AIBU to expect answers after eight weeks without our car?

[Ohnoskoda]

I’d really appreciate some advice from anyone who has experienced something similar, particularly with a manufacturer-approved dealer.

Around mid-May 2026, a couple of warning lights came on in our car and it intermittently started losing torque/power. We took it to a garage, and after about a week we were told it had been fixed. We paid the bill and took the car back.
Around two weeks later, the warning lights came back on. I switched the engine off, hoping a soft reset might clear whatever was happening, but the car then wouldn’t start at all.

We contacted the same garage. They agreed to take the vehicle in and investigate it.
That was 8 weeks ago.

We have now been without the car for eight weeks and, despite repeatedly chasing, we have had virtually no information. The only updates we’ve been given have been things along the lines of “we’re asking the factory for advice on what tests to carry out.”
We haven’t been given:

• A diagnosis
• Any indication of what they believe is wrong
• A timescale for completing the investigation/repair
• A breakdown of what work or testing has been carried out
• Any estimate of costs
• Any indication of when we’re likely to get the car back

We made a formal complaint to the manufacturer about 5 weeks ago. Unfortunately, that hasn’t really got us anywhere either. Their response seems to be essentially that until the garage tells them more, there’s nothing they can do. I completely understand that difficult faults can take time to diagnose, and I’m not expecting them to magically know what’s wrong. What I can’t understand is how a customer can be left without their car for eight weeks with virtually no information or support.

We’ve also explained that we have a daughter with a disability and that having a suitable hire/courtesy car would make a huge difference to us, particularly for getting out and about and making necessary journeys. We’ve asked whether they can provide a like-for-like vehicle, but we’ve simply been told that they don’t have one available.

At this point we’re incredibly frustrated. It feels unreasonable that we’re expected to just keep waiting indefinitely without even being given a realistic timescale or proper explanation of what is happening.

I don’t particularly want to go down the legal route or start threatening people with an ombudsman/court action if there is a sensible way of resolving this.

Thank you SO much in advance!

Land Rover did this to me a few summers ago. I never thought I’d get it back. They had a huge backlog of work, but they were honest and told me this. It came home eventually but I had to keep chasing. All they needed to do was update some software

Is it possible to collect it and take it elsewhere?

Thanks so much for your response. I think if I was being giving regular, meaningful updates it would soften the blow a bit. Unfortunately, it won’t start and is currently in pieces at the garage so isn’t possible to move. But the equally in my head I couldn’t be at a ‘better’ garage than the official dealership.

It was bought new 6 years ago and has only ever been to this garage for any work

I had this with Fiat last year. Despite the AA diagnosing the problem the dealer didn’t even look at it for three months. “Backlog of warranty work” was the excuse. I could have had it repaired in days at a local garage but that would have invalidated the warranty.

Ive seen similar cases to yours in the Gardian consumer column, might be worth writing to them.

Thank you for replying. I had similar… the AA recovered it, stated to the garage the fault codes it found but the garage essentially just ignored them and said they would do their own tests.

I did consider a local paper or something. Just not one to usually have ‘drama’ but I am at my wits end with it all and think I will try anything at this point

We are currently having to both complete the school pick up together in 2 separate cars which is ridiculous.

Have emailed the Guardian Consumer Column to see if they can assist. Thank you!

Seems so silly that it has got to this point

What make car op is it VW ?
Is it the generic garage or the actual makes garage. ..

Have you tried writing a formal complaint to the actual dealership/garage?
My daughter had this problem with a van she bought, they kept it for 3 months waiting for a part. She eventually looked up the dealership complaints procedure and followed it and the part was miraculously found within 2 days. Might be worth a try.

Skoda so within the VW group as far as I’m aware.

The actual Škoda garage. We have 2 dealerships within around a 20 minute drive. We bought it new from one dealership, and since bought it has only ever been taken to the other dealership for any work needed. It’s never been to another garage.

Oh, good idea! I’m astonished your car insurance doesnt cover the provision of a loaner vehicle. Hope the Graun will sort things out for you.

Thank you for replying 😊 Yes, I’ve tried. Unfortunately, I have contacted both the branch manager and the customer care team… both say they can’t help until they know what is wrong with the car which I do understand in a way but equally I’m confident there is something they could do if they wanted

Yes, I had hoped car insurance would help too! They stated because it is a mechanical fault they can’t assist 😢

Why can’t the dealership loan you are car? Is it a case of not having any available or none available are suitable?

Hi OP. Sorry about your troubles. Can I ask, is your car electric?

They have offered to provide a small 5 seater. And please don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly grateful they’re even offering to provide this.

The issue is our actual vehicle is a large 7 seater which was bought specifically for our children and to accommodate daughters additional needs

So sorry, I accidentally forgot to quote you there! Thank you for replying

Thank you for your reply, really appreciate it. No, although I’m not surprised you’ve asked as I’ve heard similar things happening to people with electric cars. It is petrol

You might have access to a legal advice line through home insurance or employee assistance program.

Thank you, I hadn’t considered home insurance. I will look into that. Seems such an escalation when there is a simple solution 😞

People often forget that there are stages between ‘guessing for yourself’ and full on legal dispute.

Advice lines or initial legal advice is just that. It’s a variation on what you’ve Don here, but with a higher likelihood of getting someone who knows what they’re talking about.

Thank you, I appreciate your advice

I would have gone and stood in the garage until I recieved a satisfactory answer. Ideally with disabled DC to make the point.

It is such a frustrating situation, especially considering it is the Summer holidays so family days out require us driving separately in 2 cars!

Send a very detailed complaint email to the Skoda CEO - [email protected] he’ll never see it but his EA will forward it to whichever team deals with their escalated complaints and you’ll get a response that goes above and beyond whatever the first layer of complaints team can give.

whole load of other C-suite contacts here too - https://www.skodagroup.com/about-company/company/skoda-tvc/contacts

Thank you ever so much, I really appreciate your efforts here! I will drop him and email and take a look at the website. Thanks again

Let us know how you get on, @Ohnoskoda - I was going to suggest contacting the very tenacious Anna Tims at the Guardian but plenty of others got there before me!