[ChiragM]

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

Sharing my friend's experience on the same DQ200.

He bought a used car which was flood-affected and it was too late before he could judge the issue. It had driven very less with just 12K on the odo when he bought it.

He used it for 10K kms and finally, the car stalled on the highway. The nearest service centre was 300+ kms away and he had to tow it. A 2L+ quote was given for the repair and he had to accept it as it was his only car.

They asked for a month to replace (this was in November) and 50K advance. He paid and the wait started.

One fine evening, he got an SMS from Fastag stating that the car had crossed multiple tolls in the city outskirts. He gave a call to the service center immediately and they said they were testing the vehicle with replaced parts. With a few doubts raised among us, he raised his voice and the service center revealed that the Mechatronics unit was good and only the Flywheel and clutch were completely burnt and they had to replace them alone. Bill was close to Rs.
90K with labour.

My friend said that if the same was done in an FNG, we could have completed the repair for under Rs. 60-70K for flywheel and clutch.

Not every case of GB failure is a mechatronics issue. In BHPians petrol_power's case, since the car is out of warranty, OP can try an FNG to fix it or make sure the service center is not fooling him for working parts also.

[corvus corax]

VW provides 2 year warranty pan India for the repair work done by them. Why lose it by doing the job at an FNG for saving 20k ?

[gkveda]

Its well known fact that
1. Dealer ASC are only worried about their revenue targets and finding real root cause for the issue is beyond their scope of work

2. They take cars and owners for ride(pun intended) for their personal usage and when caught red handed, they give reasons like they had taken out for long test drive

3. When questioned very strongly or when escalated to manufacturers, the invoice value will come down and even repair strategy will be changed.

I honestly doubt even now, the owner has been taken for a ride by charging 90k.

Just like throwing a stone in dark, suggest the owner to write to manufacturer and express his concern on initial quote and reduced quote and the fact about taking car out of city crossing multiple tolls Also, expressing the doubts on integrity of the dealers ASC will definitely help the owner to reduce the invoice amount by 10-20 k if the dealer has taken the owner for a ride.

We have many instances in the past, to prove this suggestion is right. But, in this case, I may be wrong also. But, as I said, just throwing a stone in dark and attempting to get the benefits will expose the true colours of the dealer ASC

[GTO]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

VW provides 2 year warranty pan India for the repair work done by them. Why lose it by doing the job at an FNG for saving 20k ?

The objective of the post was something else = Dealers will blindly quote you for a mechatronics change even when the DSG problem was due to something else. A 2-lakh quote dropped to 90k just like that. Not every DSG breakdown is due to the mechatronics going bad.

[amvj]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

only the Flywheel and clutch were completely burnt and they had to replace them alone. Bill was close to Rs.
90K with labour.

I assume the car in question is a Polo or a Vento. Why does the clutch and flywheel replacement cost Rs 90K. That is quite insane or am I missing something?

What is the cost of replacement for clutch and flywheel for cars in other brands for the similar price bracket including labour charges ?

Also any details about the service centre - name, location ?

Instances like this make me feel happy that I have not bought a German / Czech brand. Even if the companies want to be transparent, it’s the dealers who ruin everything and that is how you kill a brand in a country. Short term gain for long term loss.

[abdverma]

This is an eye-opening post for all of those who trust Authorized Service Center blindly. No doubt that ASC might give us peace of mind but for that peace they might also take undue advantages by inflating the bills. This might not just be with VW, but also happen with other brands.
I recommend that everyone should insist to get the faulty vehicle inspected and issue to be diagnosed in front of them. Always question the quotation given to you and insist them to share MRP of spares.

[RJ2285]

I had a similar experience. When my preowned 2015 GT TSI, gearbox failed, the car was still under Add-on warranty. The service advisor said to me the add-on warranty is covered by Bajaj, and they don’t approve the quote very easily. He said they will inspect and try and do everything possible to make the gearbox work.

For some reason, my gut feeling was that mechatronics had failed. I got a call in 4 days that they drove 50kms and the car is absolutely fine. The car was delivered to me. On the 4th day since delivery, I faced the similar issue again. Gave the car back. I was told “Sir, since it has happened for the 2nd time, it’s surely a mechatronics failure only, you will have to wait 10 days for the approval but we will get the job done” Finally, got my car after 2 weeks and everything worked perfectly fine after that.

All in all, I do not trust the service advisors at VAG dealership as they have this habit of postponing the inevitable without realising that their wasting customer time and creating a bad customer experience.

[amit_purohit20]

Originally Posted by amvj

Even if the companies want to be transparent, it’s the dealers who ruin everything..

Why does it not happen with Japanese cars or to a certain extent Indian cars? The reason is these companies have understood the market and customer needs and have systems/checks in place to avoid such incidents.

Off topic but another complaint is the free availability of spare parts of these German and French vehicles in the over the counter or open market so that you can get your car serviced at FnG.

Authorised service centres simply replace parts/ sub assemblies, they don't try to rectify or pin point the fault and resolve the root cause.

[steadfast]

Originally Posted by amvj

I assume the car in question is a Polo or a Vento. Why does the clutch and flywheel replacement cost Rs 90K. That is quite insane or am I missing something?

.

This price is for dual clutch assembly. For manual clutch, prices are very affordable could be even lesser than Japanese or Koreans.

Got Polo diesel clutch replaced in Feb 2021. Paid in total around 37k for clutch, pressure plate, flywheel and master piston and some other consumables at VW ASS.
How much do Japanese or Koreans charge for these replacements for manual diesel clutch of similar cars to Polo/Vento ? Can you please confirm so that we can have a correct idea of price overcharging by VW here ?

[s.jain1990]

Originally Posted by amit_purohit20

Why does it not happen with Japanese cars or to a certain extent Indian cars? The reason is these companies have understood the market and customer needs and have systems/checks in place to avoid such incidents.

I wish the companies start installing a camera in the service center that the customer can also monitor when he gives his car for service center.

Missing fear of law is yet another reason why dealer messes around with the law. The slow judiciary process is partially responsible for that.

I have logged 2 complaints (not related to cars) in consumer court in last 3 years and things have been moving very slow.

[jagzrk]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

VW provides 2 year warranty pan India for the repair work done by them. Why lose it by doing the job at an FNG for saving 20k ?

I can confirm this is absolutely not true.

A colleague of mine had his Vento clutch overhaul from VW authorized service and it failed within 500 kms and 1 month. They refused warranty citing clutch is wear and tear part and they will not honour it even if it fails the next day. They even gave this in writing to him over an email.

[vikrantshete]

Originally Posted by gkveda

3. When questioned very strongly or when escalated to manufacturers, the invoice value will come down and even repair strategy will be changed.

Yup.. experienced this recently. ASC guy was trying to convince me that rear brake pads are more expensive than fornt for Octavia but I did not agree. Then I checked the skoda app and indeed I was correct. Rear ones are cheaper. Got them to reduce the part price.

I am currently trying to claim goodwill for my stock Varta battery which showed fault code in 2 years and 10 days or so. since it comes with 2 year warranty, I hope Skoda will offer goodwill.

The dealer had asked me to buy battery with cover for 14500 Rs. Other dealers are selling battery without cover for 11110 Rs. For some reason this dealer was trying to force the cover. After escalation for multiple reasons he is now willing to offer 70% discount from his end on 14500. I am still insisting that Skoda India should address the warranty and not the dealer.

Originally Posted by ChiragM

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

60-70K repair at FNG? Is it reliable? Even though my gearbox is fine I was doing some research on what to do if it fails post warranty. Got a rough quote of 80-85K for mechatronic and multicluth replacement.

If this works, Skoda cars might make some sense post warranty.

I feel that Germans are not the only ones these days offering comfortable and better handling cars. Other brands are catching up. Is it worth all this effort and money for driving slightly better cars?

Hoping to get a good resale on my 2019 Octavia. Might later buy something like a harrier or similar product if it is good and reasonable.

[Lalitha Venkat]

Originally Posted by s.jain1990

I wish the companies start installing a camera in the service center that the customer can also monitor when he gives his car for service center.

Missing fear of law is yet another reason why dealer messes around with the law. The slow judiciary process is partially responsible for that.

I have logged 2 complaints (not related to cars) in consumer court in last 3 years and things have been moving very slow.

The Geo fencing will be a great feature to have and control these sort of mischief. We should see how the Jeep's GF features work on the new compass

[s.jain1990]

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

The Geo fencing will be a great feature to have and control these sort of mischief. We should see how the Jeep's GF features work on the new compass

Geofencing is available in lot of cars already but a lot can happen in workshop even in a few hours. Example, not doing alignment or not changing the oil but billing the customer for that.

If brands start promoting transparency then I am sure the cameras would offer peace of mind to many people. I read a news a few days back that one such brand is planning to start a similar service.

Unable to find the link and recall the exact news at the moment.

[amvj]

Originally Posted by vikrantshete

I feel that Germans are not the only ones these days offering comfortable and better handling cars. Other brands are catching up. Is it worth all this effort and money for driving slightly better cars?
.

Although the Hyundai and Kia cars are now well in terms of handling compared to those 'boat like feel' days, they have one Achilles heel and this is safety. Koreans like most Japanese car manufacturers don't give a damn about safety. It does not matter the number of airbags when the structural rigidity is not up there.

On the other hand, I am yet to find a bad German car in our market when it comes to safety. Yes the Polo during the initial years scored a 0 star due to the absence of the airbag but not because of structural rigidity. It was later fixed by VW India to stop the embarrassment they faced overseas.