Replacement Engines, Engine Numbers, V5, DVLA, Skoda UK. What Happened.

[rwbaldwin]

Get you and ya fancy words! [emoji106]

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

They are not my 'fancy words'. I'm sure some government bureaucrat came up with them many, many years ago. To be fair, the engine definition is still good - even with hybrids and electrics, so I guess whoever it was, did a good job.

It has been suggested to Skoda that the position be stated in a letter to owners, but so far there has been no response. They don't seem to grasp that just telling an owner 'everything will be OK' is not acceptable - even if true :(

[Sittingbull]

George has alluded to a member on here having had stuff shovelled onto them from on high by the dealer and Skoda UK, I suspect the owner in question to be me and at this stage I can't say too much more on here as I am taking advice on options open to me as a consumer. I appreciate after many years handling contracts and representing people at tribunals that the English language is open to so many interpretations and the devil always lies in the minute detail.

 

Without going into too much specific detail, I have been allowed to form a perception, one that I know to be shared fairly widely on here, that barriers of one kind or another have been placed before me in my attempts to gain information that I, as the legal owner of the vehicle worked on under warranty, am entitled to by right. I have also to say that with regard to some of the barriers they are real and not perceived. For example, I was indeed told that it would be up to the dealer whether or not they chose to allow me copies of the work schedule, up to the dealer whether or not they stamped my book detailing an engine change.

 

I have also found that there is no consistency in dealing with these engine issues, not at the dealers and definitely not at Skoda UK. Neither in terms of the diagnosis, method of testing, approach by dealer, approach by Skoda UK, time frames, or indeed the supply of information at any stage throughout the process including the post engine change period that I am currently in. I have also had the misfortune to discover that both dealer and Skoda UK are perfectly capable of being deliberately obtuse, and on occasion exceedingly loose in their choice of words. For example, it is not helpful when discussing the potential for goodwill due to all the inconvenience and disturbance caused to hear Skoda UK say that "there will be nothing forthcoming, after all we bore the cost of replacing the engine". Or the Service manager at a dealer being so far out of line that Skoda UK asked that he remain in the background, and reported their concerns to their own internal area managers.

 

For me, there is one central issue and that is about clarity of information and support provided to the owner throughout the entire process from initial concerns being reported right through the engine change and beyond. And quite simply, Skoda UK have failed their own customers badly, and run the risk of great damage to their reputation by doing so.

 

The stuff around what defines an engine block is important, as is the stuff about the engine number, as is the information I currently seek (but has been withheld) around plugs, belts, filters, service intervals and schedules after an engine change. 

 

But all of that stuff would be rendered simple if Skoda and the dealer were less backward about coming forward, and actually addressed the customers needs by keeping them informed and supplying all the information that would put any customers mind at ease. Because at the end of the day, having had an engine change, what I most want is reassurance from Skoda and the dealer that my car will now be fine, and an understanding of what exactly they did to my vehicle, and what I need to do at what times to keep everything right.

 

It's not rocket science.

[rwbaldwin]

...It's not rocket science...

You're right, it's not. When my Saab engine was replaced, I got a letter giving me all the information I needed. There was also an entry in the service log book. I can't understand why Skoda UK don't do the same :(

The letter went something like this.

Dear xxx,

We can confirm your engine was replaced under warranty, due to the failure of the timing chain tensioner.

As the original engine had a mileage of less than 4000 miles, it has been replaced by a new engine. The gearbox was not affected by the failure of the engine and has not been replaced.

The remaining warranty for the original engine applies to the replacement engine. The mileage limits on the warranty have not been extended.

As the replacement engine has been assigned the same engine number and is the same variant as the original, there is no need to report the engine replacement to the DVLA.

...

[trundlenut]

They are not my 'fancy words'. I'm sure some government bureaucrat came up with them many, many years ago. To be fair, the engine definition is still good - even with hybrids and electrics, so I guess whoever it was, did a good job.

It has been suggested to Skoda that the position be stated in a letter to owners, but so far there has been no response. They don't seem to grasp that just telling an owner 'everything will be OK' is not acceptable - even if true :(

There is tiiiiiiiiiny chance that I might have a bit facetious with my previous comment.

What you posted was exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[rwbaldwin]

...There is tiiiiiiiiiny chance that I might have a bit facetious with my previous comment...

That's the way I took it

[Sittingbull]

You're right, it's not. When my Saab engine was replaced, I got a letter giving me all the information I needed. There was also an entry in the service log book. I can't understand why Skoda UK don't do the same :(

The letter went something like this.

Dear xxx,

We can confirm your engine was replaced under warranty, due to the failure of the timing chain tensioner.

As the original engine had a mileage of less than 4000 miles, it has been replaced by a new engine. The gearbox was not affected by the failure of the engine and has not been replaced.

The remaining warranty for the original engine applies to the replacement engine. The mileage limits on the warranty have not been extended.

As the replacement engine has been assigned the same engine number and is the same variant as the original, there is no need to report the engine replacement to the DVLA.

...

 

Thanks rw,

 

A letter along those lines would have been a lot better than I received. I got a two line email confirming engine change and two years parts only warranty, with no mention of other significant (at least to me as the customer) information sadly lacking.

 

A letter along the lines of yours above, but which also included reference to confirming new plugs, filters and cambelt (or not), the start date of the warranty period, the effect (or not) of the engine change on service schedule, and mention of how and where the engine change has been recorded would have been much better received, and taken all of 5 minutes longer to prepare and send.

 

George and keithvrs have seen the letter I sent to Skoda, I was forced to due to their apparent unwillingness and ability to provide me with the most basic information relating to the work done. Skoda appear to have a dead bat, or at least that is the route they have chosen, which then begs the question as to why go about customer services this way?

 

And the only answer I can come up with is rather unpalatable, but has been hinted at by george on here for a wee while. That being that there is a concerted effort to make sure that the brand takes no PR hit of any kind, no matter what it takes to bury the problems, and no matter how it directly affects customer relations.

 

Once I have obtained the specific advice I need I will be in touch with VAG and Alistair Stewart.

[Ootohere]

'Alasdair'

 

Alasdair Stewart, Brand Director Skoda UK.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/alasdair-stewart/27/a4/b4b

 

A man that has responsibility for the Employees & Skoda UK HQ,

and he must be happy with they way that Skoda UK treat Customers with vehicles with faults.

They like to announce Sales Records and Percentage rises every year,

it is time they apologise for Design & Manufacturing failures. IMO.

 

After Sales & Warranty Issues dealt with in the same way as a Bentley Customers would be, might be nice,

even though Skodas are at the bottom of the food chain in the Volkswagen Group.

 

Marketing might go better if they improve Customer Services for those that bought the product.

66,000 Skoda Registered in the UK in 2013, & 32,000 were Fabias,

so they might pay a little respect to Customers that might have issues with those models,

even if it is a small number of them.

No point Big Upping the Marketing for the 3rd Generation Fabias, when a few Mk2's have unresolved issues,

or customers still being treated like Mushrooms.

Edited 3 October, 2014 by goneoffSKi

[rwbaldwin]

...A letter along those lines would have been a lot better than I received. I got a two line email confirming engine change and two years parts only warranty, with no mention of other significant (at least to me as the customer) information sadly lacking...

My Saab failure happened 20 years ago, before email so it would be much simpler today. The Saab dealer put a new 'service due' sticker on the windscreen and the new dates/mileage was pointed it out to me. I knew another owner who had the same problem and the dealer in Derby did exactly the same. The dealers were also told to explain the exact nature of the failure (what the tensioner looks like, what it does, etc).

The Skoda dealer network is frustrated with Skoda UK on this issue. For most marques, when a warranty repair is approved, the process is used to show how 'wonderful' the after sales service is. With social media, public forums and search engines, you would think it would be more important today, than 20 year ago.

[Sittingbull]

Pleased to advise that scheduled visit to dealer today went well, car had covered 1300 miles since engine change and dealer had wanted car back in after that kind of distance to give everything the once over.

 

All levels fine, no oil use at all which is great news.

 

Dealer has now stamped relevant workshop page at back of service schedule, noting engine change, date of change and mileage at date of change. Also been given information on servicing intervals, and exactly what was changed at the time along with the engine.

 

Could have saved a bit of grief if such a simple thing had been done at the time of the engine change, but having had confirmation and the relevant notations made in the service schedule I consider it a worthwhile visit to the dealer today, and worthwhile pressurising Skoda UK to get the information.

 

Still waiting for Skoda UK to respond to further emails re warranty, breakdown cover and potential for goodwill gesture to recognise inconvenience caused to my wife through their faulty product. Will update as this progresses. 

[vrskeith]

Pleased to advise that scheduled visit to dealer today went well, car had covered 1300 miles since engine change and dealer had wanted car back in after that kind of distance to give everything the once over.

 

All levels fine, no oil use at all which is great news.

 

Dealer has now stamped relevant workshop page at back of service schedule, noting engine change, date of change and mileage at date of change. Also been given information on servicing intervals, and exactly what was changed at the time along with the engine.

 

Could have saved a bit of grief if such a simple thing had been done at the time of the engine change, but having had confirmation and the relevant notations made in the service schedule I consider it a worthwhile visit to the dealer today, and worthwhile pressurising Skoda UK to get the information.

 

Still waiting for Skoda UK to respond to further emails re warranty, breakdown cover and potential for goodwill gesture to recognise inconvenience caused to my wife through their faulty product. Will update as this progresses. 

Good stuff Richard.

Best of luck with the remainder at Skoda UK

[Ootohere]

Bump.

[adfabia1]

My V5C has no number in engine number section, it's not unual (as Tom Jones might say).

[Ootohere]

Is this the Original V5 as the car was First Registered and you were the First Keeper,

or is it something else?

 

When was the Car first Registered?

 

EDIT,

PS.

If it is for the 57 plate car, is it a Red Replacement V5C ?

Edited 28 March, 2015 by goneoffSKi

[Ootohere]

Bump for a new member.

[mrgf]

They had no sign of a number on my new engine, replaced undue warranty and recorded by them, at just under three years old/45,000 miles.

 

They told me all will be the same and they will know the correct spares/replacement parts etc, by their computer system. OBVIOUSLY, this won't help me or any new owner further down the line, when it comes to using alternative repairers but Skoda say parts will be identical to my original year/engine number.

[Neillvrs]

Not been on for a while but am now on my replacement Fabia VRS 63 plate which had a CTHE engine. I got this car in May 14 after rejecting my first VRS 62 plate after one year and 2 replacement engines (both CAVE) as all the engine used excessive oil. So having had a car with 3 defective oil burning engines,(this is top to bottom of the dipstick in around 600 miles or less) and rejecting the car was given the new VRS.

I was assured it had a CTHE engine and the oil burning issue would not affect this one. After 4 weeks and 500 miles the oil was gone. Tried to reject this car on same basis as previously but was told no as they had not been given a chance to fix the issue.

Anyway eventually they replaced the engine again, I'm therefore on my 5th engine and now it is fine. Since the engine was fitted in October 14 I've not had to put any oil in at all and it's not burnt any oil. Its still on the max mark on the dipstick as it was in October.

Anyone you speak with at Skoda acknowledges there is an issue with these engines and oil consumption but as both my cars were demos with 2500/3000 miles on the clock they should never have been sold with the defective engines.

Obviously happy with car now as I seem to have a rare non oil burning car that is fun when fast and can still pull 50mpg if want to be boring.

In relation to this thread I've never been advised to do anything or been provided with any info on a change of engine number or that I had to advise DVLA or anyone else for that matter and I'm on my 5th engine overall, the second in this car.

[Sandra51]

I have recently bought a 2006 Skoda Fabia 1.2 Estate, supposedly as a private sale but I suspect he was a trader who claimed he was selling it for his dad..

He informed me that it had a brand new engine, not a refurbished one, fitted around last September and had done around 2000 miles since and that he would get me the receipt and guarantee for it a few days after he dropped the car off for me at my house.

 

Despite me ringing him a few times, he must have now blocked my number as it goes straight to his answerphone and he has not replied to messages I have left asking him about the paperwork for the engine.

 

I have now received the V5 and it has a different engine number to the one that is in my car.

From what I have read on here :

Change vehicle details on a V5C registration certificate

 

It is my responsibility by law to notify DVLA of a change of engine number 

 

Quote

Change of engine number or cylinder capacity (cc)

You need to provide either:

• a receipt for the replacement engine
• written evidence from the manufacturer
• an inspection report provided for insurance purposes
• written confirmation on headed paper from a garage (if the change took place before you bought the vehicle)

 

It looks like I am going to have to go and call at the house where he sold me the car from or drive over to see if the previous registered keeper in a town a few miles away knows anything about it, I very much doubt that it will be his dad though

 

The silly thing is I am very happy with the car and a friend who has had a few Skodas before, including a VRS, reckons I have bought a good car and that it drives well so I do not know why he is not answering my calls or returning them.

Edited 6 May, 2017 by Sandra51

[Ootohere]

Looks like you might end up with the car getting Inspected, maybe called into a Testing Centre or a visit from the Police.

Really unlikely it was a 'New Engine' in 2016 into a 10 year old car.

 

Best contact the DVLA sooner than later so the engine number can be checked as to it's origins.

[Sandra51]

I am going to try to get hold of him this week then if I have no success I will contact the DVLA.

I just find it strange that he refuses to answer my calls or reply to them, I even tried ringing from a friend's last night and got the answerphone but at least it rang a few times before going to it, unlike when I ring from my phone it goes straight to it so I am sure he has my number blocked.

 

Incidentally does anyone know if there is a database of engine numbers that tells you when the engine was built, similar to the ones you can check the VIN details on for the car information ?

[Ootohere]

bump.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/449229-new-engine-is-not-new-engine 

 

...............

Could anyone please add here if you have had a replacement New / Refurbished engine, but only if you had it done,

not that you are told it was done,  (please post to say if you have a car that you are told has a new engine and proof of that though.)

obviously the car might already be on here from a previous owner having declared it.

Then there are cars with replaced engines that required replacing...

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/294051-cave-cthe-14tsi-just-reply-please-if-you-have-had-an-engine-replaced 

Edited 26 April, 2018 by Offski

[Ootohere]

Anyone had a replacement engine recently.

What happened about engine numbers and the V5 / DVLA?

 

I know of an owner that had an engine failure of a supposedly replaced  engine from when it was under Manufacturers Warranty in 2015, they had just bought the car from a private seller,

there was a letter with the car to that affect with engine numbers on it, so that it could be serviced to the age and miles of the new engine ,

when i looked the engine did not look as though it was original to the car which was a late 2012 CAVE,

but when he approached Skoda UK for proof of the Engine that is now in the car and of no use they were told that Skoda had no trace of having supplied a replacement engine for that car.

 

A Good News Story on a 1.8TSI.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/452890-yeti-18tsi-brand-new-engine-a-success-story 

Edited 18 July, 2018 by Offski

[Muirgarth]

Slightly different angle here.

I had an engine replaced for free while under warranty. A year and a half later there was an internal oil leak costing over £800 to repair.

 

The replacement engine came with no warranty apparently because I hadn't had to pay for it. Apparently if I had paid for the first replacement engine, the fault in the second one would have been repaired under guarantee.

 

Can this be correct?

[Ootohere]

Thread revival for help please to an interested owner with an issue over a replaced engine done under warranty and Skoda UK saying no knowledge.

 

?

Have you got a car with a replacement engine bought new or used?

?

Does the Service Book if there is one show a Engine Replaced and when and by who / where?

?

Or was there a letter or Invoice with the car when you bought it showing that an engine was replaced?

Edited 16 August, 2019 by Roottootemoot