Repair for known fault just after warranty expiry

alibean121

I've got a Skoda that is 2 months out of warranty. I had it serviced and MOT a week before the end of the warranty with no issues noted.

Today unfortunately when I've tried to start it up, a load of warnings come up on the dash and the car wouldn't move into gear. When I google the messages, I note this is a known problem with the vehicle and VW group DSG gearboxes subject to a recall in various other countries (no recall in the UK)

I'm not sure how best to approach - I think I should push my dealer to cover the repair given that it's a known manufacturing fault. The issue is that my main dealer are saying they won't book it in to even look at for 6 weeks - I know this is a wildly busy time for car problems with the weather.

I had recovery out today and they can't do anything - it needs to go to garage for investigation. By the time they came out, it's too late for a garage and they need a proper truck as the gear problems mean it couldn't be towed by the van so they haven't moved it anywhere and it's up to me where it goes - they will come back tomorrow. If I take it anywhere other than main dealer, is that me basically giving up any chance to get them to cover or discount the repair? I can see various reports of people in the UK having at least the parts comp from Skoda out of warranty so I don't think it's unachievable to get something off them (costs otherwise may be substantial - £1-2k for parts only)

I'm disabled and can't be without a car for weeks without quite significant issue. I'm sure I could speak to Skoda head office on that note and get them to press the main dealer to book me in sooner or I'm not sure if I should get it assessed by a local garage that are saying they can at least look into what the issue is on Friday and save my arguing with head office for when I know what the bill will look like? I'll need to tell RAC where to take it tomorrow.

Any ideas welcome

Grey_Critic

Nothing to do with the dealer - involve him but talk to Skoda Customer Service.

The dealer does warranty/goodwill repairs *on behalf of the manufacturer. ONLY the main dealer can do this.

daveyjp

As above,  the dealer will need to get approval from Skoda to cover the costs of any repair.

Good to see that 20 years since introduction the DSG system is still as bad as mine was in 2007. 'Continual improvement' obviously not a process used at VAG.

sevenhills

alibean121 said:

I note this is a known problem with the vehicle and VW group DSG gearboxes subject to a recall in various other countries (no recall in the UK)

Write to VW, copy in your MP and the local media.

facade

daveyjp said:

 'Continual improvement' obviously not a process used at VAG.

It is! just like other manufacturers.

However it is nothing to do with reliability (beyond the warranty) or fitness for purpose.

It refers to ease of manufacture (reducing costs) and reducing the cost of components, as well as ensuring a shorter product replacement cycle.

sheramber

How long have you owned it?

Stateofart

Your contract is probably with Skoda, not the garage so try and be nice to the garage.  Typically, a garage would investigate, present the case to the warranty company via a warranty guy at the garage and wait an outcome.  I would say if the fault hadn't been diagnosed before the warranty ran out, you haven't got much leg to stand on.  Wait for the garage to take it in, do the diagnosis and then if it's not the outcome you want, contact your warranty company and negotiate.

alibean121

Thanks for the advice. I ended up sending it to the local garage after still having no luck getting a sensible waiting time for repair out of the Skoda dealer. They’re going to do their diagnostic assessment tomorrow.

It’s a 4 year old car with 30k miles on it. I’ve had it just over 2 years and had a 2 year warranty from buying used approved that expired 7 weeks ago. I really like it as a car and it’s never given me any issue. As I say, it was serviced and MOT 8 weeks ago.

My firm position is that, if the fault is as I expect, a car shouldn’t suffer this major failure at this age/mileage and ideally Skoda will recognise this and provide at least discounted parts for the repair. 

I’ve had some success at least with the local guys RAC contracted to come and shift it - they left their details with me and will move it to the Skoda dealer for £20 if I give them a bell if I’m able to agree something. 

My current plan is to get the verdict from my local garage and their repair estimate then decide what’s best from there. My breakdown cover has given me 72 hours hire car which was dropped off this afternoon so hopefully I can have a proper plan before that expires.

So annoying this has happened, I’ve always had great luck with cars but I’m trying to be thankful it happened on my drive and not out and about as I’d have boiled alive in the car or burnt to a crisp outside it yesterday. My mobility isn’t great so really could have been a lot worse.