[Tuisha110HP]

Originally Posted by Clayton Crasto

Hi, did you get the rack replaced under warranty? How is the car behaving now?

Last year the strut bearings were greased FOC, when I was getting similar sounds, but the clunking issue doesn't come up in this case on bad roads.

Hi Clayton,

Yes, I replaced my steering rack but not under warranty.

Here are the events:

1) I went to ASC with older 185-section tyres that I fit in my Ford Figo. The steering rack upon inspection was found to be defective. The boot of the rack had gone bust. Since the warranty guy and technician from Skoda were under the firm belief that the tire upsize from 185 section to 195 section is the main reason for the busted boot of the rack, I was asked to pay for the rack.

2) I asked them if the steering rack replacement would solve the rattling and clucking noise, to which they replied 100%.

3) I paid for the steering rack from my pocket, albeit with a little discount on price and labor being waved off, the steering feeling had returned to new car levels.

4) HOWEVER, The clunky noise is still there. Now, I can hear the sound, but the movement of the steering sideways is not there. The same sound comes on rough roads, but the movement of steering is controlled- Maybe the rack is compensating for the issue with steering column.

5) I called the SKODA technical expert who examined my car. He said the boot was cut and hence the steering rack had to be replaced anyway. But for the rattling noise, the column needs to be checked and on a friendly note asked me to raise a separate ticket later so that the column, if defective, can be changed under warranty.

I dont know how Skoda can simply ignore the faulty parts they have in multiple cars and multiple owners complaining about that. The video that I had on YouTube had 3-4 users voicing the same issue and here in TBHP, I read multiple users having the same exact issues. The column when driven on rough roads simply gives up and some pay develops between parts.

I am a little occupied on the personal front, hence couldnot give my car for second inspection. I would update the thread whenever that happens. I would request members to share any Volkswagen/ Skoda higher official contact numbers, if they have any, to get this sorted.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by hrman

This is what I seriously dont understand from some manufacturers, most specially VAG. If the same car was out of warranty, the service center would have diagnosed it as a fault and handed the OP a bill worth 1L-1.5L for steering pump failure and replacement, bushes, some unknown and unheard of part replacements just for the heck, steering assembly changing etc. Since it is under warranty, the general feedback will always be "Its ok, nothing wrong".

Well, there is no pump in the steering of Rapid, its EPC where the whole steering column most probably costs around 50K and steering rack costs around 17-18K. Don't know where your cost figures are coming from!

I had my steering column replaced at the VW service station when my car was under warranty, though had to do few follow ups since the issue was not predictable. The billed amount for the whole column was around 48K at that time which I did not have to pay.

I think we should boycott all such manufacturers and not buy their products anymore.
...
least we expect is acknowledging an issue and resolving it by honoring the so called warranty. Why is the VAG group acting like this in India?

I got one of headlight replaced last year for my 12 year old car at the VW service station. The replacement headlight also had manufacturing defect. The spare parts come with standard 2 years of warranty at the VW authorized service station. I got the headlight replaced at the service station since it was under warranty. Such is the peace of mind we get at the VAG service stations for servicing our cars.

My personal experience has been nice with the VW so far. Not only in terms of quality of the vehicles itself, but with the warranty policy as well. I refrained speaking about my experience initially and only started talking about it after having experience of owning my car for more than a decade.

Would like to know which VAG car you owned for how long and which dealership making you say so much bad things about the VAG so that other fellows here stay away from such dealerships and service stations.

[Clayton Crasto]

Originally Posted by Tuisha110HP

Since the warranty guy and technician from Skoda were under the firm belief that the tire upsize from 185 section to 195 section is the main reason for the busted boot of the rack, I was asked to pay for the rack.
.

That is such a scam. Even the Polo Highline and Rapid Style variants come with stock 195 section tires, so that is definitely not the cause of failure. It's the defective design right from the start. Guess they can go to any extent to blame the customer

I'm concerned now that even my Polo may still have the clunking noise after the rack is replaced. Waiting to get the car back, in 2 days hopefully.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Would like to know which VAG car you owned for how long and which dealership making you say so much bad things about the VAG so that other fellows here stay away from such dealerships and service stations.

I owned a Skoda Rapid TDI for 11 years which was serviced at Vinayaka Skoda, Bangalore which was shut down due to alleged malpractices.

[Tuisha110HP]

Originally Posted by Clayton Crasto

That is such a scam. Even the Polo Highline and Rapid Style variants come with stock 195 section tires, so that is definitely not the cause of failure. It's the defective design right from the start. Guess they can go to any extent to blame the customer

I'm concerned now that even my Polo may still have the clunking noise after the rack is replaced. Waiting to get the car back, in 2 days hopefully.

Hi,

How is your car behaving now? I still get the same noise on rough roads. No respite from the clunky noises.

[Clayton Crasto]

Originally Posted by Tuisha110HP

Hi,

How is your car behaving now? I still get the same noise on rough roads. No respite from the clunky noises.

A lot of improvement, though I'm also getting a mild clunking from the right side on bad roads. Wasn't as bad as before, but it's there. Honestly, I've forced myself to live with it as I don't have the patience to leave the car at the workshop again (for the rack replacement, they took a week citing internet connection failure, warranty approval, blah blah).
Also, the warranty expired in March and now they'll surely say it's something to do with the lower arms or other components and simply want to charge.