Dear BackRoomers,
My 27,000 mile, 2.0FSI Octavia, registered in late May 2005, with full skoda Service History, has for the last six months or so been suffering from a constant, yet small, annoying oil leak, that has been making rather a mess on my driveway.
When the car was last serviced (+MOT'd + given a 3 year health check for any warranty issues) by my supplying Skoda dealer in May this year, I asked for the leak to be investigated, but other than a small amount of residue round the oil filter/sump drainage point, the dealer claimed that no fault could be found.
This week having got fed up with the oil spots slowly increasing I contacted my dealer again, they refused to carry out any investigations into the leak unless I paid for 0.5 hours labour (circa £60). Not happy with that response (together with the 25 mile round trip to the dealer) I took the car to a local garage, who investigated for problem for several hours at no cost to me - their conclusion was that the leak was from the rear main seal between the gearbox and engine - a major job for which they have quoted around 6 hours labour plus parts, for which they would charge me around £450.
They agreed with me that Skoda should have picked up this fault earlier in the year.
When I contacted my Skoda dealer to enquire about any chance of getting it done under the (now expired 3 year) warranty I got a poor response, indeed they have stated that if indeed that is where the fault lies, they will charge me a lot more than the £450 that the local garage has estimated!
I would welcome your opinions - is it worth taking this up with again with the dealer and demanding the work is carried out under warranty or raising it with head office - Skoda UK?
Many thanks
TFC
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I'm afraid that with car dealers and VAG in particular, you have to be very pro-active in dealing with problems at an early stage in order to resolve anything. Hindsight won't help much but at the first sign of an oil leak you need the car up on a ramp and have a good look yourself. If you don't do this, the well-oiled pink fluffy dce machine kicks in.
Having experienced the attempts by the Milton Keynes brigade to murder my wallet, I really wouldn't waste your time, telecoms charges and sanity by pursuing the matter further with them.
So, not a lot of help but here is a simple suggestion. One thing I have noticed with several VAG garages is that there is a tendency to overfill the sump with oil. This, despite 2 printed warnings in the engine bay of my car telling you not to. VAG engines are in the main, very well assembled and don't usually leak. I would therefore very carefully check the oil level as directed by the manual (on level ground) before going further. If it is overfilled, reducing the level (easiest way is to take the filter off and empty it a few times) may well cure the problem.
In any event, find a good independent to care for your vehicle. My experience with VAG has been one of neglect and damage - to the detriment of a perfectly good vehicle.
659.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 20/09/2008 at 14:31
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I wouldn't give up without at least rattling some cages! The leak was reported within the warranty period and based on the balance of probabilities the current leak relates to the one that the useless dealer failed to correctly diagnose.
Make it clear to the dealer that you won't be meekly conceding and going away....which is what they hope and probably believe that you will. Give them another opportunity to investigate making it clear that this relates to a fault reported to them within warranty and their lack of compentence in diagnosis. If no joy, write to the dealer principal and cc Skoda Customer Services.
Threaten legal action if still no joy and if no appropriate response let us all know and no doubt this will result in a massively greater loss to Skoda UK or local dealer (doesn't dealer cover 3rd year?).
Customers eh... Who needs em........................!?
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>>the dealer claimed that no fault could be found. <<
Ahh! the infamous VAG dealers answer to all warranty problems.
It's nice to know that some things in life will never change.
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If only everything was as predictable as VAG's poor treatment of the customer.
Remember "Skoda" is just a badge - for admin purposes you are in the caring hands of the Milton Keynes boot boys.
659.
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Surprised nobody has mentioned the small claims court. Since the fault was noted before the warranty has expired and the dealer has been offered the opportunity to rectify the fault (though an approach to Skoda UK first would be a good idea), I would have thought you would be entitled to have the repair carried out and then seek reimbursement. If they don't pay, put in a claim via the SCC.
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Just a point to bear in mind - Skodas come with a 2 year manufacturer's warranty - the third year of warranty is provided by the dealer. My experience of Skoda customer service has been pretty poor, the dealer has been better but only because they weren't paying (nothing went wrong in the 3rd year!!).
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Thanks very much for your responses so far - some very good points have been made, for which I am very grateful.
After further phone calls, the main dealer has agreed to have the car in for an hour this Thursday to try to establish the root cause of the problem, this time free of charge (how kind!). I will let you know how I get on, fingers crossed that my powers of persuasion are more succesful this time.
TFC
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When you take the car in I would tell them that you have already had the problem diagnosed by an independant garage and that it is the rear main seal, which you have been advised should have been sorted under warranty as you had already reported the (oil leak) fault before the warranty period expired. This will immediately put them on the back foot and they are going to have trouble making out it is something else which no doubt will be chargeable if they already think you know what the exact problem is. Don't be soft with them or they'll think that they can have you over.
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The Main Dealer had the car in for a hour today and agreed that the oil leak was from the rear main seal between gearbox and engine - which was as reported by the independant local garage two weeks ago.
They refused point blank to do the work under warranty, despite a real effort from myself and my wife, they would not budge. In their opinion this was a new fault and had nothing to do with the original oil leak, reported when the car was still under warranty.
When I mentioned legal action, their view was 'bring it on'.
What should I do next?
We are really fed up with this situation - although I cannot name the dealer, can I give the county or even name the town they are located in?
TFC
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Try Skoda UK, there might be good will or something. Contry to what people might thing, if the fault is reported within warranty your only entitled to have it fixed whist IN warranty. I don't think you have a case, if it was not fixed last service, why did'nt you go back? TBH, I'd just pay local garage to fix it, and put it down to experiance.
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Why not have the job done by the trusted independant garage and then lodge procedings at the small claims court against the Skoda dealer. It seems to me that you have done everything reasonably that you can to get this issue resolved but the dealer isn't taking the responsibility (in my opinion) that they should.
What does it cost to start procedings at the small claims court for this amount? I think that it may be as little as £45. And don't forget that even if you lose you don't generally have to pay the defendants legal fees. I would seriously consider this as it may be the best £45 for ever spend, just for the satisfaction factor itself.
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Keep us posted of what you decide to do.
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The OP would have to prove behond all resonable doubt, that the fault he has now, was the fault that was missed. There is still the question of why he did not pursue the fault whilst the car was in warranty. ATEOTD, the car is OUT of warranty. Good luck in whatever you do, hope it gets sorted.
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The OP would have to prove behond all resonable doubt that the fault he has now was the fault that was missed. >>
County court is a civil court so the standard of proof is lower, usually referred to as 'on the balance of probabilities'.
'Beyond reasonable doubt' applies to criminal cases heard in magistrates' and crown courts.
Can make quite a difference, although I'd be wary of entering into any legal proceedings without taking some form of professional advice.
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If the dealer is as brazen as you portait they are indeed a bunch of fools. Write to Skoda UK and investigate the cost of bringing a small claims recovery against the dealer. Beyond that its a dead end for you.....and another lost customer for the idiots
Clearly the Skoda dealer reputation of old is dead and on this basis i'll not be spending my money with them in the future. Same goes for VAG in general. I have a company owned SEAT Leon which has been spent nearly 8 weeks in the garage for warranty repairs during which we were told no replacement car was available. Cost to company for hire cars......£1200 and rising! Great way to treat customers eh?
My other car is a Jaguar X diesel and whilst aware of the TDCI shortcomings and Mondeo in a party frock jibes ownership has been a pleasure despite TDCI injector issues dealt with under warranty and major air con fault dealt with FOC 2 months out of warranty.
Dealer (Oxford) is brilliant and secured quick resolution to both problems with a free replacement brand new Jag delivered to ones door FOC during the work. Now thats service!
Skoda anyone??
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