Yeti TSI chain replaced at 20.000 miles - shoud I worry for the future?

[davidfromparis]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am David from Paris-France and a recent new owner of a 1.2 TSI Skoda Yeti Experience - year 2010 - with roughly 20.000 miles, bought second hand in September 2014 from a Skoda dealer in Northen France.

 

I bought the car in September this year just prior to summer holidays  and drove it from Paris to Menorca Island in Spain and return. Was absolutely delighted with the car and its refinement especially on motorway.

 

Sadly things have changed..... today I took the Yeti to a Skoda dealer to have a spare key coded and while checking on the car, they realized the chain cam was about to break, the famous chain rattle as mentionned on this forum and other VW sites.

 

I knew about this TSI issue, but buying the Yeti with one year warranty - DasWeltAuto contract - and the car being serviced prior buying it by official Skoda dealer, I thought I would be trouble free for at least a full year, until the next service, so said the salesman ;-)

 

Skoda Paris quoted 1,400€ - around 1,100£ - to replace the chain. There is no way I am going to pay for this, the car is only 4 years old and has been serviced timely in the VW group and has only 20,000 miles on the counter. 

 

They seemed embarassed when I asked them if they thought this was acceptable, and admited that they have been replacing chain cam on lots of TSI  vehicules - they are a big VW SKODA dealer in Paris.

 

The car also benefits from a 1 year warranty from DasWeltAuto but curiously Skoda said they need to check if this chain issue can be taken under warranty... After lots of discussion, they finally said I should not worry and possibly I would end up paying nothing for the repair, but still pending confirmation.....?!?

 

I feel really dissapointed now, and to be honest have big doubt about long term reliability of the car.

 

My question is : will the replacement of the chain fix the issue once and for all, or is it likely that this issue will occur in the future again?

 

Should I keep this car once fixed, or should I sell it -get rid of it- before the 1 year warranty expires in September 2015?

 

Sorry for the hassle, and many thanks for your help!

 

David

Edited 31 October, 2014 by davidfromparis

[nomdeplume]

I have lived in France for 5 years and during this time have learnt that a 'warranty' of any kind is of questionable value. There have been a number of occasions when I (or friends) have had occasion to return faulty goods and the retailer in question tries every possible trick to wriggle out of their responsibilities. The motor trade is the same. My advice is not to take no for an answer and to make a nuisance of yourself until you get what is your legal entitlement, in this case a new timing chain supplied and fitted under the warranty you have paid for. A good ploy with the french is to turn up to complain at 11.50 am, which is just before their precious 2 hour lunch break starts. They will not want their lunch break disturbed and will do/say anything to get you out of their hair by midday.

Once the car is fixed you should have another 20k miles of reliable use before you consider changing it in September 2015.

[BobbyG79]

Sounds like the low mileage of your 2010 Yeti has hidden the fact (until now) that your timing chain had lengthened, and thus should have been replaced.

 

My 2009 Yeti had an entirely new engine because of this reason, the only difference being that my timing chain had lengthened to the extent that internal damage occurred.

 

According to the dealer who carried out the work (this all happened before I bought the car) The engine was replaced in conjunction with a Skoda Field campaign for an UPDATED timing chain, so it may be worth knowing if any previous work of this nature has occurred on your car, or whether your engine has remained untouched.

[Ryeman]

Surely there is a permanent fix for this known problem.

It's a factory warranty so why are dealers in France trying to avoid dealing with it?

[nomdeplume]

Surely there is a permanent fix for this known problem.

It's a factory warranty so why are dealers in France trying to avoid dealing with it?

It's a french thing. Treat customers as a nuisance to be tolerated.

[Ryeman]

True laissez-faire.

[davidfromparis]

Thanks for all your input.

 

The customer service experience is dreadful here in France, and it's really painful to constantly have to justify your rights.

 

In a 'normal' world the dealer should have started by APOLOGISING for this abnormal faulty breakdown and then reassure the customer that everything will be done to fix this issue.

 

Anyway, back to my original question, if you were in my position, would you keep this car on the long run once fixed or would you consider selling it before the one year warranty expires?

 

Thanks

[docc]

I suppose, in the light of all these comments about France, there isn't a chance that the dealer's opportunistically creating a job that doesn't actually exist?

[nomdeplume]

Not when it should be done under warranty. France? Apology? Never. I take my Yeti to the UK for servicing, such is my dislike and distrust of what you get here.

[albero78]

Hi all. I am planning to get a new yeti 1.4tsi. How big are the odds i will encounter these problems everybody is speaking about on the internet?

[freedie]

He's back!

[docc]

He's back!

The car tuner?

[Llanigraham]

Hi all. I am planning to get a new yeti 1.4tsi. How big are the odds i will encounter these problems everybody is speaking about on the internet?

 

You might be better opening your own thread specifically in relation to the 1.4.

 

Request sent to Mods to request move.

[harrymonk]

I'd keep the car once the repair has been done, it should last you 20k miles at the least.

If this is such a common fault within the VW group you would think they would find a replacement chain, or similar.

Not good in my book

[lfc958]

I also go with keeping the car once the work has been done, at least you can be confident that you have a new part fitted & done by Skoda should at least give you 2-3  years peace of mind that this part should not fail.

 

If you absolutely hate the car then get rid, otherwise keep it.

[dizurik]

Hi.

I had the same issue with my VW Touran 1.4 TSI, bought second hand from Volkswagen Switzerland. At 35'000km the chain had to be replaced, a repair estimated to cost around 2'500€. I quickly and firmly made it clear to the dealer (AMAG) that it was out of the question that I pay for this, that I had bought a 9 month old Touran from them so as to avoid this kind of surprise. I got the usual "May I call you back in a few minutes, Sir? I'll check with management." A few minutes later I was told that a chain replacement under 100000km was not normal ("it should never happen.") and that the costs would be covered by the dealer.

[davidfromparis]

Thanks for your help, I really love the car so I think I will keep it once the repair is done.

 

Amazing forum by the way 

[Frenchtone]

Any further probs with the car take a French lady with a pointy finger with you when questioning warranty etc they can be quite formidable and never usually never take no for an answer - from one who has used this ploy for other 'stuff'!

[nomdeplume]

Any further probs with the car take a French lady with a pointy finger with you when questioning warranty etc they can be quite formidable and never usually never take no for an answer - from one who has used this ploy for other 'stuff'!

A French lady with a pointy finger! I love it! I can picture the scene at the dealer's service desk. Mon Dieu!

[Frenchtone]

^    

[davidfromparis]

Guess what? The story is not over!

 

The jerk from Skoda Paris rang me 3 days ago and said I had to provide them with all maintenance/service history of the vehicule so that VW can consider take the repairs on their behalf.

 

I told him to check the maintenance log record in the glove compartment, he insisted on me providing with the service bills - otherwise no goodwill....

 

The car is 4 years old, I told him I bought the car two months ago from an official Skoda dealer in Lille and have no way of knowing where and when the car had been serviced prior to my purchase.

 

I ended the call, rang the salesman in Lille -nice guy- who told me this was not acceptable and he was going to contact Skoda Paris.

 

He rang me a few hours later and told everything was sorted, as the history of the vehicule is available to all Skoda dealers using an internal software, the history clearly shows the vehicule was serviced accordingly within the VW group.

 

Today the same guy from Paris call me again to say VW has agreed to fix the chain on my vehicule free of charge BUT oil and filters would have to be paid by me.

 

I asked him how much, I could hear him mumbling for a while - this guy is disgusting - then he said: "not much something around 200€"

 

200€ for oil and filters ?!? 

 

I asked him if his oil was made of gold, and he replied that it was basically the cost of usual servicing of the car -changing oil and stuff.

 

I did not insist and checked on dasweltauto website where it is clearly stated that during the warranty period, if any part has to be fixed or replaced, the cost of oils, filters and coolant is included in the warranty cover.

 

This is one of the main Skoda dealers in Paris, and a big one, how can they treat customers like this?

 

Tomorrow Friday I am due to get my Yeti back -if ready- but I will not give them a penny, we will see how it goes. 

 

I do not have "a French pointy finger lady" at my disposal so any advice on how to deal with this situation greatly appreciated!

 

I am expecting some sort of reaction such as "if you don't pay, you don't get your car", we will see how it goes.

Edited 6 November, 2014 by davidfromparis

[thingy]

Hi David,

just a thought, print off the bit about oils - filters etc and take that with you.

[davidfromparis]

Hello everyone,

Just a few updates of my miserable story. I got my car back from VW with the chain fixed and paid for oil and filters myself.

Using my legal assistance contract, I threatened DasWelt Auto insurance group with a simple letter and got a cheque back from them as a refund for oil and filter costs a few weeks later.

Now a few months have passed and the boot light failed. After diagnozed by another VW dealer in Paris - I did not want to return to the previous one for poor service - they found out an electrical problem with wiring and electronic calculator to replace at a cost averaging 1000€. My car is under warranty until end of october 2015 so I have asked them to take on those repair costs but they refused arguing this was not covered by the warranty - only engine parts were covered. I then asked Skoda for paying for those repairs but they said the car was too old. The car is from June 2010 and has only 40.000 kms so this should be around 35.000 miles if I am correct.

On top of that the rubber joint of the rear door was completely cracked and had to be replaced for around 170€

And last but not least, last weekend I took my car on a trip to southern France where heavy rain was encountered. The car was parked in a sligtly upward position on a slope and As a result of this some water came in where the rear passenger airbag is, let's say around the passenger shoulder. I asked for troubleshooting but they found nothing wrong with the sunroof, I am 100% confident that the leak came from the panoramic sunroof.

I am completely disgusted with the poor reliability of this car. I am taking legal action against the seller - a professional Skoda dealer - for cancelling the sale. I know this is going to be tough but I simply cannot carry on with a car like that....

[awfabia]

Please bear in mind the extremely positive experiences most of us on this forum and many others have of their Yetis. Number one on the AutoExpress Driver Power survey for a couple of years and still number two, means that your problems are not typical AND most UK Skoda dealers are pretty good.

As to whether you keep the car or not - well, as someone with over 40 years experience in the motor trade, I think occasionally some cars are 'duds' or 'Friday' cars and maybe get rid if dealers are struggling to fix it to your satisfaction.

I just LOVE my Yeti and, if I needed to replace it, would have another in a heartbeat!

[docc]

Please bear in mind the extremely positive experiences most of us on this forum and many others have of their Yetis. Number one on the AutoExpress Driver Power survey for a couple of years and still number two, means that your problems are not typical AND most UK Skoda dealers are pretty good.

As to whether you keep the car or not - well, as someone with over 40 years experience in the motor trade, I think occasionally some cars are 'duds' or 'Friday' cars and maybe get rid if dealers are struggling to fix it to your satisfaction.

I just LOVE my Yeti and, if I needed to replace it, would have another in a heartbeat!

I'm not at all sure the Driver Power survey is the best guide to reliability - given that it's based entirely on reviews by readers.  The Which? reliability guide (also based on reader reviews) rates the Yeti quite poorly.

 

Probably the best guide is the Warranty Direct index - simply because it's based on hard fact (warranty claims) rather than opinion.  It rates the Yeti quite poorly for reliability:

 

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/324

 

Interestingly, it shows owners rating it a lot better!  Have we got blinkers on, I wonder?