[blackwasp]

Ian Nazareth shares his predicament with us. He is requesting BHPians if anyone has an idea on how to tackle this.

Dear All Concerned,

This letter is drafted to brief all parties concerned on the series of events that occurred early on the 31st May 2019 morning.

The car in question is a silver Skoda Rapid Elegance TDI CRI bearing registration plate MH01BY5875 and engine chassis number TMBBUBNA5FGXXXXXX.
Repair Order No : KLPR02035715

Event 1
I set off for Goa around 6.30 am in the morning and everything was as normal until around 7.45 somewhere 45kms approximately from Belgaum at Sankeshwar the car started rapidly flashing a warning light. Power was lost and the pedal began to vibrate, after which I pulled to the side. Having known friends who own Vento's and other Rapids I assumed it was the dreaded DSG Transmission failure that was a common problem on the Automatic, a little glance over the manual showed me that the light in question was called a 'glow plug indicator'. Stranded at the side of the highway, I called up Road side assistance and explained the problem. Over the phone, Rohan, was very helpful and guided me on the nearest service station being Kolhapur. I proceeded to get the vehicle towed back to Shrine Skoda for fear of aggravating the problem.

Event 2
After arriving at Shrine 4 hours later at around 12pm, I was asked to be seated and explained that Mr Aslam was to inspect the vehicle and brief me on the situation. I left the car with him and proceeded for lunch. While I returned, I was happy to see that the car was already being attended to. An hour later, Mr Aslam reported to me that the car will have to be left there with Shrine Skoda for 4-5 Days to further identify the problem. Having been in the middle of a journey, they understood my plight and agreed to conduct a search till about 6.30pm when the dealership closed, helping to close the issue the same day. At about 3pm my Job card was made and I proceeded to the waiting room for a few hours. I mentioned that there was an 'extended warranty' under effect on the car which was ending June 7th/June 11th. He assured me that if the parts fit under warranty, they could be claimed.

At about 6.10pm, Mr Aslam and the team informed me that the problem was indeed the injector and further inspection will have to be made to confirm the analysis. He told me that the estimate for a replacement would be 25,000 Rs. Having got the shock of my life, I told him to go ahead with the procedure and claim warranty on my behalf while the vehicle was being fixed. My vehicle was left with Shrine.

I decided to continue onwards to Goa by Bus instead. Mr Amit from the service center was kind enough to drop me near the Kolhapur bus stand, after which I boarded a bus to Goa at 11.30pm.

Event 3
After reaching Goa at 5.30am this morning, an entire 24 hours after I set off, I was completely exhausted and in the same clothes.

At about 11.30am I gave Mr Aslam a call requesting him to update me on the current events. He told me that they were fitting another injector and that the part would not be covered under warranty as a foot light was installed under the pedals. He claimed that because of the third party installation of these so called foot lights, the warranty was voided. This to me sounded absurd. I immediately requested him to provide me his email ID as I wanted the full events down on Email to insure that no facts are left out. After which I proceeded to draft this email.

My question is, How is an installation of a few lights, a few years ago to cause an engine malfunction? It seems to me that I'm either misinformed on the matter, or that my warranty is deliberately trying to be ignored. Customers like us, purchase an EXTENDED warranty with a certain faith that, IF and event were to occur, Skoda has us covered. It is under this faith that we PURCHASE and extended warranty. It is that same faith that begins to be questioned when a part related to the engine, costing an estimate of Rs. 25,000 is not covered under the warranty.

Customers like us are even aware of the various problems DSG owners faced from forums and related social media posts. In spite of the negative criticism, and genuine faults with the manufacturers end, we continue to purchase vehicles from Skoda and VW, with the belief that the company has our backs.

I am appealing to Skoda India, with which my warranty lies, to recognize the issue and step in. The quality of service I've received from Shrine Auto has been satisfactory, I will continue to get my vehicle checked with them and hope to form a personal Rapport with them in the future.

Thanks and Regards,
Ian Nazareth

[deehunk]

If the dealer is ready to give this in writing, take them to consumer court and let them prove their foot light theory.

[tazmaan]

One of the reasons I don't spend money on extended warranties especially for Japanese cars (Since they are reliable). I have heard of so many cases where the extended warranty is just for namesake. Eventually when something goes wrong the dealers (Most of them) will try to find a reason to shrug the claim. Eventually some fine print in the contract will be brought up and the consumer will have to run around trying to get a warranty claim.

I understand with Skoda/VW the DSG issues are not pocket friendly and the only reason why I live with a CVT on the Jazz. But for me instead of buying extended warranty I would shift immediately to FNG after the original warranty period.

I hope you get the part under warranty. I won't suggest consumer court for 25000/- you will end up spending a lot more on the lawyers and its a time consuming process.

Further in the court if your modifications are proved even though not connected to the fault you might not stand a chance since its usually written in the extended warranty contract which you must have signed.

I hope your issue gets resolved at the dealer level itself since this is not the time for any manufacturer to lose a loyal customer.

[locusjag]

Forget extended warranties; my TUV 300 was given for its 2nd free service 6 months ago and it was (and is) still under the standard OEM warranty. I had complained of a humming noise which I had observed. The MASS didn't even take it seriously by citing the aftermarket rooftop carrier that I had installed. "Must be the wind noise saar...we aren't responsible for the vehicle's performance because of what you did..." Happily for me, it turns out that this humming noise is a known aspect of the engine and it means I was lugging the engine in a higher gear. But I shudder to think of the time when I would actually face a serious problem with the car. The ASS of all brands seem to frivolously shoot down the customer if they so much as see a single aftermarket modification.

I strongly advise anyone considering ANY modifications to not do it if you have any expectations whatsoever from your vehicle's warranty.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Ian Nazareth shares his predicament with us. He is requesting BHPians if anyone has an idea on how to tackle this.

Key question - is this a car manufactured between 2010 - 2012?

If so, then this is a known problem and there are several posts by Vento owners (and possibly Skoda owners) across the forum where they have got the injectors replaced under warranty; and a few unlikely ones who faced this after warranty expired. The problem was with Ventos that came out between 2010 and 2012 as they had faulty injectors; there's an advisory issued by VW too (attached)

Assuming Ian's car is from a similar timeline, there's sufficient basis to assume his Skoda's injectors are faulty too and should definitely be done under warranty.

I would suggest he push hard with Skoda management (dealer's irrelevant for the time being considering he's in a different city entirely) as it's a well-known case of faulty injectors that were manufactured prior to 14 June 2012. Tweet, write to customer care; whatever can be done.

[sgiitk]

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[kartavya]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Key question - is this a car manufactured between 2010 - 2012?

If so, then this is a known problem and there are several posts by Vento owners (and possibly Skoda owners) across the forum where they have got the injectors replaced under warranty; and a few unlikely ones who faced this after warranty expired. The problem was with Ventos that came out between 2010 and 2012 as they had faulty injectors; there's an advisory issued by VW too (attached)

Assuming Ian's car is from a similar timeline, there's sufficient basis to assume his Skoda's injectors are faulty too and should definitely be done under warranty.

I would suggest he push hard with Skoda management (dealer's irrelevant for the time being considering he's in a different city entirely) as it's a well-known case of faulty injectors that were manufactured prior to 14 June 2012. Tweet, write to customer care; whatever can be done.

I am one of them. I have a Vento which was purchased in 2011, on my way to Kota from Ahmedabad, the car suddenly showed the glowing bulb light and lost power near Udaipur.
I took it to the service station in Udaipur (driving it around 40 kmph), who then quoted a bill of around 25000. Told him I will handle it once I am back in Ahmedabad, so he did a temporary overrun of the system and it worked till we were on our way back from Kota. We drove at 40 kmph from almost 5 hours of the drive without an air conditioner (was told to do that by the service manager in Kota).
The VW Ahmedabad service center gave me a quote for 75000 for 3 injectors, telling me that 3 were faulty and not 1 !! I just proceeded to replace the one injector (the one VW Udaipur diagnosed) for 8000 and the car has been working till now for 3 years. Looking back at it, I feel I should have fought against VW in our courts.

I do tend to avoid taking the VW out of town however.

[RM Motorsports]

A friend of mine had 2 DSG mechatronics and 1 AC compressor failure on a Skoda Superb within 1 1/2 year of buying the car. Thankfully everything was replaced under warranty but imagine his frustrations that a 30 lakh car can't be considered reliable. He was so paranoid about reliability that he never even took the Superb on our Lonavala trips. He sold it off within 2 1/2 years and now he is happily & peacefully driving Hyundai Creta.

[ninjatalli]

^^Guys,
Can we stick to providing information that is useful to Ian considering this thread was created by @blackwasp for that purpose? Skoda/VW bashing can be continued on the respective vehicle threads.

Point of contacts @Skoda, recent experiences / references that can be utilized by him; anything additional that can be of use to him (maybe it's not an injector issue but something else?); please understand - his car is currently stuck at the service center! I'm sure he's watching this thread for our support.

@Ian, leaving aside the query of manufacturing date of your car; the warranty can not voided because of foot lights. Just for reference, I drove with HID lights (aftermarket done by an expert) on my Vento for more than 4 years without any issues; obtained several warranty claims adhered to (steering column replacement, a few other minor part changes) by the service center; without any concerns raised. Please do not let this go. You'll have to fight a bit, but it'll work. Skoda management keeps harping about initiatives on customer service; try to get contacts.

Also search the forum, especially on Skoda issue threads; some users like @VeyronSuperSprt and others would have shared corporate customer service ids and contact details.

[humyum]

The dealer knows Ian is not from arounds and will have to get his car out of there once he gets back from the Goa trip, hence the fleecing as towing

From his message of starting at 6:30 to his car having problems at 7:45, if he has covered 100 kilometers from his start city, towing the car over 100 km itself would cost him 12-15 thousand bucks, the dealer knows this maths and hence trying to thug him into this

I would propose clearing the code, starting the car and trying to your home city first, then going to a Skoda service station there or wherever he trusts in his own home city and getting the car diagnosed

[crdi]

It depends a lot on the service centre and the personnel there. In this case, the only apparent benefit that the service centre might have from trying to push a warranty claim as void, is their commission from selling a new injector. I guess, the overzealousness of the service centre employees to meet business targets, further adds to the suffering of the customer.

From the rising number of such incidents, It wouldn't be wrong to suspect if the service advisors or technicians receive credits for highlighting a warranty void scenario. I was once told that extended warranties are covered by insurance companies, if that is the case, those firms/surveyors too might be trying really hard to disown warranty claims.

[2cents]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Can we stick to providing information that is useful to Ian considering this thread was created by @blackwasp for that purpose? Skoda/VW bashing can be continued on the respective vehicle threads.

No mate! I think the thread is also for any prospective Skoda/VW customer, to be informed. @RM Motorsports and @kartavya have indeed provided information that will be useful for several others in the forum.

ps: I am a Skoda owner.

[Jeroen]

I am a bit confused by the story. First it is a glow plug indication, then an injector. None of these have to do with the car having an DSG autobox of course.

I am also a bit surprised why it took them so long to diagnose.

On the matter of the foot well lights; yes, if not properly installed all kinds of weird things could happen. Whether that is the case here, I can't judge. I doubt it very much thought. Certainly dealers around the world have a habit of finding excuses for not honoring their warranty obligations.

I would ask them to show what was wrong with the installation of the foot well lights and what the correlation is between the faulty injector and these lights. It would be very difficult to think of how the lights could actually damage an injector. There is lots of other stuff a wonky wiring job might affect, of course. But one single individual injector is a bit far fetched I would think.

I hope that whoever did it, did a proper job. Using the correct wire, fuses, crimping tools etc.

Good luck
Jeroen

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by tazmaan

One of the reasons I don't spend money on extended warranties especially for Japanese cars (Since they are reliable). I have heard of so many cases where the extended warranty is just for namesake. Eventually when something goes wrong the dealers (Most of them) will try to find a reason to shrug the claim. Eventually some fine print in the contract will be brought up and the consumer will have to run around trying to get a warranty claim.

In my case, car in question 55k run 2016 S-Cross 1.6 with an extended warranty, I got the rear suspension pair replaced under normal warranty. Few months post replacement I drive to my hometown Kerala for my sister's marriage, one of the rear suspension fails. I take the car to the nearest MASS (Indus motors, Palakkad) in my native where they confirm the failure. On checking the DMS they say I don't have an extended warranty (the car was under extended warranty). Then it struck, the extended warranty I had was dealer issued (Sai Service). I did a video call to my service advisor in Pune and showed him the failed component. Since Sai Service Kochi was a bit far from my native, he requested to get the suspension changed with me paying up for the component. Did the needful, came back and claimed the amount from Sai Service, or rather adjusted the amount during service, no questions asked. I believe it again depends on the manufacturer and the dealer.
PS- I was running on aftermarket Alloys, stock size though, In theory, the dealer could have rejected my warranty claim.

[NaXal]

I hate to be the one who is taking side with the manufacturer but one can't stay blind to their terms & condition.

A simple Led light strip with its own wire down from battery shouldn't be the one responsible for injector failure. However, vehicle warranty terms & condition clearly prohibits "any" electrical mod/add on without company approval.

Now days manufacturers are voiding warranty when you are bringing your own engine oil for service. Even if it's from a top oil brand, even if it's matching the exact grade or other parameters as mentioned on the vehicle manual.

There is a reason why Maruti holds 50%+ market share. They are much better towards customer satisfaction, specially when this type of issues come up. Unfortunately Skoda ranks way down in that list.

I don't think there is any better solution apart from paying the bill. But do try to contact Skoda higher management & make some noise in their social channels too. Rather than trying to get full warranty, push for any goodwill discount or partial payment relief. 50%+ discount on parts plus free labour should be good enough.