Anyone thinking of buying a Skoda DONT!! My new (Feb2010) fabia had a clutch failure This is not covered under warranty and Skoda say"customer missuse" after only 10000 miles My Mitsubishi charisma has done 100000 miles on the original clutch. a new clutch has cost me £630

So read this and make your own minds up.

bit ott imo...

thats why anything new is given with 12mths guarantee.....why? cos new things can and do go wrong....

Edited 7 July, 201015 yr by warwick hunt

Yeah, part number suffix has changed, so wonder if the mount's subtly different (reinforced?) like the dogbone mount. Clutching at straws maybe....

The guy at the parts counter said something along the lines of "we sell a fair few of these but never fit them ourselves" which in hindsight was a bit cryptic.

10k for a clutch is poor, hope you put that in writing to the dealer as they'd have a hard time arguing wear and tear or proving misuse surely? My other car's an MG, have had no end of issues with that but still love it - guess a slightly wobbly Skoda engine is but a drop in the ocean compared to the things that have gone pop on that ...

Yeah, part number suffix has changed, so wonder if the mount's subtly different (reinforced?) like the dogbone mount. Clutching at straws maybe....

The guy at the parts counter said something along the lines of "we sell a fair few of these but never fit them ourselves" which in hindsight was a bit cryptic.

10k for a clutch is poor, hope you put that in writing to the dealer as they'd have a hard time arguing wear and tear or proving misuse surely? My other car's an MG, have had no end of issues with that but still love it - guess a slightly wobbly Skoda engine is but a drop in the ocean compared to the things that have gone pop on that ...

I'd like to think they have revised it for the better as it appears all too frequently like those darn console bushes (which now have been improved)

I had the noise looked at again and found the sound is audible while standing outside the car while it was driven up and down slowly. The mechanic laid flat across the engine(he hanged on with feet in the air.lol) while the other drove it up and down. With the weight of the mechanic on top of the engine it did not make that knocking sound.

They are still at a loss to what it could be. I have suggested side gearbox/engine mount but they didnt have time to take the battery out to check. They said lubing it up will not help.

Unfortunately my mechanic is busy tomorrow but hes sugested taking it to another garage he trusts to look it over. They've got a dyno also and he said perhaps they could put it on that to check it

Is there any danger in driving the car? i've got to do a 150 mile trip tomorrow as well after the visit to the garage.

Edited 8 July, 201015 yr by newskoda

I think ive got the same noise! Heard it yesterday also when going over a bumpy surface

Hmm. Think I'm going to get some funny looks (at best) if I ask my mechanic to lie across the engine...

I can drive the car in such a way as to mostly get it not to make the noise, just got to be ultra slow and smooth on the clutch and go easy on the loud pedal after a gearchange. If I'm driving it like that, I notice the noise more often going over a bump in the road, like the previous poster describes.

Must admit I've never considered it could be dangerous, it's just unbelievably annoying, although depending on what's making contact with what I guess it can't be doing any other components involved much good. It does affect my enjoyment of the car though - it just doesn't feel 'solid' - and the missus doesn't like driving it so much either.

Picking the new mount up today then will hopefully get it fitted sometime next week. If that doesn't do the trick, might book it in with the local main dealer (Pulman, Durham - they seem to have a pretty good rep) and pay a few quid to watch them scratch their heads for a bit instead.

New mount (not great pics, sorry). Since I was sad enough to take some pics of the thing, anyone else sad enough to comment on whether there are any changes

After all that and several hours of diagnosis and 3 maybe 4 garages later, AMD technik get the brownie points. Discovered it was due to mintex brake pads. They dont sit very well and were loose. They also found that the near side track control arm bolt was not tightened up enough so re-tightened. Am surprised even Skoda missed this.

But the cause of the knocking was the pads as it was a very similar noise, although not sure why it only seemed to do it when dipping or releasing the clutch.strange.

suffice is to say my car is quiet now no more knocking sound and it feels so much better to drive.

Edited 14 July, 201015 yr by newskoda

I paid Skoda for the half an hour they had my car in to tell me it was either anti roll bar bushes or track control arm wear. Spoke to them again to let them know the fault was the brake pads rattling around and their answer was "this is normal even with Skoda OEM pads if you put the car in the air"

I asked them whether I could have my money back but said no because they are the dealer and hence no the car better than anyone and they stand by their verdict of faulty roll bar bushes or tracking arm. I told them, so how do you explain how another garaged fixed the noise by greasing the pads. Apparently its a coincidence.

They now have offerred me the chance to come in again and put my car on the ramp and they'll show me the fault with my tracking arm and Ar bushes.

When I checked car over with AMD saw no problems at all. the AR collars were intact and the tracking arms were fine. They even commented the bushes were new anyway.

Am I being a unreasonable to think Skoda are talking crap?

should i really take them up on this offer of showing me these faults? even when I took my car to them they did not and the mechanic hardly made any eye contact with me.

YEP. proper unprocessed sewage!! :yes:

lol

Sorry to resurrect this...

So far, changed the dogbone and gearbox side engine mount, no improvement or change in the knocking sound. Again, anything other than ultra smooth clutch operation on a gearchange causes it, as does a sudden blip on the throttle in a low gear.

Took it to the local Skoda dealer for their 2p worth, didn’t tell them what I’d already done. They’ve come back with “requires new gearbox mount and consoleâ€

I’m guessing the ‘gearbox mount’ is the one under the battery I’ve just replaced, but (and sorry if this is a daft question) what’s the ‘console’ they’re on about – is this subject to wear and tear?

Sorry to resurrect this...

So far, changed the dogbone and gearbox side engine mount, no improvement or change in the knocking sound. Again, anything other than ultra smooth clutch operation on a gearchange causes it, as does a sudden blip on the throttle in a low gear.

Took it to the local Skoda dealer for their 2p worth, didn’t tell them what I’d already done. They’ve come back with “requires new gearbox mount and consoleâ€

I’m guessing the ‘gearbox mount’ is the one under the battery I’ve just replaced, but (and sorry if this is a daft question) what’s the ‘console’ they’re on about – is this subject to wear and tear?

Got exact same problem as you. I was getting all sorts if awful noises when driving and pulling away and braking, skoda had it today and replaced console bushes (same thing as dogbone) and droplinks. Some noises gone but still making a knocking crack like nous when pulling away, sometimes braking and low gears, usually when not travelling at granny speed. ****ed off as cost 250quid to do it all, and they were all 'enjoy your quiet car ' pah! Not sure now what to do, will go back tomorrow anyway but don't want to fix stuff again that won't stop it as its cost a bomb already.. any luck with yours? I'm now having your exact issue.

On the phone after the diagnostic I paid for, the dealer advised me to "let the noise develop a bit", I said I thought it had developed enough...

I'd happily pay a couple of hundred quid to get rid of the sound if I just knew what it was. I'm taking one of the mechanics from the dealer out for a spin in it tomorrow, then no doubt the head scratching will begin all over again!!

Got exact same problem as you. I was getting all sorts if awful noises when driving and pulling away and braking, skoda had it today and replaced console bushes (same thing as dogbone) and droplinks. Some noises gone but still making a knocking crack like nous when pulling away, sometimes braking and low gears, usually when not travelling at granny speed. ****ed off as cost 250quid to do it all, and they were all 'enjoy your quiet car ' pah! Not sure now what to do, will go back tomorrow anyway but don't want to fix stuff again that won't stop it as its cost a bomb already.. any luck with yours? I'm now having your exact issue.

:p

only thing I can suggest is defo take it back there and state the problem you asked them to fix hasn't been and that it still isn't a "quiet car" as they put it.

I would suggest it could be either the dogbone mount(underneath the car. Need to remove black plastic under tray to get to) and/ or side engine mount(under the battery tray. Air box will need to come out also for a good look). In my case it turned out to be neither of these and in fact was a loose tracking arm(wishbone arm) bolt on the near side. The bolt was slightly loose causing movement, hence causing the knocking sound when setting off and this noise is very very similar to the noise associated with a dodgey dogbone or side engine mount. I assumed of course it was the mount because this i've heard is a common problem with the vRS, Sometimes these engine mounts need lubricating with PTFE grease to help ease the noise or straight out replacing them.

Back to my problem...The reason the bolt on the tracking arm was loose was down to either it being not tightened up properly when the wishbone was removed or when it had wheel alignment done. Once it was tightened up properly no more knocking sound and car's been fine ever since.

My only gripe now is those crap Mintex brake pads which squeel constantly. Will be getting them changed soon and back onto skoda pads.

Edited 3 August, 201015 yr by newskoda

Well, it sounds like there are a few different causes of this...

Just returned from having the offside engine mount changed (6Q0199167DK £90+vat)) and it's a completely different drive. Feels much more solid and responsive and is now perfectly quiet - had forgotten what a great car it was!

Can't find too many mentions of the O/S mount online, so may be worth a bit of investigation if anyone else is tearing their hair out...

Pretty impressed with Pulman VW in Durham for a main dealer. Ok, it took them 2 attempts to diagnose the cause of the problem (although in fairness I deliberately didn't mention I'd already had the dogbone and gearbox side mounts changed on the first visit) but they seemed at least vaguely interested in getting to the bottom of it. Ended up with a total bill the wrong side of £200, but at least that included refitting the rear wash/wipe pipe which had popped off...