Skoda Kushaq EPC problems again, even with updated pump!

For the first time, I am actually regretting my decision of not buying either the Kia Seltos or Hyundai Creta.

BHPian Rahul9229 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

THIRD EPC ERROR, THIS TIME WITH ROBUST PUMP

Hello everyone,

Those of you who are following this thread know that my car has already had 2 EPC failures. The second pump had lasted a day and stranded me on the middle of the road on September 8th. After my second EPC failure, I was made to wait 5 days so that a robust pump could be fitted to my car. The car was returned to me on 14th September with a robust fuel pump. On the 15th morning, I faced the starting issue again and my car spent another week at the service centre for this, where they failed to identify what is causing the starting issue. Finally, after continuously pressuring the senior management for resolution and using social platforms to escalate my complaint, they agreed to change the starter motor even though It did not solve the starting issue. I got the car back on 22nd September, I faced the starting issue on the 23rd morning. Luckily, I had my phone in my hand and recorded the entire ordeal and sent it to service centre guys and Skoda management. They have forwarded the video to their technical team and came to my house with their equipment to test some parameters for deeper analysis of this starting problem. In the past week though, the starting problem hasn't bothered me again.

Yesterday evening, on my way back home, the EPC light glowed up again and I immediately took a video of it. I was 4-5 km away from home and prayed continuously till I reached my house that the car doesn't give up as it was last and raining heavily. Luckily, I reached home safe without the car giving up breath. I have escalated the problem again and the dealership is extremely embarrassed as well due to all the problems I have faced in this 18 lakh worth of new car junk. They have already given me an extended warranty on my car free of cost which is worth over 25K as a goodwill gesture. They are trying to arrange a spare car for me and have advised me to use the car till the issue is resolved as they are confident that the new pump won't leave me stranded again. Today morning, the EPC light wasn't glowing as well and the car continues to drive normally but the confidence to take this car anywhere more than 5 km away from home has started giving me goosebumps.

For the first time, I am actually regretting my decision of not buying the unsafe and boat-like handling Seltos or Creta and getting this safe car that handles well. I just hope they make my car fit for the road, I am definitely going to sell it off soon and get any other car that's not of the Skoda-VW family because I have had more than my share of trouble with this car in the past 30 days. I also request everyone reading this to stay away from this groups cars and request your friends and family the same as they have lost the skill to make reliable cars anymore.

Here's what BHPian RD150 had to say on the matter:

I think it is safe to conclude and it has been said "n" number of times in "n" number of threads.

One should never buy a newly launched product. It is better to wait for at least 1 year or for the facelift. Or one should opt for the ones which are already on sale for more than 2 years.

Here's what BHPian srikanthmadhava had to say on the matter:

Sorry RD150, but this EPC fiasco cannot be included in the above precautionary statement.

People are advised to stay away from new cars to avoid niggles or small design flaws of first batch products, not to avoid consistent repeated Breakdowns (before even completing the run-in period).

No other car in the past decade, no matter how big a flop it had turned out to be eventually, had a similar kind or scale of breakdowns (even repeated) post-launch.

An initial 1-year odd cooling period is advised to avoid cars that face minor issues or niggles. Examples :

• Lapses in Quality control in manufacturing (Harrier, Thar)
• Fit and finish issues (Harrier)
• Niggles like infotainment responsiveness, switch material quality issues (Harrier)
• A batch of vendor parts not as per specification in the initial lot (XUV 300)
• Niggles/Issues in Brand new car from a brand new manufacturer from a brand new factory (Seltos)

This goes far beyond the limit of advisable precaution. Here,

• Skoda is not able to design their fuel pump for the variable fuel quality in India despite being in India for 2 decades.
• Skoda did not test their product for the very basic functionality of simply driving the length and breadth of our country.
• Skoda is not able to fix the issues after multiple attempts, cars failing even after 3 attempts.
• Skoda is suggesting that the latest EPC issues could be because of something other than the original culprit - the non-robust fuel pump.

These are not high performance or advanced tech cars. We are not even talking about DCT/DSG issues, which the performance seeking crowd would have already accounted for before buying.

Skoda diluted their own quality standards (set in a decade-old product) for this car in the name of localisation.

Skoda did not deliver on the localisation price value benefit.

Skoda did not test their car for our locale.

This will tick like a time bomb in the minds of all Kushaq owners, at least for the considerable future.

This is the death of German engineering by Skoda/VW.

Here's what BHPian Behemoth had to say on the matter:

Really sad scenario and it is pitiful that the new buyers who bought this car for close to 20L are suffering like this.

Ironical that Skoda's USP used to be well-engineered (German quality) cars and Kushaq have completely killed that impression.

I consider myself lucky that I cancelled my Kushaq booking and did not go ahead with it after seeing the car.

Skoda / VW better pull up their socks now and get their act together else they will also be added soon to the list of manufacturers exiting India in spite of being in India for so many years like GM and Ford.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.