[ishlinea7260]

Things really happen with a snail's pace at Skoda.

In my experience I had to visit their workshop couplet of times to get my headlamp replaced under warranty.
There was water seepage inside the headlamp unit.
They took 10 whole days to replace the part under warranty.
Had it been something crucial I would have been stranded without a car for 10 days.

[dkaile]

I would also suggest you drop a mail to the Mr. Sudhir Rao, MD (sudhir.rao@skoda-auto.co.in) along with a copy to the customer care (Skoda Assistance <customercare@skoda-auto.co.in). That should speed things up.

[adi_petrolhead]

I second your thought. Definitely shoot a mail to:

mukul.borkar@skoda-auto.co.in
(Mr Mukul Borkar he is from CRM division) and

sudhir.rao@skoda-auto.co.in
(Mr. Sudhir Rao, MD)

You are more likely to get a reply from CRM.

[s_pphilip]

Hope you get a speedy and effective resolution, I have noted these technicians are pretty ignorant about the many features of the car, leave aside the technical aspect, and if you probe further, they answer with attitude as if they are doing a favor by maintaining your car. Because I get these incomplete answers I fear taking the car to the dealer and I found myself a local Bosch garage for all the odd jobs with my humble Fabia but I still am on the lookout for a competent mechanic.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

• Stuff at Skoda India moves at snail's pace.

This is typical VW and let me share my recent experience that left me confused.
I am blown by the Polo GT TSI just for that DSG, would love to have one and am flirting with this idea, hence went for a repeat test drive of the Vento TSI+DSG.
During the drive once the car crosses 80kmph there is a prominent mechanical whine, something like a drive shaft whine, asked the accompanying sales guy and he says its nothing to worry, just that paper wrap on new cars to protect paint fluttering.
I wasn't convinced and asked him to get the car checked and turn back. He steps out, discusses with a colleague who reacted like even he experienced this, in hushed tones conveyed that it is better not to discuss in front of me, don't know whether they realized I overheard them, but the sales guy comes around and says he will get it checked and will call me back for a test drive.
Since a week passed, I walked into the showroom today thinking the sales guy must have missed to call me, met him and to my utter surprise the car is still in the parking lot without being attended to.
I drove off unhappy, if they cant sort their demo cars on time, how will they sort customer cars. This attitude does not inspire confidence.

[lalittalwar]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Exact issue-
On a rainy day, some ten days back the visibility was bad so i had front and rear fog lamps turned on as i drove to my office in the morning. After parking the car, when i pulled out the key the engine did not shut off. This was a strange sight, there were no warning light, i had the key in my hand and still the engine was running.

I tried everything to turn the engine off, put the key in, used different sides of the key but the engine would not shut down. If it had been a Manual Transmission equipped car turning off the engine would have been an easy task but with DSG this engine was impossible to shut down now. After fiddling with the controls for a while i turned off the headlamp switch and the engine shut down.

There was something wrong with the headlamp switch. When i tried to crank the engine again, the starter did not fire, just a blank tik noise and a spanner started flashing. Tried for a few time and same thing happened every time. I turned on the parking lamp and the car started normally as if nothing was wrong!

I drove back home, car was fine, everything including DSG and the engine worked normal. Just an engine check light popped up, to stay on. Now on turning on the parking lamp became a necessary procedure to start the engine.

I have the same problem with my Laura as well, minus the fact that i dont need to turn on the parking lamp to start the car. But, if I leave the parking lamps on, the engine does not turn off even after removing the key.

I had taken the car to Skoda workshop at Chandigarh, and even they could not find the fault. I just carried on as normal and since it just seemed like a niggle (i hope) I didnt bother myself too much. just the small inconvenience that if I need to switch on the parking lights, when the car is parked, I have to turn off the engine and then switch on the parking lights.

and, I had all but forgotten about this problem which I noticed about 7-8 months ago, till I read your post.

So please do update on the diagnosis and the solution. I will get mine also corrected.

All the best with getting the car back soon

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

[*]Stuff at Skoda India moves at snail's pace. From forwarding the reports, to getting replies and then dispatching parts... it just takes forever! then public holidays and weekends step in. There are so many cars waiting for parts at Skoda dealerships. Before buying a Euro car, ensure you have a back up car in your garage.

The Service Advisor in his latest update told me parts will arrive by last monday and told me he will update me by Monday.

Few Days beyond Monday, running out of patience, instead i called the Service Advisor some time back. Regular excuse that he called me, my phone was unavailable(i do get SMS for each and every missed call, which i did not get in this case).

He says Skoda India does not not have the required part (Multiplate Clutch), now they will import the part from Czech Republic and i will take minimum one more week for the part to arrive, and actual work on the car will begin only after that! The car is stuck at the workshop for more than 20 days now.

He has confirmed this is a DSG failure, and part ordered is Multiplate Clutch.

[ricky_1605]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

The Service Advisor in his latest update told me parts will arrive by last monday and told me he will update me by Monday.

Few Days beyond Monday, running out of patience, instead i called the Service Advisor some time back. Regular excuse that he called me, my phone was unavailable(i do get SMS for each and every missed call, which i did not get in this case).

He says Skoda India does not not have the required part (Multiplate Clutch), now they will import the part from Czech Republic and i will take minimum one more week for the part to arrive, and actual work on the car will begin only after that! The car is stuck at the workshop for more than 20 days now.

He has confirmed this is a DSG failure, and part ordered is Multiplate Clutch.

I still have a doubt on this, just pray you are not being ripped. Who is your service advisor at Giriraj? They usually get their parts from Aurangabad where Skoda has a manufacturing unit. Yours is the 2nd generation Laura which had imported parts.

I was also told that the multi-clutch needs to be replaced but I told them to only change the multi-clutch cover which was the cause of oil seepage and I did a road test of about 10 kms today. The car is absolutely fine now. Although they screwed up the car's rear seat carpet which has hanging from the roof. Now I'll get my car tomorrow evening after they fix it.

[Adi22]

Sorry to hear that mate. Hope your situation finds a happy ending.

Just the same case with the so called premium european brand. I personally love the machines whenever i drive one in my close circles. BUT, will not put down my money even in my dreams. Rather buy a Honda/Toyota/Maruti and have peace of mind.

The frustrating stories just do not seem to end with them.

[suhaas307]

That's too bad Anshuman. Hope it gets fixed soon!

*GULP* If this sort of thing happens to a proven transmission on a diesel Skoda, there is little hope for the relatively less-reliable 7-Speed dry-clutch DSG in our Octavia. And to compound the issue, the recent thunder-showers have turned the city's roads into Venetian water-canals.

I am unable to wrap my head 'round the nexus between the headlight switch and the DSG issue in your car.

[mobike008]

Hey anshuman, sorry to know about the DSG issue with your car. Your thread was the epitome of Skoda "Good Story" and now this suddenly crops up.

20 days at the ASC is simply unacceptable. Hope they speed up things and get your car back soon. Goodluck

Originally Posted by suhaas307

I am unable to wrap my head 'round the nexus between the headlight switch and the DSG issue in your car.

Suhaas, same here. Iam also not able to get the connection between the parking lamps and DSG. Suhaas, try not to take out your car now in the torrential rains of Bangalore....and start GULPING harder

Anshuman, hope they are not taking you for a ride. Its better to go check in person and ask him to show/explain how and why DSG failed

[ricky_1605]

I totally agree with mobike008. My car is still with them since 2 weeks and I have visited their workshop 6 times just to see the updates. The workshop is very near to my office so makes it even easier. I strongly suggest that you pay them a visit and see for yourself what part of DSG actually failed.

[anandpadhye]

Very interesting case.
Multiplate clutch in a DSG can fail, as far as I understand it's a frictional component pretty much like the clutch in the manual transmission. I have always wondered why VW/Skoda/Audi never specify service life/replacement interval for the same. But more importantly, how can the clutch failure manifest itself in the form of an electrical problem like this? And if the clutch has failed, how can the car start an run normally once parking lights are switched on? Skoda service is a joke.

[dial_shishir]

HI Anshuman

Sorry to hear about the current issues to your otherwise perfect love story, like many other your thread was making me consider buying used 2011/12 Laura with low odo. But now I feel the car is bound to run in issues as early as 50K Kms. which is pathetic. On top of that its spares are so damn expensive that I cant just get my courage. Hope you get your car back soon.

I have couple of questions for all the learned members here

1) I understand alot of companies are offering DCT with different name VAG called is DSG or Stronic (For Audi I guess). Are all the DCT's so unreliable. I assume A4/BM3/C class all have DCT's , do they also run into such issues ?

2) If I sum up the courage to buy a 2 years old Laura and assuming it has extended warranty left on it, I dont think I would be entitled to that, right ? Any warranty regular or extended is only uptill first owner....is that correct

Thanks

[Hayek]

This seems incredible. Why should a headlamp switch position interfere with shutting an engine down? And how can a clutch failure get corrected by switching headlamps off? One more reason to worry about DSG equipped cars - you are lucky the multi clutch failed under warranty. WHEN I suffered my second mechatronic failure in my Superb, I was told they would cover mechatronics but not the multi clutch.

[RohanDheman]

Originally Posted by dial_shishir

1) I understand alot of companies are offering DCT with different name VAG called is DSG or Stronic (For Audi I guess). Are all the DCT's so unreliable. I assume A4/BM3/C class all have DCT's , do they also run into such issues ?



2) If I sum up the courage to buy a 2 years old Laura and assuming it has extended warranty left on it, I dont think I would be entitled to that, right ? Any warranty regular or extended is only uptill first owner....is that correct



Thanks

A4/3/C don't have double clutch gearboxes. A4 has a CVT, 3 has a 8speed ad and the C has a 7 speed torque convertor. All reliable.

Warranty always gets transferred from the first owner to the second. It's on the car, not the ownership.

Rohan