PMFW4

Thanks Ecomatt : I'm glad to say that after a few days of refereeing a three way tug of war (among the dealer, Skoda UK and Skoda warranty) it looks like the dealer has blinked and is going to pick up the cost. Just in case it's useful/relevant to anyone else it seems as if the Skoda system logged "B122B12 Central locking motors short circuit to b+ static " when the approved used process was carried out in July 21 before we bought it but that because there was no apparent defect (i.e. the central locking worked) it wasn't followed up but was on the paperwork seen by the warranty team. This then reappeared at the MoT in Feb 22 (but again wasn't notified or followed up) and then it broke in April (which was the first we knew about it). So the warranty people (outsourced to an insurer) say it predated the approved used warranty and is a dealer problem. But of course at that time the car was also under the manufacturers warranty by Skoda UK. It's been a nightmare sorting this out :I now have three lines of emails to various bits of Skoda and I really am grateful to everyone on this forum for their support/contributions. I'm still not 100% sure of the explanation - it would have been so much simpler and a much better customer experience if between them the various Skoda entities had sorted it out on the basis that whoever was going to pay for it it wasn't us. I'm really glad that we didn't just take what we were told at face value and pay up - escalating with the dealer was good advice. Definitely need a cold beer.or two. Thanks again.

Thanks - that's a bit beyong my technical pay grade I'm afraid. Yet another twist to the saga is that we are told that the dealer has now made a claim but that Skoda warranty have turned it down because of the "logging" of the issue. We have asked for a written explanation and then looks like the Motor Ombudsnman. Wish we'd bought a Honda now.

Thanks again for the replies. In the interests of fairness to Skoda UK it now turns out that no claim was ever submitted to them : instead the dealer's warranty administrator decided that it would not be allowed because of the "logging" issue and the message delivered to us was "confused". No idea where this will end but the Skoda warranty team could not have been nicer or more helpful. So I guess the moral of the story is not to take what the dealer says at face value and go to the people administering the warranty. The dealer has now had the car for a week and it's no clearer what needs to be done or whether it will be covered but at least it's clearer where the log jam is. I guess the worst case is we pay for it with reservation of rights and head off to the Motor Ombudsman

Thanks all - very much appreciated. So far I'm going on what the service manager has told me verbally but I'm planning to get a written report as soon as the work is completed. It's pretty appalling especially as all the glossy stuff talks about peace of mind underwritten by Skoda etc etc etc : at the moment they seem to be acting like some dodgy backstreet insurance cowboy. Thanks for the comments : much appreciated. I think the Motor Ombudsman scheme is the next logical step but may also try an email to Matthew Bowden (CEO of Skoda UK). It's really annoying especially since we switched to a Skoda from Honda where we always had great service including service recall/warranty issues. So much damage to their brand for a relatively small amount of money (about £300) Thanks again ... really appreciate the comments .

Does anyone have experience of dealing with the approved used warranty people please? Have just had a claim refused for a very odd sounding reason and I wondered if this was how Skoda UK behave. Brief facts - car was first registered in March 2019. We bought it in August 2021 as an approved used with a 12 month warranty. It had its first MoT in March 2022 (same dealer) with no problems. It developed a central locking problem in April (which is how I found this forum : thanks for the info on it) and it went back to the dealer. Turned out the problem (as predicted here) was the control module. So far so good. We've just been told that Skoda will not cover it. Apparently this is because when the car was connected to the Skoda diagnostic in March (during the manufacturer warranty) the issue was "logged" but there was no need for action since there was no defect. Apparently the 12 month warranty people say this excludes it from cover. We've asked for a written report from the dealer before we follow the complaints procedure but I'm not holding out much hope. It all looks pretty shabby to me and doesn't give me a lot of faith in the Skoda brand - looks like this will be the first and last Skoda we buy. Does anyone have any experience of pursuing this sort of thing with Skoda please? Thanks for reading