[Aditya]

Thanks to Arjun Ankathil for sending these images in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

I wanted to share an incident that happened to my friend regarding a Skoda Rapid, and I hope it might help others who use the same car model.

My friend owns a 2017 Skoda Rapid 1.5 TDi. The car has run some 45000 kms and has a 7 year extended warranty on it.

The car came with a Sebang battery when new. The Sebang battery came with a warranty of 24 months. Soon after the battery warranty period expired, the battery died and the car needed to be jump started. The car was regularly used and not left idle in the garage. The battery was replaced with another Sebang battery in 2019. Now again in 2021, the battery died within the 25th month of being purchased. Being a doctor's car, even during the pandemic, the car was being used regularly.

Tired of the quality of the battery, he called me and asked for better battery options. I had suggested him to go for a battery with same outputs from Amaron and suggested Exide as the second option. He went to Skoda service and asked about the availability of these brands as some Skoda Rapid cars came with Exide batteries from the factory.

The service advisor informed him that they have recently received a circular asking them to inform if a customer has changed the battery outside the service station and report it. This would lead to the extended warranty getting void.

Smelling something fishy, I asked him to check with Skoda India customer care, who confirmed the same and sent a mail back saying that changing the battery will void the warranty.

Having 3 more years of extended warranty, he is now forced to buy the Sebang battery again from Skoda, which the service advisor also confirmed is problematic and that most customers with the Sebang battery have the same issue.

Attaching a response from Skoda Customer care when the customer asked for the response in writing.

Some questions that came to my mind after the incident:

1. Can a company void the warranty if a battery of a different brand with the correct specifications is used? Has anyone else faced a similar issue?

2. Can new conditions be added to an extended warranty at a later stage by sending circulars to the dealers and not directly contacting the customers?

3. Had the user not checked with Skoda service first and changed the battery, could Skoda still void the warranty? I could not find anything mentioned in the extended warranty terms and conditions other than saying that the extended warranty is not applicable to the battery and that the battery warranty would be same as the manufacturer warranty for the battery.

[One]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Attachment 2210169

Don't have any idea about Skoda warranty or what was written in the mail to them, but the response mentions "non-genuine battery" which could be interpreted in many ways. Is it possible to write to them saying "genuine Amaron/ Exide battery" and then check for warranty? Basically get a more explicit response back from them on "genuine" batteries.

[GautamJ]

I too own 2017 Škoda Rapid and had to get the battery replaced with aftermarket just because Skoda RSA failed to even pick call and we had no time to wait.
It’s been 2 years and ASC immediately mentioned about ‘non-genuine fitment’ on all the bills thereafter. Late Autobahn Skoda and even JMD here in Mumbai states there is NO issues w.r.t. warranty claims and it’s just fine. Also, I have claimed warranty after fitment of aftermarket battery, and it made no negative impact.

P.S. My car is under EW (fifth and sixth year) and under the 3-year RSA plan.

[vigsom]

The only case where I've heard of an aftermarket battery not working on a car is with the Exide Conservo battery in Maruti SHVS models.

With Skoda, a case of replacing an OEM battery with an Exide by the service center is shown
here (Review: Skoda Octavia (3rd-gen)). In my view, the customer has the right to ask Skoda to install an "original" battery of another make since Sebang has proved that it has no Bang in it. A battery installed by Skoda will ensure that there is no dispute under warranty. Worst case - take the hit of one extra battery replacement to protect the extended warranty.

[gkveda]

Makes absolutely no sense but we do not have any cover or protecting laws in the country in place for these policies created by the manufacturers to their wims and fancies to make more money.

Now, do they have this mentioned in the user manual or invoice or extended warranty certificate in terms and conditions section? If there is no mention of this policy, then they cannot deny external warranty. And an email with @skoda.com extention can be used only to threaten the customer and as evidence while fighting in court.

I think we should fight all these cases legally to teach them lessons instead of settling the matter amicably.

Else, What if skoda comes with new innovative idea of selling Petrol and filling air in their dealership and send out a circular stating void of warranty for filling non-genuine petrol and air for tires outside of their dealership?

[ChandraSekarMN]

Originally Posted by GautamJ

Also, I have claimed warranty after fitment of aftermarket battery, and it made no negative impact.

P.S. My car is under EW (fifth and sixth year) and under the 3-year RSA plan.

Can you please confirm what was the claim about? Because Skoda might have refused warranty claim with respect to electricals / electronics, citing the Battery change from outside the ASC. Unfortunately, spares are the bigger annuity margin products for the dealers and I doubt if they would start allowing outside replacements for cars under warranty.

[the.dogfather]

Originally Posted by One

Don't have any idea about Skoda warranty or what was written in the mail to them, but the response mentions "non-genuine battery" which could be interpreted in many ways. Is it possible to write to them saying "genuine Amaron/ Exide battery" and then check for warranty? Basically get a more explicit response back from them on "genuine" batteries.

Hi One,
My friend had called the Skoda customer care and clearly mentioned his intention of buying an Amaron/Exide battery of the same output.
I had asked him to request for the same in writing and hence this response when he requested them to mail. I agree that the response has been designed to keep things vague.
My intention here was to inform other BHPians about this consequence of changing a battery in Skoda cars as some might be unaware and may change the battery from outside.

Originally Posted by GautamJ

I too own 2017 Škoda Rapid and had to get the battery replaced with aftermarket just because Skoda RSA failed to even pick call and we had no time to wait.
It’s been 2 years and ASC immediately mentioned about ‘non-genuine fitment’ on all the bills thereafter. Late Autobahn Skoda and even JMD here in Mumbai states there is NO issues w.r.t. warranty claims and it’s just fine. Also, I have claimed warranty after fitment of aftermarket battery, and it made no negative impact.

P.S. My car is under EW (fifth and sixth year) and under the 3-year RSA plan.

Hi Gautam,
The service advisor informed us that only the electrical components warranty would be impacted by the battery change. As my friend had the EW for another two years, this worried us a bit. We had not done the battery change yet, so we decided to buy another Sebang battery and are planning to move to Amaron once the EW is over. Also hoping that we might be third time lucky and may have a longer lasting battery from Sebang this time.
The service advisor was very helpful and offered to help us with any warranty claims even with an aftermarket battery, but said that he wouldn't be able to do much if we are going to some other dealership later.

Thanks,
Arjun Ankathil

[GautamJ]

Originally Posted by ChandraSekarMN

Can you please confirm what was the claim about?

Honestly, I have never faced any electrical issues. Have got weather strips and ABS Sensor replaced under warranty.

Originally Posted by the.dogfather

Hi Gautam,
The service advisor informed us that only the electrical components warranty would be impacted by the battery change.

All depends on the ASC in this respect IMHO.

[theprat]

Had a similar incident with my recently bought Skoda Superb '16.
The previous owner got the megatronic changed 1 week before the purchase and it came with a 2 year warranty. Service associate called me from the ASS informing me about the aftermarket battery in the car and asked me to replace it with OEM battery so the company doesn't reject any claims on the megatronic unit. The current battery is Exide mileage manufactured December 2020 (warranty for 55 months )

Do you think its a good call to change to OEM battery and keep the current one as a spare?

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by theprat

Had a similar incident with my recently bought Skoda Superb '16.
The previous owner got the megatronic changed 1 week before the purchase and it came with a 2 year warranty. Do you think its a good call to change to OEM battery and keep the current one as a spare?

Normally I'd say no, but in your case with a newly installed Mechatronic (with 2 year factory warranty), I would agree with Skoda and change to the OEM one. After all, a DSG + Mechatronic is ~400K and an OEM battery ~14K (I'm guessing).

You can even try selling the current battery to your local battery shops. A Dec 2020 battery is still 80-90% like new and you may get an excellent price for it.

[theprat]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Normally I'd say no, but in your case with a newly installed Mechatronic (with 2 year factory warranty), I would agree with Skoda and change to the OEM one. After all, a DSG + Mechatronic is ~400K and an OEM battery ~14K (I'm guessing).

You can even try selling the current battery to your local battery shops. A Dec 2020 battery is still 80-90% like new and you may get an excellent price for it.

That’s what I was thinking. He quoted OEM battery @ 11k

I was going to try to sell the current battery on OLX but good idea to visit the local battery shops.
Thank you good sir