On Friday 12th June my Skoda Yeti 1.2 Elegance DSG began to run badly. The EPC light came on as did the TSC symbol. I contacted my local Skoda garage which was Simpsons at Colne and took the car in on Monday 15th June. I explained what had happened and was assured that it was still under warranty. Some time later I was contacted and told that the problem was due to the use of poor quality fuel and that this was not covered by the warranty. I explained that I had recently filled up at Morrisons and was told that supermarket fuel was the problem due to the lack of certain additives. I was charged £182 for a replacement lead and 4 new plugs.

    I was not convinced that this could be the cause because when I questioned this and wanted to know why we had not been warned against using such fuel I was told that although it could not be proved this was definitely the problem. 

   I did some research and found on this forum dated 22nd February this year an article by Michael G which exactly matched the problems I had experienced. However in his case the cause was found to be due to the cylinder 3 lead passing too close to the exhaust manifold. On opening my bonnet I discovered that the replacement No. 3 lead now had some corrugated tubing fitted at the point where it made contact with the exhaust manifold. I then asked myself whether this was a strictly necessary precaution against Morrisons fuel and what about the other 3 leads. 

   I quicky came to the conclusion that this scenario was much more in tune with the experience of Michael G rather than the unlikely blame being ascribed to supermarket fuel. I was left wondering whether this was some sort of escape mechanism to avoid a warranty job. I quickly wrote a letter to the managing director at Simpsons but have not yet had any reply

Welcome to Briskoda. I am sorry to hear about your problems. Have you let Morrisons know that Skoda UK - and presumably VAG UK - consider their fuel to be substandard?

Did the garage produce any evidence that the fuel in the vehicle was in fact not in compliance with BS standards for Unleaded in the UK?

If so have they sent evidence of these findings to Morrisons to suggest their fuel, or that particular garage, may have a tank contamination problem?

 

If not, i'd be doing as DGW suggested.

 

It's pretty bold to be suggesting a major fuel suppliers fuel is not up to scratch when a not insignificant proportion of cars in the UK will be using it.

Seems odd if they didn't also charge you for draining/cleaning the system and a new tank of fuel! I don't believe a word of it.

The dealer is telling you rubbish.

 

If the fuel from Morrisons had been "sub-standard" then there would have been lots of people affected, plus Trading Standards would be on the case. I see no publicity to support this.

 

I would ask the dealers for a written appraisal of your vehicle and the exact reason you were charged, and would tell them that you will be in touch with Skoda UK to make a complaint forthwith, especially as you have evidence of others with the same engine having the fault rectified under warranty.

 

Reviews, here:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/34777-simpsons-colne/page-2

don't appear to be too bad.

How could sub standard fuel cause a HT lead failure, impossible? as Graham says they are talking rubbish. I regularly fill up at Morrisons and Tesco and Sainsbury's and have done so for years. Perhaps Morrisons should be informed of what Simpsons are accusing them of. I would expect someone at Simpsons would be very worried of making such accusations of a large trading company. I would also insist of my money back if they have charged you.

In your shoes the thing which would annoy me most is not only being made to pay for someting which should have been a warranty claim-but then being told a tall tale to try to justify it.

The explanation you have been given was at best a sign of incompetence and at worst crooked.

Hi edjoyce

 

Before I came to your conclusion, my initial thought was "that sounds like what happened to us".

 

The difference is, we were away from home so i just rang Skoda Assistance. A van came and a very helpful tech fixed it by swapping HT lead 3. No dealer involved, and no charge.

 

I could perhaps understand spark plugs being affected by fuel quality, but how could the HT lead be affected? They carry volts, not octane! And how could only 1 lead be involved?

 

Complete ********, to my mind. I'd raise hell with the dealer,  and copy in the SUK CEO, http://www.ceoemail.com/se.php?id=8986

 

CEOemail.com is a great resource. So is Facebook, I've found. These rogues don't like the publicity.

 

Let us know how you get on. Good luck.