So my new car broke down today. It hesitated once or twice, then went into limp mode when the warning lights below came on. Skoda assist sent out a local garage who found an error code that said 'air intake leak' or similar. They couldn't fix it so its got to be recovered back to the dealership. Not pleased.

Its my first Skoda, and the first new car I've had break down. This after around 150k trouble free miles in Subarus. I need my car for work so Skoda are going to send me a replacement car tomorrow. They didn't offer to, I had to request it.

 

 

 

 

Put it down to just plain bad luck. Unfortunately things can sometimes fail, nothing is 100% with electronics and mechanicals, and maybe you've just got that particular car unfortunately.

 

Hopefully the dealer will fix it promptly and your faith in Skoda will be restored, if a little dented. 

Could be as simple as a faulty sensor, my previous car, a Superb 170CR had the exact same symptom at low mileage, it was the EGR sensor, then after about another 60k, same happened again, but it was the turbo inlet, both were relatively simple fixes, keep the faith, most of these engines are good for over 200k miles.

Certainly knocked my confidence in the car. And I still don't know what's wrong with it or indeed when I'll see it again. Have a feeling that every time I start the car I'll be wondering if it'll do the same thing again.  :(

Unlikely just have a little faith I know it's hard in situations like these ! What made you give up the scooby

Unlikely just have a little faith I know it's hard in situations like these ! What made you give up the scooby

 

 

I'm trying to keep the faith. 

I'd had 6 Subaru's since 2005ish. Just fancied a change. My previous car which I traded in for the Octavia was a MK7 golf - didn't have it for long though.

I didn't think skoda assist send out a local garage. It's usually a proper vw/skoda assist van or if they are unavailable a standard AA patrol van. hopefully it's an easy fix, What dealership is it going to?

I didn't think skoda assist send out a local garage. It's usually a proper vw/skoda assist van or if they are unavailable a standard AA patrol van. hopefully it's an easy fix, What dealership is it going to?

 

There wasn't a Skoda assist or AA van available. So they used a local garage that do breakdowns / recoveries for AA ,RAC etc.

Its going back to the dealership I bought it from - Henry's Glasgow. Hopefully it won't be away too long. 

Ahh ok. Henry's are a good dealership I just picked up my new vrs estate from them last week. The guys are quite helpful on the service desk.

They were fine when I bought my car. Its times like these you find out how good they really are. 

Did you get a replacement car while yours is in service?

They're supposedly going to deliver one to my home address in the morning. Some company VAG use for replacement cars handle it, not Skoda assist. They've said they'll try and get an Octavia sized car for me. We'll see. 

Seemingly they will try and get the replacement car from the dealership but as that is 90 miles away and obviously I'm not going to be with the car when it arrives there in the morning, they then use the nearest Europcar depot, which is 85 miles away.    

I've had no follow up call from Skoda since my initial breakdown call. So when the garage said the car had to go back to the dealership I had to call Skoda assist back and request another car. I don't think they were going to offer one.

They were fine when I bought my car. Its times like these you find out how good they really are.

That is true I have used them for over 7 years now without issue but everyone's experience is different

My VRS water pump started leaking within the first week and had to be replaced. I also never had any problems with my new Subarus.

Funny thing is that whilst Subaru's feel lower quality and poorer built that the Octy, their mechanical engineering and reliability is superb. The Japanese certainly know how to build a cheap feeling car that never lets you down. My next car will probably be another Impreza if they get rid of the equal length manifolds which robs the boxer engine of its glorious sound.

My VRS water pump started leaking within the first week and had to be replaced. I also never had any problems with my new Subarus.

Funny thing is that whilst Subaru's feel lower quality and poorer built that the Octy, their mechanical engineering and reliability is superb. The Japanese certainly know how to build a cheap feeling car that never lets you down. My next car will probably be another Impreza if they get rid of the equal length manifolds which robs the boxer engine of its glorious sound.

 

Completely agree. Whats unseen in the Subarus is the excellent mechanicals. Thats where the money goes in those cars, and you end up with excellent reliability. I'm sure thats why they sell in huge numbers in Australia and the US - the distances they cover are massive so reliability is more of a concern. I know which brand I'd pick to head out into the outback.

Update from dealer. They ran some diagnostic tests which indicated an air intake sensor fault. The service guy said they replaced the sensor with one from another new vRS they had in stock to test it and the fault has cleared. The dealer principal is taking the car home for an extended test drive so if that goes ok the car should be ready for collection tomorrow.

 

Now assuming that is the case and all goes well with the car, the dealership is 2 hours from me. Should I be expected to take an afternoon off work and travel that distance to collect it, or should they deliver it back to my home address?  

2 hour drive home in a vRS, it's a no brainer for me.

Perhaps, but I need to drive the 2 hours to the dealer in the loan 1.6d Passat first.

And I've already covered 3500 miles in the 6 wks since delivery.

I enjoyed my Subaru years too, but they always kicked me in the nuts and stole my wallet every time I drove them. I had some eye watering bills for services and maintenance every 7,500 miles. Thankfully (touches wood) the skoda's Ive had since are no where near as expensive to run or maintain. Its a fair compromise for me

I enjoyed my Subaru years too, but they always kicked me in the nuts and stole my wallet every time I drove them. I had some eye watering bills for services and maintenance every 7,500 miles. Thankfully (touches wood) the skoda's Ive had since are no where near as expensive to run or maintain. Its a fair compromise for me

 

 

But they never broke down right? Certainly not newish unmodified cars.

 

Meantime, another update from the dealer. Despite them saying yesterday if the car was okay overnight and this morning I could collect it today, they called at lunchtime to say that although it was 'fixed' they wanted it for another night just to be sure. So that's 2 nights being taken home by someone, no doubt to be run about in for 'testing'.  

As the thread topic says - Not chuffed. 

But they never broke down right? Certainly not newish unmodified cars.

 

Meantime, another update from the dealer. Despite them saying yesterday if the car was okay overnight and this morning I could collect it today, they called at lunchtime to say that although it was 'fixed' they wanted it for another night just to be sure. So that's 2 nights being taken home by someone, no doubt to be run about in for 'testing'.  

As the thread topic says - Not chuffed.

But if you'd got it back and it wasn't right you'd be complaining about not enough diagnostics!

Remember the Titanic was brand new!

Bit of a reality check needed!

What do you want out of this?

But if you'd got it back and it wasn't right you'd be complaining about not enough diagnostics!

Remember the Titanic was brand new!

Bit of a reality check needed!

What do you want out of this?

 

 

You're missing the point. Why didn't they say yesterday that the car can be collected on Friday? Why say, it'll be ready tomorrow if all is okay, then say its fixed but we want it for another day anyway? All they've done is give me the feeling they're not sure, but don't want to admit it, and left me with the uncomfortable feeling of my car being driven around the country.

 

I don't need a reality check. I've bought 7 new cars since 2008. The reality is this is the only one that has broken down.

What do I want out of it? My car back, fixed, with some confidence restored. Not the above.

 

Titanic, really?

Bathtub curve strikes again.

Why not ask them to deliver it back to you for the inconvenience caused on a low loader?

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Why not ask them to deliver it back to you for the inconvenience caused on a low loader?

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I'm not sure they would. They're my nearest dealer but still 2 hrs drive from me. However if they call in the morning and still think the car has a problem then thats what they'll have to do. If thats the case who knows when I'll see the car again.