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Out with a bang...


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Well, not quite, but it’s close.

 

I’ve posted previously about why I’m swapping my Octy 1.4TSi for a Superb (short story: swapping a crude torsion beam for a sophisticated multi-link). Had been looking forward to it since placing the order just after Christmas and being quoted (pretty accurately as it turned out) late March delivery.

 

Here we are, just two weeks from my Octy’s third birthday, and the end of its warranty, and the turbo has failed. Started with start-stop error, following by EPC then Exhaust Inspection System warning lights, then throttle going flat. Took it straight to the dealer as I didn’t want to drive a car that obviously had a problem, but they weren’t able to look at it until Tuesday. They first thought it was the wastegate actuator & replaced that, but have now discovered that the turbo itself has failed.

 

Some useful posts by other Briskodians have shown that it’s a known problem with the 1.4TSi which does stem from the design of the actuator (I’m no techie, but it appears to be down to poorly designed tolerances/lubrication channels). Mine is a March 15 car and I can only hope that running design changes have overcome the problem on cars manufactured since then.

 

But really not impressed. Under three years old, 28k on the clock and what has been an easy life. Then a turbo failure. What a way to go...

Edited by MorrisOx
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Mine is a March 2015 and now just out of warranty, I had not heard of the 'known issue' with the turbo either. In 3 years its done just over 12k miles so not a heavy mileage compared to many others.

 

I just hope mine holds together! I had thought of changing at 3 years but the 1.4TSI is a great all round engine (Turbo apart) Elegance Estate spec with the options I wanted and good economy makes it an all round bargain. I do not find the suspension that bad, okay not as smooth as my previous 5 series but adequate enough for me. The Superb was on my mind but just a bit too big.

 

Any specific links to the 'known issue' of the turbo?

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I’m indebted to fabdavrav for the detail on the problem:

 

http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28690

 

Like others, I’ve really rated this engine, which makes a great combo with the DSG. What gets me is the timing of the failure - *just* inside the warranty and only a couple of weeks before I swap it for the Superb. If I’d set in train the swap process just a couple of weeks later I’d have been up to my neck in an argument with Skoda about who’s liable when a £1500 turbo packs up.

 

 

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35 minutes ago, Orville said:

Just be happy that it failed just inside warranty. Pointless feeling down about a stroke of "good luck".

 

 

It’s the nerves, Orville - I’m meant to be handing the bloody thing in as part-ex in less than 2 weeks!

 

Also hacked off by the dealer’s attitude to warranty jobs: started work on it on Tuesday & told me they’d try the actuator fix on Wednesday. Hadn’t heard anything by mid-afternoon so called, only to be told that because 2 technicians were off sick ‘retail jobs’ were being prioritised - i.e., there’s no margin in a warranty job so it would have to wait while service/non-warranty cars were dealt with. So a day lost before they discovered it was actually the turbo. Literally being treated like a second-class customer rather than someone who might be starting to lose faith in Skoda.

 

Simply not very clever, to borrow a well-known marketing slogan.

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33 minutes ago, MorrisOx said:

 

It’s the nerves, Orville - I’m meant to be handing the bloody thing in as part-ex in less than 2 weeks!

 

Also hacked off by the dealer’s attitude to warranty jobs: started work on it on Tuesday & told me they’d try the actuator fix on Wednesday. Hadn’t heard anything by mid-afternoon so called, only to be told that because 2 technicians were off sick ‘retail jobs’ were being prioritised - i.e., there’s no margin in a warranty job so it would have to wait while service/non-warranty cars were dealt with. So a day lost before they discovered it was actually the turbo. Literally being treated like a second-class customer rather than someone who might be starting to lose faith in Skoda.

 

Simply not very clever, to borrow a well-known marketing slogan.

 

I sincerely hope it’s not the same dealer you’ve ordered a new car through??

 

If it is, I’d perhaps give them a polite reminder of that fact!

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It isn’t. When it’s finally sorted I’m going to do the noble thing and point out that whatever money they made prioritising service income over warranty work, they’ve lost a customer in future.

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9 hours ago, MorrisOx said:

I’m indebted to fabdavrav for the detail on the problem:

 

http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28690

 

Like others, I’ve really rated this engine, which makes a great combo with the DSG. 

Sorry to hear of your woes but, very glad to hear its covered under warranty. Fabdavrav seems to have comprehensiveit covered the issue & I'm thinking my more aggessive use of my former 1.4 may have been beneficial to the car avoiding this problem.

 

I hope the Superb works out for you

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1 minute ago, themanwithnoaim said:

Sorry to hear of your woes but, very glad to hear its covered under warranty. Fabdavrav seems to have comprehensiveit covered the issue & I'm thinking my more aggessive use of my former 1.4 may have been beneficial to the car avoiding this problem.

 

I hope the Superb works out for you

 

I do tend to tootle along at the speed limit in mine - just the way I drive & my Octy has never really felt like a car that would benefit from too much enthusiasm. What makes you think your style of driving is better for it?

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1 hour ago, MorrisOx said:

 

I do tend to tootle along at the speed limit in mine - just the way I drive & my Octy has never really felt like a car that would benefit from too much enthusiasm. What makes you think your style of driving is better for it?

It would just seem my constant & excessive use of the turbo has not allowed any deterioration of the wastegate linkage. Not that I don't think my enthusiasm will have increased the reliability of the car overall however, in 43k miles I used the car for it was great.

 

Having said that, I agree the rear torture suspension beam was a right PITA

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They won’t get the turbo until Tuesday, want to fit it and test it properly before - fingers crossed - handing the car back next Wednesday.

 

They’ll have had the car for 2 weeks and 2 days by then.

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Don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

 

Customer feedback email from the dealer landed in my inbox today, asking me to tell them what I thought of the ‘work recently done’ on my car. Park to one side the fact that they haven’t actually completed it yet, but I was properly fired up to take advantage of perfectly-timed opportunity and give them both barrels about their attitude to warranty work.

 

Inevitably, the link in the email doesn’t work...

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When my dealer lied to me about work they had reportedly done but didn't and to which I had photos to back it up, plus a grease monkey sorry, Skoda trained 'technician' referred to me as a F****** W***** as he found it difficult to get it out a parking slot ( I happened to be in ear shot when he spoke to a colleague) and a couple of other problems a letter to the dealer principle and the group CEO did have a marked effect!

Don't bother filling in a satisfaction report, I don't reckon they even look at them as I did report cases as above and neither seemed to warrant a response.

 

As my Octy is now out of warranty I thought I might investigate an after market warranty. Not impressed with Warranty Direct I had dealings with a long time ago so this time I tried WarrantyWise.

 

Entered my reg' and started with my details, got as far as the next page and looking up when it was serviced in Feb, when my phone rang, 'Hi, its warranty wise, I just wondered if you needed any help?'  'Err, no thanks, all my fingers and this keyboard are working just fine.' Sales going straight to the jugular.

After that I used their chat link, and asked why they bothered to phone even before I had finished filling in the forms and got a quote, the reply was 'Apologies for that must be a system error' I asked them to email me a copy of their T&C's in which there were many but two exclusions seemed to be killers:

F2.8 Any Vehicle which has been modified, in any way, from the manufacturer’s original or approved specification.

So a DashCam, or even a tyre change would mean a modification in original spec (unless a  confirmed and approved tyre). I have added a dashcam and my own load dividers between the rear wheel arches and the rear panel so that is not original and a 'modification'.

F3.16 The Breakdown or Failure Due to Wear and Tear of a Part of your Vehicle with inherent, common and regularly occurring manufacturing faults which were well publicised (such as Google Internet search) together with any Part requiring replacement due to it being up-dated, superseded, re-designed or recalled by the manufacturer where you have no proof that the Part has been previously replaced.

 

such as 'Google Internet search ' Type in Skoda 1.4 Turbo failure, or DSG failure and suddenly neither are covered?

 

 

Edited by ajw1100
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@ajw1100 the only warranties worth having IMO are the ones that are Manufacturer approved, even though they are often not provided by the Manufacturer, but a 3rd party instead.

 

I'd hoped to go down this route with my VRS, but £800 a year is laughably expensive. I have an AA breakdown warranty now which was very cheap and covers the first £500 with a £35 excess but you have to breakdown. So it's only really on the mechanical stuff, but should cover the smaller stuff entirely and help take the sting off with some of the bigger stuff! turbos, injectors, DSG etc.

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What this all says to me is that a warranty is only worth having on a new car you’re keeping for three years; that if you buy secondhand you need to know what you’re buying and all its faults and foibles; that once a car is past a certain age your best bet is breakdown cover and a good independent garage to look after it.

 

Manufacturers - who’d touch ‘em?

Edited by MorrisOx
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5 hours ago, ahenners said:

@ajw1100 the only warranties worth having IMO are the ones that are Manufacturer approved, even though they are often not provided by the Manufacturer, but a 3rd party instead.

 

I'd hoped to go down this route with my VRS, but £800 a year is laughably expensive. I have an AA breakdown warranty now which was very cheap and covers the first £500 with a £35 excess but you have to breakdown. So it's only really on the mechanical stuff, but should cover the smaller stuff entirely and help take the sting off with some of the bigger stuff! turbos, injectors, DSG etc.

I was lucky, paid just  147 pounds covering all components with 250 pound excess thru Skoda.

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Now got the car back in one piece, with a new turbo and a new wastegate actuator.

 

Spoke to the technician who did the job and he told me that the problem had been caused by the wastegate actuator rod (which opens or closes the wastegate) getting stuck at the ‘in’ position. Contrary to what their service desk told me, they didn’t replace the actuator first - they couldn’t actually get the stuck actuator out of the turbo housing so had to replace the whole wastegate actuator/turbo unit.

 

He did mention something about different metals on the actuator, but was vague on whether this was a known fault. Either way, this is consistent with the earlier link to the 1.4TSi turbo problem.

 

Just got to last until Friday now when it gets swapped for a Superb.

 

Edited by MorrisOx
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As mentioned above, the whole turbo assembly (including wastegate actuator) was replaced on Monday. Exactly what that work involves I don’t know, but what followed was some of the smoothest & most punchy performance I ever saw in the car. Just felt like the turbo was spinning up to speed more quickly & delivering more mid-range oomph. Could they have changed something? Or had performance been below par for longer than I realised?

 

I’ll never know - swapped it yesterday for the Superb. Kinda sorry to see the Octy go, but know I’ve made the right decision - to me it feels like a quieter, smoother car with a noticeably better-damped ride at the back.

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