gazman1

Avoid them like the plague mate, bunch of muppets, theyve managed to basically shag my car up for me, avoid them.

Never been even close to redlining it, why would i buy a Deisel then try to redline it. Broke down on M62 going downhill at about 75 mph, massive bang, i mean massive i shat myself, followed by a loud whistling noise then rapid maching gun fire noise, dropped the clutch and onto hard shoulder for breakdown guy to come. I actually made it onto slip road of the exit i was coming off at, breakdown not happy to work on it there so towed home, initial inspection found a broken turbo boost pipe and missing mounts for turbo and associated pipe.(re read thread to see i have already had 2 brand new turbos fitted so they should know about mounting it properly) Towed into dealers next day who confirmed missing mount/mounts which caused the turbo and pipe to come free, this was Monday, was told part on order and will be fitted tuesday, said i needed car for Wednesday evening as i was going to Devon for a fortnight on Thursday morning, promised it would be done Tuesday. Tuesday came, no car, Wednesday dinner i called only to be told they were busy with customers and could i call back, i called back, same old rubbish, i called again and was told someone would deffo ring within 15 minutes, 2 hours later no call and no messages left anywhere about all my calls or my prediciment, i rang again and was eventually told wrong fecking pipe and mount ordered and they had to send a photo of the underside of the car!!!!!!!!!!! so they could see what to send, as the part was missing ive no idea how a photo would help. Apologies about the situation all round, however the guy i spoke to wasnt aware about my Holiday plans for the following day and wasnt even aware of who i was or why i was calling in the first place, someone just put the call through to him to deal with, mass panic ensued as they tried to get me a car from group stock, they said i could have a petrol for 2 days, i said i wanted a deisel for 15 days, the length of my holiday in Devon, in the end they had to come pick me up and give me the sales assistant managers Fabia Deisel estate. Breakdown guy also filled in on the check sheet that dealers also need to check the integrity of the engine as the whole unit was very unstable in the engine bay and could easily be shaken about. Absolute bunch of second rate muppets

Oh dear, less than 2 month and 1500 miles on a brand new engine and guess what

How about this

Final update, got car back a week ago with a brand new engine, new turbo, new fuel pump, new catalytic convertor and a new ECU unit and it performs flawlessly, MPG isnt so good but will improve hopefully, based on the performance of this new "tight" engine i would have to say that the car must have had some problems when i first purchased it, theres no way i would expect a brand new engine to perform as well as a 14,000 mile unit and that was backed up by Skoda, one guy told me when the engine had been fully stripped down that it looked like it had been thrashed from day one.

Hmm, not so sure about a good position or not, i will certainally be selling it on at the very first opportunity as ive lost all confidence with Skoda, once bitten and all that. Wanna buy a Skoda

Spoke to custmoer services again this morning, was told that they stripped the top of the engine down and found "scoring" on the camshaft, bear in mind its just had its 20,000 mile service while in there so obviously an oil change as well, they also checked the sump and there are shards of metal and swarf in the sump, they said like it seems to be a major mechanical failure inside the engine (possibly a bearing) and shards of metal and swarf have been circulating round the engine and causing damage and blocking oilways. The damage to the camshaft is not a worn camshaft like would happen with oil starvation but scoring probably caused by these shards of metal, i maintain my car perfectly, i have driven Diesels all my life so know about how some cars can use large amounts of oil and i have always checked my oil every week without fail and this car didnt use any since i bought it with 14,000 miles on the clock, ive put 6,000 on it in a year, when the 20,000 mile service was done while it was in for reapir they also said the oil level was normal. Upshot is that Skoda have looked for any reason which could point to owner neglect etc, etc and cant find none so they are fitting a brand new engine for me shortly. I have also asked customer services to refund the £240 i paid for the 20,000 mile service as i would obviously not have paid this had i known the engine was shot Funny how nothing was done for 5 weeks except get loads of greif then involving Customer Services gets the job done

Spoke to the dealers again on Tuesday, Workshop manager said nothing to report, said i wasnt happy and would be taking this further and contacting customer servicea, he said they were already aware of the situation so no point, i said i needed to speak to them myself, he wasnt happy and the conversation just ended. I then rang customer services, spoke to "Richard" and explained i wasnt happy that they have now had the car for 5 weeks and they still havent got a clue as to what the problem is. i said was it possible i could get the car moved to another dealers as the current dealers always seemed to be telling me they have someone off so cant get to look at it or are maiuing some other excuse and failing to keep me informed and i explained i had no confidence in them given all the problems ive already had. He got my case up on screen and told me a couple of things the dealer didnt but should have done, he also said the tech guys are lost and dont know where to go next, i asked him about the possibility of either buying the car from me or giving me another. He said he would need to speak to the dealers to find out more and promised me a call back that day, needless to say no one has called me. I will never buy another Skoda as long as i live

No, absolutly nothing from the dealers since Monday, im not happy and will now leave it until after the Bank Holiday and then im left with no other option but to contack Skoda UK direct and demand some action, i dont suppose anyone knows a direct number to call do they.

Ha, ha, ive already asked that question, i even wondered if i'd filled up with Petrol but fuel was tested weeks ago when a new Fuel pump was fitted and was correct.

Aaargh, it just gets worse, New ECU fitted and set up, all tests run and results analised by Skoda UK tech dept and showing no faults, ie nothing wrong, Skoda are at a loss and this is the first case like this theyve ever had. Muted the question about how long does this continue before they call it a day and admit defeat but obviously they wont answer this, so far its cost them 2 Turbos, a Fuel Pump, a Catylitic Convertor and an ECU and god know how many man hours, so far 23 seperate job sheets have been created for the current work done to the car plus the cost of a top of the range Ford diesel cars rental for 3 weeks so far this time and 4 days previously which must be getting on for £1000 so far.

Rang then again this morning, workshop manager not in so got speaking to a relief receptionist from another dealership who was very nice, she called Skoda UK customer services for me who got onto Skoda technical in Milton Keynes i beleive, she rang back after 20 minutes and told me customer services are already involved with my case and that they have fitted and set up a new ECU and were downloading all the results which will be gone through on Monday, they will then make a decision as to what to do based on those results, however the car is still underpowered. Seems a real shame that the only person who has been really helpful is someone who is only acting as a relief, she also asked if it was OK if she kept my number to check with me every few days to see if im being kept up to date.

Getting a tad ****ed with the whole issue now, heard nothing from the dealers so called yesterday only to be told workshop manager was busy with a customer and would call me back, the call never came, i rang again today and asked to speak to him, i was told by the receptionist he was busy with a customer but she had been given details to pass onto me which consisted of "he says the technical guys are on with it" i said i was not happy and would call back, rang again at 3pm and was told he was busy but the car would still be with them into next week, i said i needed to speak to him, she said he was busy and would get him to call me back ASAP, the call never came. Where do i go next, theyve had it for 3 weeks now and nothing sorted. Its blatantly obvious from the last 2 days conversations that im being fobbed off and treated like a piece of dog crap, i would have thought i would have been a priority case.

What would cause a worn camshaft in a low mileage engine

Current kit is Bodies Nikon D3s Nikon D700 with Grip Nikon D7000 Lenses Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Nikon 50mm f/1.4 Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 Nikon 400mm f/2.8 Nikon 1.4x Nikon 1.7x Nikon 2.0x Some might say a bit over the top but i do shoot semi professionally http://www.gcsportsphotos.co.uk

Spoke to them again today and mentioned the ECU and he said it was what they were going to look at next

Update: Spoke with dealer again yesterday and he said Skoda are getting pretty desperate to get this sorted as its costing them quite a bit of money in parts/repairs/tech time and in rental for a top of the range Focus 2.0L TDCI Sport, he said they had already put in a brand new Turbo on its first visit and a new EGR valve, this time round they have replaced the Fuel Pump and are going to put on a new Catalyic Convertor as it was thought it might be clogged up. The obvious question i asked is if its still underperforming after a new Turbo was fitted was this a mis diagnosis in the first place and did the Turbo actually need to be replaced, he replied, "well it was a little noisy" No idea where this is going to be honest but im not really sure i want the car back after all this.

Had a call today, strange one really, girl on reception only wanted to know how long ive owned the car and when i first noticed the trouble, the 2 answers to these questions are on record, initially they told me how long ive owned the car as its on the Skoda database, really no idea what to make of that call, i asked if they had any more info and the girl just said, no sorry, the Skoda technicians just wanted to know the 2 answers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ive got a feeling they dont have a clue whats going on, anyone have any idea how long this situation can be allowed to go on, is there a time period before they have to do something, ie give me a car what works in exchange.

Bit of an update, took car in a full 3 days ago and was annoyed not a single phonecall just out of courtesy, was going to leave it and just see how long they would leave it before contacting me but in the end its my car and i need to know whats going on. Called at 11am today and rather than getting the old "well weve tested it and cant find anything wrong routine" i was told by the service/workshop manager there is definatly still a major problem (why on earth give it back to me then) the technicians at the dealers have hit a brick wall as nothing is showing during all the tests they put it through, the only fault showing is an ariel problem which was also picked up by the breakdown chap. Anyway, it now appears that the main Skoda UK technicians are involved with the car, it is hooked up to something called a DISS machine (sp) which apparently means that technicians from other parts of the country can access my car via some sort of network connection, however, they connected to it on Tuesday and then again yesterday but haven't found anything obviously wrong other than to confirm the car is approx 50% underpowered. Will update when i hear anything

Took it back in this morning after a horrible phone call, the service manager was a total ares claiming there was nothing wrong with the car, he eventually agreed to look at but wouldnt give me a loan car, the loan car i had previously was still parked where i left it but he said i had to ring Skoda assist to get another car, Skoda assist said the manager just needed to call him to extend the original loan of the hire car, he reluctantly did this but it took 1 hour to do so. I take back anything positive i said about this dealers, they are terrible, i knew from my first phone call that it was going to be trouble and i get the impression that because i didnt buy the car from them that it isnt their responsibility Oh well.

Tried to get it back to the dealers today but the workshop is closed and only the sales dept open, on the way there and back is a level stretch of dual carriageway which allowed me to roughly test the 0-62mph figures, the manufacturers figure is 0-62 in 13.2 seconds Not really a scientific test but a rough guide, i was by myself with a stop watch. first run from a standing start was 20.7 seconds, second run was 20.2 so given slight errors it still looks like around 7 seconds slower than manufacturers figure of 13.2 sec Earlier when i tested it on the motorway and i got it up to 80MPH i didnt realise that the manufacturers top speed is quoted at 107 MPH, i was coming down a slight hill when i got to 80 mph and theres no way i could have got it to 90 let alone 107

Just been over the M62 and back to give it a real test, ha, ha, what a struggle, anyone who knows the steep 3 mile stretch coming out of lancashire into Yorkshire and onto the top where it says the highest road in the country will know this is a real test of a cars power to pull, well i took a run up and hit a staggering 80 MPH at the bottom of the hill (seemed to take forever to get to 80), as soon as the hill started to turn to the right i dropped to 60, then 55, then 50, i dropped it down to 4th gear but nothing, the revs stayed at 2800RPM and i struggled to maintain 50MPH i put it back in 5th to take the revs down to where the power band is but the car felt like it was going to grind to a halt until i hit the crest of the hill and to be honest i was a danger to other road users, i was also 2 up with a passenger but have easily climbed that hill in the past with the wife and 2 kids in the car. This is a route i take loads of times and can always maintain 70MPH on that hill in 5th gear and can quite easily increase my speed if i need to. MPG for that journey came out at 34MPG when i would normally expect somewhere between 50-55MPG

Just to answer a few points raised No smoke, no increase anyway. Anyone who got in this car would ask "has this even got a turbo" there is nothing in the acceleration to suggest a Turbo is even fitted, when it was all working before the turbo failed there was a definate turbo kick felt at about 1600-1800RPM but now theres nothing, just a slow constant increase through the rev range up to about 2500-2800 RPM then very little happens after that. Just been out on another usual route today, only 20 mile return but a route i take most Sunday afternoons and one which usually returns a steady 56-57 MPG, today returned 38.6 MPG

Thing is, they "test drove" it over 2 days and put approx 114 miles on the clock and failed to see that it is no different to before they did the work, i really dont see how experienced technicians cant tell that when you put your foot down nothing happens that there isnt a problem.

They also made some reccomendations as to work doing as well, apparently my handbrake needs adjusting (couldnt they just do it there and then, its a 30 second job) rear brakes need work and also a full brake fluid change, thay also said i needed 2 new front tyres and are happy to charge me £96 for the priveledge of fitting them as well as money for other work as well, they did say they would repair my broken rear parcel shelf fixing under warranty and will do the other work at the same time, erm, no thank you. give with one hand and take with the other, i will now go to unfranchised dealers for any work in future and so long as they fit genuine parts my warranty will still be valid. took it on a run this afternoon, a quick 30 mile run on the motorway, kept to under 70MPH and fuel consumption is a shocking 34MPG still lacks power and refuses to pull from below 2000 RPM