I'm done with Skoda

[Kestrel2288]

In Jan '21' I purchased a '63' Skoda Octavia 1.6 SE 4x4 with 83,000 on the clock and after 3 weeks I needed to return the car due to a diagnosis from Doncaster Skoda "failure of the 4x4 transfer box" (EST bill approx £3800)... After a battle with the dealer and the finance company I was able to return for a full refund.... Thinking I was just the unlucky at the end of Jan I purchase another, more expensive, but newer '16' Skoda Octavia 2.0 SE L 4x4 with 76,000, 1 owner from new (NHS) and full Skoda history with recent Haldex service. Now at 81,500 miles the same Skoda dealer has told me that this car requires a new rear differential... At a cost of approx £4580!! It's now Mar '21'.... I've been through 2 x Octavia's in 3 months and both have suffered drive line issues with the 4x4 systems... I am out of my warranty period with the dealer I purchased the '16' car from and now I'm stuck... What a crock of crap this Skoda experience has turned out to be, I should of stuck with my original '12' Mondeo with 207,000 on the clock that never let me down... 

If your reading this and your thinking of buying a Skoda 4x4 Octavia or other model be wise and THINK AGAIN! 

[Kestrel2288]

Oh also all this comes after getting the '16' prepared for future work and spending £1600 on new rear brakes, discs and pads, replacing both rear wheel bearings, 18" Gemini Alloys, tyres and replacing the driveshaft balancing unit.... 🤦‍♂️

[Noms]

Sorry to hear that you've been let down, hope it's not the same for many others.

[xman]

You bought both cars less than 3 months ago and you were not covered by a dealer warranty?

 

Surely the Consumer Act 2015 gives you legal rights up to 6 months.....

 

As you happened to mention the dealer involved........I won't say any more apart from I'm not at all surprised.

[MarkyG82]

I would suggest you ahve been very unlucky.  You could have had the same issue with any brand.  The previous owner being NHs would suggest it may have been driven by a number of people as a service car and although had the relevant service history, the abuse it recieved during use may contribute to the failure.

xman also hints at a potential dealer issue.  I would push back with the view to getting the car repaire at their cost and take it to another location for future work.  That is if you havent alsready got rid.

[classic]

12 hours ago, Kestrel2288 said:

Oh also all this comes after getting the '16' prepared for future work and spending £1600 on new rear brakes, discs and pads, replacing both rear wheel bearings, 18" Gemini Alloys, tyres and replacing the driveshaft balancing unit.... 🤦‍♂️

Who did this work ?  I don’t know what a driveshaft balancing unit is but presumably if it’s run with a problem it might cause further damage. Seems slightly coincidental that you have a load of work done on the rear driveline and then there is a problem with the rear differential....

Edited 31 March, 2021 by classic

[flybynite]

Well I have quite a few 4x4 VAG cars including the Octy. Personally I have had no issue.

 

The main issue is that VAG do not service the Haldex properly (if at all) but they are not alone because there are a huge variety on the service requirements on the Borg Warner (Haldex) system. Some say it is sealed for life (but they rarely fail in warranty) IMHO Volvo treat them best.

 

If the car has been serviced and pump gauze cleared of gunk it should be fine.

 

The problem comes because the manufacturers do not service the 4x4 system correctly then people are forced to do it themselves, often with information from the wrong generation of Haldex. It is not uncommon for the rear differential to be drained instead of the Haldex unit and not refilled or incorrectly refilled with Haldex fluid.

 

The haldex is generally fine if it is serviced properly and the rear diff is fine if it has the correct oil.

 

NHS Skodas are driven hard but never known it be a problem.

[Kestrel2288]

23 hours ago, xman said:

You bought both cars less than 3 months ago and you were not covered by a dealer warranty?

 

Surely the Consumer Act 2015 gives you legal rights up to 6 months.....

 

As you happened to mention the dealer involved........I won't say any more apart from I'm not at all surprised.

The dealer I purchased the car from was Saveonusedcars.co.uk in Scunthorpe. The car was advertised online and they required payment prior to collection with no test drive but quoted a 30 day return with full refund if I wasn't happy. I've called and asked previously about their warranty which they say is 1 month or 1000 miles which ever is sooner.... I have put 4000 miles on the car since as it's my work vehicle and prior to collecting the car I ensured it had an up-to-date Haldex service to make sure this didn't happen again?!!

[Kestrel2288]

11 hours ago, classic said:

Who did this work ?  I don’t know what a driveshaft balancing unit is but presumably if it’s run with a problem it might cause further damage. Seems slightly coincidental that you have a load of work done on the rear driveline and then there is a problem with the rear differential....

It's also called a propshaft flex coupling, I replaced it as the one on the car was looking worn out and as I intended to put many miles on the car for work I wanted it to be done precautionary... At the same time I decided as this vehicle was due to do a lot of towing to replace both rear wheel bearings and all the brake components at the rear... The fronts had on recently been done as per the service history with the vehicle. 

 

The diagnosis was made by Doncaster Skoda and they have said they can't believe I have suffered 4x4 drive line failure on two Octavias in 3 months both between 80-85k on the clock... 

[Kestrel2288]

23 hours ago, xman said:

You bought both cars less than 3 months ago and you were not covered by a dealer warranty?

 

Surely the Consumer Act 2015 gives you legal rights up to 6 months.....

 

As you happened to mention the dealer involved........I won't say any more apart from I'm not at all surprised.

I have been told by the used car dealer that I was given 1 months warranty or 1000 miles which ever was sooner. I did not expect such failure twice on VAG group vehicles, not on a '16' with a full Skoda history. 

 

I do not know if I am covered by any consumer act however I know there is a 30 day one which I used to send the first attempt at one of these vehicles back 🤦‍♂️

[FrankNicklin]

I suggest you speak to citizens advice. You have far more rights than the dealer will have you know. Certainly a minimum of 3 months warranty on 2nd hand cars.

Copied from car.co.uk.

Timeframes to pay attention to

If a car develops a fault within the first 30 days of purchase, it is under statutory warranty and the buyer can simply reject it and return it to the dealer for a refund.

If a fault emerges between 30 days and six months from the date of purchase, the law assumes that the fault was pre-existing and, unless the seller can prove otherwise, the vehicle is still protected by statutory warranty. Here, the seller has one chance to fix the problem. If they do not manage to do that, the buyer is entitled to a refund, which may be less than the original purchase price to account for the time during which the car has been functional.

After six months, the automatic protection of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 expires. It is up to the buyer to prove that there was a fault with the car at the time of purchase if they want to pursue a dealer for a claim to repair a fault.

Note that the statutory warranty on a used car only applies here to cars bought from a dealer. Private purchasers enjoy none of this protection and the rules for cars bought at auction will depend on the particular auction house, and whether it was online or not.

 

Other legal protections

If a car is bought online, including using the ‘buy it now’ facility of an online auction, the purchaser is protected by the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation, and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, which means purchasers can change their minds and return it within 14 days.

Dealers are also bound by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008), which prevents them from making any false claims about a vehicle’s age and condition, so that a buyer can rely on their statements when inspecting a vehicle.

Other warranties

Most cars bought from a dealer will come with some sort of additional warranty lasting anything from six to 12 months. Sometimes this can be included in the price, and sometimes it is offered as an extra. An ‘approved used car warranty’ will often stipulate that a car must be serviced and repaired by the dealership itself. Other ‘aftermarket used car warranties’ vary in terms of the length of cover offered, the type of protection, and the cost. If you want to extend your statutory warranty protection, make sure you choose cover that matches your particular requirements.

Edited 1 April, 2021 by FrankNicklin

[J.R.]

11 hours ago, Kestrel2288 said:

 I have put 4000 miles on the car since as it's my work vehicle and prior to collecting the car I ensured it had an up-to-date Haldex service to make sure this didn't happen again?!!

 

I would say with almost 100% certainty that is the cause of the problem, read Flybynites posting.

 

You have not said what problem you have other than you have been told the diff needs replacing (which it probably does if they screwed up the Haldex oil change), has it become noisy?

 

Were the rear wheel bearngs changed in an attempt to silence said noise? - They should not need doing at this low mileage.

 

Who did the Haldex oil change? Was it the dealer who sold you the vehicle?

 

Subject to your answers to the above I would recommend that you pay to have an independant inspection done, hopefully they will find the diff dry of oil, however if the garage that did it wrong has found their mistake & refilled it then you have little chance.

 

I have made the mistake myself but there are far too many reports of garages doing this and the common theme is always that the failure was a coincidence and they want £4.5K to put right their **** up.

[flybynite]

2 hours ago, J.R. said:

hopefully they will find the diff dry of oil,

 

They may find it full of Haldex fluid,

[J.R.]

Only if they had no gear oil left, they would have to be even more incompetent than me (which believe me is a real challenge) to mistake the filler plugs as well.

 

I just checked the first posting again to make sure that it wasn't a differential failure on the first vehicle from the same sellers, it says transfer box, they can leak and fail, maybe they did one of their special oil changes on that as well!!!

 

To the OP, what were the symptoms of the failures on both vehicles? From what area came the noises and how would you describe them?

[Ecomatt]

As said above. In the UK you are covered under the Consumer Rights Act of of 2015 for 6 months from the date of purchase. Any fault within that period the garage is liable for. I would contact them either by writing or email, state the fault and what action you would like. In the email/letter state the Consumer Rights Act of 2015 and specifically the part that applies to them.  Send the lettet recorded delivery and if an email, request then to confirm receipt of the email.

If you have records they cannot dispute what has been said. Also ask that any response is written down. Even if they phone you. Ask them to put it in writing as it will show you mean business and put them on the back foot.

 They legally have to repair it no matter what warranty period they offer as it is law. If they don't play ball simply say you will take them court. You would win as they have to prove the fauly was not there when youpurchased  the vehicle, which they cannot. 

Dont be afraid to battle them as I have had to with 2 dealers and won both times. 

Edited 1 April, 2021 by Ecomatt

[Gaz]

Lincolnshire Trading Standards points you to the CAB website, as already mentioned by Frank:

 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/problems-with-a-used-car/

 

Looks quite helpful.

 

Gaz

[newbie69]

Just to add, apparently even when serviced at the dealer's, they are so clueless that apart from not cleaning the screen, they also don't do the "Pump learn" thing and the pump can still be stuck to the pre-cleaning state and seem as if it has failed, leading to an un-necessary replacement of the coupling.
So basically a dealer Haldex service is just an oil change without any of the other steps...

Around the 18:15 mark: