I understand ( and please don't start on me, I am trying to offer you advise based on a wealth of experience), but there are actual facts to be considered. Yes, the handling had been compromised certainly. Yes, the deer should have removed the blocks. Yes, it is reasonable that you are a bit ****ed off about it and I certainly understand that you don't wish to go back to that dealer.

All fine.

My concern is you are still sounding very confrontational. Believe me this will get you no-where. Who you have had in the car is irrelevant. It obviously wasn't going to fly off the road at the first corner because 2,000 miles later you haven't had a crash. I'll say it again, in terms of damages you have suffered no loss. I understand you feel you family have been put at risk but (thankfully) no harm has come to them.

You are better off being calm and clear with the dealer and being the reasonable party. 'screwing their backs to the wall' until you are happy is just gong to result in a lot of stress for you and you will quickly find that you probably won't ever be happy as it's pretty easy for them to pull up the communication 'draw bridge'.

To true, I think I replied to you as you sound like a reasonable person and I may come and pick you when i go in next . Although I am not confrontational at all I went in there and more or less backed down, which annoyed me more, bit of a circle im in. "screw there backs to wall metaphorically" not actually. I guess I'll wait for there response patiently and calmly.

Dont let just the dealership check it either... independent assessor should be called in as their opinion is not biased.

You make a hood point Adam - though I am not sure who would do it. AA/RAC maybe?

Jordo,

No problem. If I can help with anything let me know

When we used to have new MK1 Octavia VRSs delivered, they were the only models fitted with the transport blocks. To make it blatantly apparent that these were fitted, not only were they a bright colour, there was also a paper hangar hanging from the rear view mirror to state that they were fitted. Is this still done? If it is, it would give more strength to your case.

They seem to be fitted to the lowered cars only, I don't think that it has anything to do with overhead clearance on transporters, otherwise they'll be fitting them to all the used cars that get transported, maybe it's to do with the rail transportation side of their journey from the factory to the customer. No amount of suspension blocks would have helped an unfortunate transporter driver when I witnessed him unloading a new Octavia and the deck above hadn't been raised sufficiently.

Thinking about it the blocks are there to raise the body slightly, so when they're loaded/unloaded from the ship they don't bottom out on the access ramps.

I had exactly the same as this on an Audi A2 I bought new a few years back - the ride was very hard and despite me returning twice to the dealership they said "they are all like that". The final straw came when I went to an event with parking on a field and with my head bouncing off the car ceiling I went back for a third time and thankfully this time a mechanic had a gander under the wheel arches and found the packing still in place. The PDI sheet had shown it removed.

I eventually fought and was given a replacement A2 but not only just for the suspension issue as there were a number of other problems with the car. As for the replacement, this had different issues and I was soon shot of my first (and last) Audi experience.

Apart from the replacement car I never received a penny in compensation - the dealer argued the replacement car was compensation enough despite many trips to the dealer which was out of my way, me turning up at the dealer to pick up the car only to be told they were keeping it overnight etc.

Good luck with your dealer, hope you get something out of them as way of an apology. Not sure what damage could be done to the car but I doubt future owners will ever know what happened and probably wouldn't be able to tell.

You make a hood point Adam - though I am not sure who would do it. AA/RAC maybe?

Either of them, or there are a wealth of independent assessors around the country.

http://www.iaea-online.org/searchnearest.asp?Flash=YF - If you go there (Institute of Automotive Engineer Assessors) it lets you pick the start of your postcode ie: CF, NP, NE, SW etc and lets you find an assessor within a 25, 50, 75 or 100 mile radius.

It's a very annoying thing this but not uncommon. Other than an over firm ride it wouldnt have damaged the car or cause you any real danger. I'd try to get a sweetener out of the dealer for their mistake but no point taking legal action a bit dramatic and wont go anywhere

Whitelighter - I know people make mistakes but there should be systems in place to catch them. Someone has signed the PDI sheet without doing the work. I wonder how often the service manager spot checks the work of the team?

As I said before you can not state no damage has been done until it has been confirmed in writing. Do not accept the word of a mechanic at the dealer who whilst they may be trained well is not competent to make that call.

The only folks that know the answer on damage or not are the professional engineers who designed the packing blocks. They will know the load limits on the car with these blocks in place, it may be that because the travel was limited other components have seen unusual forces and may have used up their fatigue life.

It should be possible to get Skoda UK to fire of an email to the design team to assess any problems. You may want to state that unless you get an answer you are unsure if the car is safe to drive and push for a temp loan until the answer comes back. I know all of this is a massive pain but imagine how you will feel if the suspension fails later on . Also not sure how your insurance would view it as you know it has had this fault.

Edited 26 June, 201115 yr by Black

Hi all,

Thanks for all the responses gives me alot to think about. I called around all my local Skoda dealers and asked there thoughts, all said it was an absolute howler and yes dangerous as it affects not only suspension/handling but may have damaged car. Every garage said we will have to get it up on ramps and see what affect it has had on car but potentially yes there could be damage.

There are alot of different opinions on this matter-which is good but i'm glad all agree that it is bad and that everyone has there own thought on an acceptable retribution.

Sorry Whitelighter you have been dropped - I think Black has pipped it @ the line!

cheers Jordo

Oh also the PDI was carried out infront of me by the big ejit that sold me the car, I actually watched him tick through the list so i'm not sure the mechanic even looked at it.

I have had loads of problems with this garage - they tried to blame me for being to eager. When infact they told me they had a grand opening and left me voicemails saying come down we have a green vrs in stock. They called me a few times to come down and sign paperwork and evertime I turned up there was no paperwork to be signed.

In the end my brother popped in to pick up the media cable they also forgot, and they said we have had no training.

I will post pic in a while of the PDI(hopefully it is) and get your thoughts on that.

In the meantime enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Cheers Jordo

Working for a skoda dealership my advice would be to take it back to the dealer you brought it from and tell them you are realy concerned with any damage these may have done being on the car for 2000 miles so you want them to check the car over fully and get them to write a disclaimer stating that they were aware that these bushes had been on the vehicle for those 2000 miles and any damage caused by this will be rectified and delt with free of charge...... As with the case of your safety being at risk ide keep in contact with SKODA UK and tell them you want some sort compansation for the incompatence of a dealer reprisenting there company..... Hope this helps

Sorry to hear about this.

I would go for 2 or 3 free services, providing the car has no damage. If it has damage then you need to get advice maybe from other dealers to see what they would do.

This issue has been posted before, however, here are a couple of other things that have been posted here as missed off PDI ( Might be worth checking).

Battery terminals are tight & secure ( it has been posted that the -'ve treminal was loose & jumped off )

Check oil Level - Car spotted with oil @ Min level when collected.

Check coolant level, specially to see of it has proper % antifreeze in.

In fact i might have be tempted to take a day off work, & insist that you be present while they re do the whole PDI

Asking to see the PDI sheet, and then getting a copy of it is a good idea. Simply asking for the sheet can sometimes cause embarrassment, as it will have been "filed away" which naturally makes it all but impossible to retrieve (lol). In that case, get a coffee, take a seat in the middle of the floor area and be prepared to wait calmly. If you've got family, children, you can take along, then so much the better for increasing the irritance factor.

Cheers

Clive (Tried and tested that one!)

Hi All,

Not been on in a while(bloody work), I have been offered 2 free services and a free PDI check!. I have told them that this is not good enough and they will not call me at all now. The manager who was there when i bought my car has left and the Ejit who sold was me the car is now manager!. I declined there offer by email as they never sent me there offer out in writing like I was told and I cc'd in Skoda customer services so they could see what is going on. They calle me the next working day and told me "this is between you and dealer as you have a contract". I told them they are putting there name through ****e and I would like some assistance. They said they will come in a few days time just to make sure the new "manager" calls me like he told SkodaUK he would. Lone behold 3 days later I have had no call and SkodaUK call me and apologise and say that there not even answering there calls now and they will elevate it above there head as they now agree this is absolutly ****e service. I have spoken to Savilles(very good) and the director said he would return it as NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE and they could do nothing...

I will keep everyone posted..

Jordo

Savilles are good, i used them for servicing... I'd agree with them as well... return it as you don't know what damage they've caused...

Edited 21 August, 201114 yr by The PM

Savilles are good, i sued them for servicing... I'd agree with them as well... return it as you don't know what damage they've caused...

Not fit for purpose? Have you had the car independently seen and checked for defects?, at the end of the day what do you want! Replacement car or unfit for purpose it's gone beyond citizens advice/ trading standards its going end in tears for one of you so think hard!

they offer you 2 free service, what more do you want, theres been no harm done, since the problem been fixed how can you reject the car? do you really want to cheese your dealer off, they might service your in the future, get some voucher on top for car bits and enjoy the car

Not fit for purpose? Have you had the car independently seen and checked for defects?, at the end of the day what do you want! Replacement car or unfit for purpose it's gone beyond citizens advice/ trading standards its going end in tears for one of you so think hard!

[/quot

Think hard?

All I want is for the car I bought for £15000 to be roadworthy...not to much to ask?. When they offered me the free PDI check and the free 2 services, I was going to take it but over 1 month later still naff all in writing! I hope this doesnt come over that I am chasing them all the time or I want the car for free-I DONT. All I want is to get in my fast hatchback and feel confident enought to open it up without being sat tense. When I drove(before blocks being removed) everytime I went round a simple curve(not bend-dual carriageway) the traction light always came on and felt like I was going off the road. One of our clients has a doctorate from Cambridge in suspension and chassis' and he was F1 RnD manager at Toyota told me that due to the blocks being on the weakest point of the car would be wall of the tyre and asked if I have nicks in tyres(which i do) he said the major risk was of a blowout.

Honest answer- WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Jordo

they offer you 2 free service, what more do you want, theres been no harm done, since the problem been fixed how can you reject the car? do you really want to cheese your dealer off, they might service your in the future, get some voucher on top for car bits and enjoy the car

If SkodaUK will match this so I can take my car to another garage yes I would take it, My PDI was done by there chief mechanic apparently(never seen it),my finance paperwork is incorrect it has the wrong address and there shoddy service, I do not want them touching my car. Pay for 2 services at another dealers and yes thats fine.

Jordo

Nearly 2 months since the original post...

Personally, I think I would cut my losses and take the offer :S

The problem as I see it is that he was driving round for 2k miles with those things in there... None of us know what damage they could (or could not!) have caused, and the damage could be to other things other than the suspension with the hard ride... At the minimum I'd want an extension of a FULL warranty for as long as I kept the car.

(Also please note my last post should have said "used" not "sued"!!)

Get the offer from Skoda Uk saying you can use it at any dealer.

Shocking though that the dealer agreed it and won't put it in writing.

Good Luck

That will be the one I would be looking at!, for the time you have the car any problems that arise from this, they that is the dealers will honour any repair end of!!, and free service plus replacing all four tyre's, and shocks