[ACM]

Originally Posted by 2cents

What I really wish is they also provide a search tool for spare parts and prices. I know a part (rear brake light cover), and number, that costs 250/- (thanks to a fellow Bhpian). But the service guy has been persisting that it costs 3000/-, comes as a complete assembly, and perennially unavailable. If I am allowed to place an order, I can fit it myself.

In Bombay at Opera House there is an Authorized Spares outlet. (that only sells parts normally at 10% less than the price at the Service outlet.). One has to carry the car VIN number and they automatically inform you what would be the part cost and part number for your model provided one can describe the part well enough. They also have photographs with codes in both hard copy and on the computer to help one figure out which part is applicable to or vehicle.


On a different note. The Service Cost calculator does not work for discontinued models like say the Laura PD 1.9 AT --- and that to me is quite BAD. Though one still has to appreciate whatever they are doing for current models. The thing with Skoda is that they have never supported previous buyers in any manner be it the cost of spares or the warranty or even inferior quality product or parts.

[kiranknair]

I think this is a very good initiative from Skoda in boosting the confidence of customer and maintaing transparency. A new customer like me with a few months ownership of Skoda Rapid has always been wary of their service costs especially after browsing through some of the threads. The service costs looks reasonable (especially Rapid) comparing to other manufacturers including Maruti, because this is for one year/15k km as opposed to 6 months. However, I still believe they can include more spare parts to their list as I think it is still incomplete like Bumpers, Mirrors, duplicate key etc which are more prone to damage/loss.

[narsi_6989]

Originally Posted by ACM

In Bombay at Opera House there is an Authorized Spares outlet. (that only sells parts normally at 10% less than the price at the Service outlet.). One has to carry the car VIN number and they automatically inform you what would be the part cost and part number for your model provided one can describe the part well enough. They also have photographs with codes in both hard copy and on the computer to help one figure out which part is applicable to or vehicle.

Wow. This is the shop I was looking for. Unfortunately I am based in Chennai. Need to ask my friends in Mumbai to procure parts for me. Can we have the shop name and address? Also do they courier the parts?

[ACM]

Originally Posted by narsi_6989

Wow. This is the shop I was looking for. Unfortunately I am based in Chennai. Need to ask my friends in Mumbai to procure parts for me. Can we have the shop name and address? Also do they courier the parts?

Not aware of them sending by courier

1) Dashmesh Auto - 479, SVP Road Manu Mansion, Opera House, Mumbai - 04 - TEL - 23850424 / 23877169 - They keep Skoda Genuine Spares but also stock Toyota, Chevrolet and TATA. This is not the shop that I described in my previous post. I have procured some stuff from this shop earlier.

2) I am unable to find the visiting card of the shop that described in the previous post but as a location they are right in the lane behind Sunco Motors (TATA Outlet).

Just Dial website does list out about 40+ Skoda Parts Dealers in Opera House but I am simply not able to remember even the name of the one that I mentioned as it has been a while since I visited them. It could be Valunj Distributor (not sure) 022-23886422. This shop did only Skoda parts and had a system to check the part code with the VIN no of the car. Sorry not able to pin point this shop name.

[ad3952n]

Good Evening Gentlemen, Its a known fact that Skoda Cars are high maintenence and i too agree with my team that required measures need to be taken on priority to curb the escalating maintenence costs of the vehicle. I had a word in person with an ex-executive of one of the angency's of Skoda Car in Noida and he said in coming times the maintenence expenses shall be curbed as various tie-ups are in process to make spares availability easier which inturn shall make the spares economical.

AD

[kaiserketkar]

This is a brave attempt by Skoda to change their brand image of one with expensive maintainence and not-so-straightforward servicenters.
This kind of a spares and labor pricechart is however pretty much standard and is displayed in the servicenters [I know a comprehensive list is put up prominently in M&M servicenters]. The only advantage here is that it's online, so a customer who has his car picked up for service will have all the info at hand easily.

I however doubt that this will change anything at the servicenter. If a dealer [and this isn't limited to Skoda] has decided to fleece you, he will find ways to do so- unless you're right there standing next to your vehicle while it's being serviced, AND you have some basic knowledge of automobiles. Otherwise, you're pretty much at their mercy.

[Sahil]

Brilliant move by Skoda ! I hope this urges other manufacturers to follow suit. I think Hyundai already had a similar portal?

The website should include a more exhaustive list of parts such as windshield, engine mounts, bonnet, bumpers, etc

[karthikpra]

I wish they would do the same for discontinued model such as the Octavia. I guess that is asking too much.

[9thsphinx]

Finally, a piece of news that everyone was hoping for!

Mr Sudhir Rao, MD, Skoda Auto India acknowledges the problems with Skoda India and devises a 7-yr plan to fix and re-brand Skoda's image and focus on premium cars, eliminate weaknesses and go for growth!

Source: Financial Express

[puchoo]

The idea is to concentrate on brand-building in order to improve its reputation of poor after-sales support, which is believed to have contributed to a sharp drop in sales over the last year — in FY13

Not just last year Skoda , its been the reason for a while now and there is nothing subjective about it , its a pretty clear fact.

focus on the premium car segment instead of the mass market of small cars

Would this mean moving out of even the Rapid segment and focusing now only only on the 10 lac plus bracket?

I also read , and could be completely wrong on this , that part of the reason to focus only on premium cars would be to have lower sales numbers ( read targets) and thus subsequently lower pressure on the after sales service , for me why they would not target the Fabia audience is difficult to digest , for many thats where the Skoda experience starts and the company can then attempt to Up-Sell.

[sgiitk]

All very good, but it needs a mindset change. Also, let them apologise and try and sort out harishv's problem. Withdraw their appeal for starters.

[Bomi]

7 years to fix its weakness, which is customer service? Wow! Mr. Rao sure expects the Indian consumer to be patient.
Perhaps that is why he did not respond to my mail, when I highlighted the lack of response from his dealer and Customer Service department (My thread about JMD Skoda under Indian Car Dealerships). He will reply after 7 years !

[Gannu_1]

Is this site (Service Site Calculator) owned/operated by CarWale?

One of my bosses has a 1.8 TSI Laura Ambition and has completed 15,000 km a few days back. His SA has advised him to drop the car at the service centre this weekend. So we wanted to check what would the approx. rates be and stumbled upon this. It mentions ‘oem.carwale.com’.



Anyways leaving that aside, the cost for the first service is mentioned as 8000 Rs. which sounds too good to be true! I guess we'd know shortly.



His experience has been positive so far. The car never had to be serviced and suffered no breakdowns either. I hope it stays that way. Good move by Skoda for a start.

*touchwood*

[A.K.]

Its surprising but true Gannu.

The first service of my Superb was around Rs. 10,000.
It is a 1.8 TSI Automatic.

The major cost was 4.5 litres of synthetic oil and the Fuel & oil filters.
There was no labour cost as it was free was the first 2 years.

The 4th service was completed today and it costed me Rs. 44,000.
28,000 was essential service cost.
6,000 was fuel tank cleaning & fuel injector service.
10,000 was for the broken fuel guage and the logos which were stolen.

They recommended the tank cleaning and injecter service.
It wasn't part of the essentials list but I agreed since the quality of fuels is usually suspect.

They wanted to add more to the list of non essentials but I politely refused.
A cd is stuck in

I have had no complaints with the Skoda Service in Mumbai so far.
With the product, yes. A couple of times.
Service either at Autobahn or JMD has been fantastic to me.

Cheers.

[swathyd]

I have a fabia (diesel) which has crossed 14k recently . When I used the cost calculator it shows just 6750 .But the dealership (marikar skoda) quoted around INR 10,000 . They told that there could be some error in the skoda calculating method . If this is the way in which dealership honours the manufacturer s' gesture , there is no way out for skoda .