[amitgupta]

Hey everyone

I'm looking to get a new car & a friend suggested that I look at Skoda Kodiaq.

Till now I've not considered Skoda as I've heard too many horror stories of folk who have been swindled or left high & dry by the company & it's dealers.

Has this changed now? Is it worth considering Skoda?

I live in Delhi. How is the after sales service?

Thanks for any & all advice & suggestions.

[lapis_lazuli]

Originally Posted by amitgupta

Hey everyone

I'm looking to get a new car & a friend suggested that I look at Skoda Kodiaq.

Till now I've not considered Skoda as I've heard too many horror stories of folk who have been swindled or left high & dry by the company & it's dealers.

Has this changed now? Is it worth considering Skoda?

I live in Delhi. How is the after sales service?

Thanks for any & all advice & suggestions.

Hi Amit, welcome to the forum. You may consider the Kodiaq for sure. There are now many options in Delhi Ncr to buy from or service post purchase. I have not had a single reason to complain, either during the purchase process, delivery process, subsequent services or even yearly insurance renewals over the last 3 years. I purchased from Arya Skoda, Delhi and the services have been from Brite Skoda, Noida. My friends on and off Team Bhp, haven't been disappointed, either. I think they are shedding the horrible image they once carried.

[sunikkat]

Been owning Octavia for 6 years and I have had stellar experience with Bangalore and Trivandrum service centers. Not a single issue till now. Service center in Bangalore has been very proactive too - once during service accidentally they chipped the windshield (barely visible), they pro-actively called me apologised and changed it free of cost. After every service both Skoda and service center ensured follow up for the feedback. My car has been very reliable too.
From my experience Skoda service in Bangalore is as good as Hyundai (too early for me to comment on Hyundai).

[anujsd]

Aftersales for SKODA has come a long way from the horror stories we generally remember. You can actually see the conscious efforts put in especially considering that they had to make the India 2.0 project a success. So I guess that's no longer a doubt.
As for the Kodiaq, they have already exhausted the stock for 2022. It was sold out within a week or so. You can still check with the dealership in NCR for any availability, or check out the new VW Tiguan.

[GTO]

Can't teach an old dog new tricks. Skoda hired the wrong dealers back in the day, a lot of them are still around & they were never (strictly) monitored by Skoda.

That being said, social media (especially) + a more active Skoda management means that the fraudulent behaviour we used to see from their dealerships a decade ago has significantly reduced. But I still keep reading about complaints on Team-BHP and off the forum.

Things are surely better now, but there are still too many complaints for a low volume brand like Skoda. Let me put it another way. Even Maruti - which sells 40 times more cars than Skoda - doesn't suffer as many dealer related complaints as Skoda. Clearly, a lot of work still to be done.

What makes things worse is that their cars can be problematic to own past 40000 - 50000 km (when the issues start popping up), their DSG gearboxes are unreliable + expensive to fix, and parts are overall expensive. These 3 factors further amplify customer complaints. If you want a "Maruti or Toyota" kind of ownership experience, Skoda isn't for you. Saying this as someone who's bought 4 German cars, including a Skoda Superb.

They offer driving pleasure and have the ultimate "value luxury" lineup, but be prepared for a couple of headaches now & then.

[Emvi]

Have the Skoda dealerships/service centres changed/improved? YES and NO. Echoing GTO's thoughts, probably the older dealerships have remained the same(read bad) by and large, whereas the newer ones are better in comparison. However it all depends on the rapport you have or build with guys at a dealership/service centre that you deal with. Generally speaking and just not limited to Skoda, I have seen people availing very good service from worst of dealerships.

[IREV]

I have been owning the Rapid 1.5 TDI MT since 3 years and the Skoda service centers (especially PPS) in Bangalore are great. I have been satisfied with their service. The service experience is as good as what I have experienced with Ford's service centers in Bangalore.

Before buying the Kodiaq, better do a research on the Skoda dealers in your town. The after sales actually depends on the particular dealer. Even I had a terrible experience with Hyundai dealers in Bangalore (at that time, I was looking for the Verna). Some Skoda dealers are quite good while some are bad.

[turbogeek]

Too early for me to comment on this, but we bought a Kushaq in november and the experience has been amazing till now.
Unfortunately, last month the body coloured part of the left hand side ORVM came off after it scraped a wall while parking. No visible damage was done, but a few of the many locks that hold it in place were broken. We took it to the service centre, and to our surprise they suggested we do a "jugaad" instead of replacing it. This came as a surprise because in my dad's experience of owning Marutis all his life, he was almost sure they wouldn't even try putting it in place and would just say replace it or get it fixed from outside.

[sachin_cs]

3 years and 50k with the DQ200, I'm a happy customer so far. In my city the service experience has been very good and my car went to the service centre only for oil/filters change and nothing else, it's fill it shut it forget it kinda experience. Only advice would be to buy the 6 year extended warranty and service pack and just enjoy your car. Having met the top bosses from Skoda recently, I can assure you they are working hard to turn around.

[Satish Pari]

I own a 2017 model Rapid 1.6MPI and till date have no issues with the authorised service centre in Chennai - Gurudev Motors. My car has done 59K kms and the total visits to the service centre is around 6 (4 yearly services & 2 services for other issues).

Yes Skoda have come a long way and the overall experience with them has been good. Due to certain reasons, I could not extend the warranty for another 2 years but fortunately I have found a reasonable and knowledgeable FNG who is very professional and knows what he is doing.

[Newpunter]

I own a 2017 DSG Rapid and my experience with TAFE motors in Bangalore has been great.
My only previous experience was with the Fiat dealers in Bangalore and I can say that the Skoda experience has been a big step up from that.

My car's boot was damaged when a bus hit us from behind, and the service center did a great job fixing the damage. The initial estimate was for around 2 lakhs, but they completed the job in under 1 lakh, after fixing some of the parts, instead of replacing them.
I have opted for the extended warranty due to the reliability worries of the DSG, but so far, the experience has been great.

[motorhead5]

In my view, it boils down to your expectations
If you want absolute reliability and peace of mind, then Skoda or VW is not for you. But if you are looking for driving pleasure (performance, handling..) + safety including build quality + value for money, then you should consider Skoda/VW.

I doubt if we have brands that scores high on both. When I look at some of the Toyota vehicles, I feel it lacks features (so for me, it's less value for money) and driving pleasure. But people go for it for reliability and after sales service.

For me, performance, handling, safety and vfm are more important. So imho, you need to first decide between those 2 pillars.

On service, I never faced any issue with my VW ever and most situations can be addressed with extended warranty. On service cost, also see if its once a year service or twice a year so that you get overall maintenance cost per year.

[shinuak]

My Skoda Rapid ownership started in 2016 and the inferences as below

1. Initially the service as well as sales were not at all customer friendly and gave a feeling that you will be left in the lurch in case of issues. In a years time, I was able to find few good Service advisors who were genuinely helpful, which was a huge relief.

2. Over the years I have seen that not just the service , but the process and even followup after a service improving drastically in favor of the customer

3. From a cost perspective, contrary to the common perception, I have felt that the cost of ownership for my Rapid TDI is either comparable or even lesser than models from rival manufacturers

4. With new Sales and service centers being opened by reputed dealership groups, I believe the experience shall improve further.

5. As a silver lining you do have a very social media friendly and active brand director which helps the cause further. I kept this as the last point since I would prefer overall customer satisfaction due to a culture/process change rather than depending on the goodwill of one person.

[KANNURAN]

There is a general consensus that After Sales Service has improved a lot.

Personally, I have had a stellar experience with TAFE Access in Bangalore and EVM Skoda in Calicut. They were professional, transparent and even reasonable. (To the extent that I would vote them OVER the Maruti and Hyundai ordeals I have endured)

Zac and his team has done a creditable job of revamping and refining the "Horror" network they once were

[ShivWason17]

I guess the trick with buying a Skoda car is finding the right dealer and sticking to it for the entire life of your car.

If you’re in Delhi NCR, visit Brite Skoda at Noida. These guys are doing some great work to keep the service standards high. One of the best Skoda dealership for sure. I visit their Noida Service centre from Dehradun every time for service or any other check up and I have never been disappointed.