SKODA OCTIVIA TYRE BURST WHILE RUNNING IN CRUISE CONTROL

[Deepa]

I am Capt. Deepa Kuruvilla. My son was driving the Skoda Octavia 2021 model car we bought 2-3 months ago on the Mumbai-Goa highway in India on April 3, 2024. The car was in cruise control, and it was a straight road early in the morning. The front right  tyre burst  and the car spun and hit the cart rail, and the car was severely damaged.

I bought this 2021 car model 3 months ago from a Skoda used car sale through an agent. The first owner of this car  was Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd., and unfortunately, the third-party insurance is also in the name of Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. and has yet to be transferred from Skoda India to my name and to convert it to comprehensive insurance, as only in March did I receive the registration transferred from Skoda India to my name. Luckily, there was no other car on the road, and airbags opened, so we were saved from brutal fatalities.

 

Is the Skoda Octavia a faulty car ? Skoda is going to re-launch its Octavia at the end of this year in India again. Can we trust this car?

 

Anyone please suggest what steps I should take regarding this. Will Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. do something to control the financial damage?  Since the insurer is Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd., will they repair the car? 

 

 

[Ootohere]

Welcome under these sad circumstances.

 

The car was not at fault was it, your son was steering, the cruise control was only holding the cars speed.

Did he maybe hit a kerb?

Is there any indication at what speed the car was.  That information will be available to the Police or Skoda / VW from the ECU. 

 

The only repair could be a rebody and that is unlikely with the damage of the components, engine, gearbox, suspensions, grill, lights, wheels etc.

 

So the car is in your name if registered to you and yet you had not bought your own insurance cover for the car and you or your son to drive. 

Why were you allowing it to be driven on VW,s insurance?

Edited 10 April by Rooted

[PetrolDave]

The front right tyre bursting is not the fault of the car - it's a problem with the tyre.

 

Was it inflated to the correct pressure (had you checked it or relied on someone else?)?

 

Was there any existing damage to the tyre - not just on the visible outer wall but also the tread and inner wall?

[J.R.]

3 hours ago, Deepa said:

Is the Skoda Octavia a faulty car ?

 

From the photographs I would say that it has a few right now 🤣

 

A burst front right tyre not being one of them though.

[Deepa]

2 hours ago, Rooted said:

Welcome under these sad circumstances.

 

The car was not at fault was it, your son was steering, the cruise control was only holding the cars speed.

Did he maybe hit a kerb?

Is there any indication at what speed the car was.  That information will be available to the Police or Skoda / VW from the ECU. 

 

The only repair could be a rebody and that is unlikely with the damage of the components, engine, gearbox, suspensions, grill, lights, wheels etc.

 

So the car is in your name if registered to you and yet you had not bought your own insurance cover for the car and you or your son to drive. 

Why were you allowing it to be driven on VW,s insurance?

 

[Deepa]

What is ECU ?

Their is no police case, as there are no other vehicles or people involved in the incident .

the car spun and hit the side railing, causing damage . car was at 80 km/h on a straight road with no traffic 

Edited 10 April by Deepa

[PetrolDave]

ECU = Engine Control Unit.

 

1 hour ago, PetrolDave said:

Was the tyre inflated to the correct pressure (had you checked it or relied on someone else?)?

 

Was there any existing damage to the tyre - not just on the visible outer wall but also the tread and inner wall?

 

[Winston_Woof]

first off, glad noone was hurt

 

 

right that aside ,a tyre blowout can happen to any car at any time. Why the hell would anyone even think of blaming a car manufacturer??

[Ootohere]

That is quite and accident to happen from a blow out at just 50 mph. EDIT.

@Deepa  is 80 km/h the max speed limit there?   Looks a wonderful stretch of road.

The type of road i might try to max out a car to see just what it can do.   But that is just me, stupid and no longer young. 

Edited 10 April by Rooted

[Winston_Woof]

1 minute ago, Rooted said:

That is quite and accident to happen from a blow out at just 50 mpg.

@Deepa  is 80 km/h the max speed limit there?   Looks a wonderful stretch of road.

The type of road i might try to max out a car to see just what it can do.   But that is just me, stupid and no longer young. 

50mpg?

lol

[Gaz]

1 hour ago, Winston_Woof said:

first off, glad noone was hurt

 

Likewise 

 

If the tyre referred to is the front one we can see in the photo's, from what little I can see of it, it looks intact and does not appear to have left the rim.  Without knowing other circumstances or factors, it's unfortunate the car couldn't be brought to a controlled stop on what looks to be a good road.

 

I don't know how insurance works in India, but in the UK I wouldn't expect Third Party insurance to cover the repair, or more likely write-off.

 

Gaz

[BTandSid]

1 hour ago, Rooted said:

That is quite and accident to happen from a blow out at just 50 mph. EDIT.

@Deepa  is 80 km/h the max speed limit there?   Looks a wonderful stretch of road.

The type of road i might try to max out a car to see just what it can do.   But that is just me, stupid and no longer young. 

Tending to agree with you, that’s one hell of a lot of damage for 50mph, especially if as suggested by OP it was a single car incident.

[Ootohere]

Great protection from crumple zones, air bags.  Not sure with the Octavia about the automatic braking once a vehicle does hit or is hit by something and airbags activate but i am pretty sure it has that. 

I take for granted that modern Skoda,s have it.

 

 

Edited 10 April by Rooted

[langers2k]

I had my front left tyre blow out on a pothole recently along a wet motorway at 70mph (~112kph). The car continued in a straight line and I was able to pullover in a controlled manner without issue.

 

Based on that, it feels there is more to your sons incident than your post suggests...

 

Regardless, I would suggest contacting a legal representative who's familiar with Indian laws to see what your options are. I doubt many on this forum have many skills in that area

[classic]

I’d go with langers on the more to that story than meets the eye theory.

 

I honestly don’t know if cruise control would react to a tyre blowing out, but it could only do 2 things, either disengage or stay activated. Either way it isn’t driving the car your son was. From the pictures the right front tyre looks flat but otherwise intact so it didn’t blow out and doesn’t look like it ran flat for very long if it all.

[EnterName]

9 hours ago, Deepa said:

am Capt. Deepa Kuruvilla. My son was driving the Skoda Octavia 2021 model car we bought 2-3 months ago on the Mumbai-Goa highway in India on April 3, 2024. The car was in cruise control, and it was a straight road early in the morning. The front right  tyre burst  and the car spun and hit the cart rail, and the car was severely damaged.

I bought this 2021 car model 3 months ago from a Skoda used car sale through an agent. The first owner of this car  was Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd., and unfortunately, the third-party insurance is also in the name of Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. and has yet to be transferred from Skoda India to my name and to convert it to comprehensive insurance, as only in March did I receive the registration transferred from Skoda India to my name. Luckily, there was no other car on the road, and airbags opened, so we were saved from brutal fatalities.

 

Is the Skoda Octavia a faulty car ? Skoda is going to re-launch its Octavia at the end of this year in India again. Can we trust this car?

 

Anyone please suggest what steps I should take regarding this. Will Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. do something to control the financial damage?  Since the insurer is Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd., will they repair the car? 

Hi @Deepa, I'm glad your son was unhurt by the accident.

Am I right in thinking your main problem is that you do not have insurance cover for the accident, as that seems to be what you are saying in your post?