Hi. I've just recently purchased an octavia vrs black line, 2012. Lovely car and great to drive. When I picked the car up the other day, I noticed the led on the wing mirror was cracked and one of the wheels was slightly scuffed. I was totally shocked. According to the sales rep and manager I had missed it when viewing it, so it was my fault. I can't remember seeing it to be honest. They are going to replace the led on the wing mirror, but only patch up the scuff. All this on goodwill. I understand its a used car but can a main dealer sell a car that's only 10 months old with a cracked wing mirror and scuffed wheel??

I appreciate the goodwill, but Im pretty appalled that a car that new can be sold in such a state at a main dealer.

Also, with regard to the warranty. Can I use other garages to maintain the warranty?

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They can sell a car in whatever condition they want, its up to you as the buyer to pick up on these points and get them to rectify it before you part with your hard earned, many car dealers will before a car goes on the forecourt give cosmetci things a tidy up, they all have access to mobile 'chipsaway' type peopel and they will come in and tidy up wheels, scuffs, minor dents and scratches, then clean it and thats it, but some wont bother, some will also put the car on teh forecourt unprepared and wont bother with cosmetic stuff in the hope that the buyer doesnt notice and they get away with a £150 worth of tarting the car up.

 

Unless you noticed it at the time of viewing or the time of collection then you will have a hard job getting them to sort it as they will just say you done it after you collected, neither of you can prove it either way.

 

Personally, for me when a car goes on the forecourt it should be presented in a tidy and clean manner and the way we see and accept cars in this country in some cases is a joke!  But many people dont care!

 

My brother for example, last year spent £40K I expect on a 3 month old Land Rover Sport thing, the wheels on it were scuffed to buggery and I said you have spent £40K on a car and they couldnt even be bothered to sort that out, his reply 'the wife drives it so they would only get scuffed again within a couple of weeks!!'

 

Lesson from your problem, buyer beware!

I paid a deposit after viewing it the first time. It wasn't until I went to.the garage to pick it on sat that I noticed the bad points. I'm not convinced they were there before. The manager said he has the paper work showing the defects. Whether they were there or not, surely a main dealer should not sell a car with those defects. I was astonished. Are you saying that as I noticed them before paying the balance, I could have asked for the wheel to be redone to?

What about my warranty? Do I have to use this particular garage for servicing etc?

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2012 car comes with a three year warranty, any Skoda garage will honour this.

As for wheel scuff and cracked lens, you should have taken a good look over the car and pointed issues like this out and agreed the action to be taken, otherwise hard luck in my book

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Edited 22 July, 201312 yr by Its me

That's nice. I've never bought a car from a main dealer before with those kind of defects. Whether I'd noticed them or not.

Its me. I take it you work for Skoda. What about servicing?

My uncle works for fiat in Turin. He said, not even a main dealers in Italy would sell a car like that. They would sell the car at a decent standard. The worse thing is. One of the salesman used to play footy with me years ago. He could have easily pointed it out if indeed it was there. When I picked it up, he said he didn't know it was there himself. Even though there was a file highlighting it.

Who needs old friends ey!

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Salesman have some of the poorest eyesight when it comes to cars they are selling.  When I was looking at my car before I bought it I saw from about 20ft away that one of the rear lights was badly cracked, the salesman standing next to me virtually had his nose pressed against it before he would admit it was cracked.

 

Mind you he worked out the trade in price for my old car in about 5 seconds having only glanced at the back of it.

I don't work for anybody. But before I part with my hard earned I take a good look

Reading this its not just salesman who need to visit Specsavers

Regards all

Juan

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At the point of deposit, and not full payment. What were my options/rights? Can anyone clarify?

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If you're in the uk (can't see from my phone) you can have warrenty work done at any main dealer. If you're paying for the service again you can have it done at garage of your choice and the warfenty won't be affected as long as the service schedule is followed and parts meeting skodas spec are used, though as skoda have a national pricing policy which is competetive you may be better off using a main dealer especially if you intend keeping it after the warrenty expires in case you have any problems. The national pricing policy including the set prices is on skodas website

Ask for the defects to be resolved at the price you agreed, if the dealer refused either walk away or ask for a further discount.

Regards all

Juan

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Its me. I'm glad you came on. I'll make sure i give you a call if I'm feeling depressed. As i said earlier, I'm not convinced the wing mirror was cracked at first viewing. No wonder this country is going to pot, if this kind deception is normal at a main dealers. What happened to.honesty and customer service??

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Its a used car. Cars that have been used will suffer fair wear and tear. That's why they are cheaper than brand new cars.

 

A scuffed alloy is classed as fear wear and tear - it's purely cosmetic.

 

The lesson here is you need to be 100% sure the car is for you before putting down a deposit - including checking it over very thoroughly.

 

If you aren't able to view a car before viewing then you need to be clear about any damage on the car and agree with the saleman that any damage is repaired at their cost.

 

If you agreed to buy the car in its current condition and missed the damage then you need to take more time when checking the car over before buying.

 

However, a good garage should be striving for customer satisfaction and therefore be willing to make the neccessary repairs.

Its me. They wouldn't give me my deposit back less than a week after i paid it. I asked the salesman if I could have my deposit back as my missus wasnt sure about the car. Surely, I should have had a cooling off period after I paid the deposit??

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Silver I understand that. But surely, as they had a file showcasing the damage, its negligence on their part. What happens if water got into the led crack?

Thanks for agreeing on the customer satisfaction part.

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The secret to reducing the risk when buying a used car is to do your homework.

 

Physically checking over the car comes later in the process. The initial research should involve checking over Skoda UK's used car promise...

 

...which includes a 30 day / 1,000 mile exchange...

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/used-cars/advantages-of-skoda-used-cars/

Silver. I was given a brief explanation of that on Saturday. How would that affect my situation? If you don't mind explaining.

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Agreed, the dealer made a mistake by admitting they knew about a defective light.

 

A scuffed alloy is fair wear and tear. A defective light poses as a potential safety defect.

 

If they knew about it prior to the sale then it should have been fixed prior to it being advertised, almost certainly if you have spotted it and queried it.

 

The dealer sounds a little off to me.

Assuming the dealer hasn't suffered any financial loss due to holding the car for you then they should be able to return your deposit. Ask to see their policy on deposits and check the small print.

 

The terms and conditions of Skoda's 30 day / 1,000 mile exchange can be found here...

 

http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/approved/skoda/skodatc.htm

Silver. I asked the salesman only a few days after id paid the deposit that I was unsure and if I could have my deposit back. He said it was too late. I've obviously bought the car now as my old car was sold privately a day before. I needed another car so had to take it on Sat

Had a chat with the sales manager today who basically said I was lucky i was getting goodwill on the cracked led. We got into am argument about this and that, and then he said if you don't like it, don't use us at all. That's aftersales for you.

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Ring Skoda UK customer services on 08457 745745, option 4.

 

Let them know about the poor service you have received and ask them to look into it for you as you are unhappy with the condition of the car and the service from one of their franchised dealers.

 

Ask for more information on their 30 day / 1,000 mile exchange policy too, this will reinforce to them how unhappy you are by the very fact your are considering returning the car. They will want to avoid this at all costs.

 

If you keep the car vote with your feet and do not have it repaired or serviced at the same dealer.

 

This dealer sounds like a bad one, there are lots of good dealers out there. Don't let this experience put you off the brand or the car, both are infact very good.

Edited 22 July, 201312 yr by silver1011

If you paid lets say a £2000 deposit I would say that they were unreasonable to say they wouldn't return it if you cancelled the order.

If you'd only paid lets say £150 deposit with balance on collection I don't see an issue with them saying they wouldn't refund it.

Regards all

Juan

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Tell me if I'm wrong but under these circumstances would the car qualify for the 30 day return........if the brakes didn't work, if the gears wouldn't engage, yes........but a scuffed alloy and a crack on the indicator lens......doubtful to me

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There doesn't have to be anything wrong with the car to qualify for an exchange.

 

Note though, its an exchange, not a refund.

A scratch or broken mirror lenses are not warranty items. Its down to you to ensure youre happy with what you are buying.

This is why the dealer is reluctant to fix the issues, they aren't warranty claims so it will cost them to put right. - fair wear and tear.

 

Nevertheless a car doesn't qualify for Skoda's used car programme if it isn't road worthy. A cracked light lens could be argued as a safety defect.

 

For this reason it should have been replaced.