[dileepcm]

While the numbers look atrocious, are there any explanations given by Skoda service center on what made them arrive at the given estimate? Is the estimate just for fixing what caused the breakdown or does it include other regular fixing/servicing so on?

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

I was given a Rs 1,01,500 (yes One lakh) estimate for a routine 60,000 km service by Skoda @Guindy, Chennai.

Seeing as the car in question is at the 50,000 kms mark, I wonder if something similar has occurred here. If the OP follows this up with Skoda, I'd be eager to hear their response.

[Guna]

It is clear that while they were fixing the car for the engine problem (which is to change the belt) they also checked what else is in bad condition (which included AC, tail lamps etc). They may be still trying to overcharge to an extent but it is not really an 'Apple to apple' comparison.

[sumeethaldankar]

Dealers trying to fleece customers is nothing new. My Civic had a check engine light problem and the car would go into a limp mode. Honda diagnosed it as a throttle body problem and wiring harness issue and quoted me around 50k. I googled the issue and found a similar Civic of a bhpian with same issue who resolved it by changing the throttle position sensor relay. I instructed Honda to change the relay the cost of which was 800 Rs and the car has been running fine post 6 months.

[pdma]

Originally Posted by batish

OT, Has anybody noticed KM reading in the images? In first and second image it's 50,015 (18 August) and in third image it's 62,317 (21 August).

12,000 KMs in 3 days. Isn't it a bit weird?

I assume this is a typo or a hurried entry made on 18th (Saturday), as in the next image it clearly shows that last service was done at 50,010 KM, in September 2017. Just 5 km in an year (Aug 2018) doesn't seem right. There is a good possibility that actual job card was prepared on 21st where the right reading was entered.
My assumption only, we can wait for confirmation from OP.
Nevertheless just when dust seems to be settling down for Skoda, this issue surely shakes up the trust factor, unless the quote in question here is trying to address other issues that need attention apart from the initial issue reported.

Cheers,
Pradeep.

[Hayek]

I think this is a classic case of miscommunication leading to panic by the customer (and I dare say our forum). Whenever I gave my Skoda for service, they identified various issues and I had the ability to decide what I wanted rectified. Most service advisors at Autobahn that I dealt with were happy to guide you on what was a must have and what was nice to have. I don’t think that can be called an attempt to cheat someone - a simple conversation on what was necessary to solve the breakdown would likely have solved the problem.

[iTNerd]

Having been in similar situation with Nawab Motors (which by the way, is no longer a skoda dealer), I am not surprised! This is the reason owners like us don't even bother going to them even for a 'free' service. Because of the sophistication of the car, you never know what all 'flaws' they will unearth from your car to fleece the unsuspecting owner. Thank God, we have good FNGs around NCR who specialize on VAG cars!

[samaspire]

All I can say is "Bharat Auto overcharged your friend by 253 rupees on parts"

What can one say of Skoda? Their 7 years campaign might just be another ruse to make the customer keep coming back for 7 years, so that they can loot for some more years on non-warranty parts.

[Rshrey22]

The thing which I find wrong here is that she gave the car to the workshop because it was not running right and not because the AC was not blowing cold. Right?

Why then, was the workshop more concerned with replacing the AC system rather than just looking at what's causing the problem to the customer?

This is where something starts smelling fishy!

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by Rshrey22

The thing which I find wrong here is that she gave the car to the workshop because it was not running right and not because the AC was not blowing cold. Right?

Why then, was the workshop more concerned with replacing the AC system rather than just looking at what's causing the problem to the customer?

This is where something starts smelling fishy!

Totally agree with you. Granted that they added a lot of other unrelated services, they should have clarified it properly to the customer about it. As it stands it looks like this is the bill for getting the car back to a stage where it starts. Deliberately hiding things hoping that the customer would pay up, this is sheer misguiding and looting gullible people.

[roby_dk]

This came after a long time from Skoda, seems they are not ready to learn from their past. I was reading the Skoda superb review thread and was seriously considering it to be my next upgrade in coming years. Such horror stories remind me not to befooled by the tempting German cars. But at the same time I feel sad, what else do we have in 30-40L sedan segment. Superb, Passat and Camry only these comes to my mind and then we all know the game is between the first two.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

50,000 is total cost of work related to brakes includes ABS sensors, brake discs, brake lining and wheel hub.

73K is given for AC compressor and AC dryer.

7K for tail lights.

That's 1.3L for AC, brakes and tail lights.

The owner is quite a fastidious person. If there had been anything wrong with the brakes or air-conditioning I am sure she would have reported the same to both Autobahn and me.

Originally Posted by typlo

Is it possible to sue a dealership for false estimates/charges?

No and that is not the intention of this thread. This thread's only intention is to highlight to all automobile owners (not just Skoda) that they need to very careful with the estimates given to them and they need to rigorously question the same. Skoda dealers are not alone in this.

BTW I owned a Skoda vRS 1.8 from 2004-2012 and the service I received from Autobahn was satisfactory.

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

Thanks for posting this. I was actually getting very tempted to book a Skoda cos the test drive was excellent.

While it may seem that more cases of Skoda are reported please be vigilant any time any of your cars goes for service. Like I said before, more than just Skoda dealers may look to make a 'fast buck'.

Let it be known that in Harish's case the original dealer Nummer Eins was stripped of their dealership. (see link).
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...e-settled.html

Originally Posted by androdev

Your observation is spot on, it does seem like they added some regular service (brakes) and preventive maintenance (AC compressor)

Originally Posted by batish

OT, Has anybody noticed KM reading in the images? In first and second image it's 50,015 (18 August) and in third image it's 62,317 (21 August).

Fantastic catch. Thank you. I will call my friend and ask her about this and the current Odometer reading.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

This appears to be a misleading thread and it sounds more like they messed up on the communication part.

I would have thought so too, IF the original verbal quote from Mr Sameer was not 2.5L or thereabouts and why the manager (Mr. Mudassar) still sent a written quote for Rs. 1.43L + 25,000 after discussing with the owner that the only issue with the car was this sudden failure. Not the brakes, air-conditioning, tail lights, or anything else.

[Ford5]

To think that Skoda's TV campaign with Boman Irani is running full steam these days about how affordable their cars are to service and maintain

Skoda, just ask Ford India about cheap maintainence if you wish to offer that to your customers. Ask Hyundai about their dealer's ernest efforts to keep customers happy, even going to the extent of replacing an entire car, to keep the buyer happy. Lastly ask yourself, why are you bluffing Indians every now and then. For God's sakes it's not 2007 when Octavia's were sought by everyone!

[sagarpadaki]

A bit off topic.

Service center managers are given monthly targets to meet. There is a medium sized authorized Hyundai service center near my place which I usually use to service our i20. When discussing, I got to know that it is a big headache to meet the monthly targets that are set for the service center heads. In this case, the monthly target is ~27 lakh rupees that translates to 1 lakh per day. This target is solely for service and not for body repair.

There are few hurdles the service center in question faces in meeting their targets.
1. Customers are pretty smart and do not allow un-necessary things to be carried out on their car
2. Customers in and around the area where the service center is present are a predominantly middle-class and lower-middle-class population who are reluctant to spend anything more than a particular sum for the service(usually ~6k).
3. Customers stretch the service intervals of their cars and head to local service centers.


Although this is a small HASS in a mentioned topographical area, the situation is similar across all branded service centers in all cities. So the service centers pounce at any opportunity to inflate the bill, not because they want to, but because they are mostly compelled to in order to meet their monthly target.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Service center managers are given monthly targets to meet.

True. Plus, old habits die hard.

There was a time when other than the 1st-gen Octavia, no other Skoda was selling (Fabia, 1st-gen Superb, Yeti all flopped). To pay the bills, Skoda dealers started indulging in malpractices & over-charging. It didn't help that the company turned a blind eye to these.

Today, Skoda dealers make more than enough money because the Rapid (outsells the Vento), Octavia, Superb & Kodiaq bring enough volumes. Also consider that Skoda trimmed its dealership count, making the remaining ones more profitable. But early dealers + habits formed in the last decade ruin their reputation.

Autobahn Skoda has a long history of shady practices.