I question the integrity of the dealer, as to why they sold me such a defective car, and I question the knowledge and negligence of the service team/dealer Skoda has chosen to trust.
Dear Team-BHP,
Forwarding a small write-up I have written against my Skoda Kushaq. It has been to the service station 8 times in less than a year. Sharing this with you so that you can let everybody know that Skoda standards have dropped and choosing this brand can be unsafe.
My dealership in Hyderabad has taken zero accountability for the car to the extent that they ghosted me. I hope nobody goes through this experience. This is horrible and unfair. Preaching for safety is nothing but a sham and misleading by the brand. I have attached the necessary evidence of my car breakdowns in the email I sent them, which is forwarded to you.
To,
Skoda Auto
15-May-2023,
(Subject: Replacement of my Skoda Kushaq for the disastrous, and unacceptable situations that my family & I have been put through, due to the lack of stringent QC checks by the Skoda and its dealer)
I urge anyone who is considering buying a Skoda Kushaq car or any Skoda car from Skoda in Hyderabad to think twice and do their research thoroughly. Don’t be fooled by the promises and the so-called safety features. The Skoda dealer has let me down, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. This needs to be brought to the attention of the public and the authorities, and the dealer needs to be held accountable for their actions.
I demand that the Skoda dealer takes immediate action and replaces my car for the trouble, inconvenience and danger they and the car have caused me.
I am livid at the utter negligence and incompetence displayed by the dealer in regard to my car. It has been to the service station a shocking 8 times within a year, with the same issue of no sound coming from the car speakers, the car breaking down in the middle of the road, persisting even after being promised that it was resolved. The service station claims that it is a software issue, but clearly, no proper SOPs are being followed, and safety protocols are being ignored. Why hasn’t the Quality control team notified the dealer about this and why weren’t they honest about this issue
- False promises?
- Lack of competency in analysing the correct issue
- Negligence by dealer and taken for granted because I was being understanding
To make matters worse, on the 23rd of November 2023, my car malfunctioned in the middle of nowhere, leaving me and my mother stranded in the dead of night without help in sight. The engine was making strange and loud noises, and the lights were flickering continuously. It was a complete breakdown of the car, which had just come back from servicing a few days ago. It is a clear indication of Skoda’s lack of concern for the safety of their customers and the negligence in following proper procedures.
They claim it was a software issue once again. The issue clearly looked like a battery failure
- Why was my 4-month-old car subjected to battery issues?
- Shouldn’t the QC team check it? I strongly believe the Skoda QC team is not being true to their cause.
- Why did the Skoda dealer give me a car with a defective/used battery?
- UNSAFE?
- How does one expect me or anyone to trust the car? Or if the service station has identified the root cause of the issue and resolved it?
Even after the car was returned from the fifth visit to the service station, the same issue reoccurred, showing that the root cause was not found and resolved and the issues were completely neglected by the Skoda team.
This is a blatant breach of SOPs, and the fact that the car has been to the service station more times than it has been with me is unacceptable and not fair for being not even a year old.
When I requested my first service, it took over two weeks for a response, only to find out that my service package was not active, even though it was sold to me. This is a clear indication of negligence on the part of the sales team as well. The CRM lady stopped answering my calls. Nor was any service point of contact from the team reachable.
- Lack of accountability?
- Unresponsive?
Even after the car was serviced, an alert showed up the very next day that the oil needed to be changed in 1000 KMS. The car was not serviced properly, and I can no longer trust that it was.
To add insult to injury on the 9th of May a week after service, my car was just towed because the fuel indicator showed that there was half a tank of fuel left in my tank, but the digital reserve lights came on, and the car started alerting me that there was 0 Kms of fuel left, only to break down in the middle of the road. The traffic police even took a picture of my number plate, thinking that I was violating traffic rules, all because of this unreliable and unsafe defective car sold to me by Skoda. Blatant breach of QC norms by the factory and dealer to have sold this unit to me.
I decided to take a day off from work to visit the dealer service station in Gachibowli and meet with their team. My mother accompanied me, and we spent more than half a day there to thoroughly understand the situation with my car. We strongly and very categorically insisted that my car needed to be replaced for safety reasons.
After waiting for two whole days, I finally received a call from Mr Dhinendra, who informed me that the root cause of the problem was not related to any of the issues listed previously, but rather a faulty fuel pump. The team had to encounter 8 separate breakdowns of my car before arriving at this conclusion. Despite this, Mr Dhinendra appeared nonchalant and requested that I come to pick up my car. I need a replacement I cannot trust this car!
Even after 5 days of waiting the service centre at Gachibowli has stopped taking my calls.
How can one trust this justification? I need a replacement!
Once again, what was the QC team doing and if there was feedback about a fuel pump issue why did the dealer sell me the unit?
If you were in my place, would you trust anything said after your car broke down 8 times and then the real issue was identified?
This shows the complete negligence and incompetence of the team
I question the integrity of the dealer, as to why they sold me such a defective car, and I question the knowledge and negligence of the service team/dealer Skoda has chosen to trust led by Mr Dhinendra for allowing this to happen 8 times. I do not think I will ever be able to trust Skoda again or the dealer under the current leadership. If my car is not replaced, I will be forced to take the necessary action and ensure that this incident is covered in the media if this is neglected. The repercussions of these incidents could have been catastrophic, and I am incredibly disappointed and disheartened by the negligence provided by the Skoda dealer.
What if I was in the middle of the highway or in a no-reception zone when my car shut down?
- What is SKODA doing by manufacturing such defective and glitchy cars and allowing them to roll out in the market at the cost of its customers?
- What is SKODA doing by giving a dealership that lacks accountability and is negligent?
- What is SKODA doing by trusting dealer customer ratings? All they do is force their customers to give 5 stars.
The inconvenience caused to me for purchasing this brand after being an owner of a 13-year-old Yeti is ridiculous. I will never choose Skoda again. This shows the drop in Skoda standards and quality even to address their customers/ teething issues. There were 2 Kodiaqs in the pipeline to purchase, but no way after this treatment.
We are totally living in an illusion!
I need action to be taken!
(I was once a Skoda fan)
Keyword: My unreliable Skoda Kushaq: 2 breakdowns & 8 worskshop visits in a year