Help! £1100 bill...warranty

[EchoMikeMikeAlpha]

Hi I'm a newbie and would like some advice about what to do about my poorly Yeti (first registered Oct 2010, 78,000 miles, diesel, 2.0). Apologies for typos, I have an 8 week old baby and I'm typing on a phone one handed while feeding her.

I bought it in August last year from a Skoda dealer, along with a service plan and approved 1 year warranty. I had a minor service done a few months ago and a major service yesterday. No issues identified at minor service, happy days, or so I thought.

Anyway, yesterday, the following issues were identified:

Air blower motor inoperable - new required: £479

Near side outer cv boot split: £147

Near side rear coil spring broken: £281

Static fault in memory with alarm horn - further diagnostics required: £102

Off side door lock and window inoperable - further diagnostics required: £102

I feel really disappointed - I haven't bought a skoda before, but did this time because of the reputation for reliability. I thought with the service plan and warranty I could be confident of avoiding this sort of bill which comes at a very awkward time as I am on maternity leave and skint. The garage have said the warranty wouldn't have covered the things identified in any case so I would have had to pay this regardless.

Any advice is welcome - I don't know whether it's worth trying to negotiate about the costs and what would be reasonable to ask for (if anything).

Thanks in anticipation

[SuperbTWM]

Surely you must have know whether the blower was working or not prior to the service?

 

You can get those things done a lot cheaper at an independent garage, the parts for the spring and the split CV boot are peanuts you are just paying for Skoda labour which makes even a simple job cost a fortune. If the fan blower is broken though I believe that will cost a fair bit.

 

The fault with the window and door could be down to a wiring issue in the door and again, time wise it could cost an absolute fortune for such a simple fix.

 

If you were closer to me I would happily help but your bloody miles away.

Edited 13 September, 2016 by SuperbTWM

[Ootohere]

Sorry to hear this.

 

Your Yeti will have come with a Service Book.

Have a look at 5 years, i believe 'Replace Alarm Siren' is on that service schedule / guidelines, so a diagnosis is likely a waste of money if the Alarm is overdue renewal.

 

Buying a Skoda 12 warranty before other warranty expire is really a good idea. While there are no known issues.

Especially with Skoda over 5 years old.

Edited 13 September, 2016 by GoneOffSKi

[Tech1e]

So it's a six year old car and your warranty has finished last month.

Seems odd none of these faults were flagged up at the minor service, although all could have occurred since.

CV boot and coil spring are wear and tear items, will give up on any model/make given time.

Alarm horn and door issues are model specific but both quite well known so a cheaper specialist should be possible. Perhaps JKM as you are in Portsmouth

[Ootohere]

Still check the past Service & Warranty History.

The coil springs had issues and may already have been replaced.

If replaced under Manufacturers Warranty before 3 years old then the cover finishes at 3 years.

If replaced after 3 years under a Used Car Warranty or Skoda Used Warranty they may have 2 years warranty on them.

[KenONeill]

I'd be most surprised if a warranty covered the CV boot or the spring (and unless Yeti springs are made of platinum that price is kitten ridiculous anyway).

 

I'd also not expect to be billed for diagnostics on items which the warranty would cover. Have a look on the VCDS forum to see if there's someone who'll have a look at the faults logged for you for free or at most a couple of beer tokens.

[EchoMikeMikeAlpha]

Ha ha - platinum springs! You made me laugh anyway.

I'll check out the VCDS forum and see whether anyone can take a look for me - thanks for the tip :-)

[Urrell]

Does the heater blower work on full speed, usually switch position 4?
If it does it's the resistor that has blown and that is a fraction of the price of a motor.

It sounds like they saw you coming :(

[brianja138]

If really skint the blower problem and alarm can wait awhile, the other 3 problems have possible safety issues and should be the first priority. As suggested ask around locally for any recommended independent garages and get quotes. When a car gets to this stage in its life most people [in my experience] would move away from the expensive marque dealerships, the man-hour rates are very high.  Hope it works out for you.   

[Ootohere]

That is the issue with VW Group brands that only give 2 or 3 year manufacturers warranties, people move away from main dealers because even at 6 years old 

the Service & Maintenance given over the 3 years might not be that good. Then the next 2 are a joke, No.4 picks up nothing & 5 or 6 finds all the stuff that Skoda, VW, Seat or Audi knew were likely issues as far back as 6 years before.

Then they talk of gestures on helping with repair expenses because you have FDSH and such nonsense. Plus the Services Fixed or Variable / Flexible can often be a rip off with 

parts changed 'if required; but charged for anyway replaced or not by some doing the work at Major Services or Service Plans.

 

Some Far East & Asian Manufacturers that build vehicles in Europe & RoW might still have owners going to main dealers when cars are 7 years old because they gave them a Manufacturers Warranty that long.

Edited 13 September, 2016 by GoneOffSKi

[EchoMikeMikeAlpha]

Hi - thanks for the advice everyone. I'll try and respond to each point.

SuperbTWM - even in my new babyfogged mind I had noticed the air blower - I had forgotten the exact warranty date though :-( Good idea to get a comparable quote from an independent and I'll get on that.

GoneOffSki - I will check the service history - maybe there is something I can salvage - great tips.

Urrell - the fan is totally kaput - won't work in any position - so sadly I think it's the whole thing that needs replacing.

Brianja - yes I am going to get looking for a local independent,

Tech1e- yes I feel quite annoyed that all of a sudden everything has gone wrong despite having a FSH from the same dealer throughout its life. I will check out JKM as maybe they will be better

Many thanks for all your advice.

[Llanigraham]

Hi I'm a newbie and would like some advice about what to do about my poorly Yeti (first registered Oct 2010, 78,000 miles, diesel, 2.0). Apologies for typos, I have an 8 week old baby and I'm typing on a phone one handed while feeding her.

I bought it in August last year from a Skoda dealer, along with a service plan and approved 1 year warranty. I had a minor service done a few months ago and a major service yesterday. No issues identified at minor service, happy days, or so I thought.

Anyway, yesterday, the following issues were identified:

Air blower motor inoperable - new required: £479

Near side outer cv boot split: £147

Near side rear coil spring broken: £281

Static fault in memory with alarm horn - further diagnostics required: £102

Off side door lock and window inoperable - further diagnostics required: £102

I feel really disappointed - I haven't bought a skoda before, but did this time because of the reputation for reliability. I thought with the service plan and warranty I could be confident of avoiding this sort of bill which comes at a very awkward time as I am on maternity leave and skint. The garage have said the warranty wouldn't have covered the things identified in any case so I would have had to pay this regardless.

Any advice is welcome - I don't know whether it's worth trying to negotiate about the costs and what would be reasonable to ask for (if anything).

Thanks in anticipation

 

Firstly you have a 6 year old car, so I wouldn't expect it to be perfect.

I would agree that many of these items would not have been covered by some warranties, which is why it is important to read the small print very carefully/

 

The faults:

Air Blower inop; Do you mean the fans don't work? If so it is probably the resistor pack that has failed. and they can be replaced quite cheaply.

Nearside CV boot: not unusual on a 6 year old car.

Rear spring broken: I had to have both mine replaced at 4 years old, and my garage is changing them every day on various cars. The cost seems a bit high,

Alarm horn: not sure I get what the fault is, and the diagnostics charge seems a bit OTT.

Door fault: if this is the front OS door then the fault will probably be broken wires between the door and the frame of the car. It has been mentioned several times on here. Can be repaired with a hours labour.

 

Are those charges from a dealer or an independent garage? Remember that a main dealer is charging perhaps £100 per hour, whereas an indi will charge a lot less.

[EchoMikeMikeAlpha]

Thanks Llanigraham - I don't have a clue about cars or what is or isn't normal wear and tear so other people's advice is helpful especially as there seems to be a general consensus developing.

The door is actually the rear driver side, not the front, are there any commonly found problems that you know of?

[Llanigraham]

Never heard of a problem with that door.

 

Sorry to say it, but I think your dealer is being very sexist and "saw you coming". I think you need to find a good VAG independent and get them to look at it.

Edited 13 September, 2016 by Llanigraham

[Tech1e]

Never heard of a problem with that door.

 

Sorry to say it, but I think your dealer is being very sexist and "saw you coming". I think you need to find a good VAG independent and get them to look at it.

How has the dealer done anything other than they are supposed to do. They have inspected the car on service and found some defects. They have then informed the customer of those defects and how they wish to proceed. How is that wrong?

[Ryeman]

Unless you've been very rude to them, there is no excuse for their rudeness.

At 6 years definitely go independent but they may be a tad slower unless they are a specialist.

[EchoMikeMikeAlpha]

Ryeman - I haven't been rude to them at all - confrontation is not my thing. I much prefer to find a solution everyone is happy with.

In what way do you think they have been rude? I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean they are taking the **** with some of the charges because as a female with a baby I look like a soft target? Or something else? I'm a bit confused.

[Ryeman]

Sorry, I think I'm confusing you with another.

I'll go back to sleep ))

Sad to say but 6 years is regarded as a long time these days.........we used to think of that as being still fairly new.

Edited 13 September, 2016 by Ryeman

[137699]

Take your car to a specialist. Also in Hampshire there is SJB Autotech in Basingstoke. I have used them and they're very good and very reasonably priced.

 

http://www.sjbautotech.co.uk/

 

I am sure they will get to the bottom of your issues for considerably less than the dealer is stinging you for....

[EchoMikeMikeAlpha]

Thankyou everyone, the advice is really useful.

I have found a local garage who will do the suspension problems much more cheaply than the dealer.

The local garage were a bit sceptical that the whole fan motor (rather than just a part) would need replacing so they are going to look at it first, but worst case scenario that will be £385.

I'm going to live with not being able to centrally lock the rear driver side door or open the window until ££ improve. I have just been looking at the manual - it looks like you can lock the door with the key by removing the door pane. When money improves I'll go to a specialist as recommended by 137699 and Tech1e unless I can find someone friendly on the VCDS forum that Ken recommended.

I have no idea what they meant when they said there was a static fault with the memory on the alarm horn - so unless you wise folk advise otherwise I'll ignore that as a problem.

Thank you everyone - hopefully I'll be safely and happily back in the Yeti soon.

[Ryeman]

Best of luck

[KenONeill]

I'd trust anyone that Tech1e is prepared to recommend.

[Falmouthboy]

If the fan motor is 'shot' and money is an issue ask the independent if they will source a used one.

Unfortunately - joys of motoring on a 78k mile 6 year old car. Because cars don't age visibly these days like they used to, people forget that things under the surface wear out.

The only way to keep bills down is to shop around and find a good local mechanic who you trust not to rip,you off.

[bluecar1]

if its the motor resistor is shot, the fan will only work on full speed only

 

if the motor is shot it won't work on any speed, but it is also possibly a wiring, fuse or switch fault

[ernieb]

If you do get an independent garage to look at it and he decides to change the ballast resistor make sure he uses an approved one.