Bought my vRS, with 2 months of manufacturer warranty left, from Gordon Lamb around September last year. They gave me 11 months of Skoda main dealer warranty to top this up to just under 14 months worth in total.

Had my airbag light come on the other day, so booked it into Clock Garage. I asked the service manager over the phone, 'will the dealer warranty cover this' and she assured me it would.

I've just been to drop my car off there this morning and was asked 'how would you like to pay today, Sir?'. When I questioned it, the guy behind the service counter told me there would be a fee for diagnostic work and that if it's wiring, it might not be covered by the warranty (etc etc).

I can't believe it. I bought a 10 grand car from a main Skoda dealer 9 months ago. I went there for piece of mind. I haven't taken the ****, I've made no warranty claims so far. I've looked after the car and had it serviced to schedule. Additionally, my dad has recently bought a brand new Skoda Octavia too. You'd think I'd be a valued customer.

...and I ask them to sort out an airbag light and they have the cheek to try and charge me?! Where is the customer service? Are they trying to alienate their customers?

Did you speak with the service manager when you dropped the car off? He was the one you spoke to and he said it would be covered.

after sales service is complete carp from Clock unfortunately.

My airbag wiring was done twice on dealer warranty. I would speak to the service manager, if no joy, go above their head. If still no joy, speak to another dealer, they may be able to help you or at least advise on what to say or do. Might even be worth giving Skoda UK a buzz. I would think (and hope) there is a simple list of cans and cants they have and not leave it to the discretion of the dealer to choose.

The airbag wiring is covered under warranty.

They may do diagnostics and if they find no fault or a non warranty fault charge you, however as other members have pointed out the wiring is covered.

They just phoned me.

They want £155 including the diagnostic to fix the passenger seat airbag 'ignitor wire'.

I am livid.

What's Gordon Lamb's opinion ?

Just phoned Skoda Warranty UK - they are backing up the dealer and saying it's not covered as it's 'wiring'.

I can't believe that essential safety components of the car are not covered. I find it disgusting.

I thought most things were covered under a warranty apart from consumables. :wonder:

I would suggest then trying another dealer and see what they would do or if they can help you out, mine was done under warranty, so there must be other dealers who would do it. Question is can a warranty from one dealer be transfered to another like that?

Loose wire on loom under drivers seat was the fault I had, repaired the first time, and pretty sure replaced the second, maybe just repaired better

VIndis Skoda in Cambs covered a wiring and sensor fault on the passenger seat of my Octy vRS, under warranty. They done the driver (steering wheel) airbag six months prior too. No questions asked.

Hope you get this sorted.

They just phoned me.

They want £155 including the diagnostic to fix the passenger seat airbag 'ignitor wire'.

I am livid.

Tell them to f**k off and speak to skoda customer services.

The problem is the wiring in the seat is too short by a fraction and cna be pulled out. You can either reseat the connector, reset the light it and be more careful or have it fixed.

There is no way you should be paying £155 for that fix.

Edited 8 June, 201016 yr by cheezemonkhai

Just phoned Skoda UK, they said they MAY look at part-funding the repair due to the age of the vehicle and the fact that we have several Skoda vehicles in the family, but the fact I had the second service at an independant specialist counts against me :(.

Just phoned Skoda UK, they said they MAY look at part-funding the repair due to the age of the vehicle and the fact that we have several Skoda vehicles in the family, but the fact I had the second service at an independant specialist counts against me :(.

I guess I'd be talking with the dealer about why they will be charging you two lots of computer time when the scan will be needed, followed by a reset. See if you can't get a discount on that.

I currently have a peugeot and when I had a problem a few weeks ago was told that they would charge for diagnostics.

I think as with other 'cost cutting' - like loan cars' they are trying to cut back on the amount of time that is wasted by people just using them every few weeks to check irrelevant stuff.

The extended warranty should be the same as the original one.

good luck.

I think as with other 'cost cutting' - like loan cars' they are trying to cut back on the amount of time that is wasted by people just using them every few weeks to check irrelevant stuff.

The thing is, this is a very common problem. They should know better, and it really doesnt take that much effort to fix.

The airbag light has been on in my Octavia. A local independent fixed it and charged for 1 1/2 hours labour.

Andy

Here's what I've said to support my claim for Skoda UK to fix it under good will (I don't think I should have to go to all this effort!!!)

• The car is a well maintained, low mileage example and a fault of this nature would not be expected, especially as it would be reasonable to assume the airbag system would operate without fault for the life of the vehicle.
• Our family now has two Skoda vehicles. The second vehicle is an Octavia Elegance 1.6CR Combi in Cappucino Beige, and was purchased brand new on the second of March 2010 from Rainworth Skoda in Mansfield (reg **10 LYP). There is potential for a third when my mother comes to renew her vehicle next year. I have also recommended Skoda vehicles to other friends and family, of which I know at least one has purchased as a direct result of my recommendation.
• The car was purchased from a Skoda main dealer (Gordon Lamb of Chesterfield). The decision to purchase from a franchised dealer was heavily influenced by the piece of mind of a Skoda approved warranty. I was happy to pay a premium for the piece of mind that the car wouldn't cost me anything in repairs for the first year of ownership, which now turns out not to be the case. This is due to a clause which throws into disrepute the worth of the whole warranty. While I appreciate that this policy is administered by a third party, the Skoda brand is still on the warranty, and I was sold the policy as part of buying a vehicle from a Skoda dealer, so I still feel you have some responsibility to ensure customer satisfaction.
• This may be an issue for Gordon Lamb (and I will write to them separately), but when I purchased the vehicle, I was under the clear impression, by the sales person, that the dealer supplied warranty was as comprehensive as (or of comparable level to) the manufacturer warranty.
• Many of the above points are worsened by the fact that the fault is related to a “crash-safety” aspect of the vehicle, which I feel is serious and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Edited 8 June, 201016 yr by naxtek

Tell them to f**k off and speak to skoda customer services.

The problem is the wiring in the seat is too short by a fraction and cna be pulled out. You can either reseat the connector, reset the light it and be more careful or have it fixed.

There is no way you should be paying £155 for that fix.

Absolute bol###s the problem with the seat wirring is a fault on the wiring connector under the seat at the floor not the wiring to short. We remove the connector from the floor and hard wire the seat harness and JOB DONE!!! never have any more faults, The other poss fault can be very loose terminals at the air bag ecu which in turn gives a high resistance thus putting the light on.

Absolute bol###s the problem with the seat wirring is a fault on the wiring connector under the seat at the floor not the wiring to short. We remove the connector from the floor and hard wire the seat harness and JOB DONE!!! never have any more faults, The other poss fault can be very loose terminals at the air bag ecu which in turn gives a high resistance thus putting the light on.

You sound like you know your stuff, do you work at a dealer? Just out of curiosity, is this a common issue?

You sound like you know your stuff, do you work at a dealer? Just out of curiosity, is this a common issue?

Yes i am a techy at a skoda dealer and we do see this problem from time to time more so on the earlier octy mk2s, what age is yours

Yes i am a techy at a skoda dealer and we do see this problem from time to time more so on the earlier octy mk2s, what age is yours

It's a late 2006 so fairly early. Do you know roughly how much your dealership charges to fix it?

When you say hardwire the seat harness, I assume you mean to bypass the connector and solder the wires together directly? Surely I could do that myself or get a good auto electrician to do it for much less?

I don't think it's a fault at the ECU end as it happened after I moved the seat...

Anyway, I'm gonna wait and see if Skoda Customer Service do sort it out under good will...

Mk2 Mondeos had the same problem!

It's a late 2006 so fairly early. Do you know roughly how much your dealership charges to fix it?

When you say hardwire the seat harness, I assume you mean to bypass the connector and solder the wires together directly? Surely I could do that myself or get a good auto electrician to do it for much less?

I don't think it's a fault at the ECU end as it happened after I moved the seat...

Anyway, I'm gonna wait and see if Skoda Customer Service do sort it out under good will...

Best thing for you to do is see what customer services say and if you dont get no joy you could get a good auto electrition to do it but you would have to get the fault code cleared. we basicaly do away with the conector on the floor but leave the one under the seat just in case the seat needs removing we use a new wiring harness as well and do away with the original harness. dead easy to do it can be done in 45 mins. hope this helps.

If it were my car car , my take on this would be :- no I don't want a diagnostic check done , I want the fault fixed , how you fix it is up to you.

Absolute bol###s the problem with the seat wirring is a fault on the wiring connector under the seat at the floor not the wiring to short. We remove the connector from the floor and hard wire the seat harness and JOB DONE!!! never have any more faults, The other poss fault can be very loose terminals at the air bag ecu which in turn gives a high resistance thus putting the light on.

Might want to tell my dealer that when they fixed mine then

They said that the wire was too short and pulled when the seat went back.

Just repeating the explanation I was given for what is a common fault.

Edited 8 June, 201016 yr by cheezemonkhai