For the past 3 days I've been very pleased with my new toy, a '99 Octavia 1.6 GLXi, Estate, 30k, FSH. Then, at 5am today it all went pear shaped! 30 miles into my journey from Stockport to Hemel Hempstead all the warning lights in the instrument panel started flashing on and off; the left hand lcd seemed to be reading in Chinese symbols, the gauges died, the miles changed to kilometers; oh yes, and then the engine stopped.....By 11am the vehicle was back with the dealer from where it came. Now I'm sure they will try their best to fix it, problem is that I bought it from a Fiat dealer. Lucky for me there is a Skoda dealer just 4 miles from there, and I'm hoping the Fiat crew will be good enough to send it there. The reason for my post is to ask if anyone has suffered a similar problem, and, if so how was it resolved? I'd be gratful for any feedback so that I can ask some searching questions of this Fiat/Skoda duo I find myself dealing with. :cry: :cry: :cry:

Paul (the disappointed)

Welcome to Briskoda Paul, good to see another Stopfordian!

Shame about the Skoda - I've never had any problem with the electrics

on mine, so can't say what the problem was and how it was resolved.

Sounds like it could be to do with the engine management system

though, and this would be quite weird if it turned out to be the case - a

mate of mine bought a Vectra ( :roll: ) from a certain Fiat dealer (who's

initials are RV) and had similar problems with flashing warning lights and

the engine dying. I think he had some kind of Vauxhall cover he'd paid

for though, so he took it into a Vauxhall dealer to get it fixed.

I can recommend Horner's in Manchester for their service department,

and apparently you get red carpet service if you mention you're a

member of Briskoda.net

Rob.

Rob

Thanks for your reply. Lucky for me the Fiat dealer does not carry the initials you have in mind, in fact it is located at the foot of Barton Bridge not far from the Trafford Centre, so the nearby Skoda dealer is Claybank. I thought about having the transporter drop the car there, but then I thought I should take it back to the point of sale and let them deal with it. I must admit to having visions of the problem being the engine management system, I'm hoping the dealer's own limited warranty will cover it.

My home ground is Cheadle Hulme and the car is white with alloys, if I'm lucky I may yet be back on the roads around Stockport. I'll keep Horners in mind for the future, there's nothing better than a personal recommendation.

Cheers

Paul :driving:

Another vote for Horners, and mention Briskoda to Gary (service manager) he knows us

I'll keep an eye out for ya (another white estate )

Paul,

The dealer should sort it, especially after only 4 days! I know Skoda used

dealers usually have some kind of 30-day guarantee that's supported

by Skoda, but I get the feeling it wouldn't apply to a non-Skoda dealer.

Claybank struck me as being professional and have a good history in

Skodas, as well as being used by at least one Briskoda member, so if

your car is sent there it should be in good hands. My personal problem

with them is that they insisted I couldn't test drive a vRS as they

didn't have any demonstrators there - which I would've believed if I had

not parked between them in the car park :roll: In all fairness though,

it's not like I could've afforded to buy/insure one anyway :P

I'll keep an eye out for you round the way - quite surprised Ian didn't

try to flog you a Briskoda.net car sticker (they are good though!)

Rob.

Good point, pssst, wanna buy a sticker?

We have some smaller ones coming in also, watch the homepage for details........

If it's sorted by thursday feel free to join us on the thurs night meet (see post in meets section)

I've just had a phone call to explaining my car will be going to Claybank. It's taken 2 working days to get this far, a shame really since it was pretty obvious from the explanation I gave that it wasn't just a blown fuse. I'm trying to stay calm about this so I don't blow a fuse myself. :evil:

If I get my 'Octy' back I'll certainly buy a sticker.

If I want to buy a sticker do I have to supply the toilet roll centre for packaging !!!

At least it has got to Claybank though, and the dealer haven't got one of

their apprentices tampering with it I do hope they gave you a nice

courtesy car too while yours is off the road...

I think Ian had loads of toilet roll inner tubes...he did explain why,

something to do with building a space centre or something

Rob.

lol, yes, Sandra (my other, allegedly better, half) was collecting them to build something for one of my many (and increasing) offspring. We figured keeping the stickers safe in transit was more important

Seems like the problem has been identified; terminal failure of the instrument and warning light panel, which in turn has taken out the immobilizer.

As with so much of today

On the plus side...at least it was a quick diagnosis!

Parts availability does appear to be a bit of a problem - currently

waiting for a new rear screen (one of the heated elements has gone and is

non-repairable - I'm going to be fussy while it's under warranty!), and

the carpet mats took about 3 months to come through! :roll:

At least it's the 1.6 engine, so you won't have to worry about coilpacks

when you get it back

Rob.