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.