Hi All

 

First new car

 

Part exchanged my Fabia 2 1.9 TDI Estate after doing nearly 108,000 miles and five years old In March 13.  I bought a new Fabia Estate 1.6 TDI SE from a dealer and asked them to sort out a paint mark by the rear aerial but his sub-contract valeters, machined polished the car and badly scratched the roof by the aerial, rear spoiler and all the way down the C pillar on the offside.

 

After enlisting Skoda UKs help, got a full refund!  Dealer did not want to speak to me and even tried to blame the car then me!

 

Second new car

 

Gluten for punishment. In June 13 went to a different dealer and bought a new Fabia Estate 1.6 TDI Elegance to avoid waiting three months as I did for the SE one.  Waited for five weeks and hired a car.

 

After taking delivery noticed that, the wiring harness 'plastic support sleeve' behind the coolant bottle was broken and the harness was sticking up because it was not attached to the bulkhead screw.  On the day of delivery, took it back to the dealer and said did you not notice this during the PDI?  Got the usual answer 'you did the damage' from the mechanic.  He should have noticed fault on car or did he choose to ignore it.  In addition, more faults when dealer tried to fit all round mud flaps and doorsill protectors.

 

The wiring harness 'plastic support sleeve' is not a Skoda part but I believe a Delphi one.  Therefore, no official maintenance procedure to replace it!

 

Tried to reject car on two occasions but dealer does not want to refund money nor does Skoda UK.

 

Again got in touch with Skoda UK who managed to get the part in a few weeks.  I was a Technical Author; therefore, I wrote a maintenance procedure to replace it. 

 

Yesterday, I explained to the service controller you need to use textile tape not PVC tape as on the original part! 

 

Noticed that the rear window heater was glowing in the dark when coming home this week.  Therefore, need a new rear window for a car that is four weeks old!

 

Dealer manager rang me yesterday afternoon and read out the warranty rules.  Then blamed me for fiddling with the car!  I only taped up the broken part.  He may have thought since I wrote a procedure I must have taken the car to bits!  Ignorance on his part or probably the usual blame the customer!

 

Missed Skoda UK phone call yesterday afternoon and now waiting for their call early next week.

 

Moto, corporate dealers only interested in bonus and not interested if there is any faults!

 

May be time to buy a Ford or Japanese model?

 

Any advice would be appreciated!

Edited 6 July, 201312 yr by Diesel Estate

What were the problems encountered when the mud flaps and sill protectors were fitted?, they must nave been quite severe if you were considering rejecting the car over them.

 

Unfortunately in 30 years in the motor trade I have yet to encounter a new vehicle that is perfect.  New cars do go wrong, they will, as they're made down to a cost, that's why the manufacturers give a warranty with them.

 

I don't think that you'll get either a fault free vehicle or a better service from another volume manufacturer.

Sorry to hear of your issues, I have certainly not had a great time with my local dealer after buying my new Fabia:

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/276391-vrs-picked-up-today-great-car-not-a-great-dealer-experience/

 

My biggest annoyance has been the lack of interest from the dealer and the impersonal responses. They really don't seem to be very interested in customer service (my local anyway).

Use a small dealer, not one of these big corporate ones that only care about targets handed down from an off site big cheese.

Ford and Japanese dealers are no different.

 

And as you are clearly aware of car stuff, I'd advise checking it over before driving it away.

_{Hi Folks}

 

_{Thanks for the feedback.} 

 

_{Unfortunately, all the small family Skoda Dealers have gone because Skoda now big and successful, wants gin palace type dealerships which only large corporate or big companies can afford.}

 

_{Mud flaps and Door Sill Protectors}

 

_{One of the rear mud flaps was fitted with only two out of the three screws, the middle one was missing.  The middle hole was out of alignment with the car body one and the valeter did not know how to elongate the rubber mud flap middle hole to match!  The sill protectors crack i.e. move up and down when pressed because the double sided tape that should hold them to the sill was not completely stuck down onto the sill.}

 

_Worry

 

_{The standard of work by the majority of your average dealer mechanics is not the best to say the least.}

 

_Conclusion

 

_{I will just have to let them do the work and inspect when finished!}

Edited 11 July, 201312 yr by Diesel Estate

Thank you for the Large Print, i managed to read that without my glasses on..

 

george

Hi DE

 

Sorry to hear of the hassle.

 

Can you name and shame the dealer?

 

I find  this list most usefull..

 

http://www.ceoemail.com/

Take your car to Mitchells, not far from you, I am sure you will get better service and an honest explanation/repair for your issues.

 

 Good luck with your car.

_{Hi Folks}

 

_{Thanks for the feedback.} 

 

_{Unfortunately, all the small family Skoda Dealers have gone because Skoda now big and successful, wants gin palace type dealerships which only large corporate or big companies can afford.}

 

fortunatly this isn't the case. I must be lucky becuse there are 2 within 15 miles of where I live. There is also a multi franchise dealership too and my experience is that they are chalk and cheese

Thanks every one for your comments.

 

From this web site, complaints to Skoda UK must be taking up a lot of their time and money.  If only for the cost in terms of money; I think that they will put pressure on dealers with too many complaints to improve or else become only service outlets which a few of the old Skoda dealers have become because of the high cost to improve their premises.