Hi there

Good job this is moderated.

I recently bought an Octavia from an approved Skoda dealership, Marlborough Iselworth. I live in North Scotland, discussed car over phone, excellent condition, approved car, warranty etc etc. Flew down to London, picked up car, all seemed good. Drove back to north Scotland, by the time I got there picked up a slight drumming noise from rear, suspected wheel bearing. Took to local Skoda dealership who agreed wheel bearing. Dug out warranty, Car Care Plan who do the warranty refused claim as believe it should have been picked up by selling dealer. Contacted Marlborough, ding dong for a while and best they will do is say they have to see the car as they don't trust the local Skoda dealer to confirm it is wheel bearing. They expect me to drive 550 miles there and 550 miles back! Contacted Skoda Customer Care who did some phoning around, then came back to me just now to say nothing they can do: two choices 1) drive down to London or 2) get work done locallly then write a pleading letter to Marlborough to get refund.

I argued what if bearing seized; surely Skoda UK should manage this situation between dealers and get the poor customer sorted out etc etc.

Any advice on what to do as I think this whole service is absolutely **** - and this my first Skoda too.

Any help appreciated whilst I gather my thoughts.

Thanks

Andrew

How old is the car?

If it's under 3 years then it should have a Skoda Warranty.

If you have to use the third party warranty then I would have though that any VAT registered garage should be able to submit a report to the third party Warranty company to authorise repairs.

If it's under 3 years then it should have a Skoda Warranty.

And if it's a Skoda Approved Used vehicle it should come with 12 months warranty also IIRC.

Rob.

Was the car advertised via Skoda UK's site - which just happens to say:

The

Thanks - its a 51 and problem is Warranty declined the claim submitted by my local garage as they believe the selling garage should have noticed it as part of their 50 point checklist - with a wheel bearing it would have been showing signs rather than a sudden failure.

yes was advertised on skoda's site. Problem is down to selling dealership who now say they must see the car again rather than accepting the position and getting it fixed through local dealer. How do I convince them?

Tell them that you've been in contact with Trading Standards and the only way you'll be taking the car to them is to return it for a full refund as they have sold you something which is not fir for its stated purpose, as per your statutory rights.

They might call your bluff and tell you to bring it back but its unlikely.

yes was advertised on skoda's site. Problem is down to selling dealership who now say they must see the car again rather than accepting the position and getting it fixed through local dealer. How do I convince them?

If say you took the car to them and it turns out to be the bearing. Are they willing to pay you expenses for something that could have been sorted closer to home?

I would have hoped that any self-respecting dealership would have paid for the repair to be done by your local Skoda dealer in the circumstances - although that doesn't help advance your case. Do you have access to Trading Standards locally for advice?

This wouldn't be an Inverness dealer perchance, as I found out they don't like you buying your car elsewhere.

no the problem is the London dealer, the Inverness dealer tried to get the warranty claim and this was refused by the warranty people as London dealer should have picked this up.

Just spoke with Trading Standards, very helpful, down to Sale of Goods Act and I should get this repaired through no cost to myself as within 6 months of purchase. Suggest sending a letter to dealer to that effect giving 14 days to reply or small claims action to be defended in Scotland. Plan to do that.

Any further thoughts?

I'd get an independent assesment of whether the bearing was faulty and likely to have been so at the time of purchase say from the RAC or AA & then approach trading standards to pursue the selling garage for all your expenses.

This is dire customer service from Skoda & their customer relations seem useless !:eek:

I absolutely agree that this is dire customer service, I find it unbelievable that customer service for example, can't just take a step back and see what's happening to the end customer and then sort things out. Shocking.

Have the bearing replaced and request the part replaced. That can be easily send down to London... even attached to an accompanying brick

Im sure you had your reasons for buying a car over 500 miles away when you have a local skoda dealer who as aprt of the approved used car network probably could have got that same car shipped up to you. Anyways.... what done is done.. i think its very irrsposible of the london gargae to expact you to drive on this problem... what if the problem worsens enroute and causes an accident...then the london dealer has more to worry about then just a bearing!!

Joel

How much money we talking about to sort out a new bearing?

Think dealers and everyone are being incredibly silly.

Think a rear wheel bearing is around £200+ all in.

It seems damn silly why one Skoda approved garage won't take the word of another Skoda approved garage regarding a duff wheel bearing... :confused: Its not like its some back street dodgy place! Its another Skoda dealership.... That appears to me to be the problem. Do London Skoda garages have something against Scottish Skoda garages?

How much money we talking about to sort out a new bearing?

Think dealers and everyone are being incredibly silly.

:iagree: Although you have the law in your side in terms of the car being either inherently faulty of not of merchandable quality under the Sale of Goods Act (I'm not a solicitor, so don't know which would apply - the former I think), pursuing it in the Small Claims Court will cost you financially in the short term as you'll have to engage a solicitor, and although you'll almost certainly win the case and have costs awarded, you'll still have to pay him/her in the meantime. It'll also massively extend the amount of time it'll take to get your car fixed. I think Loz has a point in that you need to keep a perspective on things, and while I agree you shouldn't really have to pay, I can't see it costing all that much to take the car to an independent garage to get the work done. It's not like your cambelt's snapped and you need a new engine, after all! And at least you'll have a driveable car in the shortest possible time - TBH, you may find that the inconvenience of having your car off the road for any length of time far outweighs the cost of a replacement bearing...

To be honest you don't need a lawyer to get involved for small claims court as you could represent yourself.

Simply telling the dealer in writing that you expect them to reimburse 'all reasonable costs' incured by yourself in coming to them. That they will indemnify you and your insurance company should the wheel bearing fail while you are driving to them. If you loose control and have a smash, your insurance company may not pay out since you know you car is not in a roadworthy condition.

Also give them the options of them comming and collecting the car from you for a full refund under said law, or to pay your costs in getting it ficed locally.

Failing that start proceedings in a small claims court as it will cost you almost nothing (Less that £50 IIRC) and IIRC you can not be made to pay their costs in small claims court. The proceedings will almost certainly make them cave in.

An alternate route would be:

Call skoda/london garage before you have this done to confirm you will send them it and if they find a problem with the bearing then they will reimburse you your costs.

Get genuine part and have it fitted at a reputable local dealer.

Get the old part from the car and put it in a bag.

Take photographs listing damage and a letter from fitting dealer saying faults.

post it to them keeping copy of photographs.

wait and see what happens.

If I were you I would get the indy dealer to check the cambelt make sure it looks ok while you have the work done as if they didn't notice a wheel bearing who can say if they did their checks at all.

It's Malborough

Then Send MissPiggy Round

Afmuir

I'm sorry to hear of your problems and wish you well in resolving this rather frustrating situation.

However, I am glad that you posted this issue as I was going to Marlborough Skoda tomorrow with my brother, to look at an Octavia VRS for me and a Superb TDI for him, jointly spending around

I was going to Marlborough Skoda tomorrow with my brother, to look at an Octavia VRS for me and a Superb TDI for him, jointly spending around £20-£23k. With aftersales service like this we will now be going elsewhere.

Would be even better if you called in at Marlborough first to tell them why you are going elsewhere! Just print this thread and drop it in on the way past!

Is it under 30 days/100miles since you got it?

Skoda 'say' they will exchange it if within this period...

I'd get the London dealer to arrange a car transporter to come and take it back..

As usual Skoda UK not supporting there customers and allowing dealers to act

in anyway they like....!!

I would also send a letter to the MD of the London dealer stating what you want done, send a copy to Skoda UK. Give them 12 days to respond. If they are still insisting that they inspect then request they either send a tech up or collect the car......

good luck mate..

cheers

Dazz

The problem is the warranty company they will do anything to avoid paying out. You could approach the seller and try to get some goodwill out of them after all they have made some money from you in selling the car, and you can't expect your local dealer to pay for it. Another approach is if the MOT test has been done in the last 28 days why not make an appeal that it has wrongly passed.

not fir

Plenty of them in Scotland