[CarML]

Originally Posted by VS1811

I am quite appalled and amazed for how people are happy or appreciating Zac apologizing or reverting to their tweets.

Zac may not be sitting and responding to the numerous tweets himself. It is a common practice for celebrities, politicians, sportspersons and many such prominent personalities to have a dedicated team of professionals manage their social media accounts. Such teams comprise smart people who know how to strike a chord with readers. They are always on the lookout for opportunities to put content from the handle (tweet, post, reels, stories, etc.). Their KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is to increase number of views, comments and followers month on month.

I would be surprised if Zac is really doing this himself. In any case, this is a great strategy and is working!

On another note - After seeing never ending list of issues with a Skoda, it looks like buying any car (and not just TATA) during its first year of production is risky.

[eccentric]

Had the opportunity to converse with a Sales executive of Skoda showroom in my vicinity. When I asked him about the developments regarding the fuel pump failure, he firmly uttered that indeed it is a fuel quality issue prevailing in the North and no such cases have been reported in the South(I guess he means Tamil Nadu). Also he affirmed that no such circular from the top management has reached them for replacing the fuel pumps of the sold Kushaqs' from their respective showroom!

Am quite bewildered. BHPians hailing from TN, Kerala, Karnataka, AP and Telangana, owning the Kushaq, kindly comment on this. Thanks!

[VEA]

I checked with my neighborhood dealer about this. They have so far delivered 100+ Kushaqs, and none of them seem to have any issue. In fact from what I gather from social media and forums, majority, if not all these cases have been reported from North.

[IamNikhil]

Originally Posted by eccentric

When I asked him about the developments regarding the fuel pump failure, he firmly uttered that indeed it is a fuel quality issue prevailing in the North and no such cases have been reported in the South

Originally Posted by VEA

In fact from what I gather from social media and forums, majority, if not all these cases have been reported from North.

This is the first time I've heard that fuel quality differs across various parts of the country. Is Skoda trying to say that only spurious-quality fuel is sold in North India? Just sounds ridiculous IMHO. My cousins in Delhi and Chandigarh own a Superb and Octavia respectively, in addition to a couple of vehicles from Toyota and Hyundai and have never faced any such issue EVER! Seems to be a case of Skoda blaming everything under the sun, but refusing to own-up to their own lack of QC with regard to Kushaq.

[FeelTheBass]

Originally Posted by IamNikhil

This is the first time I've heard that fuel quality differs across various parts of the country. Is Skoda trying to say that only spurious-quality fuel is sold in North India? Just sounds ridiculous IMHO. My cousins in Delhi and Chandigarh own a Superb and Octavia respectively, in addition to a couple of vehicles from Toyota and Hyundai and have never faced any such issue EVER! Seems to be a case of Skoda blaming everything under the sun, but refusing to own-up to their own lack of QC with regard to Kushaq.

Hi! Nikhil
So easily they blame the fuel quality. Having owned Skoda Octavia earlier and driven it for more than 150000kms, I've never ever faced any issue in regard to fuel quality etc.

On Toyota Hyundai combo I do the same, for your kind info.
My place comes under the north India category.

Thanks

[ToThePoint]

SKODA ASS is (in)famous for coming up with boat load of BS when it comes to save themselves from deficiency of service.

Here's what Skoda website says:
“Testing in India also focuses on national specifics,” adds Petr Filip, Head of Complete Vehicle Development, who oversaw the development of the entire car, including homologation in India. The KUSHAQ has driven thousands of kilometres in high temperatures in the deserts of Rajasthan, tackled high-mountain conditions with thinner air in the Himalayas or in the Nilgiri mountains, and sampled urban traffic in India's most populous cities.

So unless SKODA carried fuel from South India or movie 2012 happened now and Himalayas moved southwards, I would not even bother with their defences. Makes you question the entire testing and homologation BS they mention in presentations.

Source: https://www.skoda-storyboard.com/en/...-accomplished/

[CarJunki]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

That is because, the customer finds a few critical qualities in these offerings, which are absent in the immediate competitors.

For example, The Heavier Build, The Supposedly Safer Structure, Engaging Dynamics, Cleaner Styling etc.

Safe? Would you call an automobile with higher propensity of mechanical failures to be safe?

Remember, reliability is a subset of safe (in my view).

If it fails while parked in the garage and thus no travel is possible, then it is surely the safest car on earth.

I still fail to understand what will one do with unreliable car even if it gives feeling of greater safety?

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by CarJunki

Safe? Would you call an automobile with higher propensity of mechanical failures to be safe?

Remember, reliability is a subset of safe (in my view).

If it fails while parked in the garage and thus no travel is possible, then it is surely the safest car on earth.

I still fail to understand what will one do with unreliable car even if it gives feeling of greater safety?

That is why I wrote 'Supposedly' Safe 'Structure'.

I specifically included the word 'Supposedly' because no one is sure of it's safe credentials.
It has not been tested by any 3rd party like GNCAP.
So, no one can be sure of this fact.

If a buyer is finding sense in buying an unreliable car, but with 'Supposedly' Safe 'Structure', then so be it.
It is the individual's choice.

[Abhishek.ckt]

Got a call few minutes ago from my Skoda dealer in Delhi to bring my car to Service Center for fuel pump replacement. My Ambition 1.0 MT has run for 1430 kms since delivery on 05 Aug '21 and I haven't faced the EPC error issue yet, though ORVM, driver side power window and Skoda Connect app have been driving me crazy. Service Manager has assured to resolve all the issues during the visit.

[suddensandy]

With the experience I have working on NPIs (New Product Introduction) in the auto, industrial & medical space in over 16 years of my career, I can tell you that pre-launch issues are quite common but their identification, classification & containment is of great importance. Most companies classify them as below:

1. Non-ship issue: Incidents that are unless contained, root caused & fixed, no shipments are authorized. EPC should have been a non-ship issue.

2. Ship & fix issue: Issues that can be on a car but will not hold up customer shipments like panel gaps, part discoloration or other aesthetic issues that are not reworkable at the factory floor & not detectable by the customer. A change process is enacted internally (called CR & CN) to fix the issue. Existing inventory may be reworked, scrapped or used up based on the severity.

3. Recall issue: inherent flaw that leaked through the checks, but a recall strives to fix this.

Now that the classification is out of the way, lets come to why of it. auto companies run 8D & 5why analysis to root cause issues. I am sure there is a task force in place by now & locked in a war room working this right now. The auto industry takes this very seriously.

For the How of it: Now the Kushaq 1.0 engine uses a power architecture (engine, EMS or ECU, Fuel pump etc) that already exists (eg: Polo & Vento) but probably had a change somewhere in the component or subcomponent level. I have seen crazy justification documents that designers / engineers write to avoid extra verification effort & improve time-to-market when components are re-used / localized with domestic suppliers for an existing design. This is not to say domestic suppliers are bad but some variables may have been skimmed over as low risk to the function of the design.

May have been the case here considering localization content is higher on Kushaq. Another variable to consider is fuel quality and/or contamination but this factor should have been considered when qualifying the system for release into Kushaq.

All said & done, I actually know for a fact that VW group have always in the past over-specified their designs, have a very large FoS (factor of safety) & over-test to check if design intents are met. This in effect has impacted localization efforts from India suppliers due to the sheer cost of qualification into an existing product & resulted in the development of a stand-alone India platform (MQB A0 IN) which had its own funding.

The local VW & Skoda talents working in the supply chain have pitched for supplies from India for VW's global & local products (Polo, Vento etc) in the past & failed because the leadership didn't want to spend a lot of money qualifying local alternates when these cars had such low / negative margins. No ROI doing this.

[fhdowntheline]

To think of it, it would have been better for Skoda to do a swift recall and fix the issue rather than Top brass creating unnecessary publicity on social media and inviting further criticism. Actions are always louder than words.

[CarJunki]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

If a buyer is finding sense in buying an unreliable car, but with 'Supposedly' Safe 'Structure', then so be it.
It is the individual's choice.

True, it is an individual choice. Not much can be said about individual choice. I was trying to learn if there is rational thinking which goes behind such a choice. Not that I am indicating the owners of this brand as irrational, far from it. Just that their rationality leads to different type of decision.

[CircleOfLife]

Another ranting complaint. Link

Doesn’t paint entire picture until one goes through the thread. Also what is not clear nature of break down.

I don’t know entire picture but what is available in public domain here are my thoughts. He tags other manufacturers on twitter that his friend arrived in different cars and picked family. If any of his friends would have come in Skoda and VW would he would have tagged and thanked them?

I understand in his shoes anyone would be very upset. Does RSA cover transport to nearby hotel? If breakdown is in a remote area, does one needs to arrange their own transportation cab/taxi and claim bill?

Assuming most of us opt for RSA in insurance too. Any reason not to call insurance provider for RSA support?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

A Kushaq with a replaced fuel pump breaks down, apparently the "robust" pump, but may not be due to fuel pump issue this time.

According to the Kushaq owner, he has faced the EPC error 3 times in just 40 days. He had his SUV towed away to the service centre. During the first time, it took one week to get the sensor replaced. After facing the EPC error the second time, the fuel pump was replaced with a more robust unit. That took 2 days and the owner still experienced the EPC issue after that. The third time, the Skoda officials told him that they will do a software update. Being a doctor by profession, the owner is struggling to spare so much time on the repairs of a brand new car. He had posted this information on a FB page to make Zac Hollis aware of this. Zac replied to him asking about his details to get in touch with him to get the issue fixed. The Kushaq owner has attached various photos of the multiple EPC errors.

Source -

I see Zac Hollis later clarified that the third EPC issue was not due to the fuel pump and there are no reported breakdowns of the robust fuel pump.



Meanwhile, we are not done with the sight of Kushaqs on flatbeds as Skoda is still working on getting the robust fuel pumps for all existing customers -

[Rahul9229]

THIRD EPC ERROR , THIS TIME WITH ROBUST PUMP
Hello everyone.

Those of you who are following this thread know that my car has already had 2 epc failures. Second pump had lasted a day and stranded me on the middle of the road on September 8th. After my second EPC failure, I was made to wait 5 days so that a robust pump could be fitted to my car. The car was returned to me on 14th September with a robust fuel pump. On 15th morning, I faced the starting issue again and my car spent another week at the service centre for this, where they failed to identify what is causing the starting issue. Finally after continuously pressuring the senior management for resolution and using social platforms to escalate my complaint, they agreed to change the starter motor even though It did not solve the starting issue. I got the car back on 22nd September, I faced the starting issue on 23rd morning. Luckily, I had my phone in my hand and recorded the entire ordeal and sent it to service center guys and skoda management. They have forwarded the video to their technical team and came to my house with their equipment to test some parameters for more deeper analysis of this starting problem. In the past week though, the starting problem hasn't bothered me again.

Yesterday evening , on my way back home, EPC light glowed up again and I immediately took a video of it. I was 4-5 kms away from home and prayed continuously till I reached my house that the car doesn't give up as it was last and raining heavily. Luckily, I reached home safe without the car giving up breath. I have escalated the problem again and the dealership is extremely embarrassed as well due to all the problems I have faced in this 18 lakh worth of new car junk. They have already given me extended warranty on my car free of cost which is worth over 25K as a goodwill gesture. They are trying to arrange a spare car for me and have adviced me to use the car till the issue is resolved as they are confident that the new pump won't leave me stranded again. Today morning, the EPC light wasn't glowing as well and car continues to drive normally but the confidence to take this car anywhere more than 5 kms away from home has started giving me goosebumps.

For the first time , I am actually regretting my decision of not buying the unsafe and boat like handling seltos or creta and getting this safe car that handles well. I just hope they make my car fit for road, I am definitely going to sell it off soon and get any other car that's not of the skoda-vw family because I have had more than my share of trouble with this car in the past 30 days. I also request everyone reading this to stay away from this groups cars and request your friends and family the same as they have lost the skill to make reliable cars anymore.