[navin]

Originally Posted by Hayek

The owner of course has the right to take a risk call on this - if she is very lucky, perhaps nothing would happen - but if I were her, I would change those parts. Else she could be left with a very high bill some time in the future.

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

As a owner it is my right that if i want to get it done or not.

Mod Note: - Given that manufacturer and dealer have been in constant touch with the owner and they have also provided thorough explanation. Mods should be keep the thread title less biased.

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

Gullible customers will be fooled but once in a while an informed person will turn up to show these guys the mirror.

I think this is the issue here. It is the customer's right to choose if they want to replace a part or not and the service advisor/manager should explain to the customer which parts are essential to the issue at hand and which may be done later.

In THIS case the service advisor/Manager had 3-4 conversations with the customer and in each of these conversations insisted that unless all the parts in that estimate were fixed the car would not be able to be driven out of the workshop.

What the manager should instead have done is tell the customer that they necessarily have to change parts a, b, c and parts d, e, f, g may fail later. For example, it is anyone's guess how long that compressor will last. I would also like to know why brake parts (totaling about 50k) were also included in this estimate.

ferrarirules, if you see the posts made by the Mods you will see that they have been more than fair. We do understand that this is an industry-wide issue and not related to just Autobahn or Skoda.

Not everyone has access to the innards of cars, service centers, etc. and manufacturers and dealers sometimes try to take advantage of those who don't. That what we hope to change. This was one such case, there may be 100s and 1000s that go unreported.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by navin

ferrarirules, if you see the posts made by the Mods you will see that they have been more than fair. We do understand that this is an industry-wide issue and not related to just Autobahn or Skoda.

Navin, I completely agree. Vid and you have been completely impartial in the whole situation and provided facts from both ends. My intention was from the perspective of thread title only and not from the perspective of the discussion happening in the thread. Thread title as of now stands as "Re: Quoted 1.68 lakhs by Autobahn Skoda; fixed for just 1,000 bucks" which makes it seem that Skoda did something dishonest and didn't care about the customer afterwards.
In today's world, the news headline is 80% of the news. Nobody bothers to go into the details of the article and opinions are formed just based on the headlines.

P.S. - I have no affiliation with Skoda as an organization or the dealer Autobhan Skoda. I am just one happy Skoda customer.

[navin]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

Thread title as of now stands as "Re: Quoted 1.68 lakhs by Autobahn Skoda; fixed for just 1,000 bucks" which makes it seem that Skoda did something dishonest and didn't care about the customer afterwards.

Well that title is a result of the Autobahn Manager's insistence (across several conversations) that all the parts in that estimate were essential to drive the car out of the workshop.

The customer in this case sought to get her car repaired by an independent garage before this thread was created. It will be only the passage of time that will demonstrate if that decision serves her well. But is her right to do so - there are several competent garages (as well as many that are not).

Skoda did reach out once this thread was created but there was not much more they could do. The customer never intended to seek any damages or compensation or nothing. So we closed the matter at that. Poor communication by a dealer, a frazzled and upset customer, some lessons learned by both and all those who read this thread.

I hope all manufacturers learn from this and ensure that their dealers are trained to be more clear in their conversations with their customers. Personally, I have seen a significant change for the better in Skoda service. It ain't perfect but then really no one is. At best we, at TBHP, can only highlight those "imperfections" that we are made aware of and hope that this helps the industry as a whole.

[i74js]

Originally Posted by navin

I hope all manufacturers learn from this and ensure that their dealers are trained to be more clear in their conversations with their customers. Personally, I have seen a significant change for the better in Skoda service. It ain't perfect but then really no one is. At best we, at TBHP, can only highlight those "imperfections" that we are made aware of and hope that helps the industry as a whole.

I agree with you on the narrative; yet I fail to understand as to why the part failure rate in Skoda cars is higher compared to other manufacturers?

[navin]

Originally Posted by i74js

I agree with you on the narrative; yet I fail to understand as to why the part failure rate in Skoda cars is higher compared to other manufacturers?

I don't have enough data on this to answer this question. It may be perception as well.

In either case the question here is not of the design of any Skoda part but on the integrity of the Dealers and the need for Manufacturers to ensure that their Dealers are "trained" to be more transparent with their customers.

Team-BHP is a pretty small community if you compare it to the size of the total automobile market in India. For every case reported on Team-BHP I am sure there are 1000s of cases that go unreported.

Manufacturers need to recognize that it is THEIR brand that gets tarnished. Dealers come and go. I have seen several dealers close shop and open shop in another name. There are several ideas I have shared off-line with manufacturers on how they can keep their dealers in check. It is not a complicated or a difficult proposition.