My Blackline has gone in for it's first service today, and yet again I have been struck by the apparent lacklustre service and disinterest provided by my local dealer.

 

I had informed the dealer of a few issues that also needed looking at, including the drives door handle sticking, a whistling that has recently started and is apparent between 40-50mph and also the fact that the mapping software/version is out of date compared to some of the other Blackline's that have also been delivered.

 

To be fair, less than 2 hours after dropping the car off I received a call to inform me that the car was ready for collection so off I popped to collect it. The SatNav issue was dismissed by the service department as "you need to download an update onto the SD card". Despite asking where & how this download exists all they answered was "online, and you put it in the SD card slot".

 

The door handle has been sorted by squirting it with WD40 (or similar) - no problems with that however I cannot see where the so called "mini valet" has occurred as the car is just as filthy as it was when it was dropped off and the mats haven't been vacuumed either.

 

The whistle was not traced so they asked if I would go for a test drive with the technician. Absolutely no problem with this and so off we went for a spin. Sure enough the whistle presented itself to the technician - who hardly said anything but agreed that it was there and would be annoying. Back we go to the dealer to be then told by the service manager that the technician does not know where the whistle is coming from and can I take it back in to them next week for the master technician to have a look at it! I even suggested at the time that it sounds like it is coming from the grill which is a known issue with a rectification available - apparently no one knows about it.

 

 

 

I was going to see about taking a new vRS out, however I have to admit that every time I have any interaction with the dealership I get more & more convinced that I will be taking my business elsewhere next time. I really do like my Blackline and the new vRS seems like the next logical step, however I have to admit to being very dubious about remaining with the brand based on my dealership experience over the past 12 months.

 

 

(Sorry about the rant, just venting my frustration I suppose)

I had a whistle on mine and after a bit of research on here I went to the dealer with the info. The fix is just a thin strip of felt that gets stuck just behind the grill. Hortons in Lincoln knew about it straight away as it's loaded on their database as a known issue/fix.

Fitz

You know the fix, I know the fix, I tried telling them about the fix but they denied all knowledge that it exists. Unfortunately we are talking about the same dealer as well.

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I had the same problem with the drivers door handle and they stuck what looked like some vaseline on it to stop it doing it again and I asked about the satnav being updated since it was out of date when I got it and the repacement Amundsen was out of date as well (less than 2 months ago). I was told that I would have to pay the £140 or whatever extortionate amount it was to get the update. I feel a phone call to SUK coming up. Why should I have to pay to update something that was out of date when I bought the car. I don't expect to get free updates for life but the first should be free just so it is up to date on the day that you bought it - it might not be an issue as the Amundsen has started playing up again and since it's the same symptoms as last time it will have to be a new Amundsen There goes another £825 before fitting SUK will have to pay out on my car...

I'm of the same opinion about the mapping - I don't expect to get continuous updates throughout the life of the vehicle, but I do expect it to come with the latest version when it was delivered.

 

The door handle as I said has been treated to a squirt of oil - most of it has dribbled down the side of the door.

I had the same problem with the drivers door handle and they stuck what looked like some vaseline on it to stop it doing it again and I asked about the satnav being updated since it was out of date when I got it and the repacement Amundsen was out of date as well (less than 2 months ago). I was told that I would have to pay the £140 or whatever extortionate amount it was to get the update. I feel a phone call to SUK coming up. Why should I have to pay to update something that was out of date when I bought the car. I don't expect to get free updates for life but the first should be free just so it is up to date on the day that you bought it - it might not be an issue as the Amundsen has started playing up again and since it's the same symptoms as last time it will have to be a new Amundsen There goes another £825 before fitting SUK will have to pay out on my car...

 

If you're not happy with the Skoda head units, you could ask them to fit a Kenwood DNX521. It shouldn't cost them more than the price of an Amunsden, plus you get free lifetime updates of the Garmin maps. You'll also get DAB, ipod connection, bluetooth and a head unit which sounds much better than the Skoda units. Worth a try?