Does anyone have experience of dealing with the approved used warranty people please? Have just had a claim refused for a very odd sounding reason and I wondered if this was how Skoda UK behave. 

Brief facts - car was first registered in March 2019. We bought it in August 2021 as an approved used with a 12 month warranty.  It had its first MoT in March 2022 (same dealer) with no problems.  It developed a central locking problem in April (which is how I found this forum : thanks for the info on it) and it went back to the dealer. Turned out the problem (as predicted here) was the control module.  So far so good. 

We've just been told that Skoda will not cover it. Apparently this is because when the car was connected to the Skoda diagnostic in March (during the manufacturer warranty) the issue was "logged" but there was no need for action since there was no defect. Apparently the 12 month warranty people say this excludes it from cover. 

We've asked for a written report from the dealer before we follow the complaints procedure but I'm not holding out much hope. It all looks pretty shabby to me and doesn't give me a lot of faith in the Skoda brand - looks like this will be the first and last Skoda we buy. 

Does anyone have any experience of pursuing this sort of thing with Skoda please? 

Thanks for reading  

   

 

Hello PMFW4 

 

Slippery little suckers will try to wriggle out of anything!

 

I'd suggest talking to Trading Standards/Consumer Direct before taking any further action, and follow their advice.  A known issue, developing into a fault, which then isn't covered by a warranty?  What did it log, if there wasn't an issue. Shabby indeed 🙄

 

Gaz

Have you asked for written proof including a copy of the scan?

If they cannot provide it, or it does not list the central locking problem as a fault, then I think that you would have a good case in law.

If there was a fault then why was it not dealt with before you bought the car?

Just having a browse around whilst it's peeing down outside and come across this. Perhaps I can help. If what you say is true then,

 

Warranty? If the part had been faulty and wasn't replaced when detected then yes it's not covered. But if they're saying there was no need for it to be replaced...  that means Skoda dealer / service said it WAS working. So not sure why they're now saying it's not covered. You may have been speaking to a jobsworth - try again.

 

HOWEVER...

 

If it were me then I'd forget all about the warranty and concentrate on the law. In pigeon talk, the law says that for the first 12mth, the goods you buy should work. If something fails in the first 6mths, the onus is up to the seller to prove the fault wasn't present when you purchased the car. The onus is then on the buyer for the final six months to prove the fault was present - which sounds easier than it actually is. If what you say is correct then you have that proof...  the car was sold with a known fault.

 

I'd be contacting the suplying dealer and ask them to explain the situation and tell them you were sold a car with a known fault. If warranty is saying it's not a fault then the supplying dealer is up a creek without a paddle. 

 

Or perhaps I'm reading it wrong. Are you saying the fault was diagnosed in March 22 after you'd bought the car? Did anyone mention it to you at the time? Law still applies - it's the supplying dealer who's liable.

 

Edited 24 May, 20224 yr by kodiaqsportline

Skoda appears to be an accredited member of The Motor Ombudsman scheme. If things get sticky it may be worth try. I had a battle over a faulty cruise control on a 2007 Octavia still in warranty, they knew, and I knew, it was a known fault but got the "the computer says there isn't a recorded fault". Persistent overly polite questioning meant they didn't want me in the showroom. They replaced it.   

Edited 24 May, 20224 yr by GreenMachine1.6
clarification

Thanks all - very much appreciated. So far I'm going on what the service manager has told me verbally but I'm planning to get a written report as soon as the work is completed. It's pretty appalling especially as all the glossy stuff talks about peace of mind underwritten by Skoda etc etc etc : at the moment they seem to be acting like some dodgy backstreet insurance cowboy. 

Thanks for the comments : much appreciated. I think the Motor Ombudsman scheme is the next logical step but may also try an email to Matthew Bowden (CEO of Skoda UK).  

It's really annoying especially since we switched to a Skoda from Honda where we always had great service including service recall/warranty issues.   So much damage to their brand for a relatively small amount of money (about £300) 

Thanks again ... really appreciate the comments . 

  

That's pretty bizarre. What has the manufacturer 3 year warranty got to do with it. And if it wasn't causing a functionality issue then, clearly they wouldn't fix it. It is still inside the 12 month warranty. 

 

Consumer rights act gives some avenues as well but require you to prove it and that will probably cost time and money you will also need to try to recover.

 

First instance I agree escalation within skoda and the dealer you bought from best first ports of call. Rember the selling dealer assumes responsibility for consumer law.  Falling that, probably ombudsmon... 

Thanks again for the replies. In the interests of fairness to Skoda UK it now turns out that no claim was ever submitted to them : instead the dealer's warranty administrator decided that it would not be allowed because of the "logging" issue and the message delivered to us was "confused". No idea where this will end but the Skoda warranty team could not have been nicer or more helpful. So I guess the moral of the story is not to take what the dealer says at face value and go to the people administering the warranty. 

 

The dealer has now had the car for a week and it's no clearer what needs to be done or whether it will be covered but at least it's clearer where the log jam is. I guess the worst case is we pay for it with reservation of rights and head off to the Motor Ombudsman  

 

It might be as simple as the module recoding to factory spec. Have they tried that to see if that fixes the issue? Control modules are like mini pcs and if the software gets corrupted they will not work. It is something I would be asking for to start with.

Thanks - that's a bit beyong my technical pay grade I'm afraid. Yet another twist to the saga is that we are told that the dealer has now made a claim but that Skoda warranty have turned it down because of the "logging" of the issue. We have asked for a written explanation and then looks like the Motor Ombudsnman. Wish we'd bought a Honda now.  

2 hours ago, PMFW4 said:

Thanks - that's a bit beyong my technical pay grade I'm afraid. Yet another twist to the saga is that we are told that the dealer has now made a claim but that Skoda warranty have turned it down because of the "logging" of the issue. We have asked for a written explanation and then looks like the Motor Ombudsnman. Wish we'd bought a Honda now.  

I would ask to speak to the dealer principal and air your concerns but remain calm and composed. Usually they can come to a solution and ask if the car has been re-coded to try and fix it. Failing that I would ask for a written report on the logging issue and why it was not done correctly, as that has meant possibly a faulty part is not being replaced under warranty when normally it should have.

Thanks Ecomatt : I'm glad to say that after a few days of refereeing a three way tug of war (among the dealer, Skoda UK and Skoda warranty) it looks like the dealer has blinked and is going to pick up the cost. 

Just in case it's useful/relevant to anyone else it seems as if the Skoda system logged  "B122B12 Central locking motors short circuit to b+ static " when the approved used process was carried out in July 21 before we bought it but that because there was no apparent defect (i.e. the central locking worked) it wasn't followed up but was on the paperwork seen by the warranty team. This then reappeared at the MoT in Feb 22 (but again wasn't notified or followed up) and then it broke in April (which was the first we knew about it).  So the warranty people (outsourced to an insurer) say it predated the approved used warranty and is a dealer problem.  But of course at that time the car was also under the manufacturers warranty by Skoda UK. 

It's been a nightmare sorting this out :I now have three lines of emails to various bits of Skoda and I really am grateful to everyone on this forum for their support/contributions. I'm still not 100% sure of the explanation - it would have been so much simpler and a much better customer experience if between them the various Skoda entities had sorted it out on the basis that whoever was going to pay for it it wasn't us. I'm really glad that we didn't just take what we were told at face value and pay up  - escalating with the dealer was good advice. Definitely need a cold beer.or two.  

Thanks again.