BeattieBohemia

Thanks again for the further replies. Extended warranty cover for my car/ mileage is somewhere between £600 and £1.1k depending upon the excess and whether I opt for named or all component cover. Feels like quite a lot. Any views on the named vs. all component cover options? I'm inclined not to have a huge excess as will really grate to have to pay that as well as the premium, to avoid the bill. Discs were recommended by a dealer at last point of contact although when I probed a little the emphasis was on 'braking efficiency' and 'prolonging the life of the pads' and other non-serious sounding comments rather than it being even close to a safety issue. So I took the view that it wasn't a job for that day. Next service is around 3k miles away so happy to take the 'vehicle health check' at that point and re-assess. The car turns 5 in September, a month before the warranty runs out. Age is the basis on which I think it's soon to be cambelt time. Perhaps £600-700 total at an indy for the cambelt, water pump and discs/pads will be easier to stomach. I'm somewhat persuaded by the line of argument that this cost is materially less than the cost to change car.

Thanks very much for the helpful replies. A few points in response to some of the comments: I'd say our current car has generally been reliable, if not perfect. It needed a DMF at 55k which was done under warranty, so I did the clutch at the same time. So only 14k on those. I suppose one of the reasons I'd consider a change is that the older the car gets, the more likely it is that other (significant) mechnaical items may need replacement. But I'm not sure whether there's an accepted 'cliff' that these mk3 Octavias go over, be it an amount of miles or age in years, where things tend to start going wrong. Put another way, does anyone have experience of the 70-100k or 5-7y ownership period for these cars? Warranty is due to expire in October, and I'll be happy to use an independent after that - why wouldn't I, really. It's a good point that cost to change would be more than the impending bill. For that, cambelt, water pump, and rear discs will all need doing and I will do the pads at the same time as the discs. I think that's over £800 of work (so £1k is an upward approximation) but it would be significant, and not the sort of spend to incur on a car I was about to change. The service itself will be free to me (goodwill). So I think it's a case of keeping at least until 7y/ 100k if I do get all the work done, to get value from that spend. If I was swapping, it'd likely be for a Superb. Would love a 270 but that's probably a little out of budget so likely a 190 or 220; I prefer the latter and a switch back to petrol. I'll be getting a smaller car, a toy for short trips and fun in the next six months, so our family car will no longer need that element in the same way, so I could even get a 150, but I know I'll wish I hadn't come overtake time! But in the way the vRS meets all of our needs currently, the next two cars will be more specialists for their main role. I'm not in a position to buy new, and can't stomach the depreciation anyway. One day maybe! And as it happens, we're in exactly that position with the houses!

Interested in opinions. We bought our diesel vRS in Oct 2019 with the intention of covering around 22k per year in it. CoViD means we aren't hitting that mileage (around 24k in 21 months) and would prefer a return to petrol sooner or later, and so with the car approaching the expiry of its warranty and a £1k service bill, we are considering whether to keep or change it. It's a 66-plate model, bought for £13k at 45k miles, now at 69k miles and by virtue of the current used car market, probably worth not far from what we paid. Full Skoda service history. I think if we keep now the next logical point for considering a change will be when its 7yo/ approaching 100k (as if we keep then will want to get some value out of the cambelt change and other misc work shortly due). FWIW I think our next family wagon will be a Superb and we'd look for something 3yo again. Grateful for views!

Not DMF-related....but following another issue with my Octavia, for a second time it was a call direct to the warranty provider which prevented me being fobbed-off by a dealer and incurring a four-figure bill. I strongly recommend anyone who has a car within warranty and who is having issue with their dealer, trying the same. Very helpful people available on the phone, and they might save you a lot of money!

A better update,,, Skoda UK and repairing delaer said they wouldn't offer any more goodwill. The dealer I bought the car from refused to offer any support at all and the used sales manager there has not returned my call yesterday, as promised. So I won't buy any more cars from Marshall in Northampton and suggest anyone else considering doing so keeps my experience in mind. I decided to phone Skoda Approved Warranty (0333 043 3782) and spoke to a very helpful chap. He informed me that no warranty claim had so far been made and was clear that dealers should not be making decisions about what is and isn't warrantable, on their behalf. I described the issue and he agreed to phone the repairing dealer on my behalf to urge them to make a warranty claim. Less than five minutes after finishing speaking with me the repairing dealer phoned back offering their sincere apologies. Apparently they didn't understand the extent of warranty coverage(!) and confirming that the flywheel and associated parts and labour were being covered by warranty. They also offered a good discount on a replacement clutch and related ancilliaries. All in all I am looking at £200 rather than £2k initially or £1k after goodwill. An unexpected bill but in theory there is some betterment as a result and I think overall a good result. I've reported the outcome back to Skoda UK. I spoke to two different customer service people during the process. One was not very knowledgeable or helpful, the other was both of these things and has now transferred my case into their name and is exploring a further goodwill gesture on account of the my experience over the past few days. It just goes to show that sometimes it's not the facts of the situation which matter, but who you speak to. In this case, my phoning the warranty team directly was crucial in achieving a fair outcome.

Here are some images of the offending items....

The dealer where the car is for repair and Skoda UK have offered 50% between them. I am holding firm and have also now got the dealer I bought the car from involved. Have suggested the three of them work out between them a better offer. A thought occured to me - it's only because of CoViD-19 that the car wasn't ready for and booked in for service in March. Had that been the case, I think this would have been a fairly simple matter of requiring repair under the Consumer RIghts Act. I do wonder whether I could still argue that a £2k bill <9 months into ownership on a £13k car bought Approved Used with two years warranty might fail the 'satisfactory quality' test.

Yes, both before the investigation and since. I was told before the investigation that a flywheel fault would be covered by warranty and that my risk was the ~10% chance (tech estimate) that the investigation revealed that the flywheel wasn't faulty whereby I would be liable for the diagnostic cost. I was also told that failure to have the issue investigated could result in further damage to the vehicle. I think I have made it pretty clear where I stand on the matter i.e. it's unacceptable that there should be a cost to me, and I have been told since the investigation that the matter is being escalated tomorrow morning. My contact with Skoda UK and the dealers' is being dealt with by the same person.

Time for an update, and it's not a good one. The explanation I was given for why gearbox removal is necessary is that it's for a full and complete inspection. Long and short, that's how Skoda are going to approach it so if I wanted a warranty repair and to not invalidate my warranty then that's the route. Not great, but there we go. I dropped the car off this morning. Received a call this afternoon to say that the flywheel is at fault. "Phew!" I thought...foolishly. Apparently the fault is 'hotspots', which are 'a wear and tear issue' and 'caused by how the car has been driven'. I don't abuse the car. Quite how a flywheel can be a wear and tear part at 55k I don't know. And the possibility that the flywheel could be the problem and the warranty not cover it is something which did not come up in discussion with any of three Skoda dealers nor Skoda UK. The dealer the car is with is now going to speak to Skoda UK. This is an approved used car with over half its warranty remaining....surely it can't be right that the customer is left with a £2k bill after 9 months of ownership?! Only 10k of the 55k are mine so the most I can conceive being fair to ask me to pay is 10/55 of the cost. I don't feel like I should have to cover any of this to be quite honest. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks for this Nick. Reason I want to stick to a dealer is that the car is still in warranty. Three dealers and Skoda UK have told me that the work should be covered by warranty if the flywheel is confirmed as the issue. As soon as the car is outside of warranty I'll be using an independent specialist - just need to find one in the Buckinghamshire/ Bedfordshire/ Northamptonshire area.

Thanks again. Really encouraging to have an active and supportive community like this available! I've phoned around a bit today. All of the main dealers I spoke to proposed the same sort of thing and same sort of cost when I described a possible fault in non-leading terms. I have no reason to doubt your knowledge but are you sure this flywheel can be inspected as you describe? If so, there's obviously a conspiracy amongst dealers! I have read that thread but was unsure whether the 60 plate Superb would have the same setup as my 66 plate Octavia. Really hoping there isn't further damage. I'll fight tooth and nail for warranty repairs as necessary, but everything's easier if they aren't necessary! I have agreed with another dealer for one of their technicians to take the car out for a test-drive tomorrow and to get their opinion on the possible issue(s) FOC. Will see what comes of that. Cheers.

Thanks for the replies, folks. I wouldn't describe the clutch or gear change as feeling juddery or ragged. I can hear a metallic sound when I depress the clutch pedal but that wasn't really cause for concern until now. I think I need to take the car out this evening and have a careful listen. It is a lot of money! And I don't really want to gamble £700 on what is no more than a suspected fault. But, I also don't want to wait for it to go pop whilst on the motorway etc. It didn't seem like there was a problem until the servicing dealer suggested there was one. Yeah, and I haven't. I'll take it out this evening (I tend to only drive it at weekends) and see if anything feels much different. The issue may have cropped-up in the past couple of hundred miles. I can also phone a few different dealers, including an independent I trust. Thanks again.

Hi folks, I'm a medium-term reader but new member here. I'm on my second Skoda, a 66-plate Octavia vRS TDi, bought in October through Approved Used at ~46k and which has just been serviced at 55k. It has full dealer service history and 15 months of Approved Used warranty to run. The servicing (Skoda main) dealer has observed that the car appeared to them to be 'running poorly, like it's running on three cylinders'. There are no warning lights of any sort showing. I hadn't noticed anything myself (if there had been performance degradation I put it down to 'getting used' to the car - previous was a 1.0TSI Fabia). They are suggesting diagnostics to rule out anything simple (e.g. blocked injector). They suspect a seizing dual-mass flywheel (DMF). They are estimating £600+VAT to remove and refit the gearbox for purpose of diagnosing the issue, and £1600+VAT for diagnostics, replacement of the DMF and clutch (at my request). A few questions if I may... Does the jump from simple engine diagnostics to taking the gearbox out seem like a sensible and logical fault-finding progression to you? Are the cost estimates in the right ballpark? Would you expect the Approved Used warranty to cover this work? I would, and the dealer does if the flywheel is the fault...but there are no guarantees in life! Is it sensible or over-cautious to swap the clutch at the same time as the flywheel if the flywheel does need replacing? Dealer has suggested this will be at my cost i.e. not possible via warranty. If the flywheel is not found to be faulty, is there anything else you might suggest could be? What line would you take with the dealer if they don't find a flywheel fault and then want £600+VAT to suggest there is a fault and then fail to find it? e.g. would I be sensible to suggest they keep looking?! Hope that all makes sense but happy to clarify if not. Thank you in advance! BB