Skoda - Simply Clev.... errrr, shoddy?

[RSOK]

G'day all! Ok so I own an Octavia RS and couldn’t be happier with it, brilliant car and I can’t say enough good things about it, just love it… so much so that recently when my brother-in-law was looking to update his car, and he informed me that the Octavia 118 wagon with DSG was on his list of potentials, along with Mazda6 wagon, I recommended he go with the Octavia.

So he did. Signed up for a silver wagon already in stock thru Gosford Skoda.
After a slight delay (1 week) on delivery, he picks up his new Octavia (only 19 kms on the clock!!) and drives off, stereo pumping, grinning madly, intending to head down the F3 to Sydney to meet up with family.

He barely gets 10minutes away from the dealership when an oil pressure warning light comes on in the dash. He pulls over, calls the dealer, who tells him to bring it straight back. Not the best start!

Unfortunately this was early Friday evening and the dealership service dept had closed, so they gave him a loan car (’07 Octavia diesel) for the weekend, and said they’d look at his brand new Octavia first thing Monday morning… he was not particularly impressed but what do you do?

So Monday comes, and they thought it was a faulty oil pressure sensor, but it wasn’t…

So on Tuesday they thought it might have been the pressure regulator valve, but it wasn’t…

So on advice from Skoda Technical they are going to replace the oil pump today… but if that doesn’t solve it either, guess what the dealer told him?

Get ready for this… “I think we’ll have to replace the engine then".

He immediately says “Ah, no, I think you’ll have to replace the car”… which they are yet to respond to.

Seriously… a brand spanking new Octavia, with 19kms on the clock, for which my brother-in-law has paid top dollar, that has never been driven… I’m not talking about a problem that has cropped up after several months of ownership… I’m not talking about a problem that has reared up after a few thousand kms… I’m talking about a fault that was obviously delivered with the brand new car!!

So… seems they’re happy to take his money and let my brother-in-law wear the delay, happy for him to wear the frustration… instead of doing what I consider to be the right thing, which is replace the car immediately with another one in stock (and let’s face it, they’ve got a heap of Octavia 118s sitting in yards around the country as a ready replacements) and so deliver to him what they were contractually bound to, ie a new Octavia in proper working order… but no, they decide to leave him hanging while they ‘try’ to fix it, which they seemingly can't as they can't diagnose the cause.

As far as I’m concerned for a brand trying to gain new customers and grow, Skoda should be doing everything they can to hang on to the customers they’ve managed to win over to the brand so far, and they should immediately supply him with the new Octavia 118 wagon he paid for… they can then take this faulty Octavia away, replace the engine or whatever in their own good time….a faulty car is Skoda’s problem, not the customer’s…or is the whole ‘Manufacturer of Happy Customers’ tag a joke?

If so, is it any wonder Skoda sales are slow? Is it any wonder Aussies are not warming to the brand as VW Australia had hoped? For a brand that relies heavily on word-of-mouth advertising, this is going to be a disaster – what exactly do you think my brother-in-law will be telling his family and friends, his work colleagues etc about his Skoda experience?? He went out on a limb and bought a Skoda instead of one of the established mainstream brands, and this is what happens??

Skoda can still end this saga with a positive experience for my brother-in-law by doing the right thing by him… I dare say he would then be happy to put this behind him and get on with owning and driving what I think is the best car on the road today for $35K, bar none, not to mention that he’s then likely to tell people that, despite the early issue with his purchase, Skoda listened and responded and they did the right thing and he’s happy enough… which will show the brand in a positive light and may lead to new sales, which is what Skoda needs and wants right?

Look after your customers and they’ll look after your brand, it’s that simple. If you burden your customers with delays and disappointment, your brand ain’t goin’ nowhere.

Thoughts?

[brad]

I agree. A new engine in a car that he hasn't even had a chance to fart in? Forget it.

I assume you BIL is flexible on colours/features & has conveyed this to the dealer? Generally, i'd give the dealer a chance to put things right but in this case, I'd be talking to Skoda Au pretty quickly.

Of course, their actions will be totally based on their own conscience as I don't believe our consumer laws cover this stuff (unlike whitegoods - die in the first week & they get replaced)

[RSOK]

Well I'm pretty sure even he wouldn't want to ruin that new car smell with a contribution from his own odour cabinet!

But look, the dealer has tried to fix it over last couple of days and has been given the chance to fix this issue but even Skoda Technical seem clueless as to what the cause is, so this could potentially drag out for days or weeks... Skoda Oz is now involved and we'll see what response that elicits, I'll keep yawl updated.

[woofy]

If they have another in stock, they should just swap it out now and be done with it. If he had it for bugger all time, it makes no difference to them, unless they suspect a lemon and don't want to have to try and explain to who it gets sold to as to why the engine number is wonky....

[ausspace87]

Has he phoned the ACCC to confirm that he isn't legally entitled to a new vehicle?

ACCC home

[Antiplastix]

I d be happy with a loan car worth similar, rather than a 07 model until it was fixed. Loan cars are amazing, they can go places even 4wds are scared of, do great handbrake turns and are generaly indistructable.

[K1W1]

Will you feel better if I start relating all the stories about cars having engines or gearboxes or various other parts replaced under warranty, sometimes without the owner even knowing that I saw first hand during my time in the auto industry? That list does include new Mazdas.

Cars are complex things and sometimes issues occur that's a fact of life. The real thing here is how well the problem is handled it's actually an opportunity for first of all the dealer and secondly Skoda Australia to make a customer for life if they handle things correctly which unfortunately they don't quite seem to be doing.

If I was the Dealer Principal or Sales Manager your brother in law would currently be driving a Superb even if I had to take it back from the bosses wife (and believe me taking the bosses wife's drive car is one scary thing to have to do).

BTW:

There is a maxim in sales that every person involved should always remember.
A happy customer will on average tell 6 others, an unhappy customer will tell 11.
Human nature is such that people love to tell others of problems but aren't so keen on congratulating or acknowledging successes. You posting this thread is proof of this maxim (I'm not having a go at you but simply pointing out that you are following standard human nature that all professional sales people should be aware of).

[AndyW]

I happen to be the lucky (or unlucky) Brother in Law with the faulty Octavia, it has been a hell of a long and stressfull week.

Here's the latest, the dealership ruled out a faulty oil pressure regulator valve on tuesday arvo and went back to Skoda technical with the result. Late this afternoon (wednesday) Skoda technical give the ok to replace the oil pump, so another day has been lost with my new car sitting in the workshop. The service manager advised he wanted to replace the oil pump straight up, however was required to follow Skoda technical's process. If its not the oil pump, then they are looking at the engine....

I completely understand that a car is made up of many thousands of parts however this appears to be a significant problem that should have been discovered and resolved before the car was delivered to me.

Thanks for the tip re ACCC, I've been in contact and they have advised my rights if the suggested repairs get to a point that I want to seek another option.

The delay gets more and more frustrating by the day, and we just want to get this resolved and move on.

[RSOK]

Will you feel better if I start relating all the stories about cars having engines or gearboxes or various other parts replaced under warranty, sometimes without the owner even knowing that I saw first hand during my time in the auto industry? That list does include new Mazdas.

Cars are complex things and sometimes issues occur that's a fact of life. The real thing here is how well the problem is handled it's actually an opportunity for first of all the dealer and secondly Skoda Australia to make a customer for life if they handle things correctly which unfortunately they don't quite seem to be doing.

If I was the Dealer Principal or Sales Manager your brother in law would currently be driving a Superb even if I had to take it back from the bosses wife (and believe me taking the bosses wife's drive car is one scary thing to have to do).

BTW:

There is a maxim in sales that every person involved should always remember.
A happy customer will on average tell 6 others, an unhappy customer will tell 11.
Human nature is such that people love to tell others of problems but aren't so keen on congratulating or acknowledging successes. You posting this thread is proof of this maxim (I'm not having a go at you but simply pointing out that you are following standard human nature that all professional sales people should be aware of).

Yeh mate you're right, dead right, these things are bound to happen now and then and it's all about how they're handled, you've obviously got a tonne of experience in the industry and I kinda wish you were the Sales Manager in this instance!!

And believe me when I say that I have probably told about 50 people how good my experience with my Octy has been, while this is the very first I've ever had to say something negative about the brand...

[MarksVRS]

Yep, ACCC is a good suggestion although when I saw it I thought I was going to see ACA. It is amazing how large companies bend over backwards at the smell of bad television press.

As much as I am in love with my vRS, ACA or Today Tonight should help in getting the dealership and Skoda Australia to listen and think again.

[Jake02]

As much as I am in love with my vRS, ACA or Today Tonight should help in getting the dealership and Skoda Australia to listen and think again.

Forgive me for being clueless but how is Skoda Australia involved? The technical department yes but not the company itself (nothing's been reported for Skoda Aus anyway). If anything, the dealer should be the one criticised!

[K1W1]

I agree to a large degree with Jake for once.
This thing has only been going on for a few days and there is no indication at all the either the dealership or Skoda are trying to shirk their responsibilities. They are maybe not being as quick as the owner would like and I can understand that but I can also understand that they may not know the exact cause of the problem (and that is not reflection at all on their mechanical ability) and be genuinely trying to make sure that the problem is fixed once and fixed properly. To be throwing gutter crawlers like ACA and TT into the mix now would do nothing except inflame the situation and would I suspect ultimately backfire of the owner because when those programs found that there was no story they would turn on the source as they always do.

[MarksVRS]

No worries, give it some more time but they haven't given any good indications. Regarding Skoda Australia, aren't they there to support the dealer networks and provide advice on these matters? My understanding is that a warranty problem is not covered financially by the dealer, it is a Skoda issue.

I may have mentioned on this forum that I wrote into a car magazine regarding some concerns when I bought a new Holden VYS. It was Holden Australia that contacted me within a week of the magazine being published, and met me at the dealer of my choice, provided me a few sweetners for my troubles which were fitted at the dealer of my choice.

Anyway sorry if I sound too harsh, I hope it works out for the best regardless.

[Gaz]

This is an awkward situation for all parties, but I understand where you guys are coming from.

I've experienced the "Technical Process" at work, and ended up waiting 2 Months for a DSG fault to be fixed. The fault was identified by the service guys as a faulty mechatronic unit, but before it could be changed under warranty, the lengthy diagnostic work flow had to be followed. So rather than order the part when the first diagnosis was made, they had to rebook the car in (4 weeks wait), then place the order (another 4 weeks), then fit it (2 days).

The dealer should really have tried harder to keep AndyW happy, buying a new car is a big event for most of us, and dealers sometimes forget how emotionally charged it can be.

I would be on the phone to Skoda Customer Service, it's what they are there for, and they should be sympathetic.

Writing to a car mag is a good idea, Top Gear Aus have a Skoda Superb on 6 month loan and might be interested in your experience.

Good Luck!

[RSOK]

G'day guys, there's never been any intention to get ACA or TT involved in this, that wouldn't be the way to go at all... Skoda Australia have been contacted and are involved because I agree with MarksVRS above, they have a vested interest in this because I'm sure they're keen to ensure any new customers to the brand are not dissatisfied, this really wouldn't help Skoda's profile or growth strategy in Aus... the dealer as I understand it from my brother-in-law has done it's best in trying to remedy the oil pressure fault and it's been Skoda Technical who has seemingly been a little slow in providing advice to the dealer's service dept on how to address the problem.

The latest seems to be that replacement of the oil pump has worked wonders, and touch wood after testing this morning my brother-in-law's Octy will be ready to go and handed back to him... Skoda Aus have told him they will contact him to discuss some sort of compensation for this unfortunate start to his Skoda ownership experience, so we await that call (hoping they might come up with something more than just a $40 set of floor mats here!!)