1.5 SEL first gear issue.

[Salp]

I've sent a message back, telling her it's in the press.  I also asked, as Skoda UK are only the importer, who to contact at head office, since it is beyond their remit.

[StEdmund]

"Who's going to let Gemma from Skoda UK Customer Services know her company has admitted there is an issue whilst she's still rolling out the lies "

 

I shall be writing to Suzanne again tomorrow. Skoda must be employing a small army to pass off all this bull sheet. Presumably the wording in their standard letter will have to be changed from 'characteristic' to 'problem'. Whatever - it still demands the adjective 'dangerous' when referring to a dying Karoq at a junction.

[TheRealExile]

10 hours ago, silver1011 said:

Who's going to let Gemma from Skoda UK Customer Services know her company has admitted there is an issue whilst she's still rolling out the lies 

Perhaps she thinks none of us speak to each other  her manager actually admitted She does read the forums.

 

For them to send a standard template email/letter the complaints must be stacking up ! 

[silver1011]

Keep bombarding Skoda UK, it's the only way!

[TheRobinK]

On 23/01/2019 at 13:35, shyVRS245 said:

Have it on good authority that next small SUV from Skoda will be called the "LURCHER"

 

I have a Lurcher. And he lurches all over the place.  I'm really not sure that this would be good news....!  

[shyVRS245]

Yes but Skoda can tell owners "why did you buy this vehicle when we warned you by describing it's main characteristic".

[Xtra2]

 

Dear Mr McLeod,

 

 

I have written you last month in regards of our Škoda Karoq 1.5 Tsi petrol manual engine car. 

 

I have complained about the fault the engine has when it kangaroos badly when cold in first gear when lifting the clutch. As well as that it loses power in first and second gear at low speeds. 

 

I have been offered to have it fixed, however, I have declined it. How can you fix something that you don't recognise as fault? And where's the guarantee that you wouldn't introduce more and bigger problems from that fix? 

 

We, with my husband have totally lost faith in VAG as a company and it's cars. First we were caught in the Dieselgate and now we got caught in this mess. We ended up trading that car in at the dealership because they refuse to accept our rejection due to the fact that you - Škoda refuse to recognise that as fault. Thanks to that little dirty trick we ended up losing around £2500 on the "deal" which hindsight makes us feel like we were conned.

 

Today however, there's a development from VW as you know. VW have apparently finally acknowledged the kangarooing as fault. https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/owning-1/2019-01/volkswagen-acknowledges-problem-with-15-tsi-evo-engine/

 

It still however leaves us nearly three grand poorer and left us with a replacement Ford Focus which my husband who is disabled will really struggle to get in and out of. 

 

We are totally disgusted the way we were treated.We will never ever trust any VAG car ever again and same goes for the dealer. 

 

Well done for making money from people's trust.

 

Regards 

 

 

This is letter that I sent to the VAG CEO MR Rod McLeod today. It most likely won't change anything but they should know how their former customer feels like.

[Sad555]

After nearly a year of lying to customer!

[LittleOwl]

Everyone that has complained to their dealerships should send this article to them and see what they say. We too have written to VAG CEO to express our disgust at how they are treating customers. We plan to contact other bodies too including DVSA. We will never ever buy a car from VAG group again.

[AMC150]

28 minutes ago, LittleOwl said:

Everyone that has complained to their dealerships should send this article to them and see what they say. We too have written to VAG CEO to express our disgust at how they are treating customers. We plan to contact other bodies too including DVSA. We will never ever buy a car from VAG group again.

Just forwarded the link to the article to my dealer. I look forward to a reply but bet I don’t get one. Service boss told me they don’t read forums. I wonder why not??????

[Berisford]

59 minutes ago, AMC150 said:

Service boss told me they don’t read forums. I wonder why not??????

Don’t you just want to give ‘em a slap when they say such things.......

Edited 24 January, 2019 by Berisford

[VAGCF]

The new, smaller SUV is actually going to be called the Kamiq with the manuals being called Kamiq Quasi with a special characteristic for pulling out onto main roads!

Edited 24 January, 2019 by VAGCF

[Sad555]

There is a problem  with the 1.5 and always has been it only goes away when you believe the b****x the dealer/salesman tells you!

[R1200R]

Just had another look at the "Honest John" website page about this. I can't believe that VW dealers are going to charge customers if no fault shows up on the diagnosis. That really is taking the p***. Talk about arrogance, they are just playing us as fools.

 

I don't think my car was checked anyway, once the technician had witnessed the FAULT during the test run, immediately after I had just driven 20 miles there (so no cold engine) it would have been pointless. He knew what the outcome was going to be.

 

The more people put comments on Honest John the more likely people will take notice and prompt action from the lying b******* at VW group. I expect a lot more owners will now realise what they have bought and it is not down to driving style.

 

Last VW group car for me and hopefully many others.

[MJ1]

1 hour ago, R1200R said:

 

Last VW group car for me and hopefully many others.

 

I will certainly not automatically choose a VAG car again. I have been really happy with the Octi ever since the first one hit the UK shores all those years ago. While overall I am happy with my Karoq I am nervous about what the underlying 1.5 issue is and how it will effect the long term value of my car.

 

This one was going to be a 10+ year investment but I could bail sooner depending on what we find out.

 

I had a taxi drive in a Kia a couple of days ago and I think Kia could be the new Skoda with great warranty period. In hindsight I should have test drove one as a comparison to the Karoq.

 

But ultimately every car company will have its faults, the Taxi driver was having problems with the the auto gear box, so maybe VAG is the least bad option? Either way this has certainly tarnished in my mind my "loyalty" to the brand..

[TheRealExile]

1 hour ago, R1200R said:

Just had another look at the "Honest John" website page about this. I can't believe that VW dealers are going to charge customers if no fault shows up on the diagnosis. That really is taking the p***. Talk about arrogance, they are just playing us as fools.

 

I don't think my car was checked anyway, once the technician had witnessed the FAULT during the test run, immediately after I had just driven 20 miles there (so no cold engine) it would have been pointless. He knew what the outcome was going to be.

 

The more people put comments on Honest John the more likely people will take notice and prompt action from the lying b******* at VW group. I expect a lot more owners will now realise what they have bought and it is not down to driving style.

 

Last VW group car for me and hopefully many others.

It's such a shame they have left people including me feeling this way, I have had many VAG group motors over the years and only really had this one lemon, but the contempt with which they treat their customers is disgusting.

 

The Mrs needs a new car really as her Corsa is now 8 years old but only has 5k on the clock, however She has started to commute to work again(50 miles a day round trip) so it's probably time to replace it, we were looking at possibly a Fabia or the new smaller SUV or maybe even an A3..... but frankly Skoda and VAG can get stuffed we shall spend our hard earned elsewhere! 

[TheRealExile]

5 minutes ago, MJ1 said:

 

I will certainly not automatically choose a VAG car again. I have been really happy with the Octi ever since the first one hit the UK shores all those years ago. While overall I am happy with my Karoq I am nervous about what the underlying 1.5 issue is and how it will effect the long term value of my car.

 

This one was going to be a 10+ year investment but I could bail sooner depending on what we find out.

 

I had a taxi drive in a Kia a couple of days ago and I think Kia could be the new Skoda with great warranty period. In hindsight I should have test drove one as a comparison to the Karoq.

 

But ultimately every car company will have its faults, the Taxi driver was having problems with the the auto gear box, so maybe VAG is the least bad option? Either way this has certainly tarnished in my mind my "loyalty" to the brand..

I had a Sportage in a splendid ginger colour as a hire car inbetween company motors, contrary to the 'What Skoda' report of them being average I really enjoyed the one I had, sadly our company policy is a 5 series, 3 series or Skoda variants. 5 and 3 series are no good to me as they have a boot and I can't get all my kit in them so I had little choice.

 

At the time I ordered I wanted the 1.4t Superb Estate, 2 weeks later sorry sir not available anymore and the only petrol available to order is the new engine 1.5 Karoq....I went with that 

[VAGCF]

3 hours ago, R1200R said:

Just had another look at the "Honest John" website page about this. I can't believe that VW dealers are going to charge customers if no fault shows up on the diagnosis. That really is taking the p***. Talk about arrogance, they are just playing us as fools.

 

I don't think my car was checked anyway, once the technician had witnessed the FAULT during the test run, immediately after I had just driven 20 miles there (so no cold engine) it would have been pointless. He knew what the outcome was going to be.

 

The more people put comments on Honest John the more likely people will take notice and prompt action from the lying b******* at VW group. I expect a lot more owners will now realise what they have bought and it is not down to driving style.

 

Last VW group car for me and hopefully many others.

Unbelievable! But for those who do have the fault it's not showing up in the diagnostics anyway is it?!!

 

I guess because the fault has been designed in (albeit unintentionally) and as far as the diagnostics are concerned there is nothing is registering as being wrong?

Edited 25 January, 2019 by VAGCF

[TheRealExile]

35 minutes ago, VAGCF said:

Unbelievable! But for those who do have the fault it's not showing up in the diagnostics anyway is it?!!

 

I guess because the fault has been designed in (albeit unintentionally) and as far as the diagnostics are concerned there is nothing is registering as being wrong?

Yes, correct nothing shows up on the diags machine.

[Ootohere]

Obviously there is no 'Fault Codes' logged.  No Misfires, well not currently....

 

The cars are as Skoda / VW, Audi, SEAT , VW Group designed and engineered and submitted for EU Testing or WLTP testing and which got 'Approval' & Certification and Emissions Figures under testing.

 

That does not mean that the Engineering of Hardware & Software is not fit for purpose out in real world situations with a driver or driver and passenger, 

and can have Critical Safety issues losing power or drive in the case of 1.5 TSI with DSG's.

 

It will all come out eventually just how badly VW Group co-cked up yet again and Designed & Manufactured towards 'Certification'.

 

If there is dangerous characteristics, and then the longevity of parts is suspect and proved to be causing premature failures and costing customers money on Fuel use, Oil Use being excessive, emissions high, and clutch or gearbox failures then the 'Authorities' should be on the case.

German Authorities, EU ones, UK shortly,  then Globally.

 

A Court will have VW Assume the position eventually.  Maybe not a EU court though....

[StEdmund]

12 minutes ago, TheRealExile said:

Yes, correct nothing shows up on the diags machine.

 

I have to say that our dealer has been very good. The 1.5 petrol Karoq was the perfect answer to our motoring needs; we planned on keeping it for the long term and paid a considerable sum to have a tow-bar fitted along with a few other extras.

After two months, it became obvious that the kangarooing and 'stalling' were faults with the car and not my driving so we took it back to the dealer. He gave us a 1.0 Karoq as a courtesy car while the senior tech checked my car on diagnostics and drove it for a couple of days. The dealer reported that there was indeed a problem with kangarooing, though they could not reproduce the 'stalling' - which doesn't happen every time you take the car out anyway. Nothing showed up on diagnostics, and there was never any mention of charging me for that.

I am now keeping the dealer copied in on any correspondence with Skoda UK and he is mindful of the fact that, unless the Karoq is cured soon, then I will have no other option than to (sadly) reject the car. My dealer and Skoda UK are now well-aware of the report on Honest John.

[shyVRS245]

Perhaps VAG R & D dept. was still too busy with all the new EV's about to hit the market in the next 18 months. Another possibility is they ordered too many hardware components for the dieselgate fix and thought sod it lets fit it on the 1.5Tsi because it's nearly the same as the 1.6Tdi except different compression ratio's.

[Ootohere]

Sometimes you have to laugh or you would need to cry, 

or drive the car right through the plate glass window of a dealership.

Accident obviously,  car jumped as you were moving it.  Something wrong with it or a characteristic, maybe the parking brake issue that required a Service Campaign / Recall action.

Maybe the ABS / Brake Module issue if an older Skoda. 

 

So Paul Willis CEO of VW UK has cleared off to pastures new.   Must have had great reference from a grateful employer for being liar in chief in the UK, 

prepared to mis-lead MP's in a Transport Committee.   Or so they said,  not me, i never said that...

Time will tell if anything ever comes of that.

 

Paul Willis 'sad' to leave post as Volkswagen Group UK managing director _ Manufacturer.mhtml

Edited 25 January, 2019 by Skoffski

[Nick22]

I've been following this and other VAG car related forums closely and as a result have cancelled an order for the new Audi Q3 which was ordered with the 1.5/manual combination and due to be built in a couple of weeks and delivered March. With it being a new model there is, at present, no purchaser reviews or any indication that the same issue may present, however, i'd rather not be the guinea pig and be the one that starts a similar thread on an Audi Q3 forum.....thankfully i'm in no hurry, i plan to wait 6 months to see what unfolds, if VAG don't resolve the fault i'll simply spend my hard earned somewhere else.

 

Thanks, you guys may have saved me a whole heap of pain.....i've sent the sales guy a copy of the Honest John article and asked "well, what would you do if you were about to part with £35k?"

 

If enough people keep shouting and VAG sales lost as a result of the bad publicity, i'm sure they'd be more inclined to resolve the characteristic fault!.

[R1200R]

6 hours ago, TheRealExile said:

It's such a shame they have left people including me feeling this way, I have had many VAG group motors over the years and only really had this one lemon, but the contempt with which they treat their customers is disgusting.

 

 

In the past 17 years I have had 8 new VW group cars (3 Golfs, 3 Audi A3s and two VW Californias). I don't expect perfection, they are complex items, however, it has been the attitude of the VW group that is "disgusting". This has been a problem for some owners for nearly a year now and all we keep getting told, is that there MAY be a software update in the FUTURE which may enhance the driving experience. Skoda have already said that it will not fix the FAULT. To carry on selling vehicles with a "characteristic" to unsuspecting customers through dealers who are only to happy to take your money and then leave you with a vehicle which may be impossible to trade-in in the future speaks volume for their customer values. An engine that can't be driven smoothly from start up when cold has a PROBLEM in these days of automatic chokes.

OK, the Fault is most noticeable when cold. BUT, like many others, mine has the dangerous fault of not pulling away cleanly on part throttle when entering a roundabout and I am talking about speeds in excess of 10 mph. Flooring the accelerator does nothing whatsoever. Luckily I am aware of this so wait for a decent gap in the traffic.

I asked the Customer Services Agent whether they had actually driven a Karoq with this "characteristic", not surprisingly NO was the response. They therefore had no right to the say it was just a characteristic and not a safety issue

 

3 hours ago, Nick22 said:

I've been following this and other VAG car related forums closely and as a result have cancelled an order for the new Audi Q3 which was ordered with the 1.5/manual combination and due to be built in a couple of weeks and delivered March. With it being a new model there is, at present, no purchaser reviews or any indication that the same issue may present, however, i'd rather not be the guinea pig and be the one that starts a similar thread on an Audi Q3 forum.....thankfully i'm in no hurry, i plan to wait 6 months to see what unfolds, if VAG don't resolve the fault i'll simply spend my hard earned somewhere else.

 

Thanks, you guys may have saved me a whole heap of pain.....i've sent the sales guy a copy of the Honest John article and asked "well, what would you do if you were about to part with £35k?"

 

If enough people keep shouting and VAG sales lost as a result of the bad publicity, i'm sure they'd be more inclined to resolve the characteristic fault!.

 

A very wise decision, if only I was in the same position. I would love to have my part ex back, which was sold within two days on the forecourt.