[Turbo Head]

I bought a Skoda Rapid Elegance some nine months back even after hearing so many horror stories about Skoda ***.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...delivered.html

Never knew that the nightmare will start haunting me so early.

Here unfolds the complete story, The car had done approx 30K kms and was nearing for Second free service, So I took the appointment and left it at the workshop at 10AM.

Estimate gives for the free service was 7K and I was pretty sure that same would not be exceeding as happened in past as well.

It was around afternoon when I got a call from my service adviser that he has detected some problems in brakes & suspension and suspension needs complete overhauling, hence they want me to inspect the same before going ahead.

I was shocked to find out that it requires suspension overhaul (brakes can be understood).

I did the detailed inspection of the vehicle and here are my findings :

Front tyre was moving sideways (when the vehicle was on lift).



There was considerable wear on innerside of the tyre.


Situation was similar on LHS, however the effect was relatively less.


Also I was told that same is happening due to wornout rubber bushes/mountings/bearings/end joints etc. Which now requires the complete suspension overhaul.

Brakes seemed to be in good shape and are still good for atleast another 5000kms, however he recommended to replace due to longer service interval.

He could not give any satisfactory reply as why it happened on a 9 months old car, also when I pointed about warranty he blatantly replied that all these parts are wear n tear parts and none of it is covered under warranty.


This end joint needs to be replaced, as it has some play



Both front shocker rubber mounts are damaged


I had heated argument regarding the same and threatened them for legal proceedings and taking the matter to media/various public forums/auto magazine and also spread my negative feelings on all my social circle online as well as offline.

Also I told him to give everything in writing on their letterhead so I may escalate the matter further.

To all this he softened his stance and reduced the cost of labour/parts to 17.6K (initially he quoted around 33K) which is only for suspension & brakes (add another 7K for servicing and 9K for tyres).


Check the remarks of workshop manager (handwritten)


So, here I am, left with two options, to take this matter forward and make them pay or try to further reduce the damages and get the work done.
Bigger threat is what if its a design flaw and keep on happening after every alternate service ?

All suggestions & critics most welcome to participate.

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by Turbo Head

I bought a Skoda Rapid Elegance some nine months back even after hearing so many horror stories about Skoda ***.
Never knew that the nightmare will start haunting me so early.


So, here I am, left with two options, to take this matter forward and make them pay or try to further reduce the damages and get the work done.
Bigger threat is what if its a design flaw and keep on happening after every alternate service ?

All suggestions & critics most welcome to participate.

QUICKLY Call up Skoda India Assistance 18001026464 18002094646 and speak to them. Brake pads I can understand getting worn out. Looking at the front right tyre it's unbelievable that it's worn out that much. Anyway Speak to Skoda about a goodwill warranty for the Suspension, Wheel Bearing and other parts. Clutch also we can understand being a wear and tear part. But not suspension. These cars ought to be able to run on indian roads. Call them and complain about the dealers attitude they will look into it. Your skoda Assist and warranty is valid so make use of it.


(If you need any further assistance & follow up with Skoda Auto India and write them an e-mail at customercare@skoda-auto.co.in)

[lurker]

Lower arm bush lathe work means aligning a new wheel bearing to an old axle bearing I suppose. Even in an 800 used on rough roads, the front suspension lasts easily around 50K and then has to be replaced. How can a brand new, heavily built euro car run mainly on the smooth Delhi roads have such serious suspension issues in such a short time !

[tsk1979]

Manufacturers clearly state in the service booklet/warranty booklet about suspension warranty. For example. Maruti says 60,000kms, Tata says 35000kms or 30,000kms

Rubber bushes are never covered, however, other parts such as tie rods etc., are covered. Check out your warranty booklet and see if you have paid for parts which are supposed to be under warranty.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Turbo Head

I reduced the cost of labour/parts to 17.6K (initially he quoted around 33K) which is only for suspension & brakes (add another 7K for servicing and 9K for tyres).
So, here I am, left with two options, to take this matter forward and make them pay or try to further reduce the damages and get the work done.
Bigger threat is what if its a design flaw and keep on happening after every alternate service ?

@Turbohead
This is unbelievable, Suspension overhaul in less than a year. You ought to take it to the top managment. Looking at the tyre condition it looks like the wheel alignment/balancing was totally out, when was the WA/WB done last? How about the rear tyre condition? What does the warranty book say regarding the suspensions? Did the car take a hit sometime between the services?

I am also surprised that the workshop is negotating on the parts & labour cost which means there were inflated in the first case.

[coolboy007]

@ Turbo head,
This looks much more than a design flaw, afaik Vento and Rapid share there suspension parts (just that Skoda has tuned it differently) and we have a lot of Vento's here which have done more than 35-40 k kms and have never experienced something like this, suspension failure in a 30k kms old car is shocking

Did you email skoda customer care about this, atleast some parts and the labour should be covered under factory warranty. Your service centre outright rejected the warranty claim, why dont you try Fahrenheit and see what they suggest?

The tyres are totally bald for a 30,000 odo reading, infact you should have watched out for the excessive tyre wear past 15-20k kms and not wait for things to go worst, what schedule do you follow for alignment and balancing - i prefer doing it every 5000 kms for the kind of roads we have here.

P.S: I remember another Rapid thread here about excessive tyre wear or something and some email exchanges between Skoda and owner, cant find it now.

[Turbo Head]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

QUICKLY Call up Skoda India Assistance 18001026464 18002094646 and speak to them. Brake pads I can understand getting worn out. Looking at the front right tyre it's unbelievable that it's worn out that much. Anyway Speak to Skoda about a goodwill warranty for the Suspension, Wheel Bearing and other parts. Clutch also we can understand being a wear and tear part. But not suspension. These cars ought to be able to run on indian roads. Call them and complain about the dealers attitude they will look into it. Your skoda Assist and warranty is valid so make use of it.


(If you need any further assistance & follow up with Skoda Auto India and write them an e-mail at customercare@skoda-auto.co.in)

Thanks for the suggestion, already lodged a complaint on Skoda India Assistance and emailed customer care.

Originally Posted by lurker

Lower arm bush lathe work means aligning a new wheel bearing to an old axle bearing I suppose. Even in an 800 used on rough roads, the front suspension lasts easily around 50K and then has to be replaced. How can a brand new, heavily built euro car run mainly on the smooth Delhi roads have such serious suspension issues in such a short time !

That's exactly my concern.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Manufacturers clearly state in the service booklet/warranty booklet about suspension warranty. For example. Maruti says 60,000kms, Tata says 35000kms or 30,000kms

Rubber bushes are never covered, however, other parts such as tie rods etc., are covered. Check out your warranty booklet and see if you have paid for parts which are supposed to be under warranty.

Tanveer the warranty is related to time (2Yrs/4yrs) with unlimited mileage, however the catch is rubber/plastic parts are not covered
As far as the suspension is concerned, only shockers are covered under warranty.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@Turbohead
This is unbelievable, Suspension overhaul in less than a year. You ought to take it to the top managment. Looking at the tyre condition it looks like the wheel alignment/balancing was totally out, when was the WA/WB done last? How about the rear tyre condition? What does the warranty book say regarding the suspensions? Did the car take a hit sometime between the services?

I am also surprised that the workshop is negotating on the parts & labour cost which means there were inflated in the first case.

Wheel alignment/balancing is religiously done after every 5k kms, however the reason for damaged tyres is suspension.

No the car has thankfully not taken any hit whatsoever.
As per warranty only shockers are covered in suspension.

Originally Posted by coolboy007

@ Turbo head,
This looks much more than a design flaw, afaik Vento and Rapid share there suspension parts (just that Skoda has tuned it differently) and we have a lot of Vento's here which have done more than 35-40 k kms and have never experienced something like this, suspension failure in a 30k kms old car is shocking

Did you email skoda customer care about this, atleast some parts and the labor should be covered under factory warranty. Your service centre outright rejected the warranty claim, why dont you try Fahrenheit and see what they suggest?

The tyres are totally bald for a 30,000 odo reading, infact you should have watched out for the excessive tyre wear past 15-20k kms and not wait for things to go worst, what schedule do you follow for alignment and balancing - i prefer doing it every 5000 kms for the kind of roads we have here.

P.S: I remember another Rapid thread here about excessive tyre wear or something and some email exchanges between Skoda and owner, cant find it now.

The tyres had normal wear/tear till last wheel alignment, moreover the damage was not visible (as it was on the inside edge).

Already mailed my concern to the Skoda customer care, awaiting for their response.

[jeeva]

Originally Posted by Turbo Head

Wheel alignment/balancing is religiously done after every 5k kms, however the reason for damaged tyres is suspension.

Trust me, if not all of them , most of those computerised wheel alignment centres, don't bother to check or report any abnormal camber/castor readings. It's only the toe values that they will be interested in, which can be adjusted easily and its alignment all done!

[dkaile]

30,000 kms in 9 months is a lot of driving! But that does not justify suspension problems so early unless driven harshly on very bad roads. Suspension parts and brake discs/linings are also covered in warranty for a period of 10k kms/1 year whichever comes first as per my Superb's warranty booklet, which supposedly you have already passed. Tyres clearly show signs of abnormal wear and tear maybe due to abnormal alignment or rough road usage. Also shock absorber mounts damage is quite rare and also points to quite abnormal rough road usage. All in all your case certainly does not look normal.

[supertinu]

hey Turbo head, sorry to hear about your bad experience. Few questions though. 30K is definitely a lot of kms for a 9 month old vehicle. I know that running is typically high in NCR region but what about your case, is this from city driving or more highways and what kind of road conditions. Also you mentioned that alignment has been done every 5K kms, how come this wear n tear didn't get noticed earlier? One of the tyres seems so badly worn that the threads are coming out.

Dont take it negatively, but I feel that this kind of wear and tear doesn't set in over night and if you had sighted this earlier, handling warranty issues with SKoda might have been easier with you having a more stronger case. Btw if you did alignment with Skoda every 5K miles, then they are even more to blame for not pointing this out earlier.

[DieselDon]

Originally Posted by Turbo Head

Wheel alignment/balancing is religiously done after every 5k kms, however the reason for damaged tyres is suspension.

I know how it hurts.

I had similar issue on my Indica in the 8th year (Insides wearing out faster than outside).
I had tell tale issues like a
- lot of play in the steering,
- the car acting up if driven through bad roads (technically 'Tramlining').

I thought it was because of the old Tyres / Power Steering leak.

The Wheel Alignment Centre pointed me to this (without me asking). They mentioned that I would need to get the bushes replaced/corrected. They sent me to TASC to get this done and refused to touch the alignment.

After the 'bushes' fix, the ride was wobbly & I got all four tyres replaced thereafter. (I cannot compromise on what I love the most in my Indica - the heavenly ride).
No issues till now (touchwood)

Originally Posted by Turbo Head

The tyres had normal wear/tear till last wheel alignment, moreover the damage was not visible (as it was on the inside edge).

I am pretty confused to understand what could have happened suddenly. Will be glued to this thread. I am still wondering what the Wheel alignment guyz did with your car. I was clearly showed the issue in my case.

By the looks of it -
a) It looks as if the tyre could have burst any time &
b) you do not drive hard over rough patches like me (else your tyres should have given away earlier - atleast a puncture). So - rough roads are not a probable cause.

Wish you all the best !

[Turbo Head]

Originally Posted by jeeva

Trust me, if not all of them , most of those computerised wheel alignment centres, don't bother to check or report any abnormal camber/castor readings. It's only the toe values that they will be interested in, which can be adjusted easily and its alignment all done!

Correct, it does happen lot of times, might have happened in my case too.

Originally Posted by dkaile

30,000 kms in 9 months is a lot of driving! But that does not justify suspension problems so early unless driven harshly on very bad roads. Suspension parts and brake discs/linings are also covered in warranty for a period of 10k kms/1 year whichever comes first as per my Superb's warranty booklet, which supposedly you have already passed. Tyres clearly show signs of abnormal wear and tear maybe due to abnormal alignment or rough road usage. Also shock absorber mounts damage is quite rare and also points to quite abnormal rough road usage. All in all your case certainly does not look normal.

10k kms warranty for suspension is a shear joke for this segment of cars, this clearly shows their mistrust in their build quality.

As for 30K kms, my simple office commute is 100+kms everyday, hence the diesel option was chosen. As for road usage I commute from Rohini, New Delhi to Gurgaon Sec 39, everyday and have taken it once to Gwalior and only one trip to Nainital. Rest of the miles have been filled in Delhi/NCR only.

Originally Posted by supertinu

hey Turbo head, sorry to hear about your bad experience. Few questions though. 30K is definitely a lot of kms for a 9 month old vehicle. I know that running is typically high in NCR region but what about your case, is this from city driving or more highways and what kind of road conditions. Also you mentioned that alignment has been done every 5K kms, how come this wear n tear didn't get noticed earlier? One of the tyres seems so badly worn that the threads are coming out.

Dont take it negatively, but I feel that this kind of wear and tear doesn't set in over night and if you had sighted this earlier, handling warranty issues with SKoda might have been easier with you having a more stronger case. Btw if you did alignment with Skoda every 5K miles, then they are even more to blame for not pointing this out earlier.

We are here for an open discussion, please feel free to ask your concern, no offense taken .

The reason for high running has been mentioned above, as for tyres condition, the car was sent for wheel alignment/balancing @approx. 23.5 k kms and nothing ABNORMAL was reported by the tyre centre, however he did mentioned that tyres are wearing bit faster maybe due to the fact the GoodYear has softer compound. As far as abnormal inside wear is concerned, trust me it was not at all visible (to me/driver) unless the car was raised on lift.

Originally Posted by DieselDon

I know how it hurts.

I had similar issue on my Indica in the 8th year (Insides wearing out faster than outside).
I had tell tale issues like a
- lot of play in the steering,
- the car acting up if driven through bad roads (technically 'Tramlining').

I thought it was because of the old Tyres / Power Steering leak.

The Wheel Alignment Centre pointed me to this (without me asking). They mentioned that I would need to get the bushes replaced/corrected. They sent me to TASC to get this done and refused to touch the alignment.

After the 'bushes' fix, the ride was wobbly & I got all four tyres replaced thereafter. (I cannot compromise on what I love the most in my Indica - the heavenly ride).
No issues till now (touchwood)



I am pretty confused to understand what could have happened suddenly. Will be glued to this thread. I am still wondering what the Wheel alignment guyz did with your car. I was clearly showed the issue in my case.

By the looks of it -
a) It looks as if the tyre could have burst any time &
b) you do not drive hard over rough patches like me (else your tyres should have given away earlier - atleast a puncture). So - rough roads are not a probable cause.

Wish you all the best !

Thanks for your wishes

The car is primarily driven by my driver (in my presence) and me only.
None of the tyres have been repaired by puncture till date and to my best knowledge it has never been through any rough patches (barring few speed breakers/potholes crossings during rains). Also it was driving like a breeze and did not show any problems (apparently), hence these concerns were not even reported in job card, while handing over the car for servicing.

Yes, we cannot ignore the alignment/balancing part, perhaps they ignored the caster/camber and uneven wear. Their alertness could have prevented the loss of tyres, however problem in suspension is still questionable. How come suspension gave up so easily even when the car is driven on proper smooth roads and driven in sane manner ?

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Turbo Head

As for 30K kms, my simple office commute is 100+kms everyday, hence the diesel option was chosen. As for road usage I commute from Rohini, New Delhi to Gurgaon Sec 39, everyday and have taken it once to Gwalior and only one trip to Nainital. Rest of the miles have been filled in Delhi/NCR only.

Then this kind of wear is certainly not acceptable. You need to raise a lot of hue and cry at the dealership and Skoda HQ. Also report your car's feedback at the reliability topic running on Tbhp. Kindly also keep an eye on your driver that he does not drive rash with your car in your absence. I would advice you to get the work done to get the car back in pristine condition and continue your fight with Skoda HQ. Though the cost comes out slightly higher than normally desired but at the end of the day you have to factor in that you have used this car for 30k kms.

[Turbo Head]

Sorry forgot to update, the car has been sent for complete repairs on my cost as I couldn't afford to leave the car at workshop, neither I could drive it in this condition.

Till yesterday evening, the servicing was already done and car will be handed to me by tomorrow after completing the suspension overhaul/changing brake pads etc.

However I have been assured to get some good discount on labor costs, but I have to pay for the parts replaced, need not have to mention the additional cost of 2 tyres.

Meanwhile the matter has already been escalated and the response is awaited.

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by Turbo Head

We are here for an open discussion, please feel free to ask your concern, no offense taken .

The reason for high running has been mentioned above, as for tyres condition, the car was sent for wheel alignment/balancing @approx. 23.5 k kms and nothing ABNORMAL was reported by the tyre centre, however he did mentioned that tyres are wearing bit faster maybe due to the fact the GoodYear has softer compound. As far as abnormal inside wear is concerned, trust me it was not at all visible (to me/driver) unless the car was raised on lift.

Originally Posted by Turbo Head

Sorry forgot to update, the car has been sent for complete repairs on my cost as I couldn't afford to leave the car at workshop, neither I could drive it in this condition.

Till yesterday evening, the servicing was already done and car will be handed to me by tomorrow after completing the suspension overhaul/changing brake pads etc.

However I have been assured to get some good discount on labor costs, but I have to pay for the parts replaced, need not have to mention the additional cost of 2 tyres.

Meanwhile the matter has already been escalated and the response is awaited.

Considering the decent roads in NCR this kind of suspension breakdown is completely unexpected. I think you did the right thing by getting it repaired but don't let go of the fight with Skoda. Continue pressing them for covering it under warranty.

I never paid attention to the fact that suspension warranty is much lesser than the warranty on rest of the car. 10K kms is really ridiculous.