Hi Guys,

Right, on the 8th of October 2010 I took my Vrs in to have the clutch looked at, as it's been quite noisy at slow speeds (1st gear and reverse) for a few months. The un helpful lot at Kings Heath garage said it was my driving style and told me to devil off basically.

Took it to Redditch Skoda (also a VW main workshop) and they replaced the entire clutch kit as there had been a fault seal and bearing causing the clutch to get covered in oil. Thay done, the car car back on the night. After about 10 minutes, I put my foot down to overtake another car and it just stummbled along not accelerating. It than came up with an engine warning light, and it was in limp home mode.

I took it back after ahrdly using it all weekend, on tyhe monday, and they reckoned it was a fault they just forgot to reset. So on my way I went. The car didn't feel as responsive as usual, but put it down to the new clutch just bedding in. Come Tuesday morning, the same limp home mode came on. I took it back, and they tracked it to a faulty air mass meter. One was ordered, fitted Wednesday morning, and off I went. 2 minutes up the road, the same light comes on, so back I go, but with no loss of power this time. They got it on the VAGCOM, and said it was the part they had just replaced!!! So, another one was ordered, and fitted the following day. They took it for a run, and the limp home mode was back, so they kept it AGAIN! Friday came around, and they were still scratching their collective heads, and into Saturday we went. Car was there all weekend.

It's now Monday 18th and I still haven't got it back. They reckon the ECU is now stuffed, and needs replacing!! So from a new clutch to having all these bits changed in a week of having my car, am I alone in thinking there might be something wrong with the way they're doing things here in Redditch??? I've asked them to go back to the start and look at any of the parts they may have required to remove when dropping the 'box, to see if they're missing something totally obvious!

Has anyone else experienced anything like this with a main dealer, or indeed the car itself?

Cheers all,

Neil

Hi

I've have had a problem in the past with my Dealership; here's a link to the thread i started after being given the run around by the Dealership staff

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/148422-octy-ii-vrs-diesel-coolant-loss/

its a bit long and frustrating but see posts 21 & 27

Things only got moving when the MD got involved & was shown the thread.

I only deal with the Dealership by e-mail now - evidence of who said what to who & when etc etc

Despite the urge to become a customer from Hell at service Reception every Saturday am, i found a polite, firm, curteous, appreciative approach got the job done & i was fortunate to have a very customer focused MD. Pity it took nearly 3 years to fix

Good luck & hope you get it fixed soon

John

Your best to take it to where you brought it from should you wish to use SOGA. There is little incentive for another dealer to fix it.

I've just got off the phone with yet another guy at the dealership. They now say that the car drives ok, with no power loss and no warning light with the air mass meter UNPLUGGED! Sounds a bit backwards to me, but there you go. He was insistent that they have traced the work back that they carried out before hand when they dropped the 'box out, so I can only go by their word. An urget email has now been sent to Skoda to see if there has been a duff batch of ECU's sent out, seeing as there is no alarm when it's unplugged, but hope is getting thin. It still seems funny that by distirbing bits on the car, they're now running around in circles to find a ghost fault.

Lets hope tomorrow brings good news.

John, sounds like you had a right bad experience there mate!! I can't really fault the guys I've been dealing with, as they only know as much as the technicians are telling them. Redditch have been WAY better at dealing with things than Kings Heath were (where I had the car from) it's just a shame I might have a pretty un-seen fault with the motor..........

Hi Neil, I'm confused by this, you say you are getting the fault light come on with the air mass meter plugged in but when it is unplugged there is no warning light and the car drives fine. I would have thought that by unplugging the air mass meter then this alone would bring the engine management light on as it will register the lack of signal as a fault, put the light on and log a fault code in the ECU. Isn't Redditch Skoda based in the old Boardsley Citroen garage on the Birmingham road, if so then AFAIK they haven't been a Skoda dealership for that long so won't have built up much knowledge. Next step I think would be to get Skoda UK involved as your car would still be under warranty, if need be they will send a service techincian out or send ECU data to head office via the internet.

Ian.

Does sound odd indeed, not come accross this before.

Be interested to know what the cause is.

Removing the lead to the sensor will make it go to the default value on the mapping so it would work but not fully properly and your fuel consumption would be poor.

Use to use Brooklyns at Redditch but mainly for sales and used Startin or Savilles for service both who I rate. Known others use Electic but not sure whether they rate them as OK or not.

So Skoda Redditch only been doing Skoda's a couple of years or so and therefore if they have recriuted good VAG guys to investigate such issues. Now these vehicles are so complex it is not always easy especially if fault is intermitent due to poor connection. We have TSI VRS too and it has been fine for first 13,000 miles but it will go to Savilles for first service and hopefully be timed just right to pick up 2 services for £299 deal by end of year.

Redditch Skoda is a new outfit, on Washford drive, next door to where I work on Park Farm industrial estate. The VW workshop and showroom its bolted onto has been there a while however, and they service the whole VAG fleet, Audi's, VW's, Porsche's etc.......they should hopefully know what they're doing.

With regards the power/fuel consumption, this is the wierd bit. When the air mass meter is unplugged, it runs as normal, which is doing their heads in. They have all the data from the ECU now, and have sent it to SUK, so we're just waiting for a reply.

It's a very odd problem, but it still doesn't sit well that it's only arisen since they droped all the exhaust system off to drop the 'box out. They've assured me they've gone back through the work carried out then as I requseted, but who knows.................

I've got to say though, Mark on the service desk who I spoke to about it yesterday was very helpful, and knowledgable, so I can only hope he will help sort the issue out.

I even asked about the exhaust pressure switch fault that was a recall a while back, but he told me that just affected the diesel particulate set up? So that much at least they are aware of!

*****UPDATE*****

Hiya chaps,

Just had a phone call to follow up my letter of complaint I sent to SUK. A very nice chap called Will Fisher (technical desk customer support) called and asked me what's been going on. I've relayed all the previous info he had in the letter, plus what's happened since. He ran through all the work that they have carried out (on screen in front of him) and assured me that the work they are telling me has been carried out, actually has. The wiring loom has checked out fine, the air mass meter has also checked out, but the ECU is under diagnostics. They don't have a donor unit, so that's as far as they can go without feedback from SUK technical, which is in hand with an urgent note attached.

At least the customer care is on the ball, and very technically minded, so that helps alot when you're trying to explain the work that's been carried out.

Top marks to Mr Will Fisher, he's a very good guy to deal with!

Tomorrow is the 26th of October. My car is still at the garage. I'm now on my second loaner, as the 3 cylinder beast of a Fabia was too much................I'm on a 1.6 TDi Golf Plus now, with more room for the family.

Should I still be waiting?! After I was called by Mr dependable, Will Fisher did absolutely F**K all and hasn't called me back since. I've had to call the garage every day to find out if their TOP DOG has had permission to find the fault on my car. "He's seriously the best we've got, Sir" Is all get!!!!!! He sounds a bit useless to me. After 10 years on Ford engines, I can't see why there would be such a hold up. Problem with air mass meter? Change it. Still not right? VAG COM it. ECU checks out for air mass meter faults? Change ECU for a donor job. Run car. Is it ok? Job done!!!!! If not, fault find in wiring loom, but to change the AMM, then the wiring, and not bother with the ECU.................Am I missing something?!?!?! Oh, and all of this started after THEY "fixed" the clutch!!

It's taken them almost 3 weeks to change the clutch, AMM and check some wires.......................Am I getting ****ed off for no reason here?!? Even SUK have given up after initially looking like they cared!!

i'd be looking at rejecting the car - they have had over a week to sort it.

Send a recorded letter stating that you want it fixed within a specified time period or you will have no alternative but to obtain a refund and they must help you sort a reasonable replacement. Also log a call with Trading Standards to keep the ball moving. Address to Dealer Principle.

This should get the ball moving a hell of a lot quicker and they may get a pro on the job!

I just can't beleive the BS they keep giving me about having to wait for permission from SUK to actually carry out a job. The so-called Master Technician is always just standing there LOOKING at the car whenever I go around to see what the hell is going on.

IS THIS REALLY THE WAY THINGS GET DONE IN A SKODA/VW WORKSHOP?!?!

It's getting rediculous now, I really am starting to lose love for the car, even though I shouldn't as its the dealer/workshop that caused the fault and can't rectify it.

18 days and counting....................

Ive been feeling the same recently with my issue with reversing sensors going off when they want to ...

Sacked me off last few days of warentee now im stuck with an annoying beep when nothing is behind when reversing grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Hope you manage to get it sorted mate

FWIW, maybe a little e-mail with a link to this & other threads, sent to Top Gear / Fifth Gear / Motoring Mags suggesting how Skoda UK are now manufacturing 'Unhappy Drivers'. There are a number of us on here who have had to battle to get things fixed that are not immediately apparent to an all 'seeing scanner'

IMHO, there is a lack of old fashioned, commom sense, get out & get under, fault finding techniques on behalf of some technicians who struggle with any form of fault that is out of the ordinary

Good luck getting it fixed mate

John

IMHO, there is a lack of old fashioned, commom sense, get out & get under, fault finding techniques on behalf of some technicians who struggle with any form of fault that is out of the ordinary

I'd agree with this.

The way my local dealer approached my fuel economy/DPF problems hasn't filled me with confidence.

It seems that if the computer doesn't flag a fault then there is nothing wrong, and if the computer does flag a fault that is the only thing that will be examined.

For example, my DPF wouldn't regenerate by itself so was put on a forced regen. But no-one seems to wonder why and what it could mean.

Who did you get the car from? Have you spoken to the dealer MD yet? How long and how many miles has the car done?

I got the car from Kings Heath Skoda in Birmingham. The reason I've not bothered with them is that are even worse! It's a garage on the side of someone's house for a workshop. When they investigated the clutch, they told me it was my driving style. At least Redditch Skoda found a fault and replaced the entire clutch kit. KH were utterly useless, both in terms of customer care AND technical knowledge.

Redditch Skoda have been fairly good in the customer care aspect, however NOT keeping me informed, and making me chase THEM every day is, I thought, the old school local garage way of doing things. Even the technical customer support guy that called me this time last week, rattled off a speach about giving them a kick up the bum to keep me updated daily, has now decided to leave me to it. He told me he'd call me back to see how things were moving along with the issue within 48 hours. That was a week ago!

The car is on it's first service, and has covered 13,000 miles or just under. I had it this time last year.

Day 19

OK, I phoned yesterday to see if things were actually moving, as I was promised........

I phoned in, asked to speak to one of the 2 guys that have been dealing with the issue, and was put on hold, while they found them. As soon as I said my name, the girl who answered hurried off the phone. A couple of minutes later, she came back on "Er, can he call you back in a short while? Thanks byeeee........click"

She couldn't wait to get off the phone. Low and behold, no return call was made for the rest of the day.

Day 19

OK, I phoned yesterday to see if things were actually moving, as I was promised........

I phoned in, asked to speak to one of the 2 guys that have been dealing with the issue, and was put on hold, while they found them. As soon as I said my name, the girl who answered hurried off the phone. A couple of minutes later, she came back on "Er, can he call you back in a short while? Thanks byeeee........click"

She couldn't wait to get off the phone. Low and behold, no return call was made for the rest of the day.

Sounds to me like you're gong to have to go down there and find out what is going on.

Ask them what they've done so far, what they plan to do and how long it's going to take, no-one can argue with that, right?

Sounds to me like you're gong to have to go down there and find out what is going on.

Ask them what they've done so far, what they plan to do and how long it's going to take, no-one can argue with that, right?

Lol, been doing that. I'm going to get a copy of the job sheet after all this is done (if ever?) just to clarify things. Their plan of action is always "we're waiting on an answer from Skoda UK technical, so it shouldn't be long now........we've got our best master technician working on it....." etc etc.

Patience is wearing very thin now. I just want my baby back, and to have the confidence that this wont all happen again when I get 5 miles down the road!!!

Call trading standards and get it logged mate - also go to the dealer in person and demand to see the dealer principle. They don't like face to face in the showroom so will definitely hurry things along. Especially as they appear to have caused the issue.

Just spoken to Redditch Skoda, and now they're saying there is a split in one of the boost pipes, causing the kangarooing, but they can't tell me when they will have one. It's "part in transit", so the part they want is sitting on a plane somewhere coming from Germany. Do they not keep spares for cars anywhere these days?!?!

So, another few days will no doubt pass, before they get this part, but they won't tell me if this will cure the original fault.........................things are looking bleak for my motor!!!! :'(

Sorry to hear about all the problems you're getting! :(

Just spoken to Redditch Skoda, and now they're saying there is a split in one of the boost pipes ... but they can't tell me when they will have one. It's "part in transit", so the part they want is sitting on a plane somewhere coming from Germany. Do they not keep spares for cars anywhere these days?!?!

Sadly, it would appear not. :( My relatives bought a second-hand Octavia from a main dealer, found it was missing the mesh filter on the windscreen fluid bottle(!) ... dealer didn't carry spares, wouldn't order one in until a book-in date had been arranged for the car, and said it'd take a couple of days to get the part, despite the local TPS having several hundred in stock, and doing overnight dispatch as standard. Similar story with the cruise control - despite there being a fault code on the stalk, they wanted it once to verify the presence of the fault code, and again to replace it (this is despite it being serviced immediately before sale, and the "cruise control checked" box being ticked on the service sheet, yet there being a fault code on the stalk upon getting it home, and not having tried to use it in that period).

You MUST get down there, hand them a letter stating you want it fixed within 7 days (which is resonable) or you will take it elsewhere and charge them for it. I would keep it simple and not start rejecting it cos its not their car! My feeling is to get it out of that dealer after 7 days and get it trailered to the supplier. If they can't fix it, then you can use SOGA against the supplier. You can then claim for compo against Reditch. Another option is to push them to trailer it to the supplier NOW as you expect to have the work carried out to a resonable level of skill and attention. If they busted the car and taken almost a month without updates then their not competent.

If you don't feel the supplier can deal with the fault, be straight with them and ask them of their opinon, they might involve a local indy. But you DO have more rights with SOGA rather than just the warranty. Redditch don't have to fix it and they only get paid book time so they prolly dont want to get involved in the work.

Good luck, but do act soon ish!

Day 20 (yesterday)

Had a call from Will at SUK after a more than a week. He gave no answers about what is going on with the car, and once again assured me he'd keep me informed about what is going on

Day 21

I'm interviewing people at work all day so won't get chance to get around to the garage until I finish tonight. Going in to see what the hell is going on, and give them until next week to get it done, or it gets trailered somewhere else. :S

Skoda CZ have been informed, as have the motoring press. Lets see if any more happpens over the weekend.........

UPDATE

Just got off the phone with Will again at SUK. Apparently, the ECU/airmass meter fault has been rectified and is now sorted, the boost pipe is now the only part that needs replacement. The garage enquired about repairing the pipe and sending the car out, but SUK blocked them from doing so, as I would have been straight back in to get another one fitted. Makes sense I guess. The new OEM part should be with Redditch Saturday/Monday, so it's looking good for next week to get it back. Lets hope so eh?

Edited 29 October, 201015 yr by virusman26