VW,Audi,BMW and Skoda
- Thread starter Urbanfox
- Start date
Sadly, personal experience questions the reliability of Skoda now as the models have adopted more of the latest engineering and build features "enjoyed" by VW & Audi. We have had three Yetis over the years. The first was an amazing vehicle, the second with the restyled front was very good (wish we had not changed that one!) but the third which was DSG was a disappointment - just over 8,000 miles and the dreaded gearbox noise and worry reared its head. People we know with Kodiaks & Karoqs have had similar problems.
The more Skoda morphs into VW/Audi the more likely the same reliability or unreliability. Shared engineering, build, technology.
was it a 7 speed dq200 dsg? notoriously bad in every car it had featured in. the 6 and 7 dq250 and dq500 are generally regarded as reliable when serviced correctly.
I was going to say the same, Skoda gets the last dip in the parts bin so there would be a lag in the drop in quality too I guess.
I have always thought that Skoda benefits in this way by having the R&D done by VW/Audi drivers but I have also thought that maybe the demands customers make on lower end Skodas are less than those for a £80k Audi who expect the best. So I think expectations come into it a lot, a similar reason why Dacia does ok
Apart from the van, my only other experience with a VAG car is a 14 plate Audi SQ5 that I still own and have had since it was about 10 months old. IMHO it's a very well put together bit of kit that has been faultless for the whole time that I've had it. I've never had a van until this T6 so I've nothing to directly compare it to but 'well put together' and 'faultless' are not really the first things that come to mind when I think about it. Nothing specific, it just feels a bit cheap at times (and it was actually far from it!).
We're new to T6 ownership but have a VW Fox (2007), Skoda Superb (2013) & a Skoda Citigo (2018) in the family fleet. Pleased with the quality and reliability of the older three - too early to say with the T6. Our gripe would be that the Superb & Citigo are on a service plan with the local Skoda main dealer, they do their best to find jobs that don't need doing. This view is backed up by reviews from other Skoda owners. This approach does nothing to support the view of Skoda quality/ reliability. Makes me wonder what to do when the T6 needs servicing.
Since 1999, I / We've had a Mk4 Golf, Mk4 Polo, Leon Cupra, Passat V6TDI, Passat B7, Golf Mk6, Golf Mk7, Amarok, Tiguan and the T6. The only issues in all of that time were the water pump impeller in the Mk4 Golf and a power steering pipe union failure on the V6 Passat.
I guess people only tell the internet about problems. We never read about uneventful ownership.
I guess people only tell the internet about problems. We never read about uneventful ownership.
That is so true and what I was trying to get at when mentioning expectations, the cheaper brands seem to get marked higher as the expectations of the customer were lower in the first place. They are just happy when it starts most times in the morning whereas when you buy a “premium” brand you expect it to start and make you coffee too (at least I expect that from my camper)
Once my original warranty is up, I plan to go to an independent local specialist who has a very good reputation in the 'local VW community'.
As to never reading about uneventful ownership, I mentioned mine above with my Audi SQ5.
With my van, apart from the side door refusing to latch closed (and therefore lock), nothing has really gone wrong with it. It wasn't really a major problem for me at the time as the van was on the drive and wasn't needed but it would have been a completely different story had I been away from home or, even worse, on a European road trip. What was more worrying was that the VW Assist man just happened to have the required spares in his van because it was a known fault (and not something that I would expect on a 2 year old vehicle). Apart from that, what I meant was that the thing just feels cheap and sort of 'penny pinched' at times.
I do pretty high mileage and have, in the last 5 years done them in a Skoda VRS Estate, Audi B9 A4 Avant and have recently got VW MK7.5 Golf GTi and, aside for the obvious build quality differences, I have experienced no discernible difference in general reliability but the Skoda did once present a problem that stopped me getting home. This was dealt with under warranty and very efficiently too. The Golf is too new to say yet and due to working from home I've not done that many miles in it.
No, but along with their German brethren, I wonder if they are still as good especially the lower range.
The T6 is my first German as I have had Ford's, Volvo Austin, the 1100 was one of my first cars, triumph and Kia which I still have.
The Kia's, Sadona, Sportage, 3 off and my daughter's Rio which I now have, have never missed a beat. I had a Citroen C5 which was a nice car but I had electrical problems so didn't have it long. I was never won over by the VW cars, they looked plain Jane's compared to others.
I've owned seven VW's and apart from wear and tear they've all been extremely reliable, even, with the first up to 150,000 miles. I plan on keeping my current van until diesel is no longer a viable fuel. I have known some rough ones that friends have had but they were thrashed and not looked after properly, any machine will give you issues if you do that..
