[hondatoyotafan]

I am a self-certified masochist being an owner of two VAG group cars one is a Skoda and the other a VW. I can attest that Skoda is a lesser evil than VW.

Having been a victim of their accident repair services I can attest that any VW car left even for a week in their workshop will be damaged severely and I have seen mechanics harvesting parts for other cars from other cars being serviced. My accident repair was delayed due to supply chain issues for a drive cv joint. I had the horror of my life of seeing my wheels and tyres replaced.

I just decided to cut my losses and took away my car and had it repaired by an FNG whom I trust. He can procure parts from Delhi or Abroad. I will never want to send it to the ASC again.

Skoda management is still proactive, and an email to Zac used to put things into action. But any email, even to the top boss at VW India, is just forwarded to the respective dealer.

I see a future with at least Skoda remaining in India, but I feel VW India will pack up sooner or later.

[lurker]

Isn't this the same high pressure fuel pump issue which has been plaguing TDI & TSI engines for well more than a decade now. HPFP destructs itself and metal bits get lodged in fuel injectors and other places thereby destroying entire fuel system. Same strategy has been adopted earlier in a skoda yeti thread of another member by a skoda dealer. Looks like a well-worn strategy of hiding under water in fuel excuse to void warranty.

Do they have dealer seminars that teach them such tricks by 'sharing experiences'.

[naikameya]

It seems like there isn't much value now for the owner when the car is sitting idle for so long. Justice delayed is Justice denied. The unfortunate situation with our system is that most of us give up because, unless we have another car, infinite wealth, and time, we will be the loser at the end of the fight.
Customers go for Marutis and Hyundais instead of VWs & Skodas.

[Newtown]

As a manufacturer, incidents like these give vital data about the vehicle. This would be used to find root cause and fix the issue in the production line or with their OE suppliers.

Why haven't VW engineers been sent to the workshop to do their own assessment. Is it because they don't want to ruffle the feathers of a large dealer? This is a lost opportunity. What is the point of Volkswagen doing region specific builds if local engineers do not have the autonomy to come and look at issues. Even if they do have to report them to Wolfsburg, the least they should be do it send someone there to do an independent assessment.

Beats me why a dealer would want such bad publicity rather than come to some kind of amicable settlement with the owner.

[Crank]

This is really unfortunate and to empathize Kiran's story is horrifying. We all stand by him, but I am clueless how VW would keep quiet on this with so much of media attention. What is the best way to get their attention on this?

[handsofsteel]

One question to all in the know - is the dealer a politician/ political family? If yes, that explains everything on their part. Unlimited wealth, ability to stand up to public humiliation, unbounded ego etc

Wondering what stops our courts to take suo moto cognisance of this case and fast track the case? Is it the fear of being seen as favourable to a celebrity despite him being the David against this Goliath.

[tj123]

It is extremely unfortunate and makes me angry to see a VW customer running around for 16 months, just to make a warranty claim. I am sure VW management does want this kind of free a publicity for themselves. This definitely shakes ups the confidence of existing VW owners and prospective customers. The car after sitting for 16 months to elements is as good as junk now, hope the consumer court gives a speedy and apt justice to Mr. Kiran.

Moral of the story, stay away from such brands and don’t leave you car with dealer for an extended time in such cases.

[igemini]

VW India service is nothing less than robbery. In one side they are proclaiming they are building the brand in India and the other end they are screwing up things and putting their already mediocre customers into mental trauma. Only because they bought a VW entrusting VW India.

It won't even cost 1% of your daily stupid social media campaign to fix that car. Sore losers you guys are at VW India.


At the same time I am also amazed why he had to leave the car like that? He should've brought it to some other FNG, (there are plenty in Kochi) and sort it out. Then go on fight with VW concurrently. I may be the minority here but I am not backing the owner 100% due to that.

[FalconRed]

Feel bad to see my favourite VW car in such a state.
Three years back I couldn't buy Polo as it was out of my budget.

Even though I love polo but today I feel that it was a lucky decision as the service experience for many of VW owner is a pure nightmare.

Hyundai seems to be quiet good in handling customer satisfaction. And I would definitely go back to Hyundai for the same reason.

[MDED]

Wow! Such a massive disappointment for manufacturing safe cars with “thud” build quality, when you can’t have a grip over 2 cents work! I had decided to go ahead with Virtus, however after going through this absolute horror story, VW just lost a Honda owner from moving to their fold.

I can’t loose peace of mind for thud! I will rather book a 3 star Creta and sleep with piece of mind every day!!

[Latebloomer]

The unfortunate fate of this guy can't be explained. This dealer is too powerful in Kerala. They have dealership of VW, skoda, BMW, Porsche, Mini Cooper, Isuzu, Nissan, BMW & Honda bigwing, BYD...the list goes on.
Don't think VW would do anything. Only option is to talk it out and come to an agreement or keep waiting for court settlements.

[nidhin0816]

This is VW at its best, Typical dealer high headedness shown here by EVM, with all the might of power being the only dealer in Kerala, they are resorting to make the customer suffer so that he gives up one day and fall into the trap laid.

VW India surely seems at the mercy of the dealer, or its a pure case of dragging this as much possible to deny the warranty, considering there can be appeal after appeal in the legal framework.

This should've been settled right after the government lab report foiled the water content story, but VW will be VW they have to ensure the after sale service is as pathetic it can be.

[sharad_kmc]

Sad to hear about the ordeal. Once upon a time VW used to make great cars. However, they seem to have lost the plot with the current generation on sale. The dealers seem to have the upper hand these days in all the disputes raised by customers. The customer courts sadly take for ever.

[anti21]

I think this is expected of VAG India and their dealers. This is nothing out of ordinary for them. Looting, cheating, and defrauding customers is in the blood of Volkswagen Auto Group and their dealers. This is evident from their glorious history of numerous scandals seen from their top management to all the way down to the dealer. They've never changed and nor will they ever. Skoda had done it earlier and fought customer for it. Now its VW's turn.

Finally, VAG has proved it that now even Chinese Engineering is more reliable than German engineering and they are ages ahead in customer support. Pretty sure they will catch up with drivability also within the next 5 years.

There can be several reasons for this.

1. The dealer never really issued extended warranty. They might just have pocketed the amount and now don't want to pay the amount.
2. The dealer does file for claims but might also charge customer for repairs and pocket the charges.
3. VAG India does not approve warranty claims easily. Hence, dealer take this approach. However, the reason for this is probably many dealers had fooled VAG India earlier with false claims and they have become over strict.

Whatever the reason be, getting a response from VAG India over a complaint to dealer is next to impossible. Right from escalating via customer support to tweeting to their support on Twitter to writing to their management in India/Europe, none of it gets a response. And their parts take ages (40+ days) to come anyway (even for new products its same).

And it is not like their Indian management or European management is not aware about it. They've 100% read about these reports on Team BHP and other forums. They are just apathetic probably busy cooking up next scandal to come up with. I am sure Zac left India because he knew this is a clusterduck that cannot be fixed at all. There are only so many complaints a single person can handle/see about their company.

At this point, I won't be surprised to find that VAG Dealers themselves pour water into the fuel tank. It is not beyond them.

[Nithesh_M]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Feel sorry for the customer. Along with VW, EVM as a brand also will take a hit – I believe the same group run the dealership for many other brands like BMW, Mini, MG, Nissan etc. in Kochi.

Funny enough I was looking at some car dealers near Vaikom for my father in law's 2010 Alto replacement. I was eyeing the Magnite and was in discussion with my wife about visiting EVM Nissan next trip for a test drive. Wife pointed me to this news yesterday and now neither of us want to touch this multibrand dealership franchise with a 10 foot pole.

Brands can boast of safety ratings all they want but what's the point of it all if their products are barely on the roads after delivery and spend more time getting repaired inside service center.