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Should I buy an Octavia III or fix my Octavia II?


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Gents,

 

I am in need of your sagely counsel! I have a 2005 2.0TDi Elegance with 135000 miles on the clock. I have owned it for about 6 years and it has been superb and owes me nothing.

 

In the past few months there have been a number of repairs needed: throttle flap, CV boots, sticking turbo vanes & glow plugs. I now have a knocking noise from the front suspension which looks like it might be the control arm bushes and the air con has a slow leak as well as the cooling being slow to start (sounds like compressor valve).

 

My question is: should I cut my losses and buy a newer Octavia or should I fix my existing one? I reckon I can repair the suspension and air con for about £500. A newer low mileage 2.0TDi Elegance Mk III is about £10k but I am concerned about the DPF problems that people are reporting with the later engines.

 

Any thoughts? Thanks.

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Having owned two MkII's and now driving a MkIII the MkII was the superior car.

 

Sure it looks less modern, has less technology but was better screwed together, felt more solid and wasn't strangled by intrusive emission reduction systems.

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Yes I should have said that my driving profile is low annual mileage ~5000 miles. This is a mix of local urban driving with several longer higher speed journeys every month. I am not sure whether this is good for the DPF regen or not.

 

Perhaps I should look for the latest, lowest mileage Mk II without a DPF. Was the BKD the last 2.0TDi with no DPF? What is the latest registration to have this engine?

 

Thanks.

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Yes I should have said that my driving profile is low annual mileage ~5000 miles. This is a mix of local urban driving with several longer higher speed journeys every month. I am not sure whether this is good for the DPF regen or not.

 

Perhaps I should look for the latest, lowest mileage Mk II without a DPF. Was the BKD the last 2.0TDi with no DPF? What is the latest registration to have this engine?

 

Thanks.

 

 

5k?    Get a petrol mate to be honest.

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To summarise:

 


! I have a 2005 2.0TDi Elegance, it  owes me nothing.

 

 

 I reckon I can repair the suspension and air con for about £500.

A newer low mileage 2.0TDi Elegance Mk III is about £10k

 

 


So, £500 to repair a car that owes you nothing. Or a new car that owes you £10k? Would hate to have you as a financial advisor :D :D :D:rofl: :rofl:

Stick with what you know, spend £500 repairing it and go have a great holiday with part of the 10k you saved ;)

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I think I've become addicted to the stunning fuel economy and the awesome torque. The petrol may make more sense but I still love the diesel ;-)

My mkIII Scout seems to give me 5-10mpg more than my old mkII 4x4.

You don't have a dpf, so as long as the car does what you need keep it. I would imagine freshening up the suspension will make a big difference. My old one really needed new rear shocks when I got rid of it.

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Gents,

 

I am in need of your sagely counsel! I have a 2005 2.0TDi Elegance with 135000 miles on the clock. I have owned it for about 6 years and it has been superb and owes me nothing.

 

In the past few months there have been a number of repairs needed: throttle flap, CV boots, sticking turbo vanes & glow plugs. I now have a knocking noise from the front suspension which looks like it might be the control arm bushes and the air con has a slow leak as well as the cooling being slow to start (sounds like compressor valve).

 

My question is: should I cut my losses and buy a newer Octavia or should I fix my existing one? I reckon I can repair the suspension and air con for about £500. A newer low mileage 2.0TDi Elegance Mk III is about £10k but I am concerned about the DPF problems that people are reporting with the later engines.

 

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Have you been in a mk 3 yet i had one at work as a hire car and hated how it has a realy low roof pitch over the driver and passenger i kept hitting my head when i was getting in and out it was much lower than the the mk2 so i got rid of it for a new seat leon and that was exactly the same if you are 6ft or over its a real issue,

 

I would stick with what you know you could buy a newer mk2 but still get problems and issues with that . 

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To summarise:

 

 

So, £500 to repair a car that owes you nothing. Or a new car that owes you £10k? Would hate to have you as a financial advisor :D :D :D:rofl: :rofl:

Stick with what you know, spend £500 repairing it and go have a great holiday with part of the 10k you saved ;)

Although I agree with you, if everyone took that advice no new cars would be sold and the supply of used cars would disappear!

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robt100, whilst I agree with you from a financial perspective, what I don't want is unreliability. I tend to keep my cars for a long time so a car in good condition with low miles will stay like that. I bought my current Octavia with high miles and a few battle scars, neither of which I can do much about. In many ways I would like one in better condition with low miles.

 

I suspect that I'll take advantage of the ECP 30% discount this weekend and go with old faithful ;-)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I went and sat in a Mk III Octavia at the dealer today and the driving position seems quite different. The seats weren't as comfortable either. I have started fixing up my existing ride but I am struggling to identify exactly what is clunking in the suspension. I've stripped it twice now and all the bushes and ball joints appear OK. I don't want to start replacing parts just in the hope of fixing it. I'll have to make further enquiries to find out what else to look at.

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I went and sat in a Mk III Octavia at the dealer today and the driving position seems quite different. The seats weren't as comfortable either. I have started fixing up my existing ride but I am struggling to identify exactly what is clunking in the suspension. I've stripped it twice now and all the bushes and ball joints appear OK. I don't want to start replacing parts just in the hope of fixing it. I'll have to make further enquiries to find out what else to look at.

Have you checked the strut tops?

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Fix it! Check your arb drop links. Regas your a/c in the spring for £35, probably will last the summer, then regas the following year....

Cheap motoring youve sorted most of it.

Edited by xman
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I think I've become addicted to the stunning fuel economy and the awesome torque. The petrol may make more sense but I still love the diesel ;-)

I run a 62 petrol Vrs and 13 diesel Vrs and if you do less than 10000 miles its cost nuetral, but the petrol is much the better car.

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I think I've become addicted to the stunning fuel economy and the awesome torque. The petrol may make more sense but I still love the diesel ;-)

turbo petrol will give good economy and torque.  Even better if remapped.  My 1.8tsi with a cheap Bluefin gives ~135-140kw and 300+ Nm of torque.  It's an effortless drive.  I'd recomend one except the later 1.8tsi have some timing chain issues.

 

You could always get a late model (2012 / 2013) MK2 vRS or one of the 1.4tsi variants.  7 years newer but depreciated like crazy.

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Interesting thread guys, thanks for the input. I'm in no hurry to change mine, especially after just forking out ~£1200 for B12+parts, new rear hub/sensor, and labour! That's not even forgetting the £1500 I spent earlier on an MFSW, maxidot (still to fit), new sump pan, new intake manifold and a carbon buildup removal (that I did myself).

Lots of money spent, but no regrets :) I was looking at getting a mk3 in a couple of years but now I'm not too sure! Maybe by then the prices will have dropped, or I could just look at a golf GTI instead :D

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  • 4 months later...
On 10/7/2016 at 21:20, silver1011 said:

Having owned two MkII's and now driving a MkIII the MkII was the superior car.

 

Sure it looks less modern, has less technology but was better screwed together, felt more solid and wasn't strangled by intrusive emission reduction systems.

 

Interested to hear this opinion as I was surprisingly unimpressed by the Mk3's quality when I test drove one last year.  And new ones are quite expensive when you look at the "true" cost. 

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Another thumbs up for the mk11 AND non dpf diesel, I said on here before I have 2 1.9 tdi cars both I would like to run as long as financially viable then I think it will be time to look long and hard at all manufacturers offerings tbh reading through the Fabia 111, octavia 111 rapid and spaceback forum posts the ' modern ' skoda isn't held in the same regard either build wise or value for money

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In a similar boat, but for me, waterpump and cambelt only just needs doing, and at the same time B6's fitted in all four courners as front ns is starting to leak. a couple of retrofits done and to do. I'll proabably spend close to 1500 in the next couple of months, but offset that against the cost of a replacement on a reliable motor. Must agree with several above, keep and fix.

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Id keep and freshen up the MK2, I'm now on my second Mk2; My first was 2007 2.0 tdi elegance (BKD engine) i loved it. Not very powerful (148bhp) but the torque it produced was brilliant.

 

Now on a 2010 1.8tsi L&k, love the power (160bhp) but miss the torque of the diesel, the build quality and spec of both are brilliant and more then meets my needs.

 

Did look at few MK3's but the quality and value just isn't there for me.

Stick with the MK2.

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A newer car will cost you ~£2000 in depreciation a year, makes £500 a bargain! I kept my 16yr old megane going for an extra few years with that logic and it was well worth it. Give it 3 more yrs and plug in hybrids should be a better option and ideal for your kind of driving.

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