[Vid6639]

The guys involved from the dealership were really not that smart.

The headlights malfunctioned after delivery itself, i.e. the high beam and flash (dim and dip) were not working.

I had mentioned this when the Black package was announced. If you look at the regular Rapid's headlights it had projectors for low beam but high beam had reflectors. For the black package the high beam reflectors were removed and the projectors had the high / low beam control.

Anyone who knew their cars would know that the high beam would stop working unless correctly wired for this change.

[delta5]

This just saddens me immensely, I sincerely hope the customer gets some reprieve from our justice system and the culprits punished. I have been eyeing an upgrade for my Polo Tsi, and the only cars I like are from the Skoda brand. All these customer experience makes it harder than ever for me to pick a car from their brand.

[PAS]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

I wont be surprised if it comes out in support of the dealer as well...

I don't mean to dig old graves but remember there was another horror story few years back and a corporate spokesperson had gained membership to represent on behalf of Skoda. Obviously, the corporate statements were biased and illogical. Needless to say, account got banned/deactivated in true TeamBHP spirit.

Having said that, what have we learnt from those several sad stories ? Is it that difficult to teach them a lesson?

We should hit them where it hurts them the most. This should get highlighted in all mainstream news channels. This would be difficult looking at our news channels preferences, but if it happens could make a huge difference.

Just one quarter of single digit sales and we could start hearing happy stories, if not i am sure there would be news of company shutting down its India operation.

Reference: Click Here

[vinit.merchant]

Skoda again. Beautiful cars, goofed up customer service.

Some of us here mentioned they should take strict action against the dealer, shut them, etc etc. But lets look at it from Skoda's point of view.
Skoda is struggling not only with getting hold of customers, but also getting hold of businesses ready to take the dealerships. The volumes are not high and most of their cars are on some discount 365 days a year. They are in no position to ditch the dealer, because to do that, they first need to have another willing party ready to take on that role in that city.

Since the BP edition is discontinued, at the most what Skoda may offer is replace all parts to company spec BP edition, but then even this can be an uphill task for the buyer, knowing the reputation Skoda has as far as customer service is concerned.

[Living2Drive]

Mod Note: Post deleted. Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

[Vinodh_Gowda]

Originally Posted by GTO

Suhas Manjunath shares his ordeal with us. He has filed a consumer court case against Vinayak Skoda for cheating and deceiving him, and also Skoda (the company) for not keeping their dealership in control and letting them manipulate their products.

How he came to know that his car isn't an original 'Black Edition', but a locally converted one:

SKODA again and I am not surprised it's Vinayak Skoda (Personal experiences with my friend's car). What's even more painful to me is that the car in question is from my area and I used to admire the way it looks. Pinged Suhas for the first time via the contact from our layout whatsapp group and he mentioned that he has already applied for TeamBhp membership and is awaiting approval. Hopefully, we might get to hear more of his painful ordeal and fight for justice soon. The court hearing is scheduled for tomorrow and I sincerely wish him the best for his fight. He should have been enjoying driving a well built car but instead has to go through a mess all thanks to a reckless dealer.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by Vinodh_Gowda

Pinged Suhas for the first time via the contact from our layout whatsapp group and he mentioned that he has already applied for TeamBhp membership and is awaiting approval. The court hearing is scheduled for tomorrow and I sincerely wish him the best for his fight. He should have been enjoying driving a well built car but instead has to go through a mess all thanks to a reckless dealer.

This is really pathetic on Skoda's part. I don't have words to describe my feeling. I have already shared this on my Twitter.

Since you are in contact with the owner, do you know any details of whether Skoda offered any resolution from their end before he approached the court?

[Nissan1180]

Somehow, I feel sad that people continue to buy outdated, overpriced and underwhelming products from Skoda just because it feels more "European". That they managed to stoop so low shows how little they value trust.

If I were in India today, there is no reason why I'd pick up a Skoda product over what's offered by the more ethical manufacturers. There was a time when the Octavia was a VFM and robust car. That's not the case anymore. The owner of a garage where we get our cars serviced recently bought a 6 year old Superb for Rs. 5.5 Lakhs- and he said he could have bargained a bit more. These products have no resale value, start giving problems within 5 years of ownership and have horribly priced spare parts. He had an issue with a sensor in the bumber (was giving an error code). He simply removed the sensor and used the traditional desi tinkering skills to paint it back into shape. I think that's how these cars will be used in India-and I'm sure that within the next decade, most of our scrap yards would be populated by the so called European brands that command more snob value. If Skoda continues like this, they might as well go through the history books and search for Opel, Peugeot and Chevrolet stories.

[rulerofsun]

Originally Posted by narsi_6989

What the heck! These dealerships should be fired and shut. I am a Skoda owner since 2009 (Fabia till 2014 and Rapid since then). Initially there were concerns with Gurudev Motors, Chennai. But things are pretty smooth since 2011 which earned them a repeat customer in me buying the Rapid. Whenever I read Skoda horror stories, I start to think how lucky I am. May be the Sales and Service Adviser has made the difference to me. I have stuck with the same SA since the first service and he does not recommend unwanted repairs to me. Infact, during the last service he advised to get the battery changed elsewhere as it will be costly with the dealership.

Beautiful machines are ruined by these horror experiences with dealerships.

+1 I am a Skoda Fabia owner since 2012 and my SA also gives me these tips as the 4 year cover with Skoda is over.

As we are on the topic of part swapping my earlier car was a second hand Ikon1.3 Flair bought from a Ford Secondhand dealer. All the paper work and the RC mentioned the car as a 1.3. I had a break down near Mahad and took it to a local mechanic who brought the part of 1.3 but it wont fit and then he brought the 1.6 which fit like a glove. Back in Mumbai i took the car to Ford service and they confirmed it was a 1.6. So I had bought a 1.6 car which was registered as a 1.3.

[aayushnair]

Wow! Honestly I'm happy that the owner has taken them to court (skoda as well).

The other thing is I don't think it's an ECU difference, just a connector which is differently wired.
I have converted my stock headlights to the Monte Carlo ones and faced a similar issue and this was rectified with a change in wiring, the extra wiring being already present inside the headlight!

But good that it wasnt fixed with this wiring change as then there would've been no way to figure out malpractices!

Kudos to the owner and once again buyer beware!

[Captain Slow]

Isn't the car warranted against any defects for 3 years ? This being a brand new car should technically be covered against call defects - (Even if they are dealer introduced)

A Quick fix for this - Replace the ECU - Compensate the owner/owners?

How to set this right so that it doesn't happen again?

1) The dealer should be accountable for this (I strongly believe that such dealers should be punished and their dealership revoked Period! ) A single person at the dealership is not capable enough to pull off such a large scam.

2) Compensate the owner/owners of the cars properly! (Read 2 cars? )
Skoda or the Dealership should get them proper cars which they rightly paid for ! Not some hacked and made up cars at the dealership.

3) Skoda needs to have Interest and control on their dealers! The way things are going doesn't look like Skoda India is even keeping an eye on them

They got a learn a lesson or two from the way Maruti Suzuki Keeps their dealers in check.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

Somehow, I feel sad that people continue to buy outdated, overpriced and underwhelming products from Skoda just because it feels more "European".

There is nothing outdated and underwhelming about the Skoda range in India - other than the Rapid.

Octavia, Octavia vRS, Superb, Kodiaq etc are all extremely competent products which can stand head and shoulders above the competition. It's the strength of these products that make people go and buy them inspite of knowing the big risks associated with Skoda dealership network in India.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by smartcat

This service center technician deserves an award for honesty:

Usually, the service center guys hate the sales guys & vice versa. There's a lot of finger-pointing between them. In this case probably, it was the workshop guy's way of putting his hands up & saying "I can't do anything".

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I had mentioned this when the Black package was announced. If you look at the regular Rapid's headlights it had projectors for low beam but high beam had reflectors. For the black package the high beam reflectors were removed and the projectors had the high / low beam control.

Trust Viddy to notice such minute details on a facelift!

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

The volumes are not high and most of their cars are on some discount 365 days a year. They are in no position to ditch the dealer, because to do that, they first need to have another willing party ready to take on that role in that city.

Well said. Skoda doesn't have the sales clout to hire & fire dealers at will. But at least, they could have recruited the right dealers in the first place?

I just wonder why we hear of such cases from Skoda only: Fake parts, falsely converted car, paid booking deposit & dealer shuts down...the list goes on.

Originally Posted by Vinodh_Gowda

What's even more painful to me is that the car in question is from my area and I used to admire the way it looks.

It's a small world indeed .

[Vinodh_Gowda]

Originally Posted by AkMar

This is really pathetic on Skoda's part. I don't have words to describe my feeling. I have already shared this on my Twitter.

Since you are in contact with the owner, do you know any details of whether Skoda offered any resolution from their end before he approached the court?

This was the first time I pinged him personally and also the man has a hearing to prepare for tomorrow hence dwelling him for details didn't seem right to me. Also, he will be sharing more details voluntarily once the evidence is submitted to the court. I will be catching up with him this weekend and by that time who knows he himself might be here to address all the queries put forward.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by aayushnair

The other thing is I don't think it's an ECU difference, just a connector which is differently wired.

Ayush, it is actually the BCM they are referring to not ECU. The ECU has nothing to do with the headlamp operations.

The customer might have got it wrong or the service center folks. I can't believe these guys went to the extent of swapping parts from another donor car!