Saddle up guys, this is going to be a long one.
As expected, we have people coming in this thread talking about accident damage and crappy dealers. And I ask again, what are we discussing here? It started off with certain members saying that Skoda India was a company with a bad attitude because they mandate the use of synthetic oil and then do not subsidise its cost. So that makes them a company that is not pro-active.
We then calculated the running costs over the other cars brought up at that time – Accord/Civic. The service costs were higher for the Skoda, but the ownership cost over X number of kilometres was half that of the Civic. Yes, diesel advantage. Granted. But they do finally compete in the same market.
We then went on to say that the Civic is not direct competition for an Octavia TDi. Obviously someone here knows something the free market does not so it is now forbidden for any prospective buyer to compare a diesel with a petrol car, even though they cost the same and are sized approximately the same, because they are not direct competition.
So we compared the running costs of the recently launched Magnum to the Octi Tdi. The Magnum is cheaper to buy and cheaper to service. No doubt about that. Plus it’s a far quicker car than the TDi. So that concludes that. Though some may argue that the Magnum is 2 lakhs cheaper hence is not direct competition to the Octavia! But I guess that’s passable since the criteria for direct competition is not price, but size of the vehicle and the fuel its burns. But then shouldn’t the Mercedes C class also be included? It is the same size and a diesel too! It just happens to be priced a tiny bit higher. How much does a service cost there?
We then went on to say that Skoda dealers are the pits. Again, I repeat what I had said about this:
If it’s the dealer service you speak of, then that is an epidemic in India unfortunately as we do not have clear cut laws and regulations to them. It is surely not something unique to any one manufacturer.
GTO says that this is rubbish and ….
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO But somehow, there are far more Skoda horror stories than any other. |
So I did a quick search on this very forum. Lets see what popped up:
1. Disgruntled Honda owner asks if dealers are to be trusted after getting a quote on prices: 2. honda dealer problem 3. foul odour in a new Civic. no help from company 4. manson complains-ichibaan honda crappy service 5. montoya-Unhappy with ichibaan 6. Ichibaan tries to palm off damaged Honda to GTO. 7. GTO again - ichibaan does it again. (Seem like they are the TAFE of Honda! 8. Bad service-gurgaon Honda fan is not impressed as well 10. honda dealer cheating
So. 10 threads started by people who have had bad experiences with Honda dealers.
Lets see how many Skoda threads have been started. Considering the outcry here, I’m sure the number would double that of customer centric Honda:
1. lousy dealership experience – Kolkata (the thread that started all of this) 2. infamous dharna thread 3. TAFE dealer sucks 4. Nummer eins - bad service 5. bad pre-sales experience 6. rs problems – few mentions on dealers within the thread 7. GTO’s take on relatives laura & bad dealer experience. 8. dealer claims rat moved alternator belt!
Strange. It seems there are more Honda owners who feel their dealers are ripping them off. Lets call it even. But even then, surely this is contrary to what GTO mentioned about hearing far more horror stories.
Or maybe it is just that we tend to crucify some more than others. Either ways, like V1p3r says,
Quote:
Originally Posted by V1p3r I'd stay far far away from them. After all, a company is accountable for its dealers. |
I totally agree.
Also this …
Quote:
Originally Posted by V1p3r Skoda BLR -- Tafe Access -- quoted one month. It took almost 90 days for the car to come back. Saar, part has naat come, saar. Saar, it is imported, saar. |
sounds very similar to this…
ajmat's post-vtec accident repair time-2 months Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO But like I said, it’s about localization strategy and your commitment to the customer in each individual market that you serve.
Charging for a compulsory service component, that is 10 times more than the competition is value? When you can be pro-active and price it at 400 instead, is value??!!! Obviously our definitions of value differ. |
Then the topic on localisation came up. Skoda should localise their parts and buy oil in bulk to sell at a cheaper rate to their customers. I agree. I for one would love to buy oil for cheap and genuine spare parts for the same price as parts of a M800.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Busa And Rtech you know how expensive the spare parts are after you got the airbag replaced, kathik can also vouch for the expensive spares. |
We have all heard horror stories about the prices of Skoda spares. I personally have had the shock of my life on seeing the bill after my accident. Hell, just the airbags and associated bits along with it cost close to 1.6 lakhs (before insurance ofcourse).
But how much does it cost on say a Civic or Magnum? I don’t know. Probably less. Maybe. However I have yet to see a single Honda or Optra (the few that are here) owner mention what it costs. Ok, most Optra's do not have airbags, so thats understandable. But I remember reading a post on the cost of replacing them on a Swift, and that came to around 1 lakh plus. And that’s a Swift we’re talking about, which probably sells 10 times more than the equivalent Optra/Skoda, and avail the obvious economies of scale on that.
What I do know from members who have posted their experiences is that:
1. Honda charges their customer Rs.16,000 - Rs17,000 for an O2 sensor that costs Rs.2,500 in the open market.
or
2. ac compressor packs up and costs Rs.35,000 to fix
or
3.Rs.16000 charged to remove 2 CD from the HU
So it seems that Honda too like to take their customers for a ride. Similarly there will be stories like this for every single car company out there. It’s just that we choose to focus more on some and less on others.
Then ofcourse we had the standard Skoda
lovers get in on the fun with comments like:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Busa In the petrol running costs may be high buttttttttttt the fun is more, trying highrevving any Honda Vtec engine, its pure b-l-i-s-s |
To understand the credibility of such statements, we must look back into recent history where this particular member has, on more than one occasion, mentioned how much he prefers the SwiftD to the petrol swift. I mean why would be buy a 68hp diesel when he could have got a better equipped petrol model for the same price, which was freer revving and had more power?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Busa I sent my Optra 1.8LT for 40k service and told them to change plugs, brake pads, engine decarb and quite a few things. |
Yes. That is really cheap to maintain. But it’s sad that if you go to sell this car in today’s market, you would be hard pressed to get anything over 4 lakhs for it. So the loss in depreciation and fuel costs over the period of ownership would make this a white elephant.
But then we rarely look beyond the next large payment and conclude that since I have to pay Rs.4000 instead of Rs.10,000, the car must be cheaper to own. Its what you call failing to look at the bigger picture!
So, What can we conclude from this. The purpose of me posting these links was not to start another comparison or to point out Honda etc. It was simply to put a rest to the snowball effect that we are famous for. The facts above are quite clear.
Moral of the Story:
Costs:
Skoda costs more to maintain than the Magnum.
Skoda services cost more than other cars in its segment.
The Magnum and the Octavia tdi costs half that of a Civic/Toyota to run and service over a period of time.
Spare parts are a lottery. Something may be cheaper with one & vice-versa. But yes, ballpark costs considered, the high labour rate of Europe takes its toll on Skoda parts.
The Japanese cars are the most reliable you can buy.
So nothing really new there is it!
Dealers:
Authorised dealerships are out to rip off the public more often than not. This is not exclusive to any particular auto maker. One company may charge 40% more than the market price for oil while another may charge more than 5 times the amount for an O2 sensor. One way or another, these dealerships will find a way to get money out of you. The only foolproof method to prevent this is to educate yourself.
I know that all this will not make the slightest difference to the people who are out to prove a point in any way possible. But, lets just hope that we can atleast give out a more neutral view to others that need genuine advice and not hearsay.
Thats all I have to say on this thread.
Maybe!