Quote:
Originally Posted by ninjatalli It'd be more morally correct and as per well-followed team-bhp guidelines/similar situations (in the past) to openly share and post the details on the open forum, infact on this thread itself.
Have PMed you the same. Please do share. |
Quote:
Originally Posted by vb-san I agree with Ninja. It does not sound right that the 150 odd members need to PM you to get hold of the results. And those who have not taken the survey also might be interested to know the findings. |
Totally agree with your views. Details of my findings below:
Disclaimer: - I definitely cannot guarantee the accuracy of the surveys due to the open nature of the survey. I did filter out bogus surveys based on some logic, but there definitely is a possibility of some left behind.
- The sample size is still very small to come to a firm conclusion for or against the cars. Had the survey been active for a few more days and if the sample size could have been more than 300 or 500, it would have been better.
- The conclusions that I have arrived from the survey are solely my personal conclusions and do not reflect any bias for or against any individual(s) or organization(s)
- Please do take all these findings with a bucket of salt
Note to Moderators: Please edit or remove the post if you find this information to be in anyway against forum rules or causes any inconvenience.
Note to users who are against Skoda: The intention of this survey is not to prove you wrong. In fact, in my conclusion, I have mentioned Skoda cars are not for users who are averse to taking risks. The number of threads and posts dedicated to Skoda bashing should be enough to discourage any potential buyers. This is for those enthusiast drivers (including me) who are not able to find any other enthusiast car, but would like to know the actual amount of risk they have to take to own such a car.
Survey Results:
Totally I received 193 surveys that were complete. Out of this, I filtered out bogus surveys and only 118 surveys were left. Bogus surveys are posted by users who do
not own a Skoda car and 9 out of 10 times they will make a mistake in the data. Some examples are:
A person said he owns a Rapid with 7 speed DSG. Rapid does not come with a 7 speed DSG.
A person said he had to change the turbo charger in his Rapid petrol car. Rapid does not come with a turbo petrol engine, only Octavia has.
A person said he owns a third generation Octavia for 3 years.
From the 118 surveys, below are some key points:
To the question "On a scale of 0 to 10 how likely are you to recommend a Skoda car to a friend or relative":
45% (54 of 118) scored a 7 or above
60% (22 of 37) of petrol users scored 7 or above.
39% (32 of 81) of diesel users scored 7 or above
To the question "On a scale of 0 to 10 how satisfied are you with your dealer"
36% (38 of 105) scored a 7 or above
Major component replacements:
45% (54 of 118) of the cars had one or more components replaced
12% (3 of 24) of cars owned less than a year had one or more components replaced
27% (16 of 58) of cars owned up to 2 years had one or more components replaced
39% (35 of 89) of cars owned up to 3 years had one or more components replaced
44% (49 of 111) of cars owned 3 to 5 years had one or more components replaced
In the above analysis, the number of cars is progressive. The number of cars owned upto 2 years is a sum of cars owned less than a year and 1 to 2 years, and so on.
AC compressor - 12% (15 of 118)
Power windows - 11% (13 of 118)
Gearbox - 8.5% (10 of 118). 7 of these 10 were DSG gearboxes
Turbochargers - 6.7% (8 of 118)
Entertainment system - 3.3% (4 of 118)
ABS control - 1.6% (2 of 118)
To the question "Did you have a breakdown where your car had to be towed":
17% (21 of 118) replied yes. 9 of these were petrol and 12 of these diesel
Below are some verbatim comments (both positive and negative) from users.
Positives:- If the car is good from start, you are less likely to have issues. If you drive carefully, have no accidents and do not mod (electrically or otherwise), the car won't have issue
- It's a great VFM product. At that price (Skoda Superb), you get features equivalent to a Merc. E Class, space equivalent to a Merc. S Class. With regards to ASS, IMHO I do not think they are any worse than most ASS of other brands. Honestly, I have had NO ISSUES until now with my Dealer. I've been servicing at Autobahn at Sewri.
- No unexpected problems from a 4 yr old 40000 km life.
- I would recommend because they are really nicely built cars and the reason I would not ask them to is because of the prices of parts and other practices by the service center. I am not to worried about the a.s.s guys attitude as I have dealt with Tata and HM before this.
- The car has given me no trouble in two years and has met all my needs admirably.
- I guess at the end it boils down to if one would like to be the owner of the most mechanically accomplished car or rather would like to fiddle with fancy electronics and other interior gizmos. I had selected my car after test driving 7 other cars in the same league and while making the final decision only one thing mattered: the car best to drive! But it's true that I had my own way to deal with Skoda; even the car I drive is a unique one almost "custom-made" for me, which I'm not sure everyone will have the patience to persist. But, if you love cars from a mechanical point of view and could be persistent with the management to make yourself listened to, Skoda is the brand for you.
- Skoda makes excellent cars. Period. However the people in India managing it need to het their act together.
- Rock solid car with no issues and an absolute pleasure to drive and own !!!
Negatives:- They dont know the word " service ". they Just want sell cars and forget about them.
- Even though they make brilliant cars, apart from the skoda dealer, my other concern is the expensive maintenance.
- Expensive Repairs & Electronic Component Failure. Warranty support was terrible and I had to bear the expenses. I would never buy any VAG group product in my life because I am frustrated
- I strongly feel that Skoda service centres lack grossly on technical expertise. As a end customer you might be ignorant of the nitygritys and not by the service centre.
- Very expensive to maintain. Poor dealer experience.
- There are lot of better options available out there. I don't want to put my credibility at stake by recommending a brand that has no respect for its customers.
Conclusion:
My conclusions based on the above results and also from my observations from the various Skoda problem threads in TBHP:
- The rate of failure (17% breakdown that required a towing, 45% of cars requiring component replacement) is definitely on the high side. But if you enjoy a car that has a tank like build, has great driving dynamics, and if you can take a calculated risk, then I think this you can buy a Skoda car. If you are a person who is totally averse to risks then Skoda cars are not for you.
- Seeing the negative comments, almost all the users who have negative experience are because of the dealer attitude. So, first find out the reputation of the dealer in your area and make the choice based on that.
- Never, never buy the car without an extended warranty. Most of the users have reported that all major component replacements happened during warranty and the main problem they faced was the time it took to source the components than Skoda not honoring their warranty. So, having an extended warranty will give you 4 years of peace of mind.
- Outside warranty, Skoda spares are expensive if bought from the dealers. The best approach after warranty would be to find a good third party garage, and source parts directly from various websites that sell Skoda spares. This conclusion is not from the survey, but from the experience of various other happy owners.
- If there are a few (I would say two or three, this actually depends on your personal preference) failures after purchase of the car, be patient and have the dealers replace the spares under warranty. Most of the complaints posted in the forum are not for dealers not honoring their warranty, but dealers not replacing the car. Ask for a replacement car only if you are absolutely sure that the car is a total failure. And take the legal course only as the last, very last resort. You could definitely win a legal battle if you have sufficient records, but it takes a lot of time.
- Maintain perfect records for every failure that happened on your car, and insist that the dealer provides you the bill for the service (even if parts were replaced under warranty). This will help in case you had to take the legal course in the future.
Conclusion Specific to Octavia 1.8TSI Elegance
My conclusions based on the above results related to Octavia 1.8TSI:
- The 1.8TSI petrol engine in Laura seems to be reliable. In fact TSI Laura owners are the most satisfied lot. So, the engine should not be an issue
- The most unreliable component in the Elegance trim is the DSG gearbox. 4 out of 6 users who had the 7 speed DSG had their gearbox replaced. 3 out of 16 users who had 6 speed DSG had their gearbox replaced. I have made lot of research in the internet on the 7 speed DSG failures. Most of the failures are in cars manufactured before 2010 or 2011. No major issues have been reported on cars after this. So, a DSG7 is sort of a gamble. However, if you have an extended warranty then there will be 4 years where your gearbox is covered. And there is a chance that all problems may be resolved by then.
Finally, my decision from this survey:
I am going ahead and buying a Skoda car. Just to avoid the risk of the DSG7 failure, I am considering Superb 1.8TSI MT Elegance as an alternate to Octavia. Call me a braveheart, suicidal or a Masochist (as another member duly pointed out

), I love to drive and in today's market I could not find an enthusiast car from a Japanese or Korean manufacturer that is fun to drive, has that luxury quotient and safe as well!!