Consumers have often been at the receiving end due to weak consumer protection laws and lengthy court proceedings
Cars developing glitches is nothing new and not surprising, as there are too many parts and too many variables at play. Carmakers usually announce recalls to fix bugs, but this approach may not be applied for each and every issue. A recent example involves specific Volkswagen and Skoda cars that some users say have issues with the AC. Hat tip to automotive enthusiast Ashish Kulkarni for sharing more details.
Volkswagen Taigun 1.0-litre AC issue
An owner who has Taigun 1.0-litre turbo petrol variant has reported that the AC compressor keeps tripping when lower gears are used. This usually happens in heavy traffic conditions when there’s a need to switch between 1st gear and 2nd gear. This happens in case of both manual and automatic transmission variants.
Due to this fault, the AC just keeps blowing hot air inside the cabin. The owner says that other users have also reported such issues. He said that only the 1.0-litre turbo petrol variants have this issue. This issue is not there with the 1.5-litre petrol variants. Another thing the owner has clarified is that the AC issue happens only during heavy traffic when lower gears are being engaged. The issue somehow disappears when riding on highways.
Another Taigun user facing the same issue said that after following up with the dealership, the AC compressor was reloaded with a new refrigerant. The dealership has assured that the refrigerant should be able to fix the issue. The owner said that even though he is not confident of the solution provided, he will test the car before taking any further action.
Skoda Kushaq, Slavia AC issue
Skoda has created two consecutive bestsellers in the form of Kushaq SUV and most recently Slavia sedan. While sales are booming, some users have reported issues with the AC. The problem seems to be with the automatic climate control system as well.
A Skoda Slavia owner has shared his experience, saying that his car’s AC does not perform even at 21-21 degrees. He further states that the AC fan speed has to be manually increased to make it work. If not, the car becomes a ‘furnace’ in automatic mode.
What is even more frustrating for the owner is that a globally renowned brand like Skoda can mess up with a relatively simple system like AC. A Kushaq owner has shared a similar experience, who says that it takes almost 30 minutes for the SUV to cool properly after being parked in the sun. While the summer heat has broken many previous records, the AC does appear to be underperforming in this case.
Hopefully, Volkswagen and Skoda will be listening to such issues and taking appropriate action to fix them. They have done well to establish a foothold in the highly competitive auto sector and shouldn’t allow small issues to negatively impact consumer trust and confidence in the brand.
