[humyum]

Firstly, I feel for you man. Really. Since I had a lot of problems with my swift in its first year, I have started equating mental harassment/sleepless nights to giving in with money.

Of course, you are fighting an endless battle with a wall who does not care about anyone after it has sold its product. In my case, Maruti cared a lot, but the harassment of a new car not being perfect used to bother me to no end.

A probable solution to this would be.

Get the car out of the service station(Keeping it there for long is not good, they might change parts), take it to a competent independent guy (There are lots), get your car fixed by him which will cost you very less I am sure, drive the car if you still trust it or just sell it off and invest in something which has awesome reputation for longevity as well as great customer service (for example a Toyota)

Yes maybe you won't the same thrills (maybe, I am not sure ) as a DSG Skoda, but what you will get is 'peace of mind'. Its worth Billions if you ask me.

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by smartcat

This statement of yours definitely needs a lot of explanation / justification!

I know it sounds like an outrageous statement. Let me try to explain. I might go slightly , so bear with me.

From what I have seen of ownership reports, quality satisfaction surveys, reliability reports, etc from Skoda owners overseas, they are all very happy with the cars for the most part, and the current gen Octavia for instance scores really well in the reliability area. Of course, closer to home the horror stories abound aplenty and that I would put down to a number of factors, such as a lack of Skoda's preparedness for Indian conditions, poor after sales support and dealers that are scoundrels.

The few Skoda owners I do know personally are very happy with their cars, and I'm talking people that have owned Superbs, Lauras and Octavias long term. These are guys/girls that swear by their car(s) and talk eagerly about how pleased they are with their Skoda's. No reports from them about any issues with their cars, except for regular servicing. One of them just sold his 9-10 year old Octavia for a used Laura.

You say that reliability of Skoda cars are probably average in the Indian context, I'd say it's about that or below average historically speaking in India. It certainly doesn't compare to the Japs/Koreans.

1) Yes, the issues/tales that some owners have to tell are horrifying. What's more worrying for me though is Skoda/it's dealers response to these issues. That is what is truly unacceptable and unjustifiable. In Harish's case, Nummer Eins screwed him over. Here in Sahil's case it is again the dealer that has mucked him about. Akshay1234 loved his VRS so much, he got a Yeti too, but he openly says that he knows the service guys at Autobahn (I think) quite well, so a lot of your Skoda experience comes down to the way your dealer treats you.

2) The cost of spares are a lot for Skodas, but like someone mentioned in this very thread, a turbo quoted at Rs. 1.5L by a dealer was imported and changed for just Rs. 40k at an independent garage. The parts can be sourced/done cheaper from outside. I remember reading another long term ownership thread yesterday itself (Titled "Here comes my James Bond car", I think) where the dealer said that the axles or something had gone and would need replacement. But when that OP went to his own trusted guy, it all got sorted at a fraction of the cost. Moral of the story: If you need anything more than regular servicing, your regular Skoda dealership is not to be visited on account of high cost of spares.

Mind you, I speak as a complete neutral. My decision (for now at least, who knows if I change my mind) to go with an Octavia has no bearing on my thought process here. What I have come to realize though is that happy customers are rarely vocal (Mobike and his Cruze ownership thread is one happy exception that comes to mind!), it's the unhappy ones that always talk about their lousy experiences, and indeed they should since it serves as a cautionary tale for others. Long story short, I really do feel that Skoda makes fun to drive, well-built cars that are quite reliable, but they are badly let down by service support at the dealership level and at many times Skoda India themselves. That's my few cents.

[lancer_rit]

It seems like one has to wait out 1 year before all these rather bad problems and niggles with the new Octavia are ironed out.

One thing is clear to me. NO DSG!! I have been posting on the need for 1.8TSI MT Octavia...

I guess its not in Skoda India DNA to take customer feedback seriously, and improve quality, suitability of the models to our conditions, and reduce spares and repair costs.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

Mind you, I speak as a complete neutral. My decision (for now at least, who knows if I change my mind) to go with an Octavia has no bearing on my thought process here. What I have come to realize though is that happy customers are rarely vocal (Mobike and his Cruze ownership thread is one happy exception that comes to mind!), it's the unhappy ones that always talk about their lousy experiences, and indeed they should since it serves as a cautionary tale for others. Long story short, I really do feel that Skoda makes fun to drive, well-built cars that are quite reliable, but they are badly let down by service support at the dealership level and at many times Skoda India themselves. That's my few cents.

There is nothing wrong in what you suggest. But the problem is that you being an enthusiast can take the trouble of sourcing parts from outside etc like the example you quoted of Germany. A regular guy will not or may not. Also getting the car serviced outside means loss of all the warranty that they provide, however good it is. Also these cars are loaded with electrical stuff and is not a bare bone Innova for an owner to easily be able to trust a mechanic. And last but not the least the problem lies in that after projecting your cars as luxury offerings even then you are unable to match the servicing standards with the customer's satisfaction. Either provide warranty and do quick repair/replacements without so many questions asked ( something I love about Tata) or provide something like BSI to cover all these extra costs due to your lack of adaptation to the Indian conditions.

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

The few Skoda owners I do know personally are very happy with their cars, and I'm talking people that have owned Superbs, Lauras and Octavias long term. These are guys/girls that swear by their car(s) and talk eagerly about how pleased they are with their Skoda's. No reports from them about any issues with their cars, except for regular servicing. One of them just sold his 9-10 year old Octavia for a used Laura.

Moral of the story: If you need anything more than regular servicing, your regular Skoda dealership is not to be visited on account of high cost of spares.

Long story short, I really do feel that Skoda makes fun to drive, well-built cars that are quite reliable, but they are badly let down by service support at the dealership level and at many times Skoda India themselves. That's my few cents.

First of all I am really sorry to hear about the state of your Superb. Hope the issues are resolved at the earliest. I quite agree to what "iliketurtles" has said in the quoted post.

I have been driving a 1.8Tsi Laura M/T for the last 4 years over 54000Kms (25000Kms after having modded it extensively) and apart from regular service never visited the Skoda service center. From what I have seen, majority of the guys at the Skoda service stations are either ignorant or very poor at diagnosing issues with the car. Most of the time they want to replace parts at an exorbitant price or blame the modifications done in my car. I am lucky to have the support of Pete's from Cochin who promptly addresses any issue by sending across his mechanics to my place in Bangalore.

Once I had a traction control (ASR) error light and on taking the car to Skoda, the technicians promptly wanted to replace the wheel speed sensors on all the four wheels at a cost of over 15K in total. This in spite of me telling them that the I had done a VCDS scan of my own and the reading from only the right rear wheel sensor was faulty. Eventually, a little cleaning of the sensor with compressed air sorted the issue.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

OMG. That makes 3 active threads documenting poor attitude and non existent reliability of Skoda cars. At this rate we will soon have a dedicated section of the Forum for Skoda.
I really don't have much to offer as advice but except this that isn't it possible for you and the other victimized owners to club together your efforts against Skoda? That way you will probably be a stronger force to deal with be it legal or negative publicity for Skoda.
What is your next plan of action?

You know that is actually a brilliant point you bring up (although you might have done so sarcastically). If the forum were to make a dedicated section for horror stories of certain cars, ordered by manufacturer and beginning with Skoda then going on in alphabetical order, it might prove to the car people of India, and it's enthusiasts (us members are not the only ones who know of or read through this forum) that things have gone too far and measures like this, tactics like this; which openly disgrace the company, had to be resorted to.

Our government ought to focus on consumer rights more than banning tint or some nonsense like that. Especially considering the money collected is going to a foreign companies' pocket.

[mints21]

Who knows Skoda India is eyeing Guiness Book of World Records for having the most disgruntled customers among all car manufacturers. Right from swapping parts, refusing warranties, harassing customers they want to be seen at the top.

It seems that under these circumstances, the day is not far when the owners of skoda cars would not be sure weather the car will be back from the service station by the evening, end of week, month, year and will they ever get to see it again or will it remain forever at the service station.

Matter of shame for skoda and it's officials who are asking the customer to approach their non existent customer care which puts the harassed customer back to dealers, knowing very well that dealers are the originators of the whole problem.

My suggested advertisement punch line for Skoda is: "Buying Skoda means mortgaging your future for the present".

I am sure if we start a thread which looks for people who have owned a Skoda car in India and have again brought a second car from Skoda the thread will have only views and hardly a reply.

Every time I post something on Skoda I finish with " I am lucky as I do not own a Skoda" and now adding to this is no one in my family will ever buy any car from Skoda.

[StarScream]

The loss of peace of mind is just not worth it.

I have said it before and I will say it again - Skoda is like the legend of the mermaid, drawing sailors to their death with her mellifluous voice!

[wilful]

Originally Posted by iTNerd

More Skoda woes! I had been noticing that most of the Skoda issues reported here are from down south. Anyone see a pattern? Just 3 weeks ago, a truck made a big dent in the left rear door of my yeti when backing up. And to bring it to shape and full paint, the Skoda dealer in Noida did it in 2 days and costed around 5K only with bill without claim (even less than independent paint shops). I had expected the dealer would force me to replace the whole door, and I was even ready for it as I had a zero dep insurance.

I don't know if I would agree entirely to the southern pattern theory.
A quick search and I found a couple of threads from Delhi -
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...-3-months.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...se-closed.html

I saw a couple from Mumbai (Pune also) as well but am discounting it since I take it as west.
Maybe if one delves deeper some more woes from the northern part of the country could be found.

[k_ajay]

Many suggestions here but after viewing the other 'Tata court judgement' thread, I feel it makes for little value to Sahil to go legal. The case will take years and in return, draw huge amount of patience, money, time and energy.

Whether Skoda will improve or not is a question no one can answer (possibly even the heads at Skoda). Best to resolve the issue with least cost to Sahil, dispose the vehicle and move on. I know that's easier said than done (and great vehicle at all that blah) but considering the vehicles he has and the capacity to buy them, peace of mind and value of time is probably more important than haggling with Skoda for justice, which is never a win-win (Harish's case a prime example).

[vikrantj]

I am sorry to have to word this in this way but I think it is the customer is at fault here when he buys a Skoda. Even though we have many failure related experiences on our forum, still the customer goes to the showroom thinking "What happened to another person is a one-off case and such failures cannot happen to me " . Unless we as a customer class boycott all such products , these incidents are bound to repeat over and over.

[asr245]

Skoda will never improve.

9 out of 10 might be very happy with their Skodas but I am very very afraid of being that special one. 9 out of 10 is just not good enough. 99999 out of a 100000 should be more like it.

I call myself an enthusiast but I am not willing to source parts from some special place, build a repo with a mechanic/dealer to get my car serviced properly. No amount of driving pleasure/technology seems to be worth that.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by noopster

My guess is they will not even bother analyzing the fault and just replace the whole unit- that's how the Germans operate here. My Vento's HVAC was changed (total cost: 60,000+) when a couple of the vents stopped blowing cold air. Thankfully it happened just before the warranty expired and I got away without paying.

Do you think the unit they removed from your car would find its way to another car with an unsuspecting owner? Could it be the reason that the ABS issue cropped up in Sahil's car only after they tinkered with the brake pads?

I know one would not be worried what they do with the replaced part, but generally in Honda they just return the broken part to the customer/ car owner. Not sure if that happens at Skoda so wanted to ask!

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Our government ought to focus on consumer rights more than banning tint or some nonsense like that.

On the contrary, the government may support Skoda if they decide to sue the consumer for defaming the company. Anyways, any more threads on skoda service will be like . Skoda is not going to pay any attention to them anyways!

[vinya_jag]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

If the Car is 4 Years old and they have offered you 50 % off , I will suggest you to take the proposal . To be fair on Skoda , Electronics is not something that can be warranted for extended time . If you have reasons to believe that they messed up while repairs , you best chances will be to reason with dealership .

Somewhat agree with this.

My Yamaha FZ had only run 11000 Kms, when I had to replace the front master cylinder. It cost me more than 3K at that time, and none of it was warrented. It had slightly run more than a year.
I guess, I was slightly unlucky that it happened on my bike.

I guess, the same applies to the Skoda as well. But, since the part price is unreasonably high, that should be a cause of concern.
How on earth, that small part can cost 1/5 the vehicle price? (Considering ex-showroom price for the car)