BHPian M-Roc recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I never thought I would write this post within 3.5 months of buying a Skoda Slavia 1.5 DSG. I have read through numerous advice on what to expect owning a Skoda/VW cars especially with the DSG gear box. Cassette Seal
So even before my purchase
FYI - I was using a Honda Jazz for 7 years and have driven about 85k kms. Through out my ownership I have never visited the service centre except for the regular service which happens every 6 months. It was a completely fuss free ownership.
Now coming to the Skoda Slavia, below are some high level details
On 09th Dec 2023 I went to pick my family from airport and on the way back we stopped to have some tea time. Upon starting again I noticed a warning alert popping up in the instrument cluster. I wasn't able to decode that hence within 200 m I stopped my vehicle in a service road and switched off the car and switched on again, then I was able to see a message "Please check the oil levels".
Immediately we stepped out of the car and I had a look under the bonnet I was able to see some oil on the ground. I checked the oil levels and could notice it to be very very low.
This is when confusion, anxiety and all panic attacks started kicking in. Immediately I called the sales help desk at PPS Skoda I was given an advice to contact the RSA number. At least I would have called them 5 times back to back and no one attended it and there was an automated voice to provide the details over Whatsapp for speedy service. So I did that and got a message stating someone would reach out to me shortly.
So I booked a cab and sent my family home which would be around 15 kms from the breakdown spot. Called one of my friends who rushed to the spot to accompany me and it took around 1 hour but I didn't hear back anything from Skoda.
I started calling RSA again and after an unsuccessful attempt of around 7 to 8 times some one picked the call and got the tracking/complaint ID I got from Whatsapp registration. Again they started asking all the details and asked me to send my location details which I shared already through the Whatsapp process.
They told me it would take at least 3 to 4 hours for the towing service to arrive and asked me if I can handover the vehicle to an Skoda appointed person prior to that. I agreed to it and after a wait for around 1.5 to 2 hours a gentleman came and calmed me and he took over the vehicle after getting few signatures.
My friend went under the bonnet and checked if there is any scratch under the bonnet and confirmed that no scratch or any sort of physical damage was there. ( I was very confident because only I have driven the car till date and I didn't encounter any such situation of under body contact with the road).
Then we went back home and I got a message form Skoda appointed person around 11:30 pm that he sent the vehicle to the nearest Skoda service centre which is PPS Skoda through a towing vehicle and he shared some pics of the same.
The next morning I went to PPS Skoda service centre just to check the condition of my car. Though it was a holiday I was seeing few people working around, immediately I met a service advisor and he told me they would only check the vehicle on next day and promised me he would give me a call to explain after initial analysis.
On Day 1 after the initial inspection I was informed that there was no external damage to the underbody hence the issue is internal.
This is the first instance of the oil leakage problem in the entire Skoda Slavia lineup that was sold in India since its introduction. Hence there is no pre determined procedure to resolve the issue.
All they will do is to reach out to Skoda and would get a flying doctor to visit and based on his recommendation they will proceed with the fix.
I was continuously following up with the service advisor and he intimated that the flying doctor had suggested to replace the oil seal and the car would be ready on 19th Dec 2023.
But on 19th I was informed that after replacing the oil seal the leakage has been stopped but there is a very minor seepage. Hence they are going to investigate it further to ensure this doesn't come up again.
Again the same routine needs to be followed (i.e., flying doctors visit, his recommendation followed by the fix). This time I met the service manager and expressed by dissatisfaction as all these thing are happening in a brand new vehicle. He promised me he would get the car fixed and delivered it by 23rd December 2023.
On 23rd December I was informed that the flying doctor advised to replace the inner seal and the part is not available immediately hence they have ordered the same. I lost patience as I had plans to travel back to my home town on 25th December. When I requested for a loaner vehicle the service manager told they can arrange only for usage within city limits.
I got frustrated and asked them to give me a correct timeline by when everything would be fixed to which he promised that on 30th December I can take the vehicle back. On 30th December the same story repeats as they have just received the part and their team is working on priority.
To summarise three times in a row the promised handover date is missed by PPS Skoda and also they have denied a loaner vehicle to me.
This entire episode has caused lot of mental trauma.
Now the below listed questions are popping up
Overall I am not satisfied with the level of service offered especially after having a fuss free ownership with Honda.
Its a mental trauma when I have to be stranded on the road with Family.
Even inside the city limits the RSA were not able to help immediately and have to wait for around 4 to 6 hours to get some assistance.
I wrote a detailed email to the service manager explaining all the issues I'm facing. He just told me that he has forwarded that to his higher authorities but hasn't included me in the email chain.
To summarise I completely lost trust and unhappy with the decision of buying a Skoda Slavia, though it would be a financial loss I'm seriously considering to sell the vehicle once it is ready.
Here's what BHPian vishy76 had to say on the matter:
Please ask the ASC to specify the 'exact' oil seal that is the culprit. There are several oil seals in an engine. There's the crankshaft oil seal on the timing side, the main seal on the gearbox side, the camshaft oil seal. Then there's numerous gaskets such as the tappet cover gasket and the timing cover (in case of a chain driven engine) where oil leaks can spring up too. Exactly which one of these is leaking? Images would also help.
Based on this, one can decide how severe the issue is. If it's a tappet cover leak, I would frankly get it fixed and forget about it unless the car has other issues that can allow one to call it a lemon. This can also be done at the dealer level. If it's a crankshaft oil leak on the timing side or worse the gearbox side, yes, I would worry a little. Service centres might not have handled such a leak before on the 1.5 TSI and hence there might be a need for the flying doctor to come and diagnose the issue. Based on which seal has leaked, one can ascertain how difficult it is to replace and what are the chances of recurrence for the same.
Look at the problem in an objective manner. Selling the car off or not is a decision to be taken 'after' the car is fixed. Any such thoughts will only cloud your vision and add to the frustration you are already facing.
Here's what BHPian M-Roc replied:
Per my discussion with the service advisor oil leak is at the crankshaft attaching some pics for your reference.
Can you please provide your thoughts if this is something to worry about? As I am not technically sound I couldn't gauge the severity of this issue.
Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say on the matter:
Those images are not of the crankshaft, but are of the drive train for the cam shafts
The arm/finger is pointing to the cover case for the distribution belts.
Your crankshaft seal would be nearer to the bottom of the engine, between the pulley and the front of the engine on the protruding end of the crankshaft.
There is an aft crankshaft seal too. Not sure how that works on a DSG variant though. Usually, in case of leaks you might notice, but you might not be able to see it or get at it, without have to remove the Dsg box.
So where is the leak?
BHPian M-Roc had the following update to share on the matter:
Firstly, my sincere apologies for the delayed update. One of my close friend lost his dear one so I had an extended stay at my home town to accompany him hence I didn’t have a chance to update this thread.
As I intimated earlier I’m not technically sound and some of my friends who have fair knowledge were not available to accompany me to have an expert observation on the issue when I went to pick my car yesterday. Below are the updates based on my discussion with the sales advisor
Observation : Oil leakage was found near the intake cam gear
I had a chance to meet the manager who looks after the technical fix they were doing. I asked him why I had to wait for a long time to have this issue fixed in a brand new car. He informed that the delay is not because of the complexity of the issue but due to the stringent process they have in place.
He told that since these fixes are done under warranty they have to record every step and send it to Skoda for their approval before fixing anything.
Finally they took me to the service bay where they lifted my car to show the underbody and promised everything has been resolved. Regarding the parts they replaced they told me that they are internal parts hence can’t be shown.
Now coming to the decision on whether to keep or sell the car. I carefully read every single comment in this thread and could see an unanimous suggestion to keep the car at least for few more years to observe its behaviour and take a decision.
I took a day off from work and spent a good amount of time to think through my decision of selling the car. Certain things became clear to me
Is this one break down incident pushed me to think of selling it? Many would think so but the answer is NO.
Deep inside me I missed some of the comforts offered by my old car
Somehow I failed to notice the above during the test drives as my sole focus was in the power it offered and DSG gearbox. The break down incident coupled with the complaints from the family about the missing comforts from my old car have driven me to think of selling the car.
After I took back the car from service center yesterday I was bit relaxed and went for a 100km round trip. Then I realised that this car has lot to offer. Rather than looking through the lens to find the negatives I should appreciate the positives it offers.
I and my better half had a brief discussion and decided to keep the car with us.
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