror story count> reasons why not to buy a Skoda".

Lastly, not everyone would call Skoda cars 'Value for Money'. Its not really a VFM product if the down payment is reasonable but the maintenance or operating costs are high. Not just the costs but it eats into your peace of mind and effort.

As I see it, its a gamble and we have happy gamblers and those who've ruined their lives gambling but remember, the house always wins!

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Things are just as bad with a honda, when my City had an accident, requiring new alloys, subframe parts, it took 2 months to get parts in to repair. Once again, it was the dealer taking their sweet tiime

One of the strong reasons why I sold my Honda City and got the S-Cross. Whitefield Honda is pathetic when it comes to service. There are too many cars and a bunch of idiotic service advisors. Quality has gone down hill and they have no escalation channel.

After I bought the S-Cross a lot of people were surprised I moved to "Maruti" from "Honda". Maruti may not be the best, but they do try and assist you as best I can. My initial experiences are not great, but I am hoping things will improve for Nexa sold cars.

Finally, VAG group won't learn from their mistakes. When will people learn? Atleast the BHP-ians here should stay away from the VAG brand.

Once in a while I come across a BHP-ian who is willing to take the chances with VAG despite the teething problems with them. I too love their cars but the lack of after sales support is a huge negative, especially if you have owned a reliable brand like Honda or Toyota.

[lurker]

I think VW is using a lot of shortcuts to enhance profitability thus lowering quality of spares, but keeping handling and driving experience intact to entice their new customers.

I hears from one auto OEM, Toyota & Japanese policy towards all electronic components is

We are intolerant towards tolerance

auto OEMs will understand what that means. Whereas VAG group seems to take opposite stand in that not only in electronics, they will take shortcuts even in core engineering. No employee or CEO of a subsidiary anywhere can help with that. The rot is at the top.

[AJITHAAA]

Heard it from a from a friend of mine who works for a tier one supplier and who interacts with various OEMs including VW India, that VW Germany maintains an iron grip on operations in India to a level that every small decision will be taken by Germany. The VW people here are in the dark to level that they do not even know the function of a feature, on the part they are procuring from a vendor. Often they ask the vendor for details. Every service issue has to be reported to Germany. Every part change will be recommended from there. Should explain the delay.

[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by lurker

I think VW is using a lot of shortcuts to enhance profitability thus lowering quality of spares, but keeping handling and driving experience intact to entice their new customers.

I totally agree with you.
Skoda push for sale on Rapid is unprecedented. Apart from being a good car to drive, it is also being sold on huge offers & easy finance options.

Once it comes to service, the company turns lean and spending very less in comparisons to other manufacturers.
My friends & carpool partner's Rapid spent a week waiting for the RHS mirror. Such common parts should be in stock.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

I don't think so. Other Germans like BMW and Mercedes are far better than VAG. At least the companies are responsive and try to rectify issues.

The 3 was a great choice. BMW may have some issues but at least they are responsive.

Hopefully I won't have to test that out, because I've had a horrid experience with BMW Premium Selection/Finance and Service. I've sent them email with photographic proof that they dirtied the interior/did shoddy work/scratched the car and they deny it. Going to give them a chance to rectify thats why holding off the initial review of my car.

BMW service is honestly quite pathetic for the price you pay, all we can do is cross fingers and hope nothing goes wrong.

[anand_lukose]

Feeling really bad for the VAG owners who had torrid times with After sales service. I think the best option from here on is to identify and recommend good and respected independent garages that can service VAG cars . Parts coming in would definitely take time but I guess. Its something which we need to live with it.

[pc73]

Personally, have had a smooth run so far with my vento (3 years, 50K Kms, touchwood!). Service experience at VW Palace Cross Rajajinagar, Bangalore, has been good and at par with Honda, Ford and Maruti (other cars in the family with I get serviced myself). That said, I have not had good experience (when I visited them for some minor issues) with other VW dealers/A.S.S. in Bangalore (VW Whitefield and VW Bangalore/Downtown).

I am given to believe the owner of VW Bangalore/Downtown also owns Dakshin Honda (they are also located close by on opposite sides of the same road) but there is a night and day difference between these two dealerships - so not sure if one can totally blame dealer/A.S.S management alone since they do a good job for other manufacturers. Folks at VW Bangalore/Downtown dealership come across as unprofessional, demotivated, incompetent while folks at Dakshin Honda are relatively more professional, driven and helpful.

I am contemplating buying another car from VW, but I wonder if I would be stretching my luck a bit too much, based on reading the experience of other VAG car owners. They have the right cars in the market, I wonder why there is no focus on improving after-sales experience. I also wonder sometimes if problems of VAG group get highlighted more (unprofessional handling of customers by untrained folks could be one reason) and other manufactures may be no better (with obvious exception of Maruti, and maybe Hyundai and Toyota).

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Someone from VAG group will probably look at this thread, but I'm sure it wont make a difference. They evidently don't learn from their past mistakes.

As you rightly say, not sure if this thread will really help in your journey with VAG, BUT, it goes a long way in helping hundreds (thousands, even?) of people to make a right choice and not choose a VAG car, however tempting they might be.

The moment heart flickers a little for that red Polo GT TSi, a thread like this comes up.

God has been kind and I have been lucky I guess. Thanks again for sharing.

Hoping you get rid of your problems soon! ATB

[AppyS]

VAG cars are like Amazon Kindle,a hook, sell the cars first, then slowly kill the customers by sucking their blood for the heavily priced (and out of stock parts). For my recently repaired Polo,they didn't even have a mudflap in stock(broken by them itself) and wait time, minimum 2 weeks .