The taxi (Fabia combi SDi) licence expires June 9th. Taxi test is booked for this Thusday 29th. Go into dealers today to book a 40k service for Thusday June 5th, which would also correct any problems the tester finds. Earliest service slot is June 18th!!!!!!!Big problem. If it fails I can't work after the 9th, and I'll lose so much in takings waiting until the 18th, or more likely the 20th by the time it's retested and the council process the paperwork. The dealer says I will invalidate the warranty if I get someone else to do it, and in any case the mileage then would be approx 42k, well over the 40k perhaps invalidating the warranty also! Current mileage is 38k so I thought I was allowing plenty of time. Besides, if say the water pump packed up tomorrow, it would still be off the road 'til the 18th at the earliest! So weighing it up, it looks like I'll have to dump the warranty and do the work myself, because loss of earnings will easily be more than any further expenses. To add insult to injury, I have their name on the side doors as advertising!!!!!!! Sorry for the rant, but I am not very happy.

For the sake of a mornings takings driving to another dealer, look in the handbook at the other Skoda dealers in the area & see if they can do it (Forward Motors in Luton seem to bend over backwards to help)

Hope this helps

Graham

Agree with bandit, Tabs. Also you may not need to worry too much about going slightly over the mileage - most manufacturers will allow you 10% over. Can't find any small print about it just now but have read it in the Ts & Cs for previous motors.

Tabs Taxi Wrote

The dealer says I will invalidate the warranty if I get someone else to do it,

He's A liar ! I thought that also , but big K informed me that's not the case . As long as the service is carried out to the letter of what Skoda says has to be done and genuine parts are used your warranty will be OK .

Think possibly Karl may inform you of that when he's next on here .

Thanks for your prompt replies, but I am used to quicker servicing/repair. I can only use a licenced vehicle for my job, not a hire or courtesy car. In 7 years of the trade, I have never been off the road for more than half a day, and that was a head gasket on a petrol Cavalier (under 4 hours!) All previous taxis have been used, 11 Cavaliers, 2 Mercs and a BM, ( all petrol) so warranty work/waiting has never cropped up, general servicing done by myself, major work by time served friends working after hours etc. Seems I'll have to go back to this well tried system. Days off the road are big money; loss of earnings and cost of repair.

yes mellow you are quite right (hope there are no skoda people on here) the only way you can invalidate your warranty is to not have serviced by a reputable garage, do it yourself, or not do it at all, even then the warranty dept has to prove the fault/defect has been caused by this. ie if you fit patterned oil filter and engine seizes up then warranty dept will refuse to accept responsabilty on the grounds of non-geniune parts, so if wanting non-skoda garage/ or yourself to service use genuine parts and you shouldn't go wrong (please don't quote me on this if something should go wrong).

Have you tried the dealers in Riseley, Beds (WJH Motors) and Peterborough (Wings of Peterborough) to see if they can help?

Call another dealer if this fails call Skoda uk and ask the question if you will invalidate the guarentee for a booked service not being done in time etc etc .go else where if this company does not suit your business and choose a local manufacture with a better lead time for servicing - did you not ask the questions when you bought the car for business use?? Skoda dealers do tend to be smaller than your Fords and Vauxhalls so dealers do tend to have a busy schedule. Doing a good job and following the service schedule does take time. My dealer who owns the dealership was even working this bank holiday Monday and it was his birthday on his own wihout help. Hope you get sorted I know its frustrating, I think theres about 1000 mile tolerance.

Are you using the dealer that sold you the car?

I am using the supplying dealer, and it would seem they are a victim of their own success. There must be 50-60 Skodas in Northampton. I was speaking to an owner/driver today and he's given up! He buys the parts from the dealer and gets them fitted. I think we'll have to get together and tackle the dealer that way. We are a good advert for reliability and I feel we should be better treated. If they want to loose the replacement trade they will have to get their act together, especially with the likes of Hyundai offering 5 YEARS unlimited mileage warranty! Brand loyalty doesn't matter to me, it's only metal to earn money with. Oh well, test tomorrow at 4pm - will let you know!

I am using the supplying dealer, and it would seem they are a victim of their own success. There must be 50-60 Skodas in Northampton. I was speaking to an owner/driver today and he's given up! He buys the parts from the dealer and gets them fitted. I think we'll have to get together and tackle the dealer that way. We are a good advert for reliability and I feel we should be better treated

Yeah I know that Skodas are really popular among taxi drivers, and I estimate that where I live there must be over 100 Octavia Taxis and a few Superbs kicking about. However I have never had the problem of booking in at the dealer. At worst a weeks notice is all I need to do!

I think your dealer should help you out here I have 2 Octavias on my fleet and my dealer is bombed out with Taxis in his workshop but it doesn't matter when I go in or what the problem is he always fits me in. Another dealer also offers Taxis an overnight service and works a night shift to accomodate the extra work involved with the Taxi business. Anyway surely your test has a retest facility to enable you to rectify any faults which to be frank at 40K miles shouldn't amount to much.

Well, it passed first time with no problems. Just got to get the servicing sorted out now. Incidently, the tester has only had to fail 3 Skodas in the last 2 years (and the test is very strict) and that were Octavias. All 3 had front anti-roll bar bushes worn, needing full replacement of the bar because it's a sealed unit (?). No bottom ball joints, track rod ends, emissions etc, and thats with 50 or so being tested every 6 months some now showing 180k miles! A double manned car can easily do 100k per year, and with some of them being early models, some will do 300k before the warranty expires! I think the interiors will wear out before the mechanicals.

Well, it passed first time with no problems.

That's one hurdle out of the way - and one that mattered too!

Well, enough is enough. Went to the dealers today to buy the service parts to do the job myself. Out of curiosity I asked when the next service slot was. THIRD WEEK OF JULY!!!! This is causing major headaches for the drivers with variable servicing. If the warning comes today, how many miles will they be overdue before the service. Answer, 5000 miles single manned, 10000 miles double manned. The dealers advert is coming off the side, and if I get any warranty problems, I will get suitable stickers made up and put those on the side. If I make a '**** up' in my job, I get named and shamed, so I will do likewise.

Agree with you that doesn't seem aceptable at all if thats the normal lead time for servicing at a Skoda main dealership for any car - personally I would only want only to have to plan a week or two at the most as a private driver. On the surface it seems the dealer may be a bit shortsided if the taxi drivers would be loyal to the dealership, but maybe he can't afford any more staff/facilities for additional throughput.

If enough taxis need servicing each month maybe you could club together and work out an arangement with the dealer to book some slots each month cancelable so many days before should it not be required to enable the slot to be realocated.

Just a thought, talk to Skoda & explain the problem, If the service is not done by a Skud dealer could you get it done by say a VW or Seat dealer without invalidating the warranty. Then if a few of you got together you could approach a dealer on mass, they will carry most of the bits needed for a service as they are common & could easily get the rest

Stuart

Can't beleive the length of time you guy's are having to wait, I work at an Audi dealership - we have VERY strict guidelines to follow :- if you wan't a service/repair,but don't want a loan car - we have to provide a booking within 5 working days MAX - ideally 3 days.

If you wan't a loan car or collection then it's 10 days MAX.

Might be worth checking with Skoda customer service if they have similar guidelines,as I know volkswagen are the same.

If you do have the work done elsewhere - make sure you use genuine parts,keep the receipt's,make sure the garage you use is VAT registered(?) - someone like a Bosch agent would be good as they will have suitable diagnostic equiptment, and make sure you use the correct oil - esp if you are on variable service - again with Audi you get 1,000 miles & 1 Calender month allowance.

Have spoken to Skoda UK customer services, and although polite and concened, couldn't really help me. They didn't even ask for the dealers name! I don't really have time to contact other owner/drivers from other firms - we are all too busy. Now when passengers comment on the car (and they frequently do) I tell them 'The car's great but the service is cr@p'. I know this doesn't help me, and after this experience, I will never buy from or recommend the dealer again. I will purchase service items from other dealers when on my travels.

I would be inclined to enquire at the nearest Seat dealer, I bet they would help. Failing that, and your not worried about keeping the warranty, how about a third party specialist VW garage? After all its only the body panels that differ.

Cheers

Originally posted by Kentish in this post

I would be inclined to enquire at the nearest Seat dealer, I bet they would help. Failing that, and your not worried about keeping the warranty, how about a third party specialist VW garage? After all its only the body panels that differ.

Cheers

I'm not sure if you can get the car serviced at a Seat dealer and keep the warranty. I remember reading about a man who bought a Golf. It's last service had been done at the local Seat dealer but when a minor part broke his warranty claim was turned down. Why? Because of that Seat stamp in the service book!I wouldn't know whether Skoda are this fussy but they might be?

Surely being of the same group, have the same equipment and deal with the same engines there shouldnt be a problem, especially when you consider the feeling the dealer would get being asked to service another group marques car when told how crap the dealer is.

Cheers

I will post details of SkodaAuto's new vehicle warranty on this forum as soon as I have the time. Meanwhile the following conditions from that warranty seem to be relevant to this debate:

To obtain the full benefit of this warranty it is essential that the vehicle is properly serviced in accordance with the Manufacturer's instructions

and

The warranty will not apply...........to damage or defects due to............repairs by a worhkshop not authorised by SkodaAuto.

My reading of that is that if you get the car serviced by a VAG dealers who complies with the service schedule and uses VAG parts, then you are complying with the terms of the warranty as far as servicing is concerned. Anyone disagree?

As the service books are near identical, I dont think Skoda UK/VAG would have a leg to stand on in a court of law. I think its more a case of perdantic dealers.More fool them.

Cheers

My reading of that is that if you get the car serviced by a VAG dealers who complies with the service schedule and uses VAG parts, then you are complying with the terms of the warranty as far as servicing is concerned. Anyone disagree?

My reading of that is that you can have it serviced wherever you like, as long as you get permission beforehand from SkodaAuto. And that doesn't seem to me all strange, after all, we don't all have a Skoda garage nearby, but we might have a VW/Seat/Audi/Bentley (that 'll be the day ) garage near. I'd say, phone SkodaAuto's customer service department (surely they have one of those?), and put your situation forward.

Q.

Originally posted by DGW in this post

My reading of that is that if you get the car serviced by a VAG dealers who complies with the service schedule and uses VAG parts, then you are complying with the terms of the warranty as far as servicing is concerned. Anyone disagree?

I don't disagree with the principle but I feel Skoda might. After all you are taking money away from their dealer network. Thats the way VW saw it in that guy's Golf so much so the wrote into a car magazine helpline where Seat apologized for the mistake and gave him a replacement Seat warranty for the remaining time the car had on it's VW one after admitting it should have gone to a VW dealer to get serviced. Maybe Skoda isn't as nit-picky as Volkswagen is !