I was driving home the other day in my 06 Octy VRS when it started making a screechng noise , so I stopped and popped the bonnet and had a look, all I could see looked normal altho the noise seemed to be coming from the alternator or the pulley.

I drove carefully home and popped it into the skoda dealer the next day, when I dropped it off I was offered a car for the day, I didnt need it so they offered me a lift to work instead which was most welcome.

I got a call a few hours later telling me that there was bad news, i'd had the cambelt and waterpump done at the recommended interval a few months before christmas ( Car has FSH and 40k miles ) and the dealer told me there was a trapped pipe and the top engine mount was not sitting right, did I know why?!!!! I immediately told them i'd had the cambelt done and they said it must have been put back on poorly.

I rang the garage who did it ( ive used them for 15 years and he is usually a great guy ), I told him what had happened and where the car was, his response was " Just get the work done and i'll settle the bill", so he knew he'd fucked up and kept quiet!!

I was told the car was dangerous to drive and i was lucky the bottom lug hand snapped off the block!!! ( meaning i'd have needed a new short block )

Anyway, Skoda had to lift the engine out to extract the bolt snapped off in the block, the pipes were freed, the thread re-cut in the other bolthole and the cracked engine mount replaced.

This was over the next 48 hours and I was given a car FOC to use in the meantime.

The day I picked my car up, it was cleaned inside and out and Skoda were happy to invoice my previous garage ( who settled the bill over the phone there and then )

The bill was £728, which for a total engine extraction, new engine mount and all the other buggering about wasnt too bad I think.


What I learned was a few things;

1) I should have used the dealer for the cambelt to begin with
2) I was so dissappointed (as mechanics) with the previous garage having left me with a dangerous car and not holding their hands up to an error when fitting the mount back on. HOWEVER, I was impressed ( as men ) that they just paid up and took it like a man when I spoke to them about their error
3) Skoda has FANTASTIC customer service. I went to them with a 5 year old car that had been bodged elsewhere and they treated me as well as I could possibly be treated, I cant say enough how different an experience it is to other brands of dealers I've used. I cant imagine the Ford dealer offering me a lift to work or a free car for the day!

SKODA, recommended very highly