Warranty - Sydney AUS

[Legion]

I have a leaking water pump.

 

I had the pleasure of calling the local Skoda dealer to book the car in and despite a qualified mechanic stating that it had a water pump leak they have to diagnose it.

 

The first available diagnosis time slot is mid October. I asked if they were taking bookings for services and she replied "yes but this is a diagnosis not a service". 

 

Does anyone have any good experiences with Skoda dealers in Sydney?

 

Thanks

 

 

[GWCTas]

Hi @Legion,

Not in Sydney, but here in Tassie, I tried to book my car into the the local Skoda dealer and was told it would be 11 weeks before they could service the car! Instead of getting teh car serviced in the 12 month time frame, it was 15 months. (I understand the time is not really critical)

[ApertureS]

Sadly that’s the case.

 

They can’t take your word for it that you have said a qualified person has diagnosed it.

 

Everyone will say something similar and it will bite them in the ass more times that it won’t. 
 

Your 2 options are really to have someone else do the work and pay out of your own pocket, or book it with the dealer for their next available appointment.

or maybe you could book it for the cheapest service and get them to diagnose it at the same time and repair it? Most places keep the water pumps in stock as they are common items to fail.

[Legion]

They don't have to take my word for it. It is stated on the report he made as part of the invoice. His licence number is on the document.

 

But thats not really the point. It doesn't take 10 minutes to put the car on a hoist, take the belly pan off and shine a light on the pump.

 

I find it problematic that the Skoda dealer will take a booking next week for a service but will not diagnose a warranty issue for 7 weeks let alone fix it.

 

[Frankenfurter]

You could raise a dispute with ACCC that the warranty is not being honored within a reasonable timeframe and demand that Skoda instead pay for another qualified mechanic to do the diagnosis and repair work. You could also raise a complaint with Fair Trading if you feel their behavior is unacceptable.

 

Things tend to happen faster when you use the consumer protections at your disposal here. 

[ApertureS]

13 hours ago, Legion said:

They don't have to take my word for it. It is stated on the report he made as part of the invoice. His licence number is on the document.

 

But thats not really the point. It doesn't take 10 minutes to put the car on a hoist, take the belly pan off and shine a light on the pump.

 

I find it problematic that the Skoda dealer will take a booking next week for a service but will not diagnose a warranty issue for 7 weeks let alone fix it.

 

They are then taking his word for it, an outside person who is nothing to do with Skoda or their warranty process. I wouldn’t work off someone else’s diagnosis, especially if I’m being expected to do the work for free.

 

The reason there are different time scales for service vs diagnostics is because they have different technicians for different jobs. 
 

also stating it takes less than 10 minutes is simply not true. Skoda have to escalate claims to Skoda head office to be approved, as part of that they need to follow a procedure. 
Car needs to be found, vehicle protection put on, driven in, placed on ramp, procedure followed however long that takes including a pressure test on the system, possibly a vehicle health check, document findings, fill out paperwork, find correct part numbers, order correct parts.

 

I don’t often back up a main dealer as I think they are scummy and yes it’s bad you have to wait so long, but just because from where you stand outside in the waiting area it looks like a 5 minute job, doesn’t mean it is. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes.

 

also, just cause you say it’s a 10 minute job to them; so do they just fit all the 10 minute jobs in that day and forget the customers that booked weeks ago? And what if it’s not 10 minutes, what if it’s suspected head gasket as there is no internal leaks and the customer lied? You then give it back and say book it in for longer and have a unhappy customer or keep looking at it delaying other customers who booked weeks ago?

[Legion]

Hmmm maybe. He's a licenced mechanic. If it was a court issue he would be an expert witness. No ifs or buts.

 

I'll write it again, It doesn't take 10 minutes to put the car on a hoist, pull the belly pan off and shine the light on the water pump. Its leaking. Could I also have a cylinder head issue. Possible ... but there is no evidence of oil contamination and over half a litre of coolant would leave a visible trace in the oil. What do you think?

 

All the other things you mentioned don't come into it. They aren't going to repair it there and then even when I go mid October. Its a diagnosis. It will be at least late November before its repaired. And the leak is only going to accelerate.

 

What if you had a customer and they had a problem with your work. Would you say sorry, I can't do a diagnosis for a month and a half? Yes, you might not have screwed it up but I guarantee you if your wrong that customer will not be coming back in the future if they can help it. The dealer is the customer facing operation of the Skoda business model. 

 

And they aren't working for free. Fixing warranty claims is part of being a Skoda dealer. You know, looking after Skoda customers. What you're suggesting is kind of like a manufacturing company saying we don't charge for quality on the invoice so we shouldn't be spending time and effort on quality and system improvement. That's just dumb.

 

With regard to this - "so do they just fit all the 10 minute jobs in that day and forget the customers that booked weeks ago?" 

I'm not displacing anyone. They are taking bookings for services next week as I said in the first post. So they have mechanics available that are unallocated to jobs. If the diagnosis takes 10 minutes or 5 hours that's not going to change come mid October.

And I'm the customer. Its not up to me to manage their roster. I'm actually helping them by telling them what's happened and what evidence has been collected todate. if they choose not to use that information that's up to them. I'm not saying don't diagnose. I'm querying the month and a half to look at it let alone fix it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[J.R.]

You say its a warranty issue so.............................

 

Drain the water, drive it until it seizes and then tell them "I told you so! please come and recover the vehicle and organise a hire car for the time they will be sourcing and fitting a new engine", don't forget to insist on a new water pump as well 😆

 

Alternatively be patient, them's the choices!

[Ootohere]

The walking in and handing over the keys is the 5 minutes.  The technician or fitter getting the keys is not when the clock starts.  That is when they get to car to the work bay or on the ramp.  The diagnosis might be taking 5 minutes, 10 minutes or even over 30 minutes.  Then the techs time is not done with until they maybe give the car more of an inspection, do the report / work sheet and the car is back with the reception or the valeter.     This is main dealers not Back Street Autos.   Then it is Australia where they should damn we'll get things right.    Skoda VW issues in Europe is so many Warranty Issues.  Maybe Australia is the same. 

[ApertureS]

1 hour ago, Legion said:

Hmmm maybe. He's a licenced mechanic. If it was a court issue he would be an expert witness. No ifs or buts.

But its not a court issue... and licensed or not, it doesnt matter because its not a Skoda garage carrying out the work that has diagnosed it.... Its a warranty claim, thats all it is, a claim. As far as a claim works - you state your symptoms and that is as far as you take it, they then find the cause and repair it. They dont take someone elses word on the diagnosis and cause, its as clear cut as that really.

 

1 hour ago, Legion said:

I'll write it again, It doesn't take 10 minutes to put the car on a hoist, pull the belly pan off and shine the light on the water pump. Its leaking. Could I also have a cylinder head issue. Possible ... but there is no evidence of oil contamination and over half a litre of coolant would leave a visible trace in the oil. What do you think?

You may be right, but they dont know that. All they know and are concerned with again is 'coolant low' anything you add to that is you telling them the cause or not cause, they dont care for that and will find it out themselves else they wont get paid by Skoda HQ.

 

1 hour ago, Legion said:

What if you had a customer and they had a problem with your work. Would you say sorry, I can't do a diagnosis for a month and a half? Yes, you might not have screwed it up but I guarantee you if your wrong that customer will not be coming back in the future if they can help it. The dealer is the customer facing operation of the Skoda business model. 

 

I have many customers and luckily never any warranty issues. But if i did, I would book them in as soon as possible - Does that mean moving bookings around, possibly yes, but i only have a few on the go at a time, Im not a main dealer with 100s of people and even more queuing.

 

1 hour ago, Legion said:

With regard to this - "so do they just fit all the 10 minute jobs in that day and forget the customers that booked weeks ago?" 

I'm not displacing anyone. They are taking bookings for services next week as I said in the first post. So they have mechanics available that are unallocated to jobs. If the diagnosis takes 10 minutes or 5 hours that's not going to change come mid October.

And I'm the customer. Its not up to me to manage their roster. I'm actually helping them by telling them what's happened and what evidence has been collected todate. if they choose not to use that information that's up to them. I'm not saying don't diagnose. I'm querying the month and a half to look at it let alone fix it.

Exactly what youre trying to do is displace people, because you have diagnosed your problem already you are expecting to jump the queue when it doesnt work like that and they will still carry out their own diagnosis. 

Ive already covered why certain mechanics do service work and others do diagnosis, so just because one person might be free, doesnt mean the person you want to see is free.

 

You seem to think youre helping them by giving them a diagnosis but im not trying to be rude or argue with you, Im just trying to tell you simply how things are. I may be coming across blunt but ive given you the long and short of it, I dont make the rules or even work for them. Your diagnosis means literally 0 to them, they will follow their own set procedure based on the 'symptoms' not the 'diagnosis from customer' just because you want to skip that step doesnt mean they will.

 

I do believe they will diagnose it and order parts and fit them all in the same period though, at least there is no reason they shouldnt.

 

Also to add a different angle for you, before considering if the faulty parts are warranty claimable, they also need to look at things that may invalidate the warranty, They havent seen the car yet, they need to check the correct coolant is in the car, no additional damage in the area, the parts are even skoda parts and not aftermarket, any further issues that might need warranty work doing.

 

 

 

 

I am not trying to be rude to you, im just giving you the simple straight forward facts, it may not be what you want them to do, but its what they are going to do. 

[ApertureS]

51 minutes ago, J.R. said:

You say its a warranty issue so.............................

 

Drain the water, drive it until it seizes and then tell them "I told you so! please come and recover the vehicle and organise a hire car for the time they will be sourcing and fitting a new engine", don't forget to insist on a new water pump as well 😆

 

Alternatively be patient, them's the choices!

All well and good till they check the logs and see Coolant warning came on at X time, customer continued to drive for more than a minute or 2... warranty claim invalid.  

[J.R.]

In 1987 a young & rash J.R.(+ brash!) with a new XR4x4 company car on contract hire (full maintenance) totally fed up with the incompetence of the Ford dealer handling the warranty  for a warped cylinder head having kept the car for 3 weeks to investigate and deciding that a new thermostat would do the job took the above course of action, it was not a wise thing to do but I was not a wise person, my comment was tongue in cheek and not a serious suggestion.

 

 

 

[Legion]

"Exactly what youre trying to do is displace people, because you have diagnosed your problem already you are expecting to jump the queue" 

 

Explain to me how I'm jumping the queue?

[ApertureS]

2 hours ago, Legion said:

"Exactly what youre trying to do is displace people, because you have diagnosed your problem already you are expecting to jump the queue" 

 

Explain to me how I'm jumping the queue?

I’m not going to get into an argument with you.

 

I’ve told you the facts of the matter and that is where it ends for me. Just cause you’re annoyed at the dealer doesn’t mean you need to be hostile towards me for simply telling you the truth even when it’s not what you want to hear.

 

I hope you get your car fixed in a timely manner.

[CRB123]

Depending on where you're located, you could try Thompson Skoda at Parramatta.

 

They didn't exactly fix my issue but at least they were quick to look at it. YMMV.

 

Good luck!

[Legion]

On 01/09/2022 at 15:03, CRB123 said:

Good luck!

 

Thanks. I've got it booked into Warrens next week.

[Legion]

Yup, water pump and thermostat housing. Simple fix under warranty. A bit different to one and half months to look at it.