[maheshramaling]

Very good initiative and just submitted my response online. I own a Diesel Laura Elegance trim (MT) run 29k+ in the last 2.10 years.

I have had issues in the beginning but those were promptly attended to by ASC & the biggest lot was AC issue due to Automatic Climate Controls - which was replaced fully within warranty. BTW - I have heard very few issues with Manual Transmission Laura's & Octavia's compared to Automatics. Even ASC technicians and service team tells me to avoid Automatic Skoda's.

I am also of the opinion - in general, cars loaded with electronics and controlled with complex/ matrix codes, additional electronic equipments - tend to fail or cause issues and if you see european cars are filled with electronics and a related reason being Indian road/ driving conditions do not go well with this - which is why many european brands fail in reliability.

This situation coupled with bad ASC (though I have had very pleasant experience with TAFE Access) - is a recipe for disaster - which is what happening with Skoda in my opinion.

Even XUV - had lots of niggles/ issues with electronics - but I guess it was sorted or looked into promptly by M&M & their ASC's.

[ALSUDA]

Owning Rapid TDI. One year old & clocked apprx 8k Kms. 90% of driving thru' Highway/Ghats/Forests etc. Touch-wood, absolutely no issues so far. Love to drive this beauty. Everything stock except upgraded the wheels to 15" with Yoko S-Drives 205/55/R15. Got 1year service done from TAFE. Buying/servicing from TAFE was pleasant.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Appreciate your intentions around this, but I am not sure if this is really going to help you, or will give you accurate results. It’s an open survey and I assume that there is no restriction on the no. of times one can submit. A team-bhp poll should have been a better option

The reason why I created an external survey is to let non TBHP members to vote. Also, the survey tool allows for lot of flexibility in generating reports and analysis. The survey tool has a mechanism to track duplicates and hence multiple survey attempts can be identified.

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

We have the 1st gen Octavia for the last 7 years, with close to 85k on the odo. The first service was a pain with Tafe,after which I shifted to Vinayak and now to an independent mechanic. Vinayak was good on the whole,but the independent garage/mechanic trumps these dealers any which day both in expertise and cost.

Over the last 7 years,the car has never broken down due to abrupt part failures. It broke down once when a driver hit a speed bump hard and cracked the oil sump. Skoda Assistance took 4 hrs to come.

Only the power window motor,radiator fan failed the last year. Else its been trouble free so far.

But having read so many horror stories on Skoda,I thank my stars we got a good car which is why i'm wary recommending Skoda cars to friends/relatives,since the ownership experience is not consistent like with Toyota or Maruti.

PS: My experience with VW was far worse though.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

A good initiative and also a well thought out one at it. Though I do NOT own a Skoda, still browsed thru the pages till the last one (did NOT submit it ). But since this is outside of the forum, there are higher chances of tampering (I do NOT own a Skoda, but I could provide bogus information). Probably you could have added a field for getting the VIN or so to cross check how many people have added the information correctly.

I hope and pray we get reliable and accurate information from the survey.

With the number of questions, I found that it is definitely possible to sort out bogus information. Still, I agree that there is a chance for some bogus information to leak in and contaminate the result. Hope people do not give bogus surveys

Originally Posted by ramzsys

I took the survey on behalf of my relative: he owned a Skoda Fabia and faced AC compressor failure within a few months of ownership. Had a frustrating time waiting for parts to arrive. This is in Coimbatore.

He previously owned a Swift and had done about 1.1 lakh km without any such issues.

The net result: More Swifts in the family!

Thanks for the feedback. I too live in Coimbatore and once the survey analysis is over, I intend to speak to the service manager here in the dealership and find out if their spare part stocking has improved.

Originally Posted by surgvij

I owned a skoda Fabia tdi 2008 model (from the initial batch). Sold it few months back with 76k on the odo. The issues I faced with the car were more during the first 2 years later it became a pleasant experience. Infact I felt bad when I saw the car being taken away by its new owner. The car was absolutely stock. The issues were....

Just a note, if you are a skoda owner in chennai and at the mercy of Gurudev motors and something goes wrong with your car then may the GOD SAVE YOU. Those guys are pathetic.

Thank you for the feedback. It is great to know that after the initial niggles, the car worked without any problem for many years.

Originally Posted by Zappo

Is there a way to track the IP Addresses of the respondents? Mass filling of the survey starts showing up in such cases.

For others, while you can't stop non-owners from filling in you can make it difficult by adding request for details that makes it too much of a labor to hunt for such details if one is a not an owner. And yet the owners will respond to the same with much ease.

The survey tool has a mechanism to track duplicate entries and reports this. And the combination of 20+ questions is enough to identify a genuine owner vs. a bogus one.

Originally Posted by maheshramaling

Very good initiative and just submitted my response online. I own a Diesel Laura Elegance trim (MT) run 29k+ in the last 2.10 years.

I have had issues in the beginning but those were promptly attended to by ASC & the biggest lot was AC issue due to Automatic Climate Controls - which was replaced fully within warranty. BTW - I have heard very few issues with Manual Transmission Laura's & Octavia's compared to Automatics. Even ASC technicians and service team tells me to avoid Automatic Skoda's.

I am also of the opinion - in general, cars loaded with electronics and controlled with complex/ matrix codes, additional electronic equipments - tend to fail or cause issues and if you see european cars are filled with electronics and a related reason being Indian road/ driving conditions do not go well with this - which is why many european brands fail in reliability.

Thank you for your kind words and thank you for taking the survey. I totally agree with your point that increasing electronic gadgets definitely reduce the reliability quotient. But being a gadget freak, I think I cannot escape that risk

Originally Posted by ALSUDA

Owning Rapid TDI. One year old & clocked apprx 8k Kms. 90% of driving thru' Highway/Ghats/Forests etc. Touch-wood, absolutely no issues so far. Love to drive this beauty. Everything stock except upgraded the wheels to 15" with Yoko S-Drives 205/55/R15. Got 1year service done from TAFE. Buying/servicing from TAFE was pleasant.

Thank you so much for the feedback.

[maheshramaling]

Originally Posted by graaja

Thank you for your kind words and thank you for taking the survey. I totally agree with your point that increasing electronic gadgets definitely reduce the reliability quotient. But being a gadget freak, I think I cannot escape that risk

Thank you so much for the feedback.

Yes and many of these features are very useful. May be at the end of the survey you will get to know that the reliability issue are predominately on automatic skoda's and risk is worthy if you take any manual skoda's.

Once you purchase - pls. ensure that you build very good rapport with everyone who you interact in service centre be it technician, service adviser, manager or the GM or head of service centre....that will come a very long way in resolving issues quickly to your satisfaction. You will not believe I got wiper blades replaced in warranty after using it for about 3 months & many times - labour charges in the bill vanish or become at-least half!

Just my 2 cents!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by maheshramaling

Once you purchase - pls. ensure that you build very good rapport with everyone who you interact in service centre be it technician, service adviser, manager or the GM or head of service centre....that will come a very long way in resolving issues quickly to your satisfaction. You will not believe I got wiper blades replaced in warranty after using it for about 3 months & many times - labour charges in the bill vanish or become at-least half!

Just my 2 cents!

I am already doing that. I do have a good relationship with the SA and intend to talk to the service manager as well requesting for all the support during the ownership.

[TRANSAM]

Graaja, good idea and initiative, for this survey, just completed it. Awaiting the survey details here on the forum.

In fact, just a couple of hours ago, i received a call from Skoda Customer care ( was unsure if its initiated by the dealer or the company?), asking me if i am looking at buying another Skoda now or in the coming months, my reply was a curt "NO", surprisingly, the lady-girl at the other end, did'nt care to ask, why sir, what happened? can i be of help? so i reckon could be a dealer call, hence she couldnt be bothered if I was Skodaoed or otherwise.

[VW2010]

I am already doing that. I do have a good relationship with the SA and intend to talk to the service manager as well requesting for all the support during the ownership.

Get a good relationship with the mechanic which is what i have with my VW guy. There are instances where we fix issues ourselves and hardly take it to the camp where the service centre will make you wait for 1 hr to just add a little coolant top up.

If you can build a good relationship with a mechanic inside or even outside, most of the common issues can be internally managed.

Even for warranty claims its the mechanics final word that matters more than the SA. The SA plays very little role post a point specifically in case of issues. SA is good if you want special service for the car or some free addons or freebies.

The bigger problems like Air compressor, the fly wheel and the DSG box(All three WILL fail in your TDI cars and its documented or should i say the service engineer and the mechanics know about this very well. Even then customers will be pushed enough to see if tehy fall far paying rather than claiming as warranty.

The best way things will work as explained by the mechanic is to escalate and be adamant on getting things fixed your way. There is always a compromise happening when you put them in a spot in front of customers.

[Sheel]

Skoda Yeti 4X4 Elegance
DOP - 5-12-'12
Services done - 2
Kms done - 37,000 & counting.

No issues.

Response from ASC is mediocre. Car is fantastic.

[Shreyance]

Done with the survey.

I own a Skoda Superb 1.8 TSI AT (7 Speed DSG) for around a year and a half. Done 27,000kms. so far and not a single breakdown or failure with the vehicle so far.

I am extremely satisfied with the vehicle and if I were in the market to buy another car. I would surely buy another SKODA, for sure.

[Y@SH]

Filled!

Car owned : Skoda Laura TDI Ambiente MT
Period of ownership : 1.8 years
Extended warranty : Yes
Kms done : 19,000
Breakdowns & Faults : NIL
Services competed : 1st

One of the few happy skoda customers here. No breakdowns yet and hopefully none in future as well. My cousin owns the Laura PD 2006 DSG crossed over a lakh kms till date and faced no breakdowns yet. Car was routinely serviced by workshop, yes some Service bills were expensive but he has no regrets. My friend owns a 2008 laura DSG and same with him no breakdowns/horror stories yet.

[vignesh.cv]

Filled up the survey.

Car owned: 2013 Laura TDI Ambiente DSG
Period of ownership: 4 months
Kms done: 4200
Extended Warranty: Yes
Breakdowns & faults: Nil
Services completed: None

Car is running well and I'm happy with the build quality and performance.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by TRANSAM

Graaja, good idea and initiative, for this survey, just completed it. Awaiting the survey details here on the forum.

Thank you for taking the survey. I will keep the survey open a few days and then submit my findings.

Originally Posted by VW2010

Get a good relationship with the mechanic which is what i have with my VW guy. There are instances where we fix issues ourselves and hardly take it to the camp where the service centre will make you wait for 1 hr to just add a little coolant top up...

Thank you for the advice. This is absolutely correct. 10 years back, when I had a Suzuki Fiero, I befriended the best mechanic at the dealer and all the repair works used to be very smooth. I will try to do the same with the dealership here as well.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Skoda Yeti 4X4 Elegance
...
No issues.

Response from ASC is mediocre. Car is fantastic.

Thank you for your valuable feedback!

Originally Posted by Y@SH

Filled!

Car owned : Skoda Laura TDI Ambiente MT
....

One of the few happy skoda customers here. No breakdowns yet and hopefully none in future as well. My cousin owns the Laura PD 2006 DSG crossed over a lakh kms till date and faced no breakdowns yet. Car was routinely serviced by workshop, yes some Service bills were expensive but he has no regrets. My friend owns a 2008 laura DSG and same with him no breakdowns/horror stories yet.

Thank you for taking the survey. Can you also ask your cousin and friend to fill in the survey?

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

Filled up the survey.

Car owned: 2013 Laura TDI Ambiente DSG
....

Car is running well and I'm happy with the build quality and performance.

Thank you for taking the survey and your valuable feedback!

[Avid trekker]

@graaja: This survey should have been ideally conducted by Skoda to obtain feedback on the wholesome customer experience. Good initiative from you.

Have responded to the survey.
Car owned: Fabia (Petrol) with 4+ years and 35000+ kms

Can we have a day-wise count of the survey responses?

[500ContyCruiser]

Done! Hope the feedback helps you and Good Luck!

Car owned : Rapid TDI Elegance
Period of ownership : 1 year 3 months
Extended warranty : 2 years [do not remember]
Kms done : 39,500+
Breakdowns : none
Faults : none
Services competed : 3 (if you include even intermediate checkup's done at 7,500 kms)
[copied format from Santosh Bhat]

All I can say is, "So far so good"!!

Have not faced any problems till date. The car has really performed very well! Have driven on smooth NH's to so-called roads (which were worst then my imagination).

Vinayaka Cars have been good right from the day I went for TD, till I renewed my insurance few months back. They also let me stand next to my car during servicing. Floor manager had concerns, but Service Engineer took care of it. For me that would be one of big selling point.

Very eager to see the final outcome of your survey.

[saabasheer]

Skoda Laura TDI MT.
2.1 yrs. ( 2 Services).
33000 Kms.
Clutch/flywheel replacement done once around 26K (Wear & Tear).
Except for this issue and regular service, I had never visited service centre.
Everyday I feel same as how I felt on the first day of purchase,
Of course am happy.