Quote:
Originally Posted by thenomad Friends, One of the latest victim of the fuel injector issue in my Vento TDI.
I was traveling from Chennai to Hyderabad and suddenly face a loss of pickup and fuel pump light and heater coil light started blinking after a drive of 312 kms. Pulled over and called RSA to find out that there is a VW service at Guntur. After a couple of calls to my SA, was advised I could drive it to the service center. Drove the vehicle to VW Guntur was diagnosed that one of the injector had failed.
The service center asked me to continue the journey to Hyderabad slowly and hand over to the service center in Hyderabad as they didn't have stock.
The car was fuelled in Chennai at a fuel station where I have been fueling for the past 20 years. My car has run for about 17700 kms and completed 2 years 10 months. I am out of warranty
My vehicle is currently with VW Mody Auto and is pending diagnosis.
The above problem was reported to the Service center during my visit last time on 22 Jul 2014 and recorded but no action was taken by the service center. The service center disregarded my note and indicated all that is required is clearing of error codes from ECU.
I am yet to hear on what would be my financial impact. Given this is a manufacturing defect I want to push VW to replace the injectors at no cost on goodwill, but let's see what the service center response is.
If only one of the injectors have failed, what would be everyone's advise as the same issue is bound to happen again in the middle of nowhere. The trust quotient on taking this car outside of city limits becomes very low.
Need advise. Thank you |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gannu_1 IIRC, VW had replaced all the 4 injectors together when a member here ran into trouble during a long commute. You should press them for replacing all 4 of them IMO.
Here's a related service bulletin on the injectors - Attachment 1323504 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by coolboy007 There is absolutely no reason that you have to pay for this repair, this is a known issue with Vento and its sad that instead of recalling cars, VW is waiting for people to get stranded.
Extended warranty is a must with these cars and you should have got it, in the meanwhile, write a strong worded mail to VW and make sure they cover all the costs under goodwill warranty. Cost per injector is around 17k, they should cover it and the related labour too, please dont pay a penny.
After reading these posts, i will have to think twice before taking the car outside city limits, mine is also from affected batch and dread to think that the injectors will give up one day without any warning when am enjoying the car on hills,the number pf service centres are so less, will have to get the damn car towed on a flatbed all the way to Delhi. |
Hello
As many of you would be knowing, even I was at the receiving end of this KNOWN problem in Vento and Rapid. However, as anybody would have guessed, VAG's response to the issue has been nothing less than a sham!
I took this up with Skoda recently seeking an explanation as to why till date there hasn't been any recall even though injector failure has become SO COMMON in the two cars. Injector failure I think can be a one off issue but when it becomes a regular affair in a particular make of cars and the problem is acknowledged to be existing by even providing a cut off date in the bulletin note then I fail to understand why VW and Skoda have decided to wait for the customer to first get stranded somewhere in the middle of nowhere and then look into the issue!
In fact, I would like to share my correspondence with Skoda which I think is nothing short of a laughter therapy. I am posting it on the Rapid thread also and I URGE the Moderators and other well connected people to take up this issue with the management and highlight this problem. Also the prospective buyers of these two brands must be made aware of the callous attitude they may be expected to deal with in the near future.
Find below my e-mail conversation:
From: ------------------
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2014 1:02 AM
To: Rao, Sudhir (Skoda Auto India); Skoda SKS service; SKIN R: Aurangabad, Skoda India Customer Care
Subject: Re:
sks.service@skoda-auto.cz,
customercare@skoda-auto.co.in
Kind attention Mr. Sudhir Rao
Dear sir,
Kindly have reference to the trailing mail of 1st November, 2014 wherein I had raised the issue of faulty fuel injectors in Skoda Rapid.
For your reference, I am quoting the mail sent to you below:
"Dear sir,
I am a proud owner of a Skoda vehicle. My car, Skoda Rapid bearing VIN no. --------------- and Reg no. -------------, has been a source of immense pleasure and has given me satisfaction at all levels.
However, with a heavy heart, I also wish to state that the car hasn't been problem free and has had its share of problems which have been promptly attended to at the service center. I, in fact, appreciate the efforts and steps being taken by your team to correct the image of your after sales service which had brought lot of flak to your company in the initial years of Skoda's operation in India.
Last year on my way to New Delhi from Allahabad, one of the injectors of my car had given way and I had to take the car at snail's pace to the nearest service center which was at Kanpur. The injector was not in stock and was made available after around two weeks time. No problem there. The job was carried out under warranty and not a single rupee was charged. Extremely satisfied with the work.
Now what came as a surprise was a service advisory note issued by VAG acknowledging the fact that the injectors manufactured before June 2012 might have a problem and in such a situation the "faulty"injector alone may be replaced. I have attached a copy of the advisory which is a topic of discussion on a popular automotive forum (team-bhp.com).
What has now got me worried is the fact that is the happy Skoda customer supposed to wait for the injectors to first fail, get the vehicle and the owner stranded somewhere in between, get the car towed, leave the car at the service center for half a month to have a problem attended to which has been acknowledged by the Company to be existing in a certain batch of cars. Most of the time I am travelling alone for quite long distances and it would be nothing less than a nightmare to be taken by surprise by this known issue.
We frequently hear cases of car recall by other manufacturers. Honda had recalls, Toyota had car recalls, Chevrolet had recalls, even Tata and Maruti have had their share of recalls. But for Skoda, is acknowledging a problem in a otherwise fantastic car such a big issue that it has to be done at the cost of inconvenience to the customers? Whatever may be the logic behind this, it isn't in line with the other efforts being made to ensure customer satisfaction.
In fact, I came across the following post by one of the members on the forum which is with respect of this very problem. The car in question is a VW Vento which essentially is the same car under the skin. This car has had all the four injectors replaced within a span of four months.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...-done-14.html#
Lastly, I know that in all probability this mail is just going to end up in the trash folder maybe but IF at all there is someone out there listening to us then please, it is a sincere request that I am making on behalf of all Skoda owners, take corrective measures and have the faulty injectors replaced to give us peace of mind and the sense of reliability which has long been your trademark.
Kind regards,
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-----------------
However, in spite having waited for a response on the issue for more than a month, not even the Skoda's customary acknowledgement mail was received! I really doubt sir if the the issue is so embarrassing to Skoda that it has literally chosen to ignore the grievances and rather continue with a superficial approach to taking correct steps towards improving its image in the eyes of its customers.
Even though it was fool hardy to have expected anything ETERNALLY satisfactory from Skoda but I still had my hopes pinned on the new MD who made headlines for accepting the shortcomings in the after sales service department of the European company.
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I receive the following reply from the REGIONAL MANAGER:
On 17-Dec-2014 6:25 pm, "Shukla, Sanjay (Skoda Auto India)" <sanjay.shukla@skoda-auto.co.in> wrote:
Dear Mr. --------,
Greetings from Skoda Auto India !!
This is subsequent to your mail addressed to our management regarding concern in the vehicle bearing registration number UP 70BV-3585 .
In the lieu we would like to inform you that we will follow our Technical Bulletin which you have got from the Team Bhp link and as per the bulletin only defective injectors need to be replaced. I am also attaching below the screen shot of Team Bhp in which it was clearly mention that not all car have these issues and in some cases just a software updation required. Replacement of injectors, as recommended in one of the advisories, would be necessary only in cases where the problem is severe.
Assuring you the best services. Feel free to call undersigned.
Regards,
Sanjay Shukla
Area Manager-After Sales
ŠKODA AUTO INDIA, Pvt. Ltd | 5th Floor, Orchid Business Park | Sohna Road
Gurgaon 122 002 | Haryana | India
Tel: +91 85888 94174
sanjay.shukla@skoda-auto.co.in I reply to this in following terms:
On Wed, Dec 17, 2014 at 6:41 PM,----------------- wrote:
Dear Mr. Shukla,
Pursuant to our conversation, I wish to reiterate at the cost of repetition that the advisory note is very specific in so far as it states that the injectors before June 2012 are FAULTY. My car having already been at the receiving end of this faulty component, i have every reason to believe that sooner or later the other three injectors are going to strand me somewhere in the middle of nowhere!
I may also clarify at this juncture that the upgradation through VAG-COM can only regulate and control the injectors but WILL NOT REVIVE A FAILED INJECTOR!
It is really surprising to get this response from your office after being kept waiting for 10 days. It is totally taking the customers for a ride I must say!
I would really appreciate if you could at the least get me in touch with some higher official at Skoda Auto.
Regards
--------------
--------------
--------------
Not receiving any response, I again wrote to them:
From: -------------
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2014 1:22 AM
To: Shukla, Sanjay (Skoda Auto India); SKIN R: Aurangabad, Skoda India Customer Care; Rao, Sudhir (Skoda Auto India); Skoda SKS service
Subject: Re: FW: Acknowledgement Mail ---------------------
Sir,
It is very unfortunate that my repeated e-mails have failed to evoke any responsible response from your side.
You certainly did not have any answer to my queries and hence the callous attitude I suppose.
In fact, through your actions and by choosing to sleep over the matter, you have only given credence to my well-founded apprehensions.
I am sure our conversation would be an interesting read for the prospective buyers and other active members in the automotive community.
---------------
---------------
And then I receive this! Audacious!
Sudhir, Srinivas (Skoda Auto India) <srinivas.sudhir@skoda-auto.co.in>
12/30/14 (3 days ago)
to me, Abhijeet, Sanjay, SKIN
Dear Mr. ----------,
Greetings from Skoda Auto India !!
With reference to our appended reply sent by Mr. Sanjay Shukla (Area Manager – Aftersales) dated: 17th Dec’14.
We understand that our representative is in constant touch with you, further to reinstate your concern regarding replacement of Injectors, we wish to intimate you that as your vehicle has been diagnosed under the guidance of Skoda Auto technical team when reported for the unfortunate incidence in the past . The necessary rectification job work has been carried out as per the Skoda technical team guidelines using special tools, hence requisite injector was replaced then.
The vehicle has been tested and the concern in the vehicle has been resolved effectively.
As per your expectation of getting other three injectors to be replaced, cannot be done as of now since your vehicle performance is as per technical specifications and vehicle is observed to be absolutely in road worthy condition.
Hereby, please do not keep any apprehensions in your mind regarding the vehicle performance. Also, to inform you we have Skoda Approved Road Side assistance programme, which will support you round the clock anywhere in India (for further information about the same, please get in touch with your nearest Skoda Authorized dealer).
We trust your understanding on the same and assuring our best services at all times.
Best Regards
Srinivas Sudhir l After Sales
ŠKODA AUTO India Pvt. Ltd. C/o Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt. Ltd.
4th floor, Silver Utopia, Cardinal Gracious Road,
Chakala, Andheri East, Mumbai - 400 099. India.
Board: +91 22 3313 7000, D: +91 22 3313 7138
srinivas.sudhir@skoda-auto.co.in |
www.skoda-auto.co.in |
www.skoda-auto.com