Hey Guys, its good to have a dealer on board with us to give a different perspective on some of our gripes, and to give us info on our cars which we would otherwise lack. With that in mind, lets not batter big k to death for the shortcomings of some dealers. Recent J D Power surveys have highlighted that Skoda owners are mostly pleased with their dealers - and I for one have no complaints at all about 2 I use. If we appreciate our dealers and show them we do, we all benefit. And where dealers are not up to scratch, vote with your feet and go elsewhere if you can.

thanks dennis but you guys can say what you like about your dealers after all its your money there taking and your cars there fixing and after all the customer is allways right or is he/she. i don't take offense at any comments on here i just like to express my opinion (all be it a dealers one) just like all you guys have the right to express yours. by the way how come no one uses web chat i have only ever been on there with someone else once everytime i'm logged on there's at least 10 people logged in wots the matter nobody got anything to say.

I tried the webchat last week, but even though someone was present (can't remember who it was), he didnt seem to be present... or it just wasn't working

Q.

Good points DGW and Big K - I think we should also make the effort to let the dealers know when a good job is done we all like feedback and not just bad. Had my Felicia serviced the other day and the car came back a different car - mentioned it to the receptionist on a return visit to thank the mechanic and she was really pleased and stated that customers only tend to let the dealer know when things are bad.

I have two/three dealers closer to the one I use and stick with one that suits me - might not be the cheapest or offer large discounts, never felt the need to shop around as all the staff from valeter to owner are all friendly work and work as a team and offer excellent after sales/service.

Visited a VW dealership the other day to buy the correct screen wash for the RS washer spray jets - boy was the service bad - and a load of stuck up sales staff. It will be a sad day if Skoda dealerships go this way.

Originally posted by big k in this post

ps. i wonder how many of you chaps are in the it consulting/ solicitors /estate agents / etc etc. businesses and how much do they charge per hour.

There are always 2 sides to the story.

Indeed there are 2 sides.

I am NOT in any of those businesses you mention. I'm an electrician and frankly i (and many other Briskoda members) graft our nuts off to be able to buy ourselves decent cars.

Therefore, we do not expect to be held to ransom by dealers charging the sort of prices we'e seen posted in this thread.

Well I visited my local dealer where the car is booked into for the 20k service in June. They said it was 2.25 hrs and their hourly rate is now

monkey hanger so what do you think we do for a living sit around playing with ourselves. i (along with most others in my dealership) work 60hour weeks working on customers cars sweating, loosing knuckles etc. just for us to provide a resonable service for you guys. and for what listening to customers whinge and whine on and on about prices what do you do for your money etc. Anyway what do electricians do for there money (i know someone who is an electrician and is on about double the amount that i am) and doing wot laying a few cable's and connecting them up. antbody can do that even i can ( i have re-wired my complete house) thanks whinge over. By the way if your not happy with your dealer or skoda dealers change dealer or your car everybody has a choice!

My 40k service schedule reads as follows:

Service 1.9 hours @

Originally posted by ncarring in this post

My 40k service schedule reads as follows:

..........Various other bits - filters etc, sparkplugs bla bla bla......... Seems a fair price for a fair job........ Nuff said.

I think this is the first time i've seen sparkplugs mentioned, in these days of high-tech I was wonderng what the plug life is? My motor is a humble 1.6 so 4 plugs to change, but having looked pretty close I don't see the plugs coming out without the intake manifold coming off! I've changed a good few plugs in challenging positions before now (number 3 plug on aircooled beetle springs to mind) but the Octy looks daunting!

Anyone know how it's done? - special tool or is it manifold off (big k..pretty please)

:cheers:

Paul

Originally posted by big k in this post

monkey hanger so what do you think we do for a living sit around playing with ourselves. i (along with most others in my dealership) work 60hour weeks working on customers cars sweating, loosing knuckles etc. just for us to provide a resonable service for you guys. and for what listening to customers whinge and whine on and on about prices what do you do for your money etc. Anyway what do electricians do for there money (i know someone who is an electrician and is on about double the amount that i am) and doing wot laying a few cable's and connecting them up. antbody can do that even i can ( i have re-wired my complete house) thanks whinge over. By the way if your not happy with your dealer or skoda dealers change dealer or your car everybody has a choice!

Whoaaa there tiger, i did not make a personal attack on you, so please climb down from that high horse. I was simply stating that the idea that extortionate charges of the like we have seen posted here are nothing short of daylight robbery.

So what if you know a spark on twice as much as you? Why not change your job if you dont like it, everyone has a choice ! Ever had to travel to oppposite ends of the country, or even abroad for work? cos i have, and thats where the extra pay comes in, but right now i work in the NHS as a contractor, so i am not on megabucks, and i too have had my share of scraped knuckles. As for my dealer, if you bother to check previous posts and the reviews section, you will see i don't have a bad word to say about them.

As for house wiring...lmfao any fool with half a brain can do that. I refuse to work on housing sites, its like asking a trained mechanic to service a kids go-kart.:p

lol monkey hanger no offense taken or given sorry about post got carried away (had a bad day) i was just stating that all is not what is seems when you look at the cost of a service. i work bloody hard day in day out (as i should think everybody else on here does in whatever field of work) and it gets a bit demolirising when you get no good rewards/feedback for your work (as everybody else i suppose).i wasn't getting on high horse nor toke offense personally (life's too short) just making a comment about your comment saying we work nuts off to afford new cars (i work nuts off fixing your new cars) fair enough you don't care about dealers running costs. but someone has too it does take alot of money to run a dealership (not your problem and rightly so) but i have been with skoda dealership for 15+ years and seen the amount of money taken to run probbably rise 4 fold. i have seen many skoda dealers quit the franchise because of money, and not so many new ones opening, i'm sure you and most others on here would like your local/freindly/family run dealerships still running rather than combined with the larger corperations (vw/audi dealerships for instance). like i say no offence intended or taken love and kisses monkey hanger .

spc spark plug change for all petrol models is 40,000 miles (octavia and fabia that is ) and yes 1.6 plugs a bit of a nightmare i do belive you have to remove inlet manifold section but is not to tricky just allen bolts i think i remember my colleague replacing them without removing manifold using long nose pliers bent at 45degrees but will have to check. funny enough i had to chance spark plugs on a 2.0 octy today in for its 40k service of which i had to remove inlet manifold and got my hands burnt 4 times (one for each plug) but unfortuantly this customers bill was in the region of

Originally posted by big k in this post

love and kisses monkey hanger .

Oy !!

Don't you kiss me pal !!

(Well, not until you wash the oil off your mush anyway )

oil on mush never these skoda's are clean and oil leak free these days we don't get our hands or faces dirty we just re-set service indiactors lol.

Originally posted by big k in this post

oil on mush never these skoda's are clean and oil leak free these days we don't get our hands or faces dirty we just re-set service indiactors lol.

I'll let you in on a secret......

WE ALREADY KNOW THAT !!!!!!

dam our secrets out how did u know that.

Originally posted by big k in this post

dam our secrets out how did u know that.

I worked for a Skoda dealer in a previous life :p

wot changing fuses in plugs lol by the way if u want to give me abuse i'm in chat room now come on i can take all you can give

Unfortunately I think the days of the small family owned dealerships has all but gone , the manufacturers seem to want large showy places , which means spending a serious amount of money which means the smaller garages will all in time sell out to the big groups who can afford it . It's a great shame this is happening , much the same as the big supermarkets dominating and forcing the small corner shops out of business . I think they call it progress :( in my opinion not necessarily a good thing .

IMHO the VAG group seem to be quite demanding in what they require from a dealer , flashy showrooms etc , but it all has to be paid for somehow , which is why labour rates are so high .

On a lighter note , big K and MonkeyHanger - I'm pleased you have kissed and made up

why mellow u want a kiss too

Originally posted by mellowyellow in this post

On a lighter note , big K and MonkeyHanger - I'm pleased you have kissed and made up

"All you need is love...la la lala laaaaaaa"

BigK, i shall abuse you in chat some other time, i'm watching Alien3 now

Have fun at work tomorrow, topping up Screen Wash and changing dustcaps.

big K Wrote

why mellow u want a kiss too

Thanks for the offer , but not just at the moment

Marlborough Skoda's servicing charges quoted above need dramatically slashing in the light of their latest service price list:

Highlights are:

Fabia 1.4 8V 60K service down from

Or they were making a slight profit

Maybe they typed a multiply instead of an add when working it out...

Rob.

I hear they don't use diamond encrusted Snap-On tools any more...