[shankar.balan]

Appreciate the warnings but I ve had the Sales and Service GM's both being personally involved in these arrangements. A detailed set of instructions and job list has also been shared with them. The driver in question has been with them some years and I have spoken to him yesterday. Will trust the system for now!

[shankar.balan]

My Yeti got back to me last evening around 730pm.
All the jobs done as per the list given.
They have even touched up the minor scratch caused by the Auto in early Oct.
Other jobs done include changing the Air Filter, AC Pollen Filter, Engine Oil, Oil Filter, Fuel Filter and so on.
All 4 brakes were cleaned up and that calliper pin clip checked again.
They seem to have used 4.4 litres of Castrol Magnatec as per VW recommended engine oil to be used.
The vehicle was thoroughly cleaned up and brought back.
No worries.

They have changed the rear boot logo Emblem under warranty because apparently there was an instruction from Skoda India to do so. Apparently the earlier Logo Emblem used had a tendency to peel off and this new one won't.
Frankly in my vehicle the logo emblem was in perfect condition but who am I to argue with the wisdom of the manufacturer?

All in all I have paid the princely sum of Rs 7598/- for the first service. Labour was not charged. Only consumables have been charged of which the most expensive thing was the oil at 3612/-.

I went across to the Vinayak Skoda Marathahalli Showroom and paid the bill this morning.

All in all, I appreciate the work done by them, their treatment of me and my car, the courtesy of the driver who picked up and delivered my vehicle and the overall attention of the Sales GM Hemanth and Service GM Mr Aiyanna and the Service Advisor Prem.

I recently had to spend some money on the vehicle to change the front RH calliper clip which had fallen off and contributed to making a khat khat noise on bad stretches.

In toto, this year, the first year of ownership of the Yeti, the total maintenance bills (at the Service centre) have been Rs 9450 odd)

In addition to this I have spent some 2000 odd in total for two rounds of Tyre Balancing and Wheel alignment (every 5000 kms.)

I think this is a reasonable price for maintenance all things considered.

Of course I am not counting the various visits to 3M for vehicle cleaning and stuff at typically around Rs 500/- a pop.

Just as a statistic, this total spent this year on my Yeti, is approximately 5 to 6000 Rs cheaper than the amount that I spent on my Scorpio's routine maintenance in its first year of ownership!

Now, thats quite amazing isnt it?

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Will trust the system for now!

So, how did the system work?

PS - Saw that we did a back to back post. Nice to know everything worked out well. Seems they are doing something right at Skoda HQ level. These are encouraging signs for all Skoda owners.

[Sunilrj]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

M
All in all I have paid the princely sum of Rs 7598/- for the first service. Labour was not charged. Only consumables have been charged of which the most expensive thing was the oil at 3612/-.


In addition to this I have spent some 2000 odd in total for two rounds of Tyre Balancing and Wheel alignment (every 5000 kms.)

I think this is a reasonable price for maintenance all things considered.


Now, thats quite amazing isnt it?

7598 for a Vehicle Costing 20 Lakhs On road is a Small Price to Pay for Luxury! My Service Visit comes up Next Year, So till then i wont think about the cost of service.

For me, I do the Washing myself with a pressure washer every weekend during monsoons and once in 15 days during other seasons. So No Cash outgo!

Originally Posted by dkaile

So, how did the system work?

PS - Saw that we did a back to back post. Nice to know everything worked out well. Seems they are doing something right at Skoda HQ level. These are encouraging signs for all Skoda owners.

Things are going great at the HQ level and i can notice the changes. Waiting for my Fabia Thread to go online! you will find a Mail that i sent to the HQ in the opening post, which was replied for within 10 mins by the Regional service Manager. and today the A.S.S has been behaving as though their tails have been on fire!

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Sunilrj

7598 for a Vehicle Costing 20 Lakhs On road is a Small Price to Pay for Luxury! My Service Visit comes up Next Year, So till then i wont think about the cost of service.

For me, I do the Washing myself with a pressure washer every weekend during monsoons and once in 15 days during other seasons. So No Cash outgo!

Things are going great at the HQ level and i can notice the changes. Waiting for my Fabia Thread to go online! you will find a Mail that i sent to the HQ in the opening post, which was replied for within 10 mins by the Regional service Manager. and today the A.S.S has been behaving as though their tails have been on fire!

Sunil. When you use the pressure hose, I trust you are not washing inside the engine bay?

Yes, I agree that with the arrival of Mr. Sudhir Rao, things at Skoda are certainly changing for the better.

He takes his customers very seriously and it is clear that the good winds of positive change are blowing through those cobwebby corridors up at Skoda India HQ as well as down the line!

As a Skoda owner, Im happy for that!

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

They have changed the rear boot logo Emblem under warranty because apparently there was an instruction from Skoda India to do so. Apparently the earlier Logo Emblem used had a tendency to peel off and this new one won't.
Frankly in my vehicle the logo emblem was in perfect condition but who am I to argue with the wisdom of the manufacturer?

Mine came off within a month. It just dropped off while parked at home.

[Sunilrj]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Sunil. When you use the pressure hose, I trust you are not washing inside the engine bay?

!

I do use the pressure washer albeit at a lower pressure. As long as the jet of water is not sharp, pressure washing is fine.

The mangalore service manager initially told me that getting the car washed outside voids warranty, till I pointed out that his employees were using pointed jets at a pressure of 106 bar in the engine bay and following the bottom to top approach in using soap oil, that is el-cheapo

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Mine came off within a month. It just dropped off while parked at home.

The top sticker or the whole metal unit?
While you live in a hotter more humid place than Bangalore, this 'falling off' is a bit odd. Considering that my vehicle logo was in perfect condition one year into ownership and it was Skoda that decided to change it at their cost!

[Steeroid]

The whole badge fell off - its held in place by two bits of double-sided tape. Obviously not very good tape.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

When you use the pressure hose, I trust you are not washing inside the engine bay?

Twice my car has been washed at C&T Skoda, Meerut and both time they pressure washed the engine bay, albeit they did it carefully under my watchful eye. Faced no issues. My Fortuner also underwent complete pressure wash of the engine bay and they also used a very good 3M engine trim polisher to finish off, which I would have liked that Skoda ASC's starts using too. So, I presume these modern engines are quite waterproof and their electricals are well protected.

[shankar.balan]

A niggle popped up in the Yeti.

Around 6 months ago briefly on a trip to Mysore, the Fuel gauge went quietly back to zero perhaps when we had parked for breakfast and then never came back up to show the actual fuel position even after I started up and drove along. I did not notice it till I was back on the road. Then we did our visits in Mysore and came back to Bangalore. I did not face this problem again.

I read on TBHP that there have been cases of Skoda Rapids and Laura's having a fuel gauge problem, which was sorted under warranty. I kept watching for signs of recurrence over the next few months but to no avail.

My vehicle had its first service on 16 Nov and then last weekend, on Saturday in fact, I filled a full tank of Diesel. The needle simply would not go past the half way mark.
I waited and watched and even the next morning, it was the same scenario. I then went on Sunday afternoon and filled up again. It was able to take in just 2 litres which effectively means the tank was full.( In this time I had done about 30kms driving so the consumption was about right.) Then on Sunday evening the needle crept upwards to past the half way mark. On Monday morning it had crept up to the three quarter mark and on Monday evening it had reached the almost full mark.

I had taken photographs of all these various stages of development and kept the Vinayak chaps informed throughout.

Then I rang the workshop and asked them to collect the vehicle to have the fuel gauge checked thoroughly and replaced under warranty. They took the vehicle yesterday and spent the whole day checking various things. They wanted to be sure nothing else was wrong other than the fuel delivery mechanism, which diligence I appreciate.
Anyway when I give my vehicle for servicing or rectifying, I normally do not hurry the workshop up. Let them take time and do a good job. Managing by Auto for a day or two is no problem for me.

At length last evening they called and said that they had replaced the faulty part and had checked the vehicle thoroughly and found nothing else out of place.
It seems the fuel delivery mechanism, gauge and float valve etc had been changed because it had gone faulty. The work was done under warranty at no charge to me for either the parts or the labour.

They asked me if they could keep the vehicle overnight till their Service GM could look at it in the morning and then send it back. I said no problem because I knew the Service GM had been on a couple of days leave on account of illness and was due back today. The Sales GM had told me this.

To cut a long story short, they sent the vehicle back a short while ago and they had also created a nice surprise for me by spreading some high quality 3M wax polish onto the entire body surface. The delivery driver got out of the car and polished it to a high shine in front of me. He said that the wax polish was to be allowed to dry for a while before polishing the vehicle and hence, had coated the car with it and driven to my home so that it would dry on the way. No worries, the car is absolutely gleaming now.
They have not charged me for this wax polish job, which I thought, was a nice gesture.

I paid the princely sum of Rs 843/-. Rs 300/- as pickup and drop charge and Rs 450/- or so as washing charge plus taxes. For the recent servicing job they had waived the pickup and drop charges for me.

Of course I always tip the delivery driver as a general practice, for his trouble.

The following people at Vinayak do deserve a mention - Aiyanna the Service Chief, Prem the Service Advisor, Hemanth the GM of Sales and of course, the driver Shiva.

I am happy at the way the fuel problem was handled and I am happy with the way they are looking after me and my Yeti so far. I do believe there has been change for the better after Sudhir Rao came on board and that overall, Skoda India is definitely consumer friendly, going by my experience with them over the last one year.

Of course, it certainly helps to create and maintain a good relationship with all the various people at both Skoda and at the Dealership.

[iTNerd]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

A niggle popped up in the Yeti.

Nicely done - very unlikely trait for a typical Skoda service dealership! Anyhow, glad that the gauge got replaced under warranty. I had experienced the same issue, but for me, it happens only when I filled up the tank full (and the consequence being that the needle remains at empty slot). It will only start working once it had run 40-50 odd kms. I will pitch for replacement in the first service (now that I know you have done so successfully).

(have you filled up the tank full after the replacement? if not so, please do so and let us know the issue does not persist in the replacement unit too)

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by iTNerd

(have you filled up the tank full after the replacement? if not so, please do so and let us know the issue does not persist in the replacement unit too)

Will do. Will let you know.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Will do. Will let you know.

Yes my fuel tank gauge is perfect. One and a half months since the replacement and no worries so far.

Now here is some other stuff I did ref having Bluetooth connectivity for my Yeti without spending big dollars and euros and going through the heebyjeebies with the local devils buzzing around amongst my electricals...

Just got delivery of the Blaupunkt Drive Free 311 today. Bought it off the Mobile Store e commerce site.

Rs 4160/- including shipping and delivery at home.

Looks very stylish. Very iphone- like in appearance and hence a good ish match.
Is very light indeed and frankly seems plasticky.
Somehow being a Blaupunkt I thought it would be heavier to heft in the hand.

It synchronizes nicely with the iphone and I have loaded all the contacts into it via bluetooth transfer.
It has a small LED display which shows the name of the contact when someone calls.

Comes with a USB charger and socket which one can plug into the car 12V point or lighter socket.
Decent speaker sound. Works well even in the house. Quite clear and so on. I was worried about distortion but that seems like it isn't there.
Tomorrow I shall mount it on the sun visor and speak freely on the phone if I need to, from the car!

This solution may not be as great as the integrated bluetooth for the Yeti but I prefer this to having some ham handed mechanic with s spade-like butter fingers messing about with my beautiful Yeti's internal fiddlybits...

[samyboy]

Good option Shankar.. I went the Garmin way.. got myself 2565M. Does Bluetooth function + GPS. Only thing I miss now is ability to play music from a thumbdrive/SD ( I have the Ambition trim). I suppose I will have to live with burning CDs for rest of my ownership time. There is no way I am going to let anybody touch Yeti electricals.