Car & Bike Buying a Skoda ? Think again.

thanks a lot ,I read the whole thread and I will pass this message to everyone who is thinking of getting skoda cars .
 
I have read the whole story and even i do sympathise with Mr.Harish. At the same time i do feel that this is being blow a bit out of proportion.Its as if its only Skoda who is doing this and all other manufacturers are not.
I am not saying this because i am a skoda owner myself but honestly, i haven't had such a bad experience for the past 4 yrs that i have had the vehicle.
There are exceptions when it comes to dealers who are cheaters in disguise but it isnt that bad everywhere you see.

Take this for example, I have been told that there have been customers whose clutch had to be replaced in a meagre 2k Kms but at the same time, my clutch is working fine for the past 1.62L Kms.
whose fault is it in this case ? clearly the driver's and not the company's.
But the customer won't think twice before cusring skoda for making sub standard parts and what not.

So its not like its always the dealer's or company's fault.
Mind you, I am not saying this is the case with this whole Mr.Harish scene.

Hope you guys get the point.
 
um, regarding the clutch. there have been several scenarios where there was no need for a replacement, yet the dealership claimed that it needed to be.

For ex, take the case of the yeti's boss' laura, which the dealer claimed needed a dual mass flywheel. After a second look by another mechanic, it turned out to be some minor issue.

Dont you think it strange that there are multiple people who have had early clutch replacements? That there are so many bad skoda drivers ?
 
greenhorn said:
um, regarding the clutch. there have been several scenarios where there was no need for a replacement, yet the dealership claimed that it needed to be.

For ex, take the case of the yeti's boss' laura, which the dealer claimed needed a dual mass flywheel. After a second look by another mechanic, it turned out to be some minor issue.

Dont you think it strange that there are multiple people who have had early clutch replacements? That there are so many bad skoda drivers ?
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Could be,not denying it but at the same time it also cannot be overlooked that there are many who are horible drivers too.
There are also many who dont take good care of their cars.

Consider this -
Last time around when I was at my Skoda workshop for a routine service, I was asked for the first time, "What oil to put Sir, Mineral or Synthetic? "
I was like, what kind of a question is that ? Doesn't skoda recommend Shell Helix 5W40 Fully Synthetic Oil ? and haven't you guys been using that for my vehicle for the last 4 years ?
The Service advisor agreed but told me, "What can we do sir, customers tell us that your Engine oil is too expensive, put some cheaper oil." They dont care if its synthetic or mineral.

What do you have to say about this ?

My only point is, customers too are at fault, they too are negligent and easy preys for dealers to rip off.
Not that I am taking sides but my personal opinion is that not all Dealers are cheats and that customers too can be at fault in certain scenarios.
 
Well guys think of it as this way.....

1. Any situation where a car owner goes to the court and not collect his car for almost a year (since april 2008 i guess) from the service station would be facing a lot of agony and injustice.

2. It could be any manufacturer who could be under fire, unfortunately for Skoda, they are under the hammer here. But going from the thread and also the experiences which my Skoda owner frs have been going through their frequency of bad service is much more higher.

3. Its praiseworthy that the consumers are being defended by sites like team-bhp who have no reason to get into this mess. For all you know team-bhp could be dragged into the case for defamation.

Team-bhp could just keep mum or even thrash the thread when the legal warning came but they stood their ground and that's something commendable. Besides they dont take any advertisments from any automobile manufacturer which again testifies their intentions to be a netural, for-the-masses forum.
 
If skoda wanted to be really proactive, they could sell their own synthetic at lower rates to dealers. Synthetics are horribly overpriced in india.

Having said that , nobody does this, so its not the company's fault. They probably just blindly follow what is done in the EU. But saying that its the customers fault is not right either.
 
ohh god! ppl srsly.. this news is 2-3months Old!!!!! u guys acting up nowwwW??? Ppl who are regular on PHP know it since last 2-3months :S nuthin shocking here. Plus this and many other news about skoda is already bn spreadin in market since a long time. Market = car market, bad feedback, etc.
 
b00gieMan said:
ohh god! ppl srsly.. this news is 2-3months Old!!!!! u guys acting up nowwwW??? Ppl who are regular on PHP know it since last 2-3months :S nuthin shocking here. Plus this and many other news about skoda is already bn spreadin in market since a long time. Market = car market, bad feedback, etc.
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The threat to drag team-bhp into the court case is new I believe :)
 
greenhorn said:
If skoda wanted to be really proactive, they could sell their own synthetic at lower rates to dealers. Synthetics are horribly overpriced in india.

Having said that , nobody does this, so its not the company's fault. They probably just blindly follow what is done in the EU. But saying that its the customers fault is not right either.
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I didn't get your post at all :huh:
 
you said that at times, skoda service centers are forced to use mineral oil because of pressure from customers , even though skoda recommends using synthetic.

The reason why customers prefer mineral is because synthetic is priced outrageously by the respective manufacturers in india. Synthetic costs about double of what it costs abroad , while mineral is available at similar prices.

If skoda really wanted to help indian customers, they should have sold synthetic in bulk, at rates similar to international rates, to their customers, just like some other manufacturers sell OE engine oils.

And yet they dont. And they dont investigate the feasiblity of using mineral oils in india, and try to force expensive oils , when there could have been cheaper alternatives.

So what I'm asking is , is this entirely the customer's fault?
 
greenhorn said:
you said that at times, skoda service centers are forced to use mineral oil because of pressure from customers , even though skoda recommends using synthetic.

The reason why customers prefer mineral is because synthetic is priced outrageously by the respective manufacturers in india. Synthetic costs about double of what it costs abroad , while mineral is available at similar prices.

If skoda really wanted to help indian customers, they should have sold synthetic in bulk, at rates similar to international rates, to their customers, just like some other manufacturers sell OE engine oils.

And yet they dont. And they dont investigate the feasiblity of using mineral oils in india, and try to force expensive oils , when there could have been cheaper alternatives.

So what I'm asking is , is this entirely the customer's fault?
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Well its not like the Dealers over charge for the Oil, even if you go and buy synthetic oil from a store, it costs more or less the same.I am saying so from my personal experience.

Also its not like its compulsory to buy oil from the dealer, One can buy yourself and give it to the dealer while servicing, thats what i do.

Also its quite funny that one can afford a 10L + car but can't afford recommended engine oil, that too after 10k Kms when the scheduled oil change interval is ?

If you buy an expensive car and knowingly avoid recommended consumables because you can't afford them, then yes i think its the customer's fault. If you can't afford to maintain an expensive car, don't buy it. Don't misunderstand me, this applies to me too, I can't afford to maintain a Merc or an Audi or even a Bmw so i would never buy it.Even if i beg,borrow,steal and do buy one these germans, maintaining it isn't going to be easy.Simple.

For that matter, I have seen so many people who just don't do regular oil change, they run the vehicles for 20-30k Kms without any maintainence. Whose fault is it ?
The other day i was at a garage where a Zen had come for repairs, the tappet cover was opened and it was full of sticky,mucky oil which the mechanic was literally scrubbing off,the engine had conked off because the car had run without oil change for thousands of Kms.
Whose fault is it ? The company's ? The dealer's ?
 
my point is that it is an avoidable expense. just because someone spent 10L for a car does not mean that they should pay 2x for everything right. Once people whine about parts prices long enough, manufacturers think about localizing right? If we were to go by your logic, no cars above 10 lakh would have been localized, since their owners would be afford to pay for the imported parts. Willful negligence is one thing , but as a manufacturer , there are certain things you can do to make life easier for your customers
 
I never said you should pay 2x.
Localised manufacturing of parts is something everyone does but for manufacturers who launch CKD models, it takes time & may vary from company to company.
What makes you think Skoda isn't working on reducing the costs of the parts ?
Mercedes has been in India for a very long time now, their parts don't seem to get cheaper, why ?
With german efficiency, almost all of their cars should be 100% localised by now and same with parts but the parts remain to be expensive.

Oh and btw, earlier, Skoda Octavia's Alternator used to cost ~60k now it has reduced to ~35k
Isn't that reduction in costs, you were talking about ?
Don't jump to conclusions without verifying the facts ;)
 
^^ agreed with all that.I never said that skoda did not localize spares.I said they wouldnt have to , if the logic that if the buyer could afford an expensive car, he could afford expensive spares worked.

You seem to be missing my point, which was , that Skoda could have done the same for the oil as it is doing for the spares.

And no, i dont mean make it locally. Just import it directly itself, and sell it in line with international rates.
 
oye... greeny and amey - chill guys !! why so :2guns: ?

Amey - we know what you mean, but the way it is put, comes across as if you are defending skoda against Harish.
You ( and also your Car :rofl: ) were lucky to get good service from the workshop guys in pune. But there have been just too many instances when others were literally screwed - in various cities - Thus the outrage.

It is high time that all the manufacturers tighten up their dealers - I mean ALL of them. Even Maruti for that matter.

@Issue being blown out on team-BHP - No. I dont think so.
With more than 10000 active members, it is bound to happen that some members post up stupid comments without thinking and bash skoda very badly.
 
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