Bought Skoda Fabia New - Turned out to Be Lemon

Laph1985 on 09/05/2018 - 22:15

In brief
I bought a brand new Skoda Fabia in late June 2017. I have experienced few issues with it. It goes as follows

  • Mid Nov, the car couldn't start and give me a DSG gearbox error. Towed to the dealership and couple of days later, they fixed it stating it was a software error.

  • In Feb, the service light came up. It said 'oil check needed'. This car is only 8 months old and 10k driven. Hence not in the service window. I called workshop and got it serviced. Also, cost me $280. Car working again

  • In March, I was driving on a road and car suddenly stalled. Luckily I was on service road so I could pull up and restart it. I was really scared because if something like this happens on the freeway, I would be hit at very high speed. After restarting the car, I got multiple errors (expected). Called up a workshop and they have my car. The workshop says it was an electrical error and was fixed.

  • The very same day I received the car back, the error appeared again. And my car is back in the workshop. They still are not able to find a fault.

  • Since then I had numerous conversations with Skoda and dealer and they are not able to find the fault. Skoda has refused to refund, exchange or increase my warranty.

  • Customer care had put me down as someone who harassed them. Now, I never used any swear words or even raised my voice. It's been nearly 3 months and the car is not repaired. I feel dejected and sad.

I would like to know what are my rights and options for this car. I cannot afford to sell it as it's brand new and I'll lose at least 5-7k of I sell.

Please share your opinions

Automotive Fabia Skoda

Comments

  • thetrain on 09/05/2018 - 22:19
    +5

    What state? Have you gone to Skoda head office?

    If that doesn't work time to bring in your state fair trading to enforce your consumer rights.

    Also post on a Skoda social media page if you can find one, that usually makes them do something.

    • aph1985 on 10/05/2018 - 05:54
      +1

      I'm in vic. Skoda HO in NSW.

      I am going to call fair trading today and see what they say

      I had a post there but skoda deleted. I didn't even write any abusive comments

    • EightImmortals on 10/05/2018 - 10:44
      +3

      A nice letter to the head boss of Skoda might do the trick as well. His name is Bernhard Maier. Bypassing all of the underlings can be a good thing, worth a try at least by the sounds of it.

      • aph1985 on 12/05/2018 - 08:14

        Thanks

  • Randxyz123 on 09/05/2018 - 22:21
    +2

    I would say and (IAMNAL) but under consumer law it's been repaired several times you are entitled to a full refund. Getting Skoda there will be tricky.

    Have they provided any replacement cars or anything?

    Called up a workshop and they have my car.

    Please tell me this is a Skoda dealer and not Joe Blogg's service centre…?

    Skoda has refused to refund, exchange or increase my warranty.

    What's their reasoning here?

    • Almost Banned on 09/05/2018 - 23:34
      +4

      Can you please provide the specific part of the consumer law that says OP is entitled to a full refund if the car has been repaired 'several times'?

      • KMeister on 10/05/2018 - 00:38
        +2

        Exactly, ACL is actioned and executed on a case by case basis. Without getting the full picture, you can't say the OP is entitled to a full refund.
        Having said that though, you can't deny it outright that OP is not entitled to a refund either.

        OP would need to constructively work with the dealership and customer care to come to a satisfactory remedy.

        Keep everything documented, keep an email chain with dates.

        Speak to the dealer principle too.

        Your intention should be to rectify the issue rather than looking at a refund or a replacement at first.

        It seems(I'm assuming here) that the OP is having an intermittent electrical issue on his vehicle, the best way to approach the situation is as follows;

        *Gather evidence(record a video when the issue occurs, you can get a passenger to do this)
        *Explain it to the dealership of the exact conditions when the issue occurs (rev range, speed of the vehicle,..etc) the idea is to give the dealership an opportunity to replicate the conditions, so they can fault the vehicle-copy the customer care in with the same info, so you're attacking the issue on two fronts

        It's very important that you gather evidence and recording all your communication with the dealership and Customer Care, so if the manufacturer fails to provide a remedy in a timely manner, you can present your case to your state's relevant consumer watchdog.
        *If you're going to record verbal conversations, make sure to check the legality and usefulness of that within your state

  • qwerty on 09/05/2018 - 22:29

    https://www.accc.gov.au/contact-us/contact-the-accc/report-a…

    Might be time to lawyer up

  • based on 09/05/2018 - 22:31

    https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/lemon-laws-protect-you…
    Doesn't sound promising

  • bobbified on 09/05/2018 - 22:54

    That car has died of ugliness.

  • nocure on 09/05/2018 - 23:10
    +1

    ACA

  • pegaxs on 09/05/2018 - 23:36
    +1

    Grab a coffee, some biscuits, a nice throw rug and sit in your favourite chair. Call in the lawyers and settle in for the long haul. Skoda are going to drag this out and just hope that attrition takes its toll and you give up.

    Keep notes, times, dates, what was said and who said it to you. Take names and details of every interaction you have with the stealership and Skoda. Set up a dash cam to try and catch what the car is doing if they say they can not fault it at the stealership.

    Get in contact with your states fair trading office and start the complaints ball rolling. Get onto them and bug the hell out of them and bug the hell out of Skoda. Don’t take “no” as an answer and always remain calm and polite.

    • spackbace on 09/05/2018 - 23:39
      +1

      I think I TL:DR'd your post 😉

  • spackbace on 09/05/2018 - 23:38
    +1

    Let's be honest, it's a long and difficult road to getting a refund, if it happens.

    Make sure you're getting a loan car while it's in for repairs

  • waterbottled on 09/05/2018 - 23:52

    And that's why you don't purchase a car from non big-named manufacturer. Higher risk and less reliability.

    Speaking as car knowledge layman.

    • plmko on 10/05/2018 - 08:54
      +3

      Motoring journalists love Skoda though, good features at good prices they say….because they aren't cursed with the ownership of one.

      • Cheeper on 10/05/2018 - 10:11
        +7

        Do not swallow the words of motoring journalists … Most of them are typists that get a loan car for a w/e zip around and have very little mechanical knowledge. Longevity, build quality, servicing and maintenance costs and other important matters never get a mention.

    • blergmonkeys on 13/05/2018 - 08:40
      +1

      Skoda is a VAG car. It’s pretty much the biggest name out there.

    • jacross on 07/06/2018 - 08:53

      Skoda are Volkswagen.

  • Humble on 10/05/2018 - 00:56
    +1

    Hi aph1985,

    It sounds like you've had a pretty poor experience - sorry to hear.

    You are well and truly within the rights of the Australian Consumer Law.

    My tips would be:

    1. Start recording every fault and incident on a word document with dates and descriptions. Start taking pictures/videos of fault lights as evidence. Hopefully, you have paper records from the workshop to state what was fixed.

    2. Next time another similar fault occurs, I would be drafting a long email to both the dealer (where you bought your car from) and head office summarising the events so far (like you have done here) and mentioning your ACL rights. I would also be phoning or talking to the manager of the dealer if you're comfortable with that.

    ACL

    It seems pretty conclusive to me that the car is not of acceptable quality from what you have described (s.56 ACL). Per ACL, there are two types of failures: Major and Non-Major Failure.

    • Potentially, Skoda will want to argue (if anything) that it is a non-major failure as you can still drive it around at times, etc. Section 259 ACL states that the supplier must remedy the failure within a reasonable time, and if they fail to do so, the consumer may have the fault remedies elsewhere and recover all reasonable costs, or reject the goods and terminate the contract. The fact that you've had multiple repairs and considerable time lapsed between errors, I think, works in your favour that you have the rights I just stated.

    • Major Fault: Your argument would be for major fault; Few points to argue about this - See Section 260 ACL, including the fact that you would not have purchased the car had you known the nature and extent of the failure. In such case, you would be entitled to refund or replacement.

    I think the fact that the car is only 8 months old and 10K driven, and problems arising throughout these 8 months, renders you a somewhat strong case.

    I recommend you read up the ACCC website, including some of your rights.

    Note this is not legal advice.

    Best of luck. Remember to stand your ground and if worse comes to worst, seek free legal advice and take legal action.

    Keep us updated.

    • aph1985 on 10/05/2018 - 05:53

      Thanks.

      I do have pictures of the fault. I don't have video as at that time I was more worried about road than taking video.

      I don't have any communications as skoda never responded to my email.

  • ego22 on 10/05/2018 - 01:13

    go to their facebook/social media page. explain everything then threaten them with a current affair. that will probably make them move.

    i have seen 2 stories basically exactly like yours from jeep and some other car brand on ACA over the last 2 years.

    • aph1985 on 10/05/2018 - 05:50

      Already done. You can lookup to their FB. They marked that post as abusive and deleted my post.

      How do I go through current affair?

  • aph1985 on 10/05/2018 - 05:47

    Thank you all for comments

    I do have loan car from them.

    Also i have given the car to the dealership only. Although it's the different dealership than I bought. I bought it from a dealership 400km from my house.

    The car is still at workshop being repaired. They have pulled engine and gearbox out and not able to find anything.

    Also i have no written communication. Skoda HO has not responded to my email. I only get through their call center. The call center now does not even call back when I leave message. The workshop always gives me weekly updates.

    I'm thinking of lodging a case in VCAT soon.

    Let's hope I can get through something.

    Cheers

  • shaybisc on 10/05/2018 - 08:16
    +1

    Cars are getting more and more like computers- God help us. My pc throws in a mystery curveball out of the blue, for no apparent reason, every week or so. Before computers and software in cars there was a simple logic-chain that every mechanic could figure out. Now there is … see above.

    • Cheeper on 10/05/2018 - 10:17

      Not so… Been driving and buying cars for 50+ years. Even the old cars had faults that could not be located or fixed. One example was a VW beetle back in the 70's.. pushed the damn thing further than i drove it.. battery would always go flat. No one including VW dealer could find out why.
      A friend had a GTR Torana from new and was a total lemon but could get little help from the dealership.
      I think there was more faults then? Common things like water leaking into the cabin, engine oil leaks, rattles, shuddering and vibration at speed were all common then but rare now.

      • EightImmortals on 10/05/2018 - 10:49

        True, the faults have been upgraded. :)

      • THICKnSLOW on 11/05/2018 - 16:38

        Depends how many workshops you tried. I'm sure if you brought it round to more workshops, brighter minds would have solved the issue.

        But that doesn't apply if you are surrounded by idiots.

  • EightImmortals on 10/05/2018 - 13:48
    +2

    Here's a good tip from another thread.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/376784

    "Dookus on 08/05/2018 - 07:37 new

    Voice your concerns with "Destroy my Jeep" he (Ashton Wood) has a web site and a FB page, he has been able have australian consumer law changed in his efforts to bring dodgy and poor customer service after his Jeep which he bought new was a lemon, Chrysler Fiat, instead of fixing the crap vehicle served him with gag orders and gave advice such as "Sell the vehicle" the companies sales are a quarter of what they were before this."

    http://www.ashtonwood.com.au/

    • aph1985 on 12/05/2018 - 08:15

      Awesome.. Put info on his website

  • whooah1979 on 10/05/2018 - 19:03

    Skoda is the same euro junk as vw. They may be biggest vehicle manufacturer in the world, but their qc and reliability is below what consumers expect from a leading brand.

    • aph1985 on 12/05/2018 - 08:15

      Totally agree

    • blergmonkeys on 13/05/2018 - 08:45

      Not according to most surveys. Skoda is rated one of the most reliable high consumer satisfaction manufacturers in Europe and the UK. I have 2 skoda cars (Octavia scout and Fabia wagon) and have no issues. Same with a mate that has a vrs and another with a superb.

      Every manufacturer has lemons. You can’t generalize based on this one thread.

  • Rodo on 11/05/2018 - 17:25

    It would be worth joining the AuSkoda Facebook group and posting your issues there. There are a lot of people there that know a lot about Skodas that might be able to help.

  • alvian on 12/05/2018 - 10:21

    Fabia? That's only one letter away from a part of the female genitalia. What were they thinking?

    • pegaxs on 14/05/2018 - 10:36

      It's almost like the marketing department didnt do any thought testing on the name. Much like the guys over at Mitsubishi who named the Pajero… and years later, they still haven’t caught on… :D

  • chumlee on 13/05/2018 - 12:33

    Lodge an application with VCAT seeking a full refund.

    Use the recent ACCC action against Ford to back up your case.

    It may be worth engaging a lawyer in this area for a couple of hours to help prepare your case for your hearing.

  • aph1985 on 23/05/2018 - 07:47

    Update time

    They still haven't found the problem yet. However, I have calked consumer affairs vic and they advise me to write a letter to skoda abd give them time to respond. I have done that now.

    Also, please like and share my post so I can get more traction from them

    https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1649598278488089…

    • CMH on 23/05/2018 - 11:37

      I suggest updating the original post.

  • 8200 on 25/06/2018 - 22:52

    Trade it in on a Japanese built, burn a few $l, learn a lesson, read before buying, even ask here, and move on with your life

    Dont let them dogs at veedud ruin your life

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