[Jay]

Hey NC, congrats on your car and a nice update too...

[RJK]

gotya!

Nice review..drove ur car's brother VW Passat 1.8T..goes whooosh past 2000rpm, the car I drove had a fried clutch..lol, my friend just wheelspins in every bloody gear..anyway nice car but I was imagining what it'd be like in a Jetta 1.8T...lesser weight, same engine..hmm......

[normally_crazy]

UPDATE @ 41000 kms

The last 10 days I was feeling more and more uneasy. The reason was - in the past 7 - 10 days, the car was not pulling cleanly in the 1st and 2nd gears. Had problems, it used to stutter, while starting from a standstill. Also a couple of times in heavy traffic, the engine just died. Though it used to restart without a whimper - I could sense something was wrong.

On the 5th morning when I reached office, I saw the RPM needle fluctuate between 800 ~ 1200 at idle. But I got busy and simply forgot about till I reached home at night. Same problem. I decided to take to the A.S.S next morning.

6th Sept - Morning I reach JMD Skoda service centre @ Nerul. Explain the problem.

SA - "What petrol do you use Sir ?"
Me - "Speed".
SA - "That is the problem Sir, Skoda recommends only normal petrol. Petrol with additives not suggested"
Me - "Why ?"
SA - " The additives affect the rubber parts and also can lead to fuel pump failures"
Me - "So what do you suggest ?"
SA - "Remove the petrol , clean the tank, and injectors, fill in normal petrol and the problem will be solved"
Me - "Speed is what I am using since the last one year and nothing like this has happened. So how can you be sure it is because of speed ? "
SA - " There have been cases where switching to normal petrol has solved similar problems"


I had topped up the tank last night, so if I decided to empty the tank I would be having 60 litres petrol on my hand. I decide to drive on till this tank-full is empty and then get the cleaning done.

I go back to work. But on the way the car stutters and I can't bear to see it like that. So I decide to get the cleaning done asap. I get a can of 50 litres and drive back to the service center.

Ask him to simply empty the tank, clean it and fill it with 10 litres normal fuel. The SA asks me to clean the injectors too. I say fine. So they start working on the car at 3 pm.

5.30 pm - All over and car is ready - I check it out the RPM needle sits steady at idle. I take the car out for a TD. The idling seems proper but there is still a faint stuttering while driving in 1st and 2nd gear. Am not happy and ask them to check the car again. Back it goes into the bay. Now they decide to check the spark plugs and ignition coils. Spark plugs are fine and they find that one ignition coils is dead. They get a spare and plug it in, and it seems ok, not yet fine. I am still not satisfied. Plug in the VAG software and find one more ignition coil on the verge.

So finally they find the culprit. 2 ignition coils that are causing the problem. Will cost about 7-8K for the job they say. In the meanwhile they have already made a bill of 3000 Rs. That includes cleaning the petrol tank for 1500 and injector cleaning for 500. Since they have made the bill I pay it. But I speak to the Supervisor there and he promises me that he will not charge for the labour next time and also throws in 3% discount on spare parts. I agree. But since the next day is friday - I decide to keep the car at office and take a cab back home.

On saturday, I take the car back to JMD, Nerul. I come to know that the Works Manager has come to visit this service centre. I want a word with him. He comes to meet me and I explain the problem to him. He waives of the 3000 rupee bill and does not charge me for labour this time. 3% discount on parts thrown in as well. A nice gesture I must say.

So now I ask them to change the spark plugs as well. All that is done and I take the car for a trial run and its back to its beasty ways. So the only payment I make is for the parts and move out a satisfied man.

End of story ? No - read on guys there is more.

A couple of days back as I come home and park the car - I can smell petrol. I look around and under the car cant find anything so go home. But a couple of people ring my bell and tell me that your car is leaking and smelling of petrol. I run down and peek under the car - nothing no leaks. I put my hand in and feel the area near the filter - there is dampness there and its petrol.

So I take a screw driver and open up the cover of the fuel pump under the rear seat and I am there is petrol in that area all around. I don't know what to do. Decide that will take the car to the A.S.S the next morning.

When I reach the office and park, I look under the car and there is a stream of petrol falling. I call for a container and keep it to collect the petrol. I open up the fuel pump cover and take a cloth and dry it out. Then I check with the help of my uncle's driver. I find that the cover has not been tightened properly (by JMD after cleaning the tank maybe). So we tighten it and leave the car running for 10-15 minutes. Nothing no leakage. So we pack it up.

Evening when I reach home I can faintly smell petrol. I again open up the FP cover and there is a small amount of petrol again there. !@!#$

Next morning (yesterday) I drive drive down to the Bhandup workshop of JMD and show them the problem. They take the car and its back in 10 minutes. They had to tighten the cover. Go for a TD for 10 minutes - no leakage. Drive around the whole day - nothing. They charged me 0 Rs.

Seems like finally all is fine. Phew !

I must say the Service Advisor for my car was more than helpful and did all he could to go out of his way for my satisfaction as did the works supervisor and the works manager.

Well - I would still say JMD is the best Skoda service centre. Need any contact info - give me a ping.

[Absar]

Wow n_c, Impressive reviews.. I mean all the '3' reviews you've done! I admit Skoda is doing impressive service to you, hats off to the WM..

Great to hear that you're enjoying the vRS. Enjoy every minute/km in it.

I also agree about the cruise control part! Its a great boon. Maybe sometime I'll have it on my car.

cya
A

[shuvd]

@ Normally_Crazy - Nice review. You just love the car don't you? I know the feeling.
I've faced all the problems except the fluctuating idling speed. So, should I switch to regular unleaded? WRT the door rattling, it IS a chronic problem. Had it in my TDi too. Now I don't bother, I just "Pomp up thee jam".
But, hats off to JDM. Guess they are the best Skoda A.S.S. in the country. The Calcutta dealership has just changed hands and relocated to a new place. I just hope things will be better.

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by shuvd

@ Normally_Crazy - Nice review. You just love the car don't you? I know the feeling.

You bet I do !!

I've faced all the problems except the fluctuating idling speed. So, should I switch to regular unleaded?

Well - will keep you posted on that. Have just tanked up with normal unleaded to check if the claims the Skoda service guys make are true.

One thing I can immediately notice is that minor knocking noise in very slow speeds in the 1st and 2nd gear has mysteriously gone away. Will update when the tank empties out. Well it could be the petrol bunk too - just tanked up from a small time pump that has a giant sized reputation and is located in Kharghar.

[Mugen_Power]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Have just tanked up with normal unleaded to check if the claims the Skoda service guys make are true.

Even Cama motors from ahmedabad told that do not use Xtrapremium Diesel in Laura or else you will get black smoke from exhaust.

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by Mugen_Power

Even Cama motors from ahmedabad told that do not use Xtrapremium Diesel in Laura or else you will get black smoke from exhaust.

Yes - Diesel has to be normal. And when I had the diesel I used normal diesel ONLY.

But petrol I cannot digest - hence this experiment.

[Mugen_Power]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Yes - Diesel has to be normal. And when I had the diesel I used normal diesel ONLY.

But there is no problem in Innova and Cdi. Should i use Normal diesel in all cars or in skoda only ?

[normally_crazy]

Skoda mein use normal diesel. As for the others, try it and see. Can't do much harm.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Nice review!

Just my two cents: Had you not talked to the works manager, you would have paid 3000, right?

If only all people would cross check what they were paying for, like you did, skoda wouldn't have had this 'expensive to maintain' tag.

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Just my two cents: Had you not talked to the works manager, you would have paid 3000, right?

No - I paid but then they had to agree that the fault was with the ignition coil and not with the fuel as they had told me. So cleaning the tank and injectors was of no use in that situation and they charged me for that. I simply explained and told them that since they were not able to identify the problem, I was not going to pay for their trial and error method.

Simple.

[normally_crazy]

Just clocked 50000 kms. Since my last post on 15th Sept , I have done 9000 kms to date. That makes it 5 months for those 9000 kms = 1800 kms / month.

A lot of things have happened in between.

The Accident

A M800 driven rashly came right into me on the Panchgani ghats, end of September. No one was injured and the car held up well. The rear axle was damaged but we still drove the car down to Pune. That speaks vloumes of it's build quality. I had to change my rear axle, rear RHS door and get the running board repaired. Fortunately the insuarance company took care and the the guy who banged into me paid up some amount - so I did not have to pay anything.

Got the car back from Pune in about 15 days. The work done was exemplary and I have no complaints till date. Even the paint job on the door is fantastic.

Service

This time I did not go to JMD but got the car serviced else where. I bought my own oil (Mobil-1) for 3500 Rs and gave the car to the garage. The air filter and oil filter was arranged by the garage for 900 Rs and they charge me 200 rs labour. That included changing the filters, changing the oil, checking on all nuts and bolts, greasing etc.

So the total service cost me - 4600 rs approx.

I didn't change the fuel filter as I had changed it a month ago when my car had gone to JMD. That cost approx 400 rs.

Misc Problems
1) Changed the head light ballast for the xenon on the RHS. Costs the moon officially but I got it cheaper.

2) Faced the problem of irregular idling, in motion and when stationary. Well to be frank, JMD tried but could not pin point the fault (they loose marks here). Spoke to MM and read up on the briskoda forums. The throttle body seemed to be the culprit. Got it cleaned and the problem has not occurred hence. JMD did a good job of cleaning the throttle body.

3) Fuses for the ABS and radiator fan in the fuse box (on top of the battery) just went up in smoke. Had to change 2 fuses. Will change the fuse box next time around just to be cautious.

Well other than these things the car is a dream.

The interiors are as good as new and the quality still astounds me.

Had to get the seat washed and cleaned as the white part can get dirty quickly.

The Bridgestones Turanza ER30 tyres have covered 30K kms and I have no complaints. But the LHS rear tyre had 3 punctures last week at the same time. Got it repaired. Am planning to run the tyres for about 10K kms more.

The power delivery is as crisp as it was and the brakes work like magic. Everthing else works as intended.

FE hovers between 9.5 - 11 kmpl depending on how and where I am driving. The worst that I got was 7 kmpl bumper to bumper in Mumbai traffic.

The chronic problems still remain - the rattling from that particular door, the ash tray not locking cleanly.

The front bumper might soon need a re-paint I think. The roads being dug up everywhere cause the bumper to scrape a few times.

Thats it. Its been 30000 kms of happy times as far as I am concerned, with a few irritating moments. But I am not complaining.

[razor4077]

Nice review n_c! You of course have one of the most admired cars on Team BHP! So a Skoda may not be that expensive to maintain after all
FE is impressive! Here's wishing you many more miles of pleasure in the VRS!

[abhinav.gupta88]

Man I envy you. and your ride. Me Buying RS this September. Finally Dad has Agreed. Yellow is what I'll Go For. Hope to get some advice later on.