[dkaile]

The correct number of Rahul Kulkarni is updated below-

Rahul Kulkarni | Customer Care
Skoda Auto India Pvt. Ltd.,
A 605, ICC Towers, S B Road,Pune, India.
HQ- A1/1, Five Star MIDC, Shendra, Aurangabad 431201, India
Tel:020-30931113 E-Mail: rahul.kulkarni@skoda-auto.co.in www.skoda-auto.co.in
customerCare@skoda-auto.co.in

[sarathlal]

To be frank, I came to know of the fact that one should not crank the car if it had stopped amidst a water puddle, only through T-BHP, and only recently.
And many people, who drive cars for ages, I talked to are not aware of this fact.
Maybe its ignorance, but with all these, what i could deduce is, people are mostly unaware of this fact.

Going through this thread, it looks like, getting a luxurious sedan in this situation is a serious crime by the driver and the car is nothing to be blamed.
Is it so? If it is one such life-death scenario for a car, isnt it the onus of the car manufacturer to have this across to their customers?

T-BHP helped us in getting many such insights, but am afraid to say, we are just a minority, and as a community, we should be sensitive enough to gauge on the other folks knowledge on up keeping a car.

Just my opinion.

[vsoneja]

Gosh !!! what have i done. I merely saw the car parked right after the toll on Friday and posted the pics. just one of the thousands of people who would have seen the car that day . 3 days and this thread has had over 21000 views.

Nonetheless the discussion has been fairly balanced but something must have happened to drive the owner to this level to put such stickers on the car. Number of us have made attempts to reach out to the owner , hopefully he will take notice and provide his side of the story. I am just glad that a lot of positives have come out of this discussion. Ground clearance and water levels and the fact it being there in the manual an all.

Its just good that as a group we can have a good discussion and not be judgmental.

[BinFord]

Skoda yet again scares buyers. I am a great fan of Skoda merely for it aesthetic look and build quality. But often the after sales service haunts me and thinking twice before i suggest or ask someone to purchase this brand.

I am not sure when will Skoda learn this and make a difference to their attitude towards customers.

[Ascari]

ICICI Lombard covers hydrostatic lock.

Bangalore is also notoriously flood prone even after a light shower.My octavia which was sold before we got the Laura had a problem after being driven on a water logged street.The starter motor had to be replaced.So the other day I was driving my BMW and encountered a water logged street I turned around and took a long circuitous route to my destination.Once bitten twice shy! So it just boils down to taking a bit of precaution while driving these cars.

[Mpower]

Few years ago in China, frustrated owner of a Lemon BMW 7-series had his car pulled around by a donkey cart in downtown business district with a banner. I was just reminded of that incident

I tried googling around but count't find any pics.

[prateekm]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Few years ago, frustrated owner of a Lemon BMW 7-series had his car pulled around by a donkey cart in downtown business district with a banner. I was just reminded of that incident

I tried googling around but count't find any pics.

Here, found this.



http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english...ent_372306.htm

[dkaile]

Skoda and other VW group companies need to totally restructure their after sales network. Few suggestions -

1. Stricter after-sales audits and follow-ups from HQ level. This will keep dealers in check in case of wrong doings.
2. Availability of baby parts. For a small switch costing 5k there is no need for the whole compressor costing 50k to be changed. I have a strong feeling that if baby parts were made available there would not have been the need to change the whole engine in this particular case also.
3. Reduction in spare part costs especially those that have a history of going kaput in 5 years of usage like AC compressor, Clutch etc.
4. Restructuring dealer discount structure so that they are not just reliant on after-sales revenues for survival. This will reduce fleecing at that level.
5. Better training of at least 3 to 5 mechanics at each workshop especially those heading engine, body shop and electrical deptt. They should be able to open and seal a full VAG engine properly, and seeing the complicated engines this is not an easy task.
6. Professional after sales manager having minimum ITI to head service deptt. rather than some lip service girl (like in the case of C&T Skoda at Meerut).
7. Increase dealership and service area size proportionate to sales. Like e.g. Downtown VW, Bangalore and Jai Auto Skoda, Gurgaon are overflowing with cars and unable to keep service deadlines.
8. Stricter interaction by owners of these dealerships in after-sales matters.
9. A dedicated complaint redressal system in place at HQ levels which actually works and does not just pay lip service.

These measures will go a long way in building consumer confidence which is right now at its lowest ebb at least for Skoda and getting there slowly even for VW.

[dkaile]

^
I had forwarded my above suggestions to Sh. Sudhir Rao, MD and Rahul Kulkarni, Customer Care Head. I have received the following reply back from Rahul. He has raised points about lowering spare part costs and imparting training. He is now also aware of this thread -

Dear Mr. Kaile,

At the outset we thank you for your valuable suggestions. Kindly be assured that the we are already working on some of the points mentioned for e.g. training is an continuous process and same is imparted to all the dealerships regularly on all the parameters and for all the levels. Training needs are identified from the audits and coaching is also provided by us.

With regards to the costing, we are working on the same and you will definitely observe the changes in near future.

We once again thank you for your kind gesture and providing the feedback. We appreciate your concern towards the brand and reassure you that same will live upto your expectations.

Thanks & Regards,
Rahul Kulkarni | Customer Care
Skoda Auto India Pvt. Ltd.,
A 605, ICC Towers, S B Road,Pune, India.
HQ- A1/1, Five Star MIDC, Shendra, Aurangabad 431201, India
Tel:020-30931113 E-Mail:rahul.kulkarni@skoda-auto.co.in | www.skoda-auto.co.in | CustomerCare@skoda-auto.co.in

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Ascari

ICICI Lombard covers hydrostatic lock.

All insurance companies cover hydrostatic lock with a disclaimer that the engine should not be cranked if the car stalls in water. If the engine is cranked after the car stalls, warranty and insurance is void.

Based on the inspection insurance determines whether to cover the hydrostatic lock or not.

Also, the insurance company should be informed immediately about the hydrostatic lock. If you give the car to the dealer and he starts the work, then insurance will not cover it.

I found this out the hard way on my uncle's Fiesta.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by sarathlal

To be frank, I came to know of the fact that one should not crank the car if it had stopped amidst a water puddle, only through T-BHP, and only recently.
And many people, who drive cars for ages, I talked to are not aware of this fact.
Maybe its ignorance, but with all these, what i could deduce is, people are mostly unaware of this fact.

Going through this thread, it looks like, getting a luxurious sedan in this situation is a serious crime by the driver and the car is nothing to be blamed.
Is it so? If it is one such life-death scenario for a car, isnt it the onus of the car manufacturer to have this across to their customers?

T-BHP helped us in getting many such insights, but am afraid to say, we are just a minority, and as a community, we should be sensitive enough to gauge on the other folks knowledge on up keeping a car.

Just my opinion.

We as motorists need have some kind of basic knowledge regarding our cars. The idea that one must not start a dead car, which is submerged in water is one such key point. Second could be, for example, one must not switch off the engine on a downslope and coast in neutral and several such thumb rules.

One cannot buy a car just because one has the means, and give a farce of a driving test and then drive down the roads. Atleast we must take the effort of reading up on the vehicle's manual to understand the dos and the donts. The Skoda manual clearly mentioned the effects of water damage.

The problem compounds when we employ uneducated men as drivers. They add to the problems along with their self learned/half learned hearsays. I fired one such driver who had this habit of pressing the accelerator hard just before stopping, inspite of me telling him, TC motors like the Safari need atleast 30seconds idling before running and stopping to lubricate the turbo. He still stuck to his age old matador/ambassador ideas of pressing full throttle before shut down, to ensure car starts next time

[Racer_X]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Few years ago in China, frustrated owner of a Lemon BMW 7-series had his car pulled around by a donkey cart in downtown business district with a banner. I was just reminded of that incident

I tried googling around but count't find any pics.

Originally Posted by prateekm

....

Chinese love to show their disdain by using donkeys.

Here is a Angry Chinese driver tows Range Rover back to dealer with donkeys.

[NOS Power]

This is in relation to Skoda's parent company VW.

A friend of mine owns a 2010 Polo 1.2 petrol. He has 4 other cars (3 petrol) and fills fuel for all 5 from the same fuel bunk.

Last month his Polo started sputtering while being driven. VW workshop diagnostics say the fuel pump needs replacement. On check up at another workshop (not VW) it was shocking to see a ton of dirt in the fuel lines. The fuel filter was choked (2nd filter as first was replaced at 10K service. How can this happen on a 2 year old car (clocked 22K kms) which fills petrol from the same bunk as his 7 year old CRV and 6 year old Civic and none have reported any fuelling issues till date?

On top of this he has extended warranty for his Polo. As per the extended warranty card the fuel pump is covered, whereas on the next page it says "parts subject to normal wear and tear are not covered under warranty like fuel pump, etc. etc.". Contradictions in the same warranty card. Anyways, the service agent did not agree to replace the pump on warranty. To this when my friend argued that they should replace warranty covered items, the SA went into a heated argument.

Frustrated my friend gave an ultimatum that he'll go to the consumer courts. The Service agent's reply stunned him and me when I heard it, "We are a big company having lots of well placed people at hand to deal with people like you" .

Well he has filed a case and as it proceeds I'll post the results or whereabouts of it.

P.S. Mods, I have accidentally posted this post on this thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2948678 . Please delete it.

[nilambuj]

Originally Posted by NOS Power

Frustrated my friend gave an ultimatum that he'll go to the consumer courts. The Service agent's reply stunned him and me when I heard it, "We are a big company having lots of well placed people at hand to deal with people like you" .

Well he has filed a case and as it proceeds I'll post the results or whereabouts of it.

I don't understand the arrogance of the VW group (dealers). Neither are they best sellers in the world and India nor are they having the best brand value. I think your friend made a right move. I hope and pray the decision goes in his favour. The important point is that the dealer (and probably vw india) should get the required wrap on the knuckles so that they don't continue undermining consumer power and interests.

[sridhar-v]

Originally Posted by NOS Power

This is in relation to Skoda's parent company VW.

A friend of mine owns a 2010 Polo 1.2 petrol. He has 4 other cars (3 petrol) and fills fuel for all 5 from the same fuel bunk.

Last month his Polo started sputtering while being driven. VW workshop diagnostics say the fuel pump needs replacement. On check up at another workshop (not VW) it was shocking to see a ton of dirt in the fuel lines. The fuel filter was choked (2nd filter as first was replaced at 10K service. How can this happen on a 2 year old car (clocked 22K kms) which fills petrol from the same bunk as his 7 year old CRV and 6 year old Civic and none have reported any fuelling issues till date?

On top of this he has extended warranty for his Polo. As per the extended warranty card the fuel pump is covered, whereas on the next page it says "parts subject to normal wear and tear are not covered under warranty like fuel pump, etc. etc.". Contradictions in the same warranty card. Anyways, the service agent did not agree to replace the pump on warranty. To this when my friend argued that they should replace warranty covered items, the SA went into a heated argument.

Frustrated my friend gave an ultimatum that he'll go to the consumer courts. The Service agent's reply stunned him and me when I heard it, "We are a big company having lots of well placed people at hand to deal with people like you" .

Well he has filed a case and as it proceeds I'll post the results or whereabouts of it.

P.S. Mods, I have accidentally posted this post on this thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2948678 . Please delete it.

The so called "German Quality" hype is being misused to lead many lambs to slaughter.
Have seen the same hype in machine tools. Pay 2-3 times more for something that is 5-10 % superior in most parameters & is guaranted to be a pain for maintenance.

As far as cars are concerned the Japs & Koreans have cracked the quality & features riddle.

Simple moral - dont buy VW group products.