Hi everyone...

I'm from Singapore :P

I bought my 3yr old Elegance about 9 months ago

I took over my car with only 1 key...

Went to Czech Auto (the local Skoda dealer here) and ordered a spare key, had to pay first, if not they won't place the order. Thought it was fine... reasonable... how wrong can it get? SGD$150

Placed my order on 6th Oct.

The product manager (John) called to inform me the key arrived today (Dec 29th). Only after I went to CA several times to check on the status of the key.

Went down today, Sammo (service advisor) took the car out to Cars N Cars (Volkswagen dealership which is under the same group as the Skoda dealership) workshop. Waited for about half an hour to 45 mins.

My car finally came back after God knows how long hahaha... (like I mentioned... around 30 to 45mins?)

Sammo and another technician then explained to me. Cannot be done. Got problem. And on top of that, no refund. What the hell?!

They said they followed the procedure/guidelines/SOP (standard operating procedure) to take down my chassis number from my instrument cluster/speedometer using their VAG Tool (which has the immo. code too) and they just needed that to send to Skoda in Czech Republic to fabricate my key.

Turns out... when the key was cut nicely and sent over here...

The key couldn't even open my door.

Here's the reason. CA blamed that my instrument cluster (the speedo console) has been tampered with or changed previously.

That instrument cluster is currently "attached" to another chassis number which belongs to another Octavia.

Sammo went on to explain that this could be a case of fraud. The only reason he could think of was that the speedo was swapped for another with a lower mileage when the car was sold to me.

He mentioned that places like Servo (one of the workshops in Singapore that specialise in VAG cars) were equipped to perform such a thing.

Therefore, my key cannot work. And even if I gave them my chassis number and the current so called swapped instrument cluster, it might not work. PLUS it will cost me another SGD$200.

No fault of theirs.

I can't do a thing.

I get no refund either.

SGD$150 gone down the drain.

I am not a happy man

I contacted the ex-owner of my ride who of cos denied swapping the instrument cluster (of cos)...he went on to mention that that thing alone costs SGD$2k. Why on earth would he do that?

He then blamed former dealer JTA Motors (went bust and took over by current dealer Czech Auto) of screwing the car up.

So now my ride is suppose to be an Elegance with a Classic/Ambiente speedo.

Not that it makes any difference to me.

But just what I was told.

and oh... ya... I can't dupe my key

CA just trying to shirk responsibility?

Could all this have been avoided?

Quite disappointed now :thumbdwn:

What do you guys think? :confused:

How did the previous owner know it cost SGD $2K. Sounds suspicious to me, especially if the price is correct.

Did you get any service history that has the mileage recorded on reciepts etc.

How did the previous owner know it cost SGD $2K. Sounds suspicious to me' date=' especially if the price is correct.

Did you get any service history that has the mileage recorded on reciepts etc.[/quote']

The previous owner was an ex-employee of the ex-dealership that went bust...

He owned 2 Elegance models previously and is now driving a Toledo, I guess he knows the prices for these things as he mods his cars and has got parts for me before.... Oh well... don't really know who to trust these days :confused:

Service and history records are not available... the new dealership doesn't have any records of most of the cars which were brought in by the ex-dealership...

Kinda sucks doesn't it? I got my ride 'cos it was a rare find in Singapore...as most of the models here are the classic and ambeinte ones

Know of any contacts I can address this issue to the bosses at Czech Republic? I've emailed to them at [email protected] without any response :(

sound like a big pile of cr*p to me you can adjust speedos with digital computers..no need to replace anything!

sound like a big pile of cr*p to me you can adjust speedos with digital computers..no need to replace anything!

I think my local dealer is just trying to shirk responsibility...

I got a reply from Skoda HQ at Czech and they told me they can't do a thing either, but they will get in touch with the local dealer in my country and I should hear from them soon....

Don't really expect much though :really:

Tough luck but I share your agony with the CA.

As for the key, the reason for the extra $200 is to get

another key that can open the door based on your "actual chassis number"

The immo code can be duplicated with the vag tool if I am not mistaken.

But in the first place, they should have verified all these details.

Sometimes, the instrument cluster can be spolit and it is cheaper to

get a 2nd hand. So they did not do a through job.....

Tough luck but I share your agony with the CA.

As for the key' date=' the reason for the extra $200 is to get

another key that can open the door based on your "actual chassis number"

The immo code can be duplicated with the vag tool if I am not mistaken.

But in the first place, they should have verified all these details.

Sometimes, the instrument cluster can be spolit and it is cheaper to

get a 2nd hand. So they did not do a through job.....[/quote']

These things should have been transparent to me the consumer... so much for aftersales service :thumbdwn: