Skud Octavias?

[Timewaster]

The old 405 is sailing close to the borderline between shite and shit. Time to actually spend 4 figures on something a bit more presentable.I have to confess I spent much time contemplating the scrappage scheme, but the only new cars cheap enough to consider were pretty grim, miserable devices.Looking at Octavia estates at the moment, preferably diesel flavor.Anyone got any opinion, experience or predjudice of these?All those taxi drivers cant be wrong - can they?

[dollywobbler]

Car Mechanics had one as a project car. An ex-Taxi with over 200,000 miles on it. Drove pretty nicely actually apart from a clunky gear linkage and a rather worn driver's seat. Nice diesel engines, comfortable and everything seemed to work.Not exactly exciting, but then the Pug 405 while very worthy, hardly sets the world alight.

[Mat.T]

I was talking to a taxi driver about these yesterday! He sold his one with 260k only problem was the interior had worn badly. Apparently there are a couple of octavia taxis in Colchester that are on 400k and thats with regualr servicing but appart from that and tyres trouble free!

[dollywobbler]

The coolant system was all sludged up on the CM one. So washing powder was used to flush it out...Seemed to do a pretty good job! Still going as far as I'm aware, and it did a good few thousand while on the fleet.

[hennabm]

Had a Mk1 02 as company motor so no care given and I did 152k with it and only 1 turbo. No other replacements except service items.When driving one if the power suddenly dies and returns after switching off and restarting, it is the turbo needing replaced. The variable vanes system corrupts itself.If the power does not return on relighting the blue touch paper then it is to do with the air mass meter or something.I would certainly take a punt on a 2nd hand one without taxi history. Skoda only finished production of the A4 version (as they know it) late last year/early this hence some late registered ones like 07 and 08 plates running along side the new style Mk2 Octavia.

[Timewaster]

Not exactly exciting, but then the Pug 405 while very worthy, hardly sets the world alight.

I have something else to drive if I want excitement, what I need is to get to work and cart shite about cheaply )Oh, and do you not remember the original Pug 405 advert with the burning corn fields?

[Milford Cubicle]

I am also a 405 owner thinking of buying an Octavia in the future. Are we destined to be taxi drivers then?The only one I could bear owning complexity/reliability wise is the SDi though, they seem to go on and on, I have never driven one but I imagine them to be less comfortable and stodgier to drive than a 405 in the VW vein.

[dollywobbler]

Yup, stodgy is a good word!

[Mash]

Not got any advice to offer mecahnically but I have had one as a hire car a couple of times recently and found it fairly pleasant. Huge boot and reasonably well built. It suited me because it felt, well, a bit old-fashioned! Hard to put my finger on but opening the door with the key was a good start! I certainly felt more at home in it than the more up to date offerings the company have.Don't know if that helps any...!

[Albert Ross]

They're a good car indeed, but you might take a peep at a Superb.....lesser market, fewer cars, but a touch bigger...Passat floorpan with a 10cm stretch in the rear floorpan. Similar pricing too.....go on, have a look, you know you want to......surprise yourself!

[Volksy]

They're a good car indeed, but you might take a peep at a Superb.....lesser market, fewer cars, but a touch bigger...Passat floorpan with a 10cm stretch in the rear floorpan. Similar pricing too.....go on, have a look, you know you want to......surprise yourself!

High spec ones have a brolly hidden in the rear door too...

[Pillock]

My mate's not long bought a 1.8T Octavia 4x4 Elegance Estate.He paid slightly over the odds IMHO but it was from a dealer, who has already sorted out a couple of niggles such as a flaky indicator relay and some paint rectification, and he's got the rest of the warranty to keep him happy. Drives really well, built really well, his is a 51 plate and it's all still screwed together, no wear to seats and stuff.Was in Hartlepool last weekend and all the taxi drivers seem to be running Octavias, the one I was in was over 250k on the clock and working well.

[hennabm]

SDI is only 60bhp and even in a Fabia struggles to pull itself along - avoid at all costs unless you like being overtaken by milkfloats.

[Rocket88]

Thumbs up here as well, we've run two ex taxis 1.9 tdi autos, both have done the thick end of 200,000 miles, both fine. one's been re-mapped, pulls like a sodding train and gets 45+ to the gallon . They do have one strange problem, if the battery goes flat constantly, check the big blade fuse on top of the battery, they cororode away to nothing. New one is the princely sum of 71p! Previous owner had fitted a new alternator and battery trying to cure the problem................

[carlo]

I am also a 405 owner thinking of buying an Octavia in the future. Are we destined to be taxi drivers then?The only one I could bear owning complexity/reliability wise is the SDi though, they seem to go on and on, I have never driven one but I imagine them to be less comfortable and stodgier to drive than a 405 in the VW vein.

Make that three 405 owners who considered the Octavia! I looked very seriously at a new 1.4 petrol this year. Car seems to be one of the few modern cars to appear relatively uncomplicated, comfortable and quite stylish inside (love those latest ex-Audi steering wheels.) Eventually decided couldn't justify nearly £14,000 (even with the bloody scrappage nonsense), so bought a very respectable 406 auto for £800. And very happy about it too..

[UglyAmerican]

I assume you are going to be looking at a 1.9 diesel, but just in case -- I'd seriously avoid the 1.8 turbo. In VWs they go wrong often, and are expensive to repair.I will join with what others have said; I've witnessed some Octavia 1.9 taxis with over 200 mi on the clock in Oxfordshire.Tremendous cheap space in those Octavias and they feel as solid as old Mercs. Luckily, since I'm an [ugly] American, I only think of Skoder as the runt brand of VW's stable, rather than thinking of all those horrible jokes.Purely out of curiosity, with the crappage scheme, where would you come out on a Fiat Panda?

[MrRegieRitmo]

I only think of Skoder as the runt brand of VW's stable, rather than thinking of all those horrible jokes.

It's interesting how presumably even Seat are viewed as more upmarket!

[Rocket88]

IMHO Skoda build quality far superior to Seat's

[VWPowered]

http://www.leboncoin.fr/vi/55475517.htm?ca=14_s

 

ten year old car in UK

[MrRegieRitmo]

IMHO Skoda build quality far superior to Seat's

But as they have the same parentage shouldn't build quality be comparable or could they deliberately put less effort into some of the VAG stable?

[Waderider]

I was thinking about trading in an S reg Fiat Bravo on the scrappage scheme. I thought to myself "surely it must be worth it against a cheap car like a Fiat Panda 1.1 Active?"No - The Panda can be expected to depreciate from £7K to £3.5K in the first year. I mean, what kind of dobber buys a new car?!Slightly back on topic, think I'll be getting a second hand Fabia for the wife instead.

[AnthonyG]

I was thinking about trading in an S reg Fiat Bravo on the scrappage scheme. I thought to myself "surely it must be worth it against a cheap car like a Fiat Panda 1.1 Active?"No - The Panda can be expected to depreciate from £7K to £3.5K in the first year. I mean, what kind of dobber buys a new car?!Slightly back on topic, think I'll be getting a second hand Fabia for the wife instead.

All depends on how long you keep the Fiat Panda - very few people would sell a new car after a year. Plus you get £2000 for the Bravo, which at least £1500 more than you would get in a private sale. The new Panda wouldn't drop 50% in one year either. A Kia might, but not a Panda, which is regarded by the trade as the best basic car out there.Despite all the crying on here the scrappage scheme does make sense for some people, as you would never got £2000 off a new Panda otherwise - maybe £2-300, but not £2k. Anyway the money's running out soon, so all the carnage (!) will soon be over.

[Rocket88]

IMHO Skoda build quality far superior to Seat's

But as they have the same parentage shouldn't build quality be comparable or could they deliberately put less effort into some of the VAG stable?

Same bits, but nailed together in different factories in different countries.

[oldford]

Octavia diesel - dual mass flywheels, sticky VNT turbo mechanisms, seized one way clutch in the alternator pulley - leading to a broken auxiliary belt tensioner and air conditioning compressor clutches falling off are fairly common under bonnet ailments. Window regulators breaking, windscreen wiper motors going haywire, wiper linkages seizing up and central locking problems are widespread. The electronics are complicated, CAN bus and expensive door control units for the convenience system, dash panels can become faulty and are easy to physically replace, but without the PIN numbers for the immobiliser and the equipment and know how of how to get them working, it'll be a visit to the main dealer.

 

As with any car, they are built down to a price and not upto a standard.

 

Fabias have their own set of common problems as well.

 

If you get stuck, there is a wealth of information here:

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/

[Timewaster]

Purely out of curiosity, with the crappage scheme, where would you come out on a Fiat Panda?

How did you know I was considering a Panda?Maybe because its one of the cheapest and arguably least depressing option.A 1.1 Active comes out at £4995.I really like the 100hp version but its £10k list. Available from brokers for £7.5, but no scrappage available.I was more interested in a 500 at £6300, but the girlieness and low spec were off putting. The only colour that doesn't cost extra is white. WTF? £275 for red?! Might hold its money better than a Panda, or might end up as an embaressment like the "new" Beetle.Others were Hyundai i10 (yuck), or a basic Fabia with an egg whisk for an engine.Oldford, thats a scary looking list!

[Richard]

Why would you want a freewheel in your alternator pulley? Our C5 has one too and I can't work out why, or why it would matter if it seizes.

[dollywobbler]

Why would you want a freewheel in your alternator pulley? Our C5 has one too and I can't work out why, or why it would matter if it seizes.

Gives more power under full throttle. Try turning an alternator by hand when the lights are on and you'll see how much difference it makes! Or, try driving without the alternator fitted. Done that a couple of times in the 2CV...

[Andrew353w]

The "boys in blue" around here use the Octavias, so if it's good enough for them...I drove one recently which managed over 130mph before my nerve gave out-seriously good stuff from the Czechs

[r.welfare]

I can see a £5k Panda being worth £3.5k - trade - after a year. The 50% drop comes, of course, from the pre-scrappage list price of £7k. It was the same with the old KA; list at £7k but all the Ford dealers round here banged 'em out at £4995. Year-old ones retailed on forecourts for a grand less, so the £3.5k trade bid gives your local dealer a £500 gross profit - that probably nets to 7/8ths of naff-all once VAT, prep and all the other malarkey is taken into account.Back to Octavias. I considered them for a while as a 405 replacement, but I think I'll probably get an old shape (i.e. warmed-over-Carina E) Avensis estate instead. We had quite a few faults on my wife's Fabia, and really from a daily driver all I want is trouble-free and cheap motoring. Due to a change in my employer's mileage policy, I don't really need a diesel any more, and the Avensis petrol engines seem pretty hardy/economical. However, I can see they are dull as hell...Funny that the 1.8T has been mentioned as being problematic; early problems with coil packs aside, I thought these were decently robust engines.

[UglyAmerican]

Funny that the 1.8T has been mentioned as being problematic; early problems with coil packs aside, I thought these were decently robust engines.

I should have been more specific about my basis for that. We had a lot of problems with them in the MkIV Jetta and Passat in the States. One note is that approximately 99.9999999% of cars here are sold as automatics, so that specific pairing of 1.8T and auto may have been the source of the problem.In any case I have to assume that most of the Octavias in the UK are diesels anyway?