I bought my Octavia a couple of weeks ago from a dealership that advertised they were a Skoda Auto Dealership. When purchasing the car I was promised that any faults would be put right and that a full service and valet would have been done before collection of the car. However, after recieving the car I have found at least twelve faults but apart from that I think the Octavia is better then the Citroen C4.

The faults are:-

1) V-Polly Mechanism bracket had snapped and had not been replaced

2) Rear window regulators completey destroyed beyond repair

3) A slight judder when breaking although front disks and pads have been renewed and the rear ones cleaned

4) Instrument cluster dials faulty unless I remove fuse 15

5) Cigar Lighter not working

6) Rear boot would not lock under central locking or by key manually

7) Radio not working

8) Exhaust blowing at the front and not manufold

9) Rear winscreen washer jet seized and leaking

10) Oil return unit broken leaking oil on top of the enigne

11) Intermittment loss of power when accelerating

12) Steering wheel not straight when driving in a straight line

With all this mind, the car somehow managed to pass it's MOT.

The dealership seem to be reluctant to repair any of the above as they have told me that the car was bought as seen and that it would be a different story had I have part exed my old car. However on the invoice there is no mention of the car as being sold or bought as seen and in addition to this they have not given me any Skoda warranty.

In terms of valetting, what valetting? There is still a slight smell of cigar smoke in the cabin, engine bay was full of dead leaves and twigs, grime and grease around and inside door wells and sunroof bay.

So far the dealrship have had my car for two days and all they have managed to repair is the boot lid, cigar lighter and radio. Ok that's three out of twelve faults done. Although the boot lid is still not right. What happens now is that the car can be locked and unlocked by manual and remote locking using the boot lid yet the boot lid will not lock or unlock using the doors as part of central locking. Sounds a bit like reveresed engineering, the other faults they could not find, rear windscreen jet had been bunged with silicone and this did not cure the problem. It turned out the pipe feeding the jet was loose and had to be replaced.

Upon inspecting the rear windows regulators, I was horrified to see that the OFSR window had been bolted shut to the inside of the car door and the NSR windows had been wedged closed with a piece of wood. Again none of this had been checked prior to hand over of the vehicle.

I have worked in dealrships for a few years now and I know the "tricks of the trade" as it were. So much so that the engine check lamp had been removed but fortunatly upon replacing this bulb the check lamp went out after the engine had started.

With this in mind I was considering contacting Skoda and asking them what my rights are and if I am eligable for warranty. If I am I would much prefer to use a different Skoda dealership rather than then the bunch of cowboys I bought the car from.

Any ideas?

Most dealers have a 30 day exchange?Edit yes just checked 30 days 1000 miles exchange . what dealership was it ? Tell them this and tell skoda GB. Say if it doesn't get resolved you will tell local paper<you will be on page 3 i guarantee it and trading standards , my Dad god rest his soul always said , "car dealers started out as horse traders. Looks like you have found one! All the best.

Edited 29 April, 201016 yr by bluvrs2

Sounds like your dealer is a right cowboy (name and shame!). I wonder if they took that car on as a part-ex, and are just trying to shift it quickly.

3. Could be caused by the tyres, I noticed mine used to judder, but after changing the disks & pads it still juddered, new tyres cured it!

4. Probably a dry joint near the voltage regulator on the circuit board for the dash, expensive to fix if sent away, otherwise need a new dash, and keys re-programmed to it.

5. Check that the door lock/child lock switch is not enabled as that can disabled the cigar lighter socket

11. Does it go into limp-home mode, with no power and you have to power cycle the ignition? If so sticky vanes in the turbo, otherwise, maybe MAF, n75 valve or coolant sensor

12. Dodgy tracking / poorly tracked.

Sounds like a case of REJECT!

Take it back to the dealer, explain your rights, and tell them the car's not fit for purpose.

I mean, for Christ's sake, bolting the rear window shut and wedging the other with wood? WTF?

What reg and how many miles has it done? Has it got full service history, etc.?

Legally the car must be sold to you at a reasonable standard, fit for purpose and in this case it's clearly not. To comply with Trading Standards regulations this must be adheared to regardless of any other terms they choose to put in place regarding the sale or return. These are your consumer rights.

As already said, return the car to them and create merry hell in the middle of the showroom, preferably infront of other potential customers, and point out your legal rights!! Bloody cowboys! Best of luck mate

(1) If this is as you say, I'd have expected the PAS and alternator (and AC if applicable) to be inoperable.

(8) A diesel can pass an MOT with a slight blow from the system; There should be an advisory raised (on a yellow/orange margin form) in this case.

(12) This is probably an issue with the steering geometry setup. It's not a roadworthiness issue in itself though.

I'd suggest that (4) and (11) are the only even potential "fitness for purpose issues" though.

Lastly, did you actually mean an SLX? If so, then the car's at least 10 years old!

I'd say it sort of depends how much you paid for it. If you paid around £3k I'd kick off and make them fix the big issues. But if it was under £1k then I wouldn't expect much at that age.

The rear window thing is a bit shocking! They must have known about that surely.

It's a problem you always have with buying old cars from sneaky dealers. I've seen some shockers in my time! Funniest was a DIY filler and respray job on a 200SX, the red overspray was all over the exhaust and tyres, but the seller refused to admit to polishing a turd! Best bit was the black electrical tape used as a replacement go-faster stripe!

It's a risky business buying an old car unless your a car nerd and know exactly what to check.

Get them to valet it for sure though. I've seen this a few times actually. They always promise a valet to sweeten the deal, but rarely actually do it. It's something you can definately squeeze out of them.

Get them to valet it for sure though. I've seen this a few times actually. They always promise a valet to sweeten the deal, but rarely actually do it. It's something you can definately squeeze out of them.

When I collected mine last month there was something they had not done so they told me to come back the next week and they would do it and "fill up my tank" and valet the car again!

When I went back they did what they had to do and then the dealer came with me to the garage to "fill the tank", he was not banking on me arriving there with the fuel light on and then me insisting that I wanted Super Unleaded, £68 later he was not happy lol I then asked about the valet and was told that the bloke that does it was off and they could not do it but he would give me a £10 to get it washed and hovered!! I then said that’s not good enough and told him I wanted £20 which he gave me!! I think he just wanted to get rid of me at that point as I had already got a years road tax and another £90 off of him for the cost of a tyre!!

When I collected mine last month there was something they had not done so they told me to come back the next week and they would do it and "fill up my tank" and valet the car again!

When I went back they did what they had to do and then the dealer came with me to the garage to "fill the tank", he was not banking on me arriving there with the fuel light on and then me insisting that I wanted Super Unleaded, £68 later he was not happy lol I then asked about the valet and was told that the bloke that does it was off and they could not do it but he would give me a £10 to get it washed and hovered!! I then said that’s not good enough and told him I wanted £20 which he gave me!! I think he just wanted to get rid of me at that point as I had already got a years road tax and another £90 off of him for the cost of a tyre!!

Hahaha good work!

When I got mine MOT'd a couple of weeks ago I was talking to the tester and he was saying a lot of places that give 12 months MOT when you buy a car fail to give you the Advisory sheet so it may have passed but should have a load of other work done to it. It may be worth going to a different MOT station and asking them to check your MOT number to see if there were any advisories issued that they also didn't tell you about!

you can check the complete history of a car online if you have a previous MOT sheet - think it's on the dvla site and it shows you all the advisories too

Why do you post for advice , then go off line 1 minute after, then never go back online?

Why do you post for advice , then go off line 1 minute after, then never go back online?

Becuase I am a working musician and teacher and I dont have the time like most people to spend on computers. However, thanks to all of you who responded. Just a quick update to respond to some of you.

A mechanic I know really well has very kindly inspected my car very cheaply. It turns out that the bracket that has the damper piston that sits above the aux belt is nothing too much to worry about. Yes it should be there but he has inspected the auxilary belt and tensioners and all is well. He has managed to get me a new bracket and damper for £20 and re fitted it for free.

The was a couple of holes on the exhaust which he has welded and the car no longer blows. The judder when braking was due to tracking which has now straightned the wheel.

Window regulators have been replaced and are now working.