Octavia MKII Scout TDi 2008 - Service Schedule

[nidgep]

hi,

 

This recent post on Haldex filter changing got me thinking...

Firstly I've had my Scout since June and therefore didnt even know that the Haldex had serviceable items.

 

So I did a quick search to see if there is a posting containing the service schedule for an Octavia Scout TDi (2008).

 

When I didnt find anything, I thought I would ask the knowledgable members of Briskoda.

 

Does anyone have a pointer to such a full service listing for such a car, or can post one here?

 

Is the Haldex servicing something that the main dealer should do as a part of a service schedule?

 

Thanks

 

[0wl]

My post here should help you:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/320854-octavia-mk2-engines-dpfs-cambelts-oils-brakes-and-servicing-info/

[Anddenton]

On a 2008 the oil and filter should be changed every 40k miles. And it's not part of a standard service so you need to request it as an extra (and pay extra). Many dealers miss the requirement for the Haldex service, my dealer did the 40k and 60k services then told me I'd missed the haldex service and should book it in to be done.

[nidgep]

Brill! - Thanks Owl - great info and exactly what I hoped for.

 

Thanks also to Anddenton for the extra Haldex nugget.

 

Looks like I need to get in touch with the dealer. My car has done 110,000 with full main dealer history but no mention of the Haldex, nor any bills as proof either.

 

Any of you guys done the Haldex service yourselves? Like mentioned in the Haldex post referring to a Golf Mk V R32?

What kind of price would a dealer charge versus DIY?

 

Thanks in advance.

[silver1011]

Ring the dealer who's stamps are in the service book and ask them if the Haldex has ever been done by them.

 

If it hasn't been done every 40,000 miles ask them what 'out of warranty' cover they plan to provide you if the system develops a fault due to lack of proper servicing.

[nidgep]

Thanks silver1011. I'll ring them tomorrow morning.

 

The car was purchased privately (local original owner) and was originally supplied by the local Skoda dealership.

I recently had a full service carried out by them so they "should" know everything about the car.

 

- want to try and get the car on a known baseline in terms of servicing etc so I know where everything is up to.

- and want to try and avoid any nasty surprises due to poor maintenance

 

Will be interesting to see what they say - my guess is that the Haldex has never been touched. If so will ask why, and as you suggest will ask what out of warranty cover they plan to provide.

Edited 10 August, 2014 by nidgep

[nidgep]

Owl.

 

Is there any servicing info on the alternator / auxillary drive belt and air con around?

[0wl]

For the auxiliary belt there is no set replacement interval. It is advised to be inspected every 4 years or 60,000km (37,282 miles) and replaced if deteriorated / required.

[nidgep]

Ok - so I've now been in touch with the Skoda dealer in relation to the Haldex oil and filter change.

The service booklet states that the car was seviced at 35,000 & 47,000 miles.

On the 47,000 miles service the dealer has "ticked" the additional items checkbox next to the 60,000km, but there is nothing to qualify what this entailed.

 

The dealer is saying that they dont have any service history (on computer) other than the service they carried out for me in June this year.

When I asked why, I was told that the dealership changed hands and computer systems and didnt "import" any previous service history prior to the change over.

Hmmm, I questioned this, saying that to me this seemed to be a deliberate ploy by the new franchise (same name however) not to have to honor any previous service queries like I have. That is assuming that the service guy I spoke to is telling the truth.

 

Basically, he cannot tell me if the Haldex oil and filter have ever been changed and that it would be around £100 to do it, basically they are not interested.

 

My understanding having owned VW's and Audis in the past is that the VAG group have a central database where all info from main dealers is recorded and so is available world wide.

Should I be correct in this undestanding then the main Skoda dealer is talking baloney.

 

Is the fact that they have no record of any service history a viable excuse?

 

Thoughts please.....

[silver1011]

If they could prove that it had been done then great.

 

But they can't, through no fault of your own. Therefore you and the dealer has to assume that it hasn't been done.

 

Their response is not good enough, a typical 'fob off'. Not even a gesture of goodwill, a discount to replace it for you?

 

As if this wasn't bad enough they are over charging you at £100. My last Haldex oil change (less than a year ago) at a main dealer was £60. I remember discussing it in another thread at the time and others confirmed similar pricing from their local main dealers.

 

What you do next depends on what your attitude to these things is!

 

Some prefer the hassle free route, pay the £100 and have done with it. Completely understandable.

 

I'm different, I can't stand having the wool pulled over my eyes and / or poor service. There is no excuse for it.

 

I'd be doing two things...

 

1) Ring back the dealer. Tell them you have thought about it and you aren't happy. They are unable to prove it has been done. It should have been done at least twice in its life time and is now due a third change soon. They should be offering to either change it for free or at a reduced rate and this time ask them if they are capable of recording it properly!

 

2) Make contact with Skoda UK. Ring 08457 745745 (option 4) or email them for a 24 hour response...

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/about-us/contact-us

 

Explain to them the situation and tell them there is every chance your car still has the original Haldex oil in it. Considering it has a full main dealer service history it is quite amazing in this day and age that there are no electronic records stored centrally. Also Skoda UK should be all over the safe transfer of data when a franchise is moved from one dealer to another.

 

Whichever way you go... good luck. Oh and whichever route you do decide to take your number one priority should be to get the Haldex oil changed ASAP!

Edited 16 August, 2014 by silver1011

[nidgep]

Thanks for the lengthy reply silver1011.

 

I forgot to mention that the dealership said that he has known the Haldex servicing to be offered to customers and that some refuse.

Wouldn't this invallidate the warranty?

 

I'm the same kind of person - I'm not going to let this go without some kind of fight and I'm not naive when it comes to car mechanicals and fighting my own corner.

It comes down to a basic sense of right and wrong.

 

Experience has taught me to take the gente approach in the hope that a supplier of goods or services will respond in the right manner.

I believe that I have done that with the Skoda dealership, so I will try and use whatever means I can to get the problem resolved.

The order of resolution will naturally be one of the following (in order of preference).

 

1) Dealer/Skoda sort it for free

2) Dealer offers discounted oil and filter change - say parts only.

3) Dealer offers no discount and I pay - but will take the car elsewhere - for good.

 

Since my last post, I have contacted the local VW dealership and asked if they would service the car.

They said they would and have offered to service the car at Seat service rates/intervals and would do the Haldex for £65.

 

For the Skoda dealership, I have used them twice since June, and only because I liked the idea of having the supplying dealership also servicing the car.

1. The first time was for a full service.
   1. Following the service, they went through a vehicle check list
      • They pointed out that they could not see the cam belt being changed - I corrected them on this point - it was done at 72,000
      • They pointed out that the brake fluid needed to be changed. OK.
      • There was no mention that the Haldex oil change could not be confirmed and needed to have new oil and  filter.
        • I will use this as a counter argument against their current stance.
2. The second time was to have the brake fluid changed as pointed out previously. (I'm a bit dubious about this too as the brakes seem worse since being done and improve with pumping them...but thats another story.).

 

Interestingly, I called the dealer before I bought the car to ask what thet knew about it.

The parts guy told me it had received 2 sets of Proteus alloys under warranty (no great surprise and not detrimental), and had a new offside door mirror glass replaced.

Question is, how can the parts guy know something about the car and yet the service guy know nothing? The parts guy never mentioned the dealer franchise change over either.

 

1. Firstly, I will contact a random Skoda dealership to see what info they can provide - I did this with a Golf GTi I used to own (pre purchase) and received a full breakdown of everything that had been done to the car - I expect the same of Skoda.
2. I will also contact Skoda UK and explain the situation to them, to get an official take on it.
3. I will then be contacting the main dealership again, but intend to do it in person probably Monday morning - face to face "discussions" are always better/more productive and I would like to think that I am astute enough and quick thinking enough to catch them out if there are holes in what they are saying.

For the sake of the car, I should really get the Haldex serviced and then fight it out afterwards - history dictates that it is always more difficult to get the preferred resolution after the problem has been removed.

Even worse is that I'm supposed to be going to the lake district next week.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to reply - much appreciated.

I will update the post once I have progressed the situation further - hopefully in a more postive light.

[silver1011]

Great words nidgep, that is exactly the route to take, firm but fair.

 

I find the bit about the parts guy knowing more than the service department interesting. Smells a bit suspicious to me. I reckon that they know that the Haldex hasn't been changed and just assumed you'd cough up the £100.

 

Good luck!

[nidgep]

Thanks for the encouragement silver1011.

Update :

Called skoda UK and explained the situation. The person I spoke to wasn't very forward in offering help. Eventually they agreed to phone the dealer which they did and called me back.

Reply from dealer was confirmation that the haldex oil has never been changed and that they DO have the service history - even though Skoda UK don't!? They have offered to change the oil for £75.00. I explained to Skoda UK that it was hardly going the extra mile and that I could get it done cheaper at the local VW dealership! I stated that the local skoda dealer should do more. They have not serviced the car correctly and they have lied to me about the history of the car. My enquiry has now been escalated internally at Skoda and to expect a response in 48 hours. I have not been back in touch with the local dealer but intend ringing them to arrange a meeting with the manager.

[silver1011]

Sounds promising.

 

Fingers crossed for a free oil change...

[nidgep]

Update :

Spoke to a guy named Ian from customer services at Skoda UK.

Basically they are not prepared to do anything.

Cut a long story short, the car is too old to be considered for a good will gesture and that's the end of the matter.

He said even though the car has a full service history he cannot confirm that the haldex oil had been changed - lack of service information detail. He has spoken to the local main dealer who (as we know) confirmed it had not been changed. Despite this the outcome hasn't altered.

I said that I wasn't bothered about a good will gesture but was "disappointed" that Skoda UK were happy with the dealership and did not consider them to have done anything wrong and will not be taking them to task about this.

I pointed out the bigger picture that this was more about the dealership and the level of service they were providing to other Skoda customers.

Skoda UK : Not bothered.

I spent 20 minutes on the phone to Skoda UK trying every angle I could think of trying to put my point of view across to no avail.

From my perspective I would make the following statement :

If an important service item is overlooked by a Skoda main dealer and is not noticed then tough luck - you're on your own. This is true even if the car has a full skoda service history but is out of the warranty and "good will gesture" period. (full history basically means nothing it seems).

I have since spoken to the service manager at the dealership and agreed for the haldex oil to be changed for £75.00.

Interestingly, I called the other branch of the dealership (12 miles away) to ask for a price to change the haldex oil and they quoted £205. (???)

Problems like this in the past (other dealerships/cars) lead me to service and maintain my own cars and I thought that I no longer needed to do so. Perhaps I need to give it some more thought.

Overall I would say that when you peel back the wrappers, Skoda UK cannot manage vehicle history data with any kind of accuracy or tenacity, nor do they seem particularly bothered about this.

Furthermore, Skoda UK don't seem to have any quality control mechanisms for their dealerships, nor do they seem particularly bothered by this either.

How skoda attained such a high customer satisfaction status is beyond me.

I didn't win - but I tried.

[0wl]

Sorry you weren't successful, as you say at least you tried.

How skoda attained such a high customer satisfaction status is beyond me.

On this point I've always thought it is to do with the period most ownership surveys are carried out being within or around the first 3 years of ownership. For Skoda these first 3 years are usually covered by the manufacturer / factory warranty which enables most dealers to generally offer good service at little cost to themselves. The official skoda approved used warranty is a poor relation to the manufacturer warranty with the car from new - wiring faults aren't covered for example.

[silver1011]

Don't give up just yet, a quick email to the CEO has had positive results on here in the past...

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/264938-skoda-uk-ceo-name-and-contact-details/

 

If you are a Twitter user a quick post has seen favourable results too...

 

https://twitter.com/SKODAUK