Northshore Sydney A good place to own a skoda? or not so good?

[sillyboy]

Hi guys

I am new to the forum, living at upper northshore, always love the octavia RS and golf GTI(went to test drive them multiple times).

Is this a good location to own a skoda? I know there is one dealership at Pennant hills, and one near crows nest,
however, I saw a few posts about how bad the warranty work can get in some dealers (hitting a wall of silence, long waiting time for parts etc). Not sure if these 2 dealers are any good.

[mikinoz]

I think you are best to move to a different suburb.

[sillyboy]

I think you are best to move to a different suburb.

Why is that, are those bad dealers?

[Jake02]

I've heard good things about Alto Skoda at Pennant Hills and the sales staff aren't really interested in you if you aren't buying a new Skoda at North Shore Skoda. The staff at North Shore have a real North Shore attitude which wasn't a problem for me as I have a lot to do with the North Shore, but my parents aren't so keen, hence us buying in Burwood (we live in North Ryde). I'm unaware of what their aftersales department is like but it's certain to be better now that Holden is now 'Northside Holden' and is where Alto Land Rover used to be. I'd try Alto, especially as it's 10 mins down Pennant Hills Road but if not, the Octavia RS is so good it's worth travelling to other Skoda dealers around Sydney .

[ausspace87]

I bought my Skoda from Northshore. I went there for 2 warranty claims and promised myself I would never return. When Holden was there, it was simply too busy in the service department and the staff we so relaxed it was very concerning. They also had NO IDEA about Skoda vehicles or about spare parts. Trivett at Blacktown now look after my car and they have been fantastic. It definitely helps that they also are a VW service centre. My girlfriend took her 90TSI to Trivett at Parramatta to get her 15K service and she had nothing but positive things to say about the Parramatta dealership too! When we collected our cars from Trivett, both cars were fully detailed inside and out - they looked brand new. They also went through all the service spiel and seemed very genuine.
Alto Skoda didn't return any of my phone calls when I was looking for a new service department.

[zei20t]

i bought my octavia RS fom northshore, dealt with damien. it was one of the best car purchase experiences i have had. negotiated, and was happy with the price. then the car arrived and was ready when they said it would.

i havent been there for servicing, or warranty (i have 1 small item that needs repair) so i cant comment on that.

i think all the sales staff at northshore skoda are new as they probably knew about the reputation. the old sales guy i dealt with orginally is now up at pennant hills road dealer. who also took 2 days to call me back regarding a new car purchase. of all the skoda dealers in sydney that i called, northshore and parramatta were the only ones to call me back within 30 mins of me calling them

[Alex_K]

I bought a new Octavia from Northshore Skoda. No complaints about the sale process. I've only done 8,000km so havent had a service there yet.

I did, however, get them to take a look at a problem with my Fiscon Kufatec BlueTooth under warranty and this was PAINFUL. The first time I went I had a very negative experience where the staff told me that what I wanted to do wasn't possible with that system (which was rubbish and I had to do the legwork to prove to them that they were full of sht). Eventually they sorted it out after the second trip. Actually, they offer a pickup service, so the second 'trip' I made wasn't actually me - somebody came to pick my car up from the eastern suburbs, get it fixed and then dropped it back to me - all for free.

So that was nice. But the second niggling issue still isnt fixed. The boot release from the key doesnt always fully release. Not a big enough problem to warrant a separate trip but annoying that after 2 attempts they still havent managed to fix it.

In summary, they get 5/10 so far.

[ausspace87]

But the second niggling issue still isnt fixed. The boot release from the key doesnt always fully release. Not a big enough problem to warrant a separate trip but annoying that after 2 attempts they still havent managed to fix it.

To my knowledge I didn't think the boot releases fully when the button on the key is pressed on any Octavia? Both of my RS and 90TSI Liftbacks don't release and require you to press the button on the boot after they key is pressed...

[dArK5HaD0w]

To my knowledge I didn't think the boot releases fully when the button on the key is pressed on any Octavia? Both of my RS and 90TSI Liftbacks don't release and require you to press the button on the boot after they key is pressed...

mine works sometimes......other times it doesn't.
so rather then pressing an extra 2 secs on the remote, i just press the release handle. saves me the hassle.

[zei20t]

if my car is locked and i press the boot release on the remote, it unlocks it.

i should try it while the car is unlocked and see if it unlatches.

[sillyboy]

Thanks guys, sounds like Pennant hills' skoda is slightly better.

[woofy]

Mine has never fully unlatched from new, was just thinking about it tonight. It does if you press the button the boot directly though (hatch).

[Mysticality]

When I hold the boot release button, it unlocks and unlatches. Sometimes all the way, where I can just pull it open. Sometimes, halfway, kinda like when you don't close your car door hard enough.

As for purchasing, Allan Mackay Auto's (Moss Vale) was great. The guy really knew his stuff, and anything he didn't know, he told me straight out. None of this "Well, its *yada yada* I think"
Service department is amazing.
They do Skoda, Peugeot and Volvo. (I've seen anything from Holden/Mitsubishi utes to Merc's and BMer's in the service yard)
And again. They know their stuff.