[Resolved]  Skoda Auto India Private Limited — Unjust extortion of money in warranty period, poor customer care and after sales services

Dear sir,
I own one SKODA LAURA MT. it was purchased from your dealer at Raipur ( CG), M/s SPEED AUTOMOTIVES PVT LTD.
My car bears the registeration no. CG04JF9195.
On 8th of october 2013 I contaced the dealership with the following problem:
Coolant indication was glowing red and alarm was sounding when I started the car for the 1 st time in the morning.

SQEUENCE OF EVENTS AS THEY HAPPENED:
- Immediatly I turned the ignition off, waited for few minutes and restarted the car, and the glow and alarm no longer turned on and I could use the car normally throughout the day. But the next morning, the same thing happened.
- I went through the manual provided with the car and as given on page 25 of SKODA USERS MANUAL ( COOLENT TEMPERATURE/COOLENT QUANTITY), came to know that there was some problem with coolent system.
The mannual clearly states that the loss indicates a leak which has to be corrected immediatly (page no.186, 187)
- I contacted Mr Murli on phone number [protected], told him the problem and he arranged a pick-up from my premises the same day evening. ( the exact date and time is verifiable from our cell phone records)
- The coolent loss was confirmed when a personal from skoda came to pick up my car, opened the hood and observed that the coolent was practically gone. This he demonstrated to me. Then the car was taken to the service station of M/s Speed Automotives.
- On 9th I was informed by Mr Murli (of speed automotives) that the EGR ( exaust gas recirculating ) system has failed due to which the coolent was expelled and this part needs to be replaced immediatly. Since the car is under warrenty, this will be done free of cost.
- I was further informed that the part was not readily available at the m/s speed automotives, and it will have to be called from the company warehouse after sending a report. I was informed by Mr Murli that this will take around 4 to 5 day.
- Since till 17 th oct 2013 I had no feedback on the status of my car, i contacted the coustmer care helpline number and logged a complaint. My concern bears the identification number SPL38838 dated 17/10/2013.
- on 18/10/2013 evening I got a call from speed automotives that the part has arrived
- on 19/10/2013 evening by approximately 6 pm my vehicle was delivered back to me
- on 19/10/2013 I receiced a bill of ₹4236 Bearing number 1248 Dated 19/10/2013 against labour charges for cleaning of fuel tank and injection system. Job card number is 7125.
- On 19/10/2013 I made a payment of ₹.4236 By cheque no 000761of federal bank.

SOME IMPORTANT FACTS:
1) Its only 9 months since the car was purchased.
2) the car had done only 4502 kms when it arrived at service centre for repairs ( indicated on the invoice)
3) the car has never gone out of raipur on a long drive
4) car is constantly refueled at reputed pumps in raipur.
5) Skoda is so confident of the quality of tits cars that the 1st inspection service is scheduled after 15000kms or 1 year whichever comes first

SOME EXPLAINATIONS GIVEN BY SKODA STAFF:
- cause of COOLENT loss is leakage/ failure of EGR SYSYEM.
- EGR FAILED because of burning of diaphagrm thats acts as a filter for exaust gases
- the burning of diaphagrm is because of contaminents comming from bad diesel
- this is the first time a skoda car has come with a failed EGR
- pumps within raipur city limits sell good diesel
- pumps in the peripheral areas, and in small cities (durg, bhilai, rajnandgaon, korba, raigarh, etc) have contamination issues and must be avoided.

MY CONCERNS:
1) Why was the job card made on 18/10/2013, when the car was in the workshop since 8/10/2013?
2) What caused the failure/leakage in the EGR SYSTEM?
3) What was the need to clean the fuel tank, and injector system?
4) Was the fuel, retrived from fuel tank sent for testing for imputities?
5) Has the EGR SYSTEM been sent for evaluation of the cause of failure?
6) what were the observations on opening the fuel tank and injector system?
7) why were the sensitivity issues of the engine not highlighted while selling the car to me?
8) Why was the list of company approved/ recommended fuel pumps not handed to me ? Has the company conducted any survey on the quality of available fuel in India?
9) What is the instrument or method by which I can check the quality of fuel going in the car?
10) why was the spare part unavailable in a company authorized showroom and service centre?
11) why did it take so long for the company to make it available at m/s speed automotives, raipur cg?
12) is skoda the only automobile company using an EGR SYSTEM that is so sensitive that it will fail when run for just 4500kms?
13) diesel soot has direct influence on many other parts, more critical for engine functioning. Why according to you, has the EGR failed first?
14) Glycol ( a component of the coolent) enters diesel engine motor oils as a result of defective seals, blown head gaskets, cracked cylinder heads, corrosion damage and cavitation. Have you checked the density and viscosity of the engine oil before sending back the car?
15) Electronically controlled EGR valves have a position sensor that tells the computer how far open or shut it is. If the computer does not receive the feedback it anticipates, it will trip a check-engine light. A valve that is stuck open will usually cause the check-engine light to come on after the car warms up. One that is stuck shut will trigger when the engine is cold, but might disappear when it warms up. This was happening with my car. Do you agree?


When i shared my experience with my friends on facebook, I reveived a lot of comments, some of them, I would like to share with you:

1)Ravi Ji if it were so, then thousands of cars running on Indian diesel in small cities should face the same problem. Since the dealer did not bother to send the samples for further investigation, it is more likely they know it is a premature failure of the part and quickly changed it under warranty. Hogwash of fuel was created to extort money and save them from the embarrassment of telling the truth. Scodas are excellent cars and sometime premature failures do happen in even best of the cars, but unfortunately scoda in India has earned bad reputation because of its not-so-honest dealer network and is under-performing precisely because of this.

2)Dear, It happens. We have now a days "Vulture culture".Everyone is eyeing your pocket and only aim is to get the money transferred from urs to their pocket.you better write to Regional manager &Country head of skoda.Get their no. and speak to them. They will definitely take action and might waive off labour charges. Since its under warranty u r not supposed to pay a single penny. Take it in writing from the skoda dealer the cause of fault. Get the sample of diesel tested in lab.It happened with me too but I put efforts and emerged as a winner. Dont sit quietly and accept everything and blame ur luck.At the end u will get great satisfaction. Fight the system.All the best.(Remember-Zidagi har kadam ek nayee jung hai...)

3)Its business of fooling customers! agency is known for such stunts...

4)Your stand is correct and you may file the grievance.As per MRTP act they are answerable.Please proceed. The company will certainly call for details of matter from Dealer.And M.R.T.P.will also conduct inspection of such mischief.

MY INTENTION:
1 reinstating of the trust with which i put blood money in buying this car, which was uncerimoniously shattered by the way in which your company handled the matter. Please return the money that has been unjustly charged to me immediatly.
2 replace the unprofessional staff giving wierd explainations to customers by reasonable and knowledgable people.
3 have proper infrastructure in place so that you can actually keep the promise of providing outstanding aftersale services.


DR RAVI MALIK.
D-1 Shriram nagar
Raipur CG
Cell: [protected]