[creative420]

Quoting directly from an acquaintance's FB post:

I bought a Volkswagen Vento Highline AT around 3 years back. It was a smooth ride till five months back but then things took an ugly turn due to a wiring issue which Automark Motors Pvt. Ltd. (Volkswagen Ahmedabad dealership) has still not been able to solve. I have been patient all this while but now I can't tolerate their apathetic attitude. That's the reason why I am protesting against the dealership and brand Volkswagen in the best way I know. With the power of creativity. Please share this creative communication in your respective circles to help shake the brand and the dealership from their deep slumber, sort the issue at the earliest, and return my car in mint condition.

I think it's quite a powerful, yet unique way to approach the problem.

[GTO]

This is too good! Oh man, what creativity. Thanks for sharing!

This isn't a warranty repair, hence there is no reason for even a rogue dealer to delay things like this. What is the issue? Are they waiting for some parts? Or do they just not have spare labour?

[creative420]

Originally Posted by GTO

This is too good! Oh man, what creativity. Thanks for sharing!

This isn't a warranty repair, hence there is no reason for even a rogue dealer to delay things like this. What is the issue? Are they waiting for some parts? Or do they just not have spare labour?

I've asked the owner to write down a detailed explanation. Once I get it, I'll update it here.

[CEF_Beasts]

It looks just like a VW brochure! Especially the font and exact spacing of the letters on it, too good.

Reading a lot of VW and Skoda pathetic service experiences these days, they should solve these issues at the earliest as an entire group now. It’s high time VW and Skoda give quality service to customers! Either their dealerships are overcharging, cheating, or not able to source parts when needed.

[Ultim8]

Disappointed to hear about an ignorant service centre not giving a damn about repairing a Volkswagen which became a Rattewagen (no offence to OP).

I am impressed with your creative brochure skills and also your writing though! I hope you've escalated the issue on Twitter. I've heard that Skoda India CEO gives a damn about issues related to customers' inconvenience with their Skoda or VW cars in India raised on Twitter.

Unlike romantic love, my love for this car only increased with passing time. Pure poetry!

[CarJunki]

I think the dangers of Worsewagon will be even greater once electric versions of VW cars are available in India.

[nandadevieast]

These are exact spoofs of the legendary ads created by Bill Bernbach in 60’s ? for Volkswagen. Those ads had same lay outs, backgrounds, weightages and copy which the author has brilliantly tweaked

[landcruiser123]

Haha this is too good. If any friend or acquaintance of mine (enthusiast or not) tells me they're considering a VW or a Skoda, I send the latest dealer horror story threads on Team-BHP. Two things happen:

1. 9 in 10 of them went to buy a Hyundai or a Toyota.

2. 1 in 10 (who is either an enthusiast or extremely well connected) is confident enough to handle a repair situation with the dealer or FNG.


VW customer satisfaction is seriously lacking in America too. Americas car market is essentially a 2 horse race:
1. Cars and small SUVs mostly dominated by the Asians - Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Hyundai-Kia
2. Large SUVs and Trucks dominated by Americans - Ford, GM, Chrysler

Makes me wonder how the Indian auto scene would have been today if GoI selected VW (instead of Suzuki) to partner Maruti Udyog.

[sandeepmohan]

This isn't a India specific problem.

A little over a year ago, I was at VW service to sort out a cylinder 1 misfire for our 15 year old 2l Golf. While I waited, I was listening into a customer complain about his gearbox falling apart with a VW service engineer. It was evident his car was out of warranty and they were heading for replacement which was going to cost a lot. The customer was also talking about this being a known issue and why nothing was being done.

With my car, I got the usual response that they will have to check the high tension spark plug wires, spark plugs, ignition coil, etc. All valid ways to diagnose except that I knew it was going to be an expensive affair. Said Thanks and went straight to my Subaru garage where the mechanic popped out the plug from the missing cylinder, found it wet and a lot of carbon deposit on it. He cleaned it on a spark plug machine, put it back and told me to dump the car. It was evident to him that there was oil making its way past the cylinder rings (It was worn). It was not a case of a weak spark, coil or any problems with the ignition lead, fueling, etc. The work required was going to exceed the value of the car. All of this was done in 15 minutes and at no cost.

With any European car, it is best to have a qualified FNG attend to them after their warranty period. We can only hope that with a little humor, VW or Skoda India take it in the right spirit and sort out the car above.

[sibaprasadbeher]

Its always the case with Volkswagen, one of my friend had a clutch replacement done for his Polo petrol 1.2 and unfortunately my i10 the older one also needed the same replacement, post that we met one day over a tea stall and this came up, i said it cost me 12.5k and tea was all over my shirt when he said he had to pay 45k for that... i spilled tea on my tshirt. I mean I understand value and all but thats 3.5x times the cost when the car prices are not that different

[any23]

I owned a VW Polo MPI Highline 2017-2018, for a brief period of 1 year, July-2018 my car's wiring was chewed by rats[my fault here as I parked my car in a covered garage and never thought rats might attack considering the location of the garage], and car was with authorized service center till August-2018 end, almost one month and in this time no work has been done. When enquired they said they are waiting for the complete wiring for the car to arrive.
They said it will take time to receive the wiring harness, which according to them is made on order basis based on the VIN of the car.

I fed up after 1 month of regular follow ups and took back my car home, after the authorized service center has soldered the wiring and did proper insulation and repair work. They changed the instrument cluster[in minimal time as the part was readily available], as it malfunctioned after rats chewed the wire.

September-2018 I exchanged my Polo for a Skoda Rapid, based on No profit No loss negotiations, and ramped up my garage so as to make it rat proof.

In my case what I have observed that, the people working at service center are supportive, but their pro-active and supportive approach comes to of no use for customers sometimes, because of unavailability of parts.

In my family we have 3-Rapid.
Till now the experience with Kamal Kishore Skoda, Lucknow and Mahavir Skoda Hyderabad, have been satisfactory. Hope for the best for future.

Still I feel both the brands Skoda & VW has to go a long way. I have seen many friends of mine buying Hyundai's and Maruti's just because they are afraid of service related issues in Skoda & VW.

[arjab]

Spoke to someone I know at Volkswagen and it seems that the company kept the lines of communication open with the customer at every repair stage.

-The wiring harness that was eaten away by rats , was a very high value imported EU unit.
-Once the fault was detected, it was ordered by the dealer (most dealers across OEM's do not carry very high value items in their inventory).
-Logistics played havoc and the part receipt got inordinately delayed (which was admitted to by the OEM).
-The new part apparently has been received
-The vehicle has been made roadworthy.
-The Dealer has also offered a 2 - year maintenance package on Free - Of - Charge, (FOC), basis to the customer.

[Pjango]

Originally Posted by any23

I owned a VW Polo MPI Highline 2017-2018, for a brief period of 1 year, July-2018 my car's wiring was chewed by rats[my fault here as I parked my car in a covered garage and never thought rats might attack considering the location of the garage], and car was with authorized service center till August-2018 end, almost one month and in this time no work has been done. When enquired they said they are waiting for the complete wiring for the car to arrive.
They said it will take time to receive the wiring harness, which according to them is made on order basis based on the VIN of the car.

Can you elaborate specifically about Skoda ASS experience at Lucknow ? I'm very interested in Rapid but afraid of what's in store for me post purchase!
Thanks

[RoadAtlas]

Yesterday post on Skoda Radiator flush and today this. Volkswagen has not changed, maybe never will, on this front.

Let me take a wild guess here. This witty ad has already been circulated to and seen by millions of people with some of them aspiring to buy a volkswagen someday and obviously some of them are considering not to now.

And still tomorrow we will again hear about another similar incident.

[VijayAnand1]

One thing I've learned as cars get complicated, the owners are even more complicated! Nice way to get the folks at VW to get milling around what and why. This can add to brand repercussions if things don't go smooth. Good one though.

Cheers!
VJ