Hi Guys I don't usually venture outside of the Octavia & Kodiaq sections but just had to have a quick moan about Skoda.  I've had 5 in a row now I think so pretty experienced with them, love the cars, no issues there - it's just the dealers and service.

 

I had to disconnect the battery on my new Kodiaq and when I reconnected it the airbag light came on, this also triggered something about the front assist and also the SOS system whatever that is. Pretty annoying, but hey ho.  Now I live in South Essex, not exactly the back of beyond, and where there used to be 4 dealers within reasonable range of me, now there's none at all. The nearest one is across the bridge in Kent, and that's nearly an hour away. I phoned both closest ones anyway, neither could fit me in at all for another 3 weeks, both said it would be more like 6 weeks if I wanted a Saturday, and despite the distance neither would even look at it while I waited, even though I described it as a simple problem which they could probably fix in minutes. Essentially, I'd have to wait, then take a day off work, just for them to look at it.

 

Meanwhile I phoned my local independent garage. Even though they said up front they didn't have the 2017 skoda software, they said bring it straight round and we'll have a look at it. 20 minutes later they'd cleared the airbag warning which also cleared the other two, and even though I had to pay a token £40, which I shouldn't have to because it's under warranty, it was totally worth it because it got fixed with no hassle, no petrol and toll cost and at my convenience. Most importantly, from the second I called them, they actually gave a damn. The last time I got that from skoda was at least 2 cars ago.

 

When I was buying most dealers didn't care whether I bought one or not. Then, Skoda blatantly lie about their ability to deliver cars in time, for no obvious reason. To be honest, because of that hassle (5 months wait) I'd already pretty much decided this would be my last Skoda. But now my mind is totally made up. I've said it before but will say it again, when I first started buying skodas the service set them apart, now it seems worse than all the competition. Surely I'm not the only one and they are going to start losing out.

Is there a reason you didn't phone Skoda Assist?

I did phone them once, when the car was days old and I realised the headlights weren't adjusted properly. All they did was point me towards the two dealers, so there wasn't a lot of point. Have you had any better luck out of them?

Problem is that the old school of Skoda dealers have departed to be taken over by the glossy lot. Once we had a parts department where the bloke behind the counter knew his stuff , the mechanics didn't care about looking like BMW lot in flannels and jerseys , but would pop out of the workshop to look and advise. Now we have a parts manager who only works by parts numbers. I've had two experiences of my local main dealer. First was a cambelt change . Their price was mentioned, but I'd gotten an indie quote first ( but wasn't happy about driving more than a few miles on a belt needing change), but when I mentioned indie price, main dealer matched it. Next came ( something I've mentioned before) -- short piece of flexible pipe leaking. Main dealer had solution - replace all of the underbonnet fuel pipes at £160 +£160 labour. Local motor factor supplied bit of pipe at £0.5 .

I wanted to be certain that this was right type of pipe, so I called into local TPS. Part was mentioned as "flexible fuel pipe, cut to length", and they were horrified to hear main dealer's solution.

I think you should send that to Skoda HQ    they're getting as crap as VW   be interested to know how you get on---sixth new skoda sir? 

I put it on their Facebook page and their response was a totally pointless, gave me a link to the dealer locator website despite me clearly telling them I knew exactly where my local dealers were. 

 

Honestly Ive just had nothing but terrible since I bought my Octavia vrs in 2014.

Edited 3 September, 20178 yr by Dr_Pepper

8 minutes ago, Dr_Pepper said:

I put it on their Facebook page and their response was a totally pointless, gave me a link to the dealer locator website despite me clearly telling them I knew exactly where my local dealers were. 

 

Honestly Ive just had nothing but terrible since I bought my Octavia vrs in 2014.

My 'nearby' family run Skoda dealer gave up the franchise a couple of years back. Such a shame as they were very good.

The 'modern' VAG group dealerships leave me as cold as ice. Their only interest is selling PCP deals, stupid so-called VIP events, and expensive servicing.  The emissions scandal topped it all off for me.

 

As an aside I bought an approved used Mini. The contrast with VAG customer service is incredible.

 

My last two new car purchases were both Skodas. Never again though.

I am not in the least surprised by the terrible service you have received.