Exactly - he genuinely couldn't understand why I'd informed Skoda...

To be fair, Skoda have been brilliant - chased the dealer and acted in my behalf to try and get things sorted.

I'll buy Skoda again, just not from that dealer.

I think that anyone buying a car should ask some basic questions like , when was the last service, does it have a full service history,how are the brakes, how are the tyres and  has the cam belt been done, these are basics."approved" does not really mean anything. If I was buying a 5 year old car I would ask.  (waits for the backlash)

Edited 29 July, 201312 yr by 200k and climbing

When i bought my 6 year old Octy RS The dealer went through every piece of paper work that had been done to the car and had even stapled the reciepts to the service schedule. When i looked through there was one for the Cambelt, Auxillary belt and water pump

Mine showed me that the car had its engine fully changed and showed me a print out of all the faults the vehicle had before i became the owner.....they did miss the dent on the bottom of the car but in the end sorted all the problems out without even questioning me......Skoda are a Czech German company and the Germans are very strict with everything they do and how there dealers operate......one dealer makes a mess and they will come down on them like a ton of bricks.....in the end its not your problem but theres......Your rights are that your Skoda needs to be road worthy and should be in working order without any major problems for at least a year......they didn't sell you a vehicle that was good enough.......

Your rights are that your Skoda needs to be road worthy and should be in working order without any major problems for at least a year......they didn't sell you a vehicle that was good enough.......

 

Unless the cambelt has actually snapped, I don't see that this is the case.  I don't see that being "approved" means you don't need to inspect the service history at the time of buying - at which point the fact it had not had its cambelt changed could have been spotted and surely negotiated on.  Skoda's list of what "approved" means does not include up to date service history.

Edited 1 August, 201312 yr by keith3289

 

I've also managed to get details of the directors at Bickerton and Rainworth (same company) and sent the letter to them personally.

 

 

 

Thats interesting didn't realise they were the same, had exact same problem with Rainworth dealers trying to wash there hands of any problems and in the end telling me to 'do one'. Although my incident was more serious they actually damage my car through poor workmanship. So I took their advice and 'did one' i have since purchased two cars from Denis Horton in Lincoln and have received excellent customer service especially after sales.  I live in rainworth so its very frustrating my local dealer behave in this manor i will steer clear of Binkertons aswell if they are the same group thanks for the heads up. Best thing we can all do is vote with our feet and go elsewhere when this happens and eventually they will feel the pinch in their pockets.

Unless the cambelt has actually snapped, I don't see that this is the case.  I don't see that being "approved" means you don't need to inspect the service history at the time of buying - at which point the fact it had not had its cambelt changed could have been spotted and surely negotiated on.  Skoda's list of what "approved" means does not include up to date service history.

 

He got sold a dud at the end of the day.....regardless if the cambelt will fling off or not.....Skoda has a strict maintanence schedule, so if its Skoda approved then it has to follow a strict maintance schedule that Skoda confine there cars too....... He must have a case also if Skoda themselve are getting involved..... :sun:

Would of been interesting if it had of gone though and been recovered to dealer to be fixed as the first thing that would have been checked would have been the service history,

 

I doubt warrenty firm would have paid for a new engine because belt hadn't been changed,

 

Dealer would have had a very big bill then, either that or they would have been buying it back

So "Skoda Approved" means what? I thought at least it would guarantee the car to have been serviced properly and to me  [a car layman admittedly] , a scheduled cambelt change was paramount. If  Skoda can "approve" such a car then their approval rating is meaningless.

A used car purchased through a manufacturers approved scheme should offer more benefits and peace of mind than the equivalent car from an independent.  In my mind the car should have a service and maintenance history which has been done to the letter of the manufacturers schedule, it should also be up to date with all of the applicable product enhancement campaigns. This is what the customer pays the premium for.

Judge for yourselves what "approved" means: http://www.skoda.co.uk/used-cars/advantages-of-skoda-used-cars

Edited 2 August, 201312 yr by keith3289

So what's actually been agreed on the car? The dealer is doing the tailgate corrosion, but any word on the cambelt and the brakes issue?

These couple of lines say it all for me,

 

ŠKODA APPROVED multi-point vehicle inspection check

Just so you know your used ŠKODA is in good shape, our fully qualified technicians will give it a comprehensive workshop check before it’s delivered to you.

 

I mean if he drove of the forecourt with a vehicle that had issues with the breaks, corrosion and a vehicle that hasn't met Skoda's strict maintanence schedule then the dealer themselves has gone back on the Skoda's Approved promise / multi-point vehicle inspection.... Maybe I am reading the sentence wrongly.....who knows!!!!

Picked the car up this afternoon.

They've fitted a new tailgate (corrosion) and DMF under warranty. I paid £188 for the new clutch to be done at the same time.

What they have done is service the Haldex free of charge. I reported a "noise" at low speeds to them a while back but at that time they couldn't find anything. The service manager drove it and reckoned it was from the diff - they've done the haldex and it seems to be sorted. I'm pleased actually because this was one of the things I knew hadn't been done since new (like the cambelt!).

To be fair, the service dept have been very helpful all the way along. My issue is with the Director and Sales Manager for selling the car in the condition it was in and then flatly refusing to accept any fault on their part.

I'll wait and see if I get any correspondence from Skoda regarding their "escalated to regional service team" statement.

I'll be making use of Gordon Lamb in Derby / Chesterfield from now on!

Thanks for all the support and information.

thanks for the update and glad things are getting sorted...will avoid Bickerton/Rainworth in the future

thanks for the update and glad things are getting sorted...will avoid Bickerton/Rainworth in the future

I would too.

OP, you could post a review of your experiences with Bickerton/Rainworth in our dealer review section.

These particular dealers give brands a terrible name......shame really....

These particular dealers give brands a terrible name......shame really....

 

Its probably not even the whole dealership thats the problem its probably just a few individuals. At Rainworth it was the aftersales team who were rude and incompetent sadly . i Think judging by peoples experiences with buying cars or parts they were pretty good. Iv'e just had a quick look at the website and a lot of new faces so maybe its changed but my experience left a bad taste in the mouth so unfortunatley i wont be giving them a second chance at my hard earned cash even though i practically live next door to them the Risk out weighs the convenience. 

Agreed....

i was sat in a vw dealers with my company golf the other day and overheard the service man explaining to a customer that quote " it is recommended that the cambelt is changed at the stated times" the customer said have you done it then ?..he replied, no its only a recommendation and its up to the customer if they require it doing as its outside the servicing parameters ..NIce    and she had a 2011 plate passat under warrenty.worrying,hence id rather be gang raped in a skip full of bricks than take my car to any mainstealer.

Approved used car means diddly squat. I bought an 'approved used' Octavia in Dec 2010, in oct of 2011 I arrived home from a weekend away to a letter from a legal firm in Leeds, the letter basically asked me why I was in possession of a car that belonged to their client under a lease purchase. I had paid cash for the car.

 

The general manager of the dealership from who I bought the car behaved like a complete knob. his response was don't bother me it will be a mistake and go away. Three months of fighting with him and also SUK got me no where. As a result of this I did a lot more digging into the history of the car only to discover that not only was there outstanding finance, but it had also 'lost' 25,000 miles!!!!

 

Eventually SUK gave me the number of the MD of the dealership who I contacted, with the danger of me going to the press with my issue the problem was miraculously resolved within days of contacting the MD.

 

So if you have a problem then fight it out!!!

I well remember your car saga, Blackray. If anyone is curious to know more, the thread is below.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/221522-vcds-shows-my-octy-has-been-clocked/

ouch

Added to all the other posts on approved car issues, can the approved system be relied on at all?