[drmohitg]

What was the explanation given to you now for the oil pressure light not working? Also I still feel this is absolutely absurd and I am using absurd only because I cannot choose other expletives on the forum. The customer without getting any warning what so ever is blamed for the damage to the car. We, TBHPian's sometimes start taking things for granted and expect everyone to carry a working knowledge of a car and in our definiton that covers almost all the parts in the car. What does the common man know of turbo and this and that. I hit something but the car keeps driving normally without any warning lights. Why then will I park it and get it towed and bear an expense of close to 10-20k for towing etc plus the added hassle.

Sorry for the rant but I really don't feel the customer has to be blamed here unless he ignored a warning light/beep/alarm.

Again I also could not understand your initial SA's explanation that he was working in the best interest of the customer. By opening the engine and then causing complexities with the insurance company? Again how will a customer know what is the right process to follow? This is the reason we take our cars to Dealerships since they are company's representatives even though there costs are way higher than the FNG.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

What was the explanation given to you now for the oil pressure light not working? Also I still feel this is absolutely absurd and I am using absurd only because I cannot choose other expletives on the forum. The customer without getting any warning what so ever is blamed for the damage to the car. We, TBHPian's sometimes start taking things for granted and expect everyone to carry a working knowledge of a car and in our definiton that covers almost all the parts in the car. What does the common man know of turbo and this and that. I hit something but the car keeps driving normally without any warning lights. Why then will I park it and get it towed and bear an expense of close to 10-20k for towing etc plus the added hassle..

I agree with you completely, a layman would do just what you said. The explanation given was that in case of rapid loss in oil pressure the warning light might not come on. Looking at the damage to the sump I figure it is quite possible. My friend did think about fighting it out with Skoda but he's leaving bangalore for good soon and he decided to take the simplest way out which is to cut his losses and move on.

I forgot to mention Skoda waived off the Rs. 20,000 they had charged for taking the engine apart and also the fee that they normally charge for giving an estimate.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

I agree with you completely, a layman would do just what you said. The explanation given was that in case of rapid loss in oil pressure the warning light might not come on. Looking at the damage to the sump I figure it is quite possible. My friend did think about fighting it out with Skoda but he's leaving bangalore for good soon and he decided to take the simplest way out which is to cut his losses and move on.

I forgot to mention Skoda waived off the Rs. 20,000 they had charged for taking the engine apart and also the fee that they normally charge for giving an estimate.

Good that Skoda did look into the thread and also call your friend up to get a solution.

So finally the car is scrap and sold as is! What was the price which you got for it? So what is the car your friend will be buying now?

Another question: Will you still buy the Skoda Octavia?

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Good that Skoda did look into the thread and also call your friend up to get a solution.

So finally the car is scrap and sold as is! What was the price which you got for it? So what is the car your friend will be buying now?

Another question: Will you still buy the Skoda Octavia?

He got 1.5 lakhs for it and he's not buying anything as he's moving away soon.

To answer your question if I would buy the octavia, I've got mixed feelings because the car is good and there's no refuting that. Maybe if the the A.S.S improves by leaps and bounds. Wishful thinking, I know

[anuragbagur]

Hi Zombie,
I went through the entire thread and feel sorry for the ordeal that your friend has gone through. Finally you guys did the right thing by the selling the vehicle as is.
With all the Skoda quality bashing in the thread I just thought I will share this small article published in UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...ast-laugh.html

Skoda India seriously need to take a cue from other manufactures and bring customer satisfaction as their top most priority. Else, prospective customers like you will surely shy away after incidents like this.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by anuragbagur

Hi Zombie,
I went through the entire thread and feel sorry for the ordeal that your friend has gone through. Finally you guys did the right thing by the selling the vehicle as is.
With all the Skoda quality bashing in the thread I just thought I will share this small article published in UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...ast-laugh.html

Skoda India seriously need to take a cue from other manufactures and bring customer satisfaction as their top most priority. Else, prospective customers like you will surely shy away after incidents like this.

In all honesty i was not aware of Skoda's history so thanks for that information. On the other hand i was completely aware about its progress in the UK. The Yeti was rated the best car to own in the UK in 2013 and it still figures in the top 10 for 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DVCFtQDG_E

After reading the article i feel even more for the brand in India because they make such VFM products marred by horrendous A.S.S. VW doesn't seem to be in a hurry to do anything about it and from the latest news on tbhp they seem to be cutting down their India operations also. Not very confidence inspiring for a prospective buyer.

I was considering the new Octavia or the Jetta facelift as my next purchase but after all recent happenings i've decided to opt for something else. But i will be keeping a close eye on the VW group in India and maybe buy something from their stable when i'm considering my next purchase

[599gto]

My daily drive is a 2011 Volkwagen Polo TDI trendline!

I admit I am not the most sensitive-to-terrain driver, I hate it when people swerve and jump and howl and suddenly brake just to avoid a pothole, its not safe at times, and I never do it. I also at times don't slow down just because I am going through a bad stretch of road, as weird as it may sound, that's just my driving style, and having said that I am never driving rash, its just that I don't care what kind of road my car is going through.

Because of my above explained driving style, I have had to get my damaged/cracked/broken oil sump replaced twice. Both the times the culprit being unmarked speed breakers.

Now, in the Polo/Vento and I guess Fabia/Rapid, there is no warning sign or beep or anything that tells you that you're losing oil pressure or there is an oil leak.

The first time my sump cracked, I ended up driving at least 50 km before I found out that my engine sump has given away and there is an oil leak. Luckily, my engine survived and no major damage was done, insurance claimed, 10,000 Rs. paid from my pocket and the car was back on road.

Second time, it was again a speed breaker, not the car breaker type but I did carry a lot of speed which made the car's front land steeply, this time, out of experience I knew what could have happened, so got the car towed immediately. Insurance claimed, 12k paid from my pocket, and the car was back on road.

Now, the service manager had no answer to my question regarding the warning sign for loss in oil pressure, he just told me that there is absolutely no sign or warning that would tell a driver about oil leak/oil pressure loss and that they get a lot of 'engine seizure due to broken oil sump' cases.

This, to me, sounds absolutely ridiculous, we bhpians being a car-aware lot of people still have a fair chance of getting the car towed before the engine seizes, but what about a not so aware driver?

VW this is plain ridiculous, specially when you charge kidneys as labour charges and probably my intestine for an engine replacement!

Also, the way I lost both my sumps still rattle me up, I wasn't driving very fast both the times and the speed breakers were not exactly huge, I guess VW has properly designed speed breakers at their R&D facility, which our roads lack.

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Originally Posted by 599gto

Because of my above explained driving style, I have had to get my damaged/cracked/broken oil sump replaced twice. Both the times the culprit being unmarked speed breakers.


the service manager... told me that there is absolutely no sign or warning that would tell a driver about oil leak/oil pressure loss..

You don't need a oil pressure warning light.

You need a "you're going to break your oil sump for the third time if you drive like this" warning light.

I don't think they have this on any car yet.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

January 14th around 7pm: I get a call from one Mr. Satish from Skoda regional office Bangalore.

If that was Satish Madyastha he's a really helpful guy. Overall I've found that their staff try to work around whatever bureaucratic (and commercial - i.e., dealer) issues if you get in touch with them.

What would really be helpful is if this attitude trickled down to the dealerships, and if they were incentivised for helping customers rather than scaring them with big bills. They really need to do something like that in order to salvage their image which has been raped in the market - its a pity, because at least a few of their products are truly outstanding.

[zombiedriver]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

If that was Satish Madyastha he's a really helpful guy. Overall I've found that their staff try to work around whatever bureaucratic (and commercial - i.e., dealer) issues if you get in touch with them.

What would really be helpful is if this attitude trickled down to the dealerships, and if they were incentivised for helping customers rather than scaring them with big bills. They really need to do something like that in order to salvage their image which has been raped in the market - its a pity, because at least a few of their products are truly outstanding.

I don't know his last name but he was very helpful. In fact couple of days after the buyer picked up the car Mr. Satish called me to check if I faced any more problems and if everything went smoothly. I told him everything was OK and that the buyer said he would do the name transfer in a month for which he said he would also follow up with the buyer. I appreciate him doing that.

And I'm of the same opinion. Skoda makes some very VFM cars but are let down by the attitude of their dealerships

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

You don't need a oil pressure warning light.

You need a "you're going to break your oil sump for the third time if you drive like this" warning light.

I don't think they have this on any car yet.

Uh VSS. That's unnecessary sarcasm there buddy.

Without getting judgmental on 599gto, let's step back and think here:
I can confirm that in the Swift, the check engine light comes ON (and stays on) when the oil pressure falls due to a sump leak. 599gto has pointed out that this doesnt happen with the Polo, which is a design issue.

This is about commonsense design that one expects from any prudent car manufacturer selling in India. Do you disagree?

PS: Personally I think this is invaluable feedback from his side on VW - you can't guess this sort of design flaw except by painful experience.

[alpha1]

Before I agree with your folks, one question needs to be answered. Actually two:
Q1: When the sump is hit, and presumably cracked, does it make a big audible bang noise?
Q2: Does the driver still carry driving on driving totally unaware of this noise and never bothers to stop and check the underbelly - what hit where?

Originally Posted by phamilyman

I can confirm that in the Swift, the check engine light comes ON (and stays on) when the oil pressure falls due to a sump leak. 599gto has pointed out that this doesnt happen with the Polo, which is a design issue.

I agree with you only if it proved that VW stable does not come with this warning.

At the start of this thread, it was stated that since the oil level drop is rapid, the pressure loss is also rapid, and therefore the oil pressure low warning comes by the time engine is screwed without any lube oil.
And therefore the warning is of no benefit in this case.

Originally Posted by 599gto

Now, in the Polo/Vento and I guess Fabia/Rapid, there is no warning sign or beep or anything that tells you that you're losing oil pressure or there is an oil leak.

Are you absolutely certain that there is really no warning light/sound which indicated low engine oil pressure?

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by alpha1

At the start of this thread, it was stated that since the oil level drop is rapid, the pressure loss is also rapid, and therefore the oil pressure low warning comes by the time engine is screwed without any lube oil.
And therefore the warning is of no benefit in this case.

Thats incorrect. That light is the difference between partial failure (like a turbo) vs complete engine oil starvation.

The engine oil light is the single reason I'm still driving my swift. In my case, it was a gully washed out due to the rain - it was invisible in the evening (sudden drop of about 6-8").

I was driving at 70, and slowed down to ~40-50 when the hit happened. Immediately the engine oil light came/stayed on and then I let the car idle for ~10-15 seconds to see if it was going away. More than the pin drop leak, the diaphram (?) which transports the oil up into the engine had broken, enough to ruin the turbo. After that the car was started only in the workshop after repairs.

If Swift didn't have that light, and if I had just gone by the amount of oil on the ground (which wasnt too much - the sump hadn't cracked completely) and just patched it with M-seal (as we bikers do to motorcycle tanks), then the engine would've gone bust and the car would've been scrapped.

[Quarter Mile]

Just went through the entire thread. This was some ordeal I must say. Scary! Every second Skoda incident here is a shocker.

I have been driving an 1.9TDi Octavia from the last 5 years and honestly not much to complain. I have never serviced me car from Tafe or Vinayak. When I bought this car, a friend had given me advice on not to service the car from these guys and suggested Bosch Service here at Bangalore.

The place is Bosch United Motors and Dhiren (Owner) has been a blessing for me and my friends especially for the ones with Skodas.

[dark.knight]

I'm not entirely sure how the warning system is in each vehicle as going by the comments here some cars have it and some don't, hence I maybe inaccurate here so pardon me if I am.

From what I understand, there is a sending unit connected to a diaphragm which operates the low warning light. In simpler terms the contacts remain connected as long as there is no oil pressure, hence keeping the oil pressure warning active. When the engine is started and subject to there being enough oil, the pressure (atleast 3-5 psi) makes the diaphragm expand thus pulling the contacts away from each other and deactivating the light. Now I assume that this is the basic process for any vehicle, a mechanical action creating a reaction electrically. From what I've read, this light can be intermittent if the level is border-line, i.e if cars are cornering in slopes the sender unit reacts to the dips in pressure. From this I assume that even when running the response to a falling pressure has to be instant. The part where I'm not sure is if the sending unit isn't pulling 2 contacts away from each other, but rather actuating a computerised response (which is a newer type), but even then the response has to be instant barring actuation problem.

In either case I think its always safer to get out and check if even the slightest underbody noise occurs. I've gotten out and checked 1-2 times even though I knew its just a pebble/twig hit. Its not being paranoid but rather an attempt to save a lot of headache with just 1 peek. So if its a scrape/bottom out its all the more reason to take a peek and wait out a minute to see if something drips. Monitoring all fluid levels is one of the simplest things we can do as monthly checkup.