Gosh! I was hoping I would be a one-off! Sorry to hear that I am not.

 

I would suggest the easiest way of removing them is to have the wheel off so you have more space to move the dust shield up and out of the way. But you can check if they are there with the wheel is on and the car isn't on a jack, just push the bottom of the shield up.

Just took mine in, they raised up and showed me there isn't any in the rear, apologised profusely and said they will take care of me when it comes to service time if anything extra needs doing.

 

Also was asking about extra alloys / tyres for winter he said they will try and do me a good deal when I come to buying some... we shall wait and see! Ideally I'd like another set of Terons so it's the same all year round but they are a bit pricey compared with aftermarket alloys.

Much better than the response I got. When I asked if they had seen the tear in the dust shield, the response from the lady on the service desk was 'What do you want us to do about it?'

 

I am going to get winter alloys/tyres but I am not going through the dealer.

 

Sounds like your dealer is very good, the one I got the car from I don't think I will use again!

Prices for Skoda alloys are a bit steep, in fact I think the 17" teron were more than going for the bigger 18"which seemed silly. Will look into it further later in the year

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When I asked if they had seen the tear in the dust shield, the response from the lady on the service desk was 'What do you want us to do about it?'

 

Errr - fix it and your complete and utter **** up of a PDI would have been my response!

Errr - fix it and your complete and utter **** up of a PDI would have been my response!

 

  haha. I definitely felt like saying something like that!

haha. I definitely felt like saying something like that!

I would have.

I would have.

So would I.

Stuff happens, people make mistakes etc, service manager should be out asking (begging) for forgiveness, and assuring you as to the reasons why it happened. He or she should also be putting right any damage caused.

Just got a call back from Skoda customer services, should anything happen to my front shock absorbers outside of the 6 month / 6,500 mile warranty then this mistake is on record so it will be considered whether it will be repaired under warranty or not.

 

Wasn't sure whether to talk to Skoda HQ, but thought it would be sod's law that I would have a shock absorber issue after 6 months and a day and I'd wished I'd logged the issue.

That's interesting Shermo. I have been in contact with SUK about it so it is on the system, but they haven't said anything about that. I will mention it when I get in touch with them as a follow up to Friday.

 

I agree that the dealer should have acted differently, and I will be making my thoughts known to SUK about the dealer too. I have already decided that I am not going to use them again (which I will tell SUK too). I have just remembered though that the dealer said they would ring me about booking the car in for the replacement dust shield which hasn't happened yet - I will follow that up today I think.

I only asked them as I remembered reading that the clutch, shock absorbers and a few other items are excluded from the usual warranty as they are wear and tear. Obviously it's possible (yet unlikely) that leaving the blocks in might have introduced an issue so just wanted it on record for my own piece of mind.

 

No doubt if an issue did arise they would just say it wasn't due to the blocks anyway, but better to be safe than sorry!

So sounds like Germany is not the only place with incompetent dealers then.

Hi Guys! Sorry its been a while since the last post on this thread but I thought I would give an update in case you are interested. My car went back to the dealer on Friday for a replacement dust shield which was fitted (although a 1.5 hour job took 3 hours...). Also to sort the alignment being knocked issue, I have had my car 4 wheel hunter aligned today and there was nothing out of limits. So it looks like it didn't cause any serious damage on the few occasions the shock absorber bottomed out.

 

Needless to say I am happy that it is sorted now, and I have peace of mind that the alignment is right!

The transit blocks on the suspension absorber , if I look behind my front wheels at full lock is it the plastic springy looking bit that is horizontal or vertical?

Only covered 200 miles in my car so far but the suspension is REALLY stiff and my car is making big boom / clonk sounds when going over speed bumps or potholes. Decided today that I would check for these blocks given its the first day since collecting my car that it hasn't rained.... guess what I found!

Going to be having stern words with the dealers soon, also is it likely they are still in the rear suspension too? I have 4x4 so that has the multi-link same as the VRS. I would check the rear but there are cable ties over the piston sheaths to hold them in place.

Jeeez I thought I was imagining it...same here going over speed ramps and I put it down to larger rims than my last octy...but thanks to your pics..I just went out and locked steering and pulled up dust cover on shock and lo and behold there the pink offender!!!!I am now wondering what to say to my dealer and what else may have been overlooked..Mk 3 1.2tsi Elegance..which was also missing the sunset glass which mysteriously didn't appear with car ..weren't charged for it but it was specified on original order:(

I think people should name and shame the dealers that are leaving these in on the PDI so that anyone with a car on order from the offending dealers knows to look out for it on collection.

@Andyvee main skoda dealer in South Dublin...don't want to say as of yet which one until they have time to explain and rectify and we are all human and prone to human error..had this issue on a washing machine I purchased years ago and guess what...I forgot to remove the packing blocks!!so no ones perfect...but it should be an item on a checklist/electronic device and scanned as done when it is actually done.

Note....(on my new mk 3 octavia 2days old )the drivers side are pink packers..and passenger side are black ones..difficult to see as pink are right in your face..so don't just look for pink!

@Andyvee main skoda dealer in South Dublin...don't want to say as of yet which one until they have time to explain and rectify and we are all human and prone to human error..had this issue on a washing machine I purchased years ago and guess what...I forgot to remove the packing blocks!!so no ones perfect...but it should be an item on a checklist/electronic device and scanned as done when it is actually done.

It is an item on a checklist. Where do you draw the line at human error - cars leaving dealers with packing blocks in the suspension and 40+ psi in the tyres after a PDI is downright unsafe.

Still not sure what bit behind the wheel we are looking for. I know nothing about cars. Is it the vertical pipe behind the wheel? It has a black springy plastic cover over it but the cover only moves a little bit so you can't see under it properly.

Yes - that is the shock absorber and the dust cover. The packing pieces are around the shiny stainless steel rod underneath the dust cover. They should be right at the bottom, so fairly easy to see if you move the dust cover.

Thanks Andy but I can hardly move the dust cover. It only moves up a few mm. Do I need to Jack it up? Also at the bottom of the sheath is a cup shaped thing that is stopping me from seeing properly.

Wished someone lived near me that knew what to look for, I'm useless.

Others haven't had to jack the car up?

 

If your suspension isn't rattling your falsies out (don't take offence, just a turn of phrase) then the chances are they have been removed.

Others haven't had to jack the car up?

 

If your suspension isn't rattling your falsies out (don't take offence, just a turn of phrase) then the chances are they have been removed.

It doesn't seem quite right to me but it could just be the rubbish quality of the roads. Just wanted to rule it out and know all is well