Hello guys,

I'm an owner of a brand new Octavia 2010 L&K 2.0 TDI-PD.

I live in Bulgaria and the car is bought from the only one dealer of Skoda in Sofia, Bulgaria.

I don't use a leasing option and the car is paid on 100% by me.

Two weeks ago on 217km mileage and after 5 days of driving I got an engine failure - there was terrible cracking noise coming from the engine.

The car was delivered with road assist vehicle (covered from warranty) to dealer's service.

After few days, they have disassembled the engine - and the problem was a clogged oil highway of the engine and one of the bearings of the crankshaft was totally destroyed.

Since I left the car in the service, they provided me a replacement car for my usage during the repair interval.

I have been contacting them often to check what the progress is. So far they have decided to replace only the failed components (I don't know exactly what they are)

and not the whole engine.

If someone else had a similar problem, could you tell me what your experience was, and if you know what is Skoda policy for such issues ?

Is it possible my car to be replaced by a brand new car if I insist ?

Or a new engine to be installed ?

My car should be ready next week and when I pick it, I will see if everything is OK, but I don't feel very comfortable to posses a brand new car with major engine repairs.

I plan to take a friend auto mechanic with me when I take the car to speak with the service gays, what was the problem and to see if the actions taken are good enough.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Edited 24 November, 201015 yr by ruark

It seems that nobody had such a serious problem so soon with his car ?

The problem is that the law will be different in different countries.

In some regions it may be that you can get a replacement vehicle, in other regions a repair is sufficient.

I doubt many people here will be able to give advice on Bulgarian consumer law.

The problem is that the law will be different in different countries.

In some regions it may be that you can get a replacement vehicle, in other regions a repair is sufficient.

I doubt many people here will be able to give advice on Bulgarian consumer law.

Thank you for the reply Lou_O.

My question is more about general Skoda policy if any. And if someone had such a problem to share his experience, the country doesn't matter.

i have found that people who i know who have suffered engine failure under warranty usually just have a new engine bolted in as its quicker than stripping one down and reassembling

Don't know about the Bulgarian law and can't really comment on global Skoda policies, but I found over the years that if you're loud enough and willing not to compromise you'll get what YOU want. I'd insist on a new car and would refuse to take this one back.

krko

i have found that people who i know who have suffered engine failure under warranty usually just have a new engine bolted in as its quicker than stripping one down and reassembling

Thats possibly due to high UK labour costs making stripping an engine not cost effective. I also doubt many dealers these day have the expertise to even attempt it. Engine builders are a dying breed.

I personally would not be happy with them repairing the engine,i would want a new engine fitted or a new replacement car.

I would insist on a new engine or new car.

+1

New engine or new car, with warranty starting from when it's delivered. A healthy dose of compensation too.

I would take a good lawyer with me, not a mechanic, and insist on whole car replacement. This is very rare case and it has to be handeled outside regular warranty repair. Tell me, is Å koda popular in Bulgaria? Here in Croatia it is very popular, and I am sure Å koda dealrhsip would like to avoid bad publicity.....

What are the grounds to reject a fully warrented repair/rebuild? There aren't anyas far as I can see if the work is completed by the manufacturer or its agent.

Skoda changed my fuel pump, filters and injectors when the salesman filled my 2.0TDI with petrol.

I accepted the repaired car, when the garage offered to extend the warrenty for a year. That seemed reasonable to me.

Les.

And another for pushing for a replacement car, or engine at least.

I understand where you're coming from, London Les, but changing the injectors and pump is only a change of ancillary components. What the OP is describing is major internal engine component failure, and damage will have been a catalogue of different things caused by a chain reaction of events. That engine will never be the same, no matter how good the engine builder is.

I would also assume that from a labour cost point of view, it would also be far more cost effective for a complete engine replacment.

Remember that his car hasn't even covered 150 miles from new! I for one would certainly not accept a car that is less than a week old that has already had that level of work (or patching up) done on the engine. What's the future going to hold for reliability? Nobody knows. If a crank bearing has been destroyed, there will have been a hell of a stress on the crank, and therefore possibly other bearings, con rods, pistons, rings and liners, and the attitude of his dealer to replace only those items VISIBLY damaged seems irresponsible, dangerous and certainly not in the OP's interest.

Mike

I agree completly

Hello again,

I picked up my car today. There was an miscommunication issue between me and the technical person on the phone and the

local dealer replaced the whole engine - the new one is without a number because it's a spare part - at least the dealer told me so.

Meanwhile I sent an email to Skoda HQ and they replied to me:

According to the instructions that were given to our Bulgarian partners by our specialists (as documented in the special support system) the repair of your vehicle will be carried out by the replacement of the base engine. That is fully in accordance with the Skoda repair technology standards.

So far I'm satisfied with the handling of this problem. I was given a replacement car for the time of the repair,

my warranty has been extended with 16 days - the time my car was in the service and they have replaced the whole engine.

I just bought 4 x Continental TS830 205/55/16 winter tyres to be ready for the winter and I hope that I won't have another issues with my car soon.

Edited 30 November, 201015 yr by ruark

Hello again,

I picked up my car today. There was miscommunication issue between me and the technical person on the phone and the

local dealer replaced the whole engine - the new one is without a number because it's a spare part - at least the dealer told me so.

Meanwhile I sent an email to Skoda HQ and they replied me:

So far I'm satisfied with the handling of this problem. I was given a replacement car for the time of the repair,

my warranty has been extended with 16 days - the time my car was in the service and they have replaced the whole engine.

I just bought 4 x Continental TS830 205/55/16 winter tyres to be ready for the winter and I hope that I won't have another issues with my car soon.

That's good to hear.

Glad it worked out.