Hello Everyone,
Cutting an incredibly long story short (ish)
I Purchased a Skoda Fabia brand new from a Skoda dealer in 2012, in 2017 at 4 and a half years old the timing chain snapped causing catastrophic damage to the engine and a repair bill of £4500.
After speaking with Skoda and the dealer they reduced the bill to £2900, still far more than I could afford and nearly the then price of the car in working order.
I started some research and found that their was a fault with the chains, owing to the life cycle of a piece of machinery being extended beyond its recommended, this means that the chains made in the later part of its life cycle are prone to stretching and breakage.
This was never a recall but information (TPI's) were sent to all garages and a revised part was made in case there was any issues, this part was not adequate nor its 3rd revision, and the entire chain is now reverted to a belt in the new engines.
Cars all over Europe were fixed free of charge or for a labour only fee, this was also highlighted in the guardians (consumer champions)
The car has a full service history with the retailer, the parts in question are non service items
Armed with this knowledge I approached the customer service team who's continual stance was that it was out of warranty and the goodwill shown was all they would do.
I then took this in June 2017 to the Motoring Ombudsman. Their staff liaised on my behalf however communications were few and far between, my first two case handlers left the company, I was then given a new handler in Jan 2018 who has been far better in regards to coms.
I have had an independent review done by Dekra, which states that the chain has snapped.
The issue the ombudsman keep coming back to is why did it snap?
The report has stated there are a number of reasons it could have snapped, which is what the ombudsman keeps coming back to, the fact that the chain was fundamentally faulty from new does not seem to be something they will consider, and that I must prove this.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Cutting an incredibly long story short (ish)
I Purchased a Skoda Fabia brand new from a Skoda dealer in 2012, in 2017 at 4 and a half years old the timing chain snapped causing catastrophic damage to the engine and a repair bill of £4500.
After speaking with Skoda and the dealer they reduced the bill to £2900, still far more than I could afford and nearly the then price of the car in working order.
I started some research and found that their was a fault with the chains, owing to the life cycle of a piece of machinery being extended beyond its recommended, this means that the chains made in the later part of its life cycle are prone to stretching and breakage.
This was never a recall but information (TPI's) were sent to all garages and a revised part was made in case there was any issues, this part was not adequate nor its 3rd revision, and the entire chain is now reverted to a belt in the new engines.
Cars all over Europe were fixed free of charge or for a labour only fee, this was also highlighted in the guardians (consumer champions)
The car has a full service history with the retailer, the parts in question are non service items
Armed with this knowledge I approached the customer service team who's continual stance was that it was out of warranty and the goodwill shown was all they would do.
I then took this in June 2017 to the Motoring Ombudsman. Their staff liaised on my behalf however communications were few and far between, my first two case handlers left the company, I was then given a new handler in Jan 2018 who has been far better in regards to coms.
I have had an independent review done by Dekra, which states that the chain has snapped.
The issue the ombudsman keep coming back to is why did it snap?
The report has stated there are a number of reasons it could have snapped, which is what the ombudsman keeps coming back to, the fact that the chain was fundamentally faulty from new does not seem to be something they will consider, and that I must prove this.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
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