Advice re Garage Service Issue

I'm not trying to defend the garage here, just trying to give some perspective from their side so that you can plan accordingly.

The key word is courtesy, it is a courtesy to provide a replacement car and not a legal requirement.

It falls into the question of what a manufacturer is liable for when a failure occurs. Are they liable to fix the defect? Of course. Are they liable for any costs incurred? Perhaps, but how far does that go? What if the car was transporting goods and the breakdown caused you to lose out on a multi-million euro business deal, is the manufacturer liable for millions?

That might sound facetious but it is the same principle as for a replacement car, is the manufacturer liable for incurred costs or not? If they are liable for a car then they are liable for all the other possibilities as well. So the terms and conditions are wise to be clear that they are not liable for any of it.

You could test that in court and it would come down to a reasonableness test from the judge, but in my decades in the industry I have very rarely seen it get that far.

As for why they don't just give you a car, the simplest answer is that they don't have one to give you. That comment about just giving you a sales car is over simplistic, every single customer thinks they deserve a courtesy car so how many cars are they going to keep spare just for that purpose? 10? 20? Pay road tax on 20 cars just in case they are needed? You can't give out new cars because they are not registered, and if you register some to use as courtesy vehicles then they are not new cars any more and just lost half their value. If you give all the used cars out then you can't sell them, and again they are losing value all the time while driving around country.

As for the parts issue and the promise that the car was going to be ready, unfortunately it is an industry where promises cannot always be met no matter how hard they try. Parts supply is no small matter, they can have the best of intentions and still end up caught out. For example, they may have ordered all their parts immediately in order to speed things up, but when stripping the turbo they found a tiny bolt sheared and now that one bolt is on back order from the supplier and the promise can't be met through absolutely no fault of their own. Maybe the boat didn't sail from Holyhead last night so the parts order didn't come and now they are days behind, again through no fault of their own. Its crap and its frustrating but its always the way it is, and its why garages give estimates, not promises.

One again, I am not trying to defend the garage, so don't come back at me complaining that things should be different. Frankly this scenario happens every single day in every single garage so I'm not too invested in one more example. I only post so that you can understand where they are likely coming from and so can choose an approach that might work. Because I'll say one thing, it is probably not true that they don't want to support their customers, but going in all guns blazing might just change that.

Twice you claim that you're not trying to defend the garage while proceeding to, at length, defend the garage

Wow. You should probably consider some self awareness training if you think your contribution was anything other than defending the garage. But carry on 'explaining' how things are from your perspective of decades in the industry...

The best advice to the OP is to ignore your defense of the garage, but let's dismantle your unhelpful contribution as follows:

1. It is not a courtesy to stand over a vehicle, still under warranty, which has been unavailable to the customer since 19th October - it's simply compliance with what would be reasonably expected as a consumer right

2. Supply chain issues don't cut it for a Skoda main dealer - totally unacceptable to have a Skoda name over the door and not have parts within 24 to 48 hours

3. There is only one Skoda dealer in Drogheda so its fairly obvious who the unnamed garage is. I looked up their website to find they have 40 2nd hand cars available for sale at the garage - so your argument around availability of a courtesy car is not valid. There is no excuse for leaving the OP without a replacement car

4. You advise against going in "all guns blazing". The OP has gotten 2 weeks of no car by being nice about it - ALL GUNS BLAZING is the best approach when nothing else is working

Perspective is important, but bias is not helpful and I regard your advice as biased by your 'decades in the industry'

Wow, you are really invested in your pro garage viewpoint - the bias is strong in you!.

You quoting me on the "consumer protection act" is a classic strawman - I never mentioned the term so your response, as well as being biased, is dishonest.

I say a Skoda main dealer should have access to the Skoda parts supply chain a lot sooner than the approx 2 weeks and counting that the OP has endured, you counter with some insider knowledge drivel that defends the industry and advises the OP to effectively suck it up - totally unhelpful and blatantly biased.

Courtesy car is an industry term, you know that industry that you have spent decades in - Let's use the term "replacement car" so that your decades of bias can get over itself. A replacement car is a consumer right on a car under warranty which has been unavailable to the OP since 19 October.

You apparently have met "many like" me over the years .... seems you're on a mission to put consumers in their place and just accept whatever a garage tell them because, you know...decades of experience lad, decades of experience - unfortunately for you, consumers are a little.more savvy than when you started out.

My advice to the OP is to ignore your unhelpful, biased advices and go in to that Skoda garage on Tuesday morning threatening to get a solicitor involved if a replacement car is not provided immediately.

I had a couple of Skodas between myself and my wife over the years and we live up in the north east .. not far from Drogheda. My experience with a particular Skoda dealer wasn't the best with regards to servicing.

there were always delays .. when her Kodiaq was 6 weeks old the dash lit up like a Christmas tree and left her stranded on the M1. Skoda roadside assist got the car back to the dealer who took 2 weeks to investigate the problem (not fix - but two weeks to actually look at the car) Skoda assist only allowed for a weeks rental at the time so we had to cause a huge fuss in the showroom at the time to get a courtesy car.

When our superb needed urgent work done ... was told minimum 3 weeks before a workshop slot would be free. I called Pilsen in Dublin and they had it back on the road in 48 hours.

Jeez don't tell @bucketybuck that... he has decades of experience in the industry and advises against asserting your consumer rights to get a result (something about pubtalk... blah, blah)

Well done to you to get a result in the "courtesy car" by causing a huge fuss at the dealers - seems some of these charlatans take advantage of the better nature of people and only look after those who assertively demand their rights. OP, please take note of @whippet experience

Your attitude on this issue just confirms you're a dinosaur of the motor industry and your decades of experience is really laughable given your outdated attitude to customer service.

Though I seriously question the authenticity of your claim of decades of experience when you don't appear to understand the requirement of the garage as agent for the manufacturer/distributor to provide a replacement car to the OP for prolonged delay in dealing with a warranty matter - its a combination of contract law on the one hand and statutory rights under Sale of Goods and supply of services Axt 1980 and augmented by the Consumer Rights Act 2022.

Glad I could help educate you

SOGASOSA is the grounding legislation to a consumer taking an action against the offending garage and is now augmented by the CRA as well as the contractual obligations of the warranty provided.

Simpletons think that the law can be applied by simply quoting a specific passage of legislation that neatly deals with the complexities of any given consumer issue - you appear to be one of those simpletons.

No, what you advised the OP was to suck it up. The garage is obligated to provide a replacement car. I provided the grounding legislation and contractual basis if he needs to enforce his rights. You provided diddly squat except some arrogant assertion that you know better than everyone else because of your "decades of experience".

You got your a$$ handed to you on this thread but are either too arrogant or ignorant to accept it.