Leaderboard

So I got my Octavia SE-L First Edition 2.0 150 HP TDI estate today. It came a lot quicker than anticipated (about two weeks I bought one that was already pre specced and being built but the dealer thought it would be a month to six weeks). I previously had a 105 HP Mk III facelift DSG hatchback and before that a similar original MK III hatchback. I have only had a chance to drive it 20 miles so far as yesterday it was horrible howling with rain and I had other things to do as well but here are my first impressions. Whilst I would have bought a 105HP version if there had been one in the new line up as I had been satisfied with that engine in my previous Octavias the 150HP engine is definitely nicer from an acceleration point of view. Not blistering obviously (ah fond memories of my old Saab 9-5 Aero with 250HP on tap, that was fast) but definitely a more willing power plant. Should be much better for overtaking on motorways. It also seems quieter, in fact the cabin is quieter altogether I'm not sure if its just better sound proofing or a general improvement in aerodynamics that's reducing wind noise. New DSG switch thing instead of a normal gear stick took only a few seconds to get used to. It definitely frees up space. I didn't really use the old version much to change gear just let the autobox do its thing but I gave the flappy paddles a go in the new one and they are better than doing it the old way. Might be fun for occasional "spirited driving" but that's not really what you buy this kind of car for. The sound system sounds better than the old one at first listen. Haven't played with the adjustments yet but listening to DAB radio I tried speech (radio 4 ) and some music and it definitely sounded better. I have heard a lot better in some cars but this is fine. The new seats are great. Very comfy but will need a long trip to properly evaluate. The electrically operated drivers seat is easy to use and set the memory on. Rear view camera with overlay of where the car is going is well implemented especially if like me you're a bit rubbish at reversing. The HuD is brilliant all cars should have it. I just had it on default settings but having the speed floating in front of you is excellent. Its sharp and non distracting. The virtual cockpit is OK. I like that you can have the nav instead of the dials. Also the dials are clearer than on the MK III facelift which were a bit rubbish in daytime mode (fine on a night though) who thought whit numerals on a white background was a good idea ! I need to play with this and get it setup how I like it. The new nav/infotainment system is a lot more complex than the old one. Its big and its clear and very customizable. |Feels like it will be good but its one of those thing that needs living with and using a lot before a verdict can be reached. Lack of manual switches for heating etc. I though this would be more annoying than it is. I tend to just set the cabin temp and leave it at that so you might feel different. There are enough manual buttons below the screen fro the important stuff such as defogging the windows so n first impressions I think its going to be fine. I use the steering column mounted controls for stereo volume anyway. Speaking of buttons and switches the ones under the infotainment system mentioned do feel a tad plasticy and cheap. Skoda could have done a better job with these. All the other ones elsewhere seem good. The shiny fake chrome door furniture definitely does produce flashes out of the corner of your eye even on a dull day like yesterday. This may get annoying, lets see. The rest of the materials on the inside seem a bit of s step up from the previous model. I hope they wear as well. Other than that its like every other Octavia I have driven or been in. Its not a luxury car but a sensible one and well specced for it price and in general thoughtfully laid out, easy to use and comfy with an enormous boot. The new exterior styling make sit look smart as well.

I wonder if Sainz is checking to see if his Ferrari contract has a 'get out' clause.

As none of the others stood out and had all of the features we wanted on a plug-in hybrid we went "safe" and bought the latest Yeti SE L Drive DSG we could find. I'll do a separate post with my findings.

SO... exactly just how much were Ferrari cheating last year please FIA? 2019 Grid 1-2 2020 Grid 13-14 not to mention all the Ferrari customers in grid slots 16-20... And they still get more money and a rules veto. Frankly, F1 survived the passing of dominant superteams from Alfa, Maserati, Vanwall, Lotus, Brabham and Tyrrell. It would go on without Ferrari too. Why should this bunch of cheats still get preferential treatment?

...and they still got the biggest payout in the newly signed Concorde agreement, and retained their stupid power of veto over the rules.

Windy very very windy thank goodness for pedal assist.

@AJAMESR I traded my last VRS in after just under 3 years and got some equity back for my new VRS. Previously I have jumped out a bit earlier but always aimed to break even. PCP is a strange thing. I was looking to get a qasqai for the wife (her choice not mine!) And the local dealer wanted £24k ish. Final payment after 3 years was around 12k. I found a broker offering the same car for 17.5k, with only a 7k payment. Theoretically you could buy that one and have a £12k car at the end. Sounds too good to be true. However if you hand it back youve paid the same as the £24k car deal anyway! Cars are like a utility bill for me, I pay a monthly fee, it should work and every now and then I have to switch providers. I know Im losing money the whole time, I know the alternatives are driving a car to work that I hate 🤣

I use a mixture of the 5E0 and 5L0 Skoda SD cards with my MIB1 Amundsen - both work fine. What I do is download the zip file onto my PC hard disk and unzip it there - that results in a folder called "markets" and a file called "DBinfo.txt", you just format the SD card (or delete all the files from it but format is quicker) and copy the folder AND the file to the SD card. If you've got a folder called "Maps" then I suspect you have downloaded the wrong map file for your MIB1 Amundsen.

@mrgf; I think you'll struggle to find anyone who can tell you this info. Using a piece of stiff fence wire may be a way to find out for yourself? Round/smooth the end off first so it doesn't catch on, or scratch anything. You'll hear and feel it arrive at the bottom of the sump, I think.

Yeah it did. This is with rear 15’s only... And now with 40mm H&R’s and 20 front and 25mm rear spacers

Looking for pics of yellow mk1 vrs. As in my opinion it's the best colour skoda did. Here is Mine. It is completely factory fresh.

Yeah, just cut them and join them with some appropriate connectors.

860's now. Thanks AG Falco

Mine sometimes goes around a bit before it engages and opens. The one thing I've always wanted is a locking petrol cap for it, so even if some thieving scumbag prises open the filler flap to steal the fuel, they're going to find a locked cap there.😈

Both are excellent for winter use or even all year depending where they are being used. ? What vehicle are they going on and in which country?

I'd say as a minimum you ask for the investigation by the dealer to be recorded against the car so if the front shocks fail you have a chance of getting it (and any knock on damage) repaired under warranty even if out of cover period.

Well, the front end looks rather like an Austin Atlantic, except the headlights are in the wrong place; but that three-wheeler rear end has me beat.

@Pullin76 twas good to meet you In fact a pretty good meet all round except I forgot to take any pre-meal photos but, here's the post meal photo sadly minus the Superbs

Corrected that for you 😃

Nah!! At 60 I declared I would start to grow old disgracefully, and if that includes playing silly games then let's go for it!! And the first thing I did was got my ear pierced.

Ferrari have obviously sorted out the 'crack' in Vettel's brain chassis as BOTH Ferrari's have been outstanding in practice at Spa. FP1 Ferrari's 14th & 15th FP2 15th & 17th FP3 17th & 20th (out of 20) On average they are running 1.5 - 2.0 seconds a lap slower than the lead car. Monza next weekend,I expect Ferrari are relieved that the tifosi won't be in the circuit.

Ferrari P17 and P20 in FP3. I don't think they've been this 5h1t since 1980's 312T5.

So 72000 miles then? Thats nothing, I bought a 3 year old Octavia that had done 188000 miles (my pal was a chauffeur) and over 13 years took it up to 325000 miles with zero problems, and I really mean zero.

Normal cruise control on the Mk3 was also on the top of the indicator stalk, but adaptive cruise control was a separate stalk.

Its all about the numbers. On PCP in the past I have traded in a car I own and it has been over the maximum deposit for the car I want. In three separate cases the dealer gave me a cheque back for the difference, I got £2.5k back in my hand for a volvo I traded in against my mk2 Leon. When it comes to your next car you can try and sell your old one private, Im not a fan but Ive done it. Or you can cut your loss and palm it onto one of the car buying places. I currently have an ex PCP that I bought at the end of the term and have 7k tied up in it. The value seems to be going nowhere and I estimate its straight sell value as just under 7.5k, forecourt price for worse is well over 9. I'll be looking to sell it in a few months and if I can get my 7k back I've had a car for free for a few months. Im looking at a lease next anyway so trade in isn't really an option. Lastly, if you are looking at the new Octavia, then I wouldnt worry about 500 quid here and there, the price of the new models are very high. The SE edition, with some extras is over £26k for a manual 1.5tsi. Best discount I've had so far is £2k off that, which makes it more expensive than my DSG 245 VRS was. Also, someone earlier was talking about discounts on cash buys, if you look at the deals the PCP is cheaper on paper because of the interest thats not included on the initial price. The key to getting that discount when buying outright is to take out the finance to get the PCP discount and then pay the finance off at the earliest opportunity! Also, another last thing, I've been the guy who has bought the first version of a new car and sworn I will never do it again. I paid SEAT a handsome price to be an unwilling beta tester on their mk3 leon. Im not doing that again, especially for an SE with the wrong engine and gearbox 🤣

Well the 7500 of the car belongs to the bank right now. Either way u need to pay that. If u trade in they settle it. If u sell privately u pay it. So the only value u have in the car is the difference in the 7500 & whatever u sell it for. You will always have money tied up in a car unless u can sell it privately for 12 or 11.5 & use the 4K to buy a nice little runaround. But that still leaves 4K tied up in a car. Id rather pay the bank the 7K final payment and have a car worth 12k rather than sell the car privately, and then buy a car for 4K that is worth 4K. Granted U’d be loan free but a 7K loan to own a 12K car is as good a deal as you’ll get. And what problems might a 4K car give u in unexpected repairs compared to a 12K relatively new car.

RARB + FARB will help reduce tyre wear, if you like blasting round fast roundabouts

Bit of crap caught in / under it maybe????

So u owe 7500 & I think u said above that u see them selling for 12,000. So that’s a decent bit of equity & about what I’d expect. So on trade in they are basically offering 10k. And that tracks as well. It’s a couple K less than selling private. So everything is adding up to about what I’d expect. Roughly. Selling private is a pain. I’ve had mine up for about 4weeks now & just this week have had 3 promising calls. On my side - I’m in no rush to sell. I have a work van, so if I sold today I wouldn’t be without transport. & there are no issues with the car, it is mint. So I have no worries about problems afterwards. Selling private is weird. Its all about timing & pure luck. U may post it for sale today & it coincides with some guy looking for exactly what ur selling the same day. Or u could be waiting months to get a bite. How unique is ur car? How unique is it locally? Can u make it more attractive by dropping price a bit below current market. How long can u go without a car? This gives u selling time which is what dealers have on their side that most private sellers don’t. Can u borrow a banger from a friend for a couple months if urs sells quick? That means u can put it up go sale way earlier than u actually need & just wait without any panic or pressure to sell for less than u want. if u got 11,500 - clear the 7,500 & u’ve hot 4K - 1500 up on the trade in. So is it worth 1500 to u to sell private. That’s the bottom line. But look at it this way. You can buy a car for 7500 right now that is costing everyone else 12K - that’s about exactly how PCP should work.

In my experience here in Ireland Id have to disagree with most of that. I have tried buying a car with no trade in - absolutely no discount offered. Walked out of 3 different dealers, fully called their bluff just looking for 1500 off a 40k car. None of them backed down. It seems most of them now make their money on selling you finance rather than a car🤷‍♂️ In fact in many places the cash price of a car is higher than the finance price 😂 And I have had 2 PCP Skoda cars. At end of each term I’ve had equity. In general I think Skoda calculates the GMV at about 35-40% of the starting price of the car (less options) So in order for ur car to have no equity it would need to lose over 60% value in that 3 years. I read recently that Skoda loses about 45% in that 3 years. So picking some round figures: Starting price, 30,000 - GMV: 11,100 - after 3 years car still worth about 15,000 @ 50% depreciation. it’s not in Skoda, the dealers or the finance companies interest for the GMV to be close to the trade value of the car. They want u to have at least 15% equity. That covers them if u hand it back, but more important encourages you to go again. My last PCP was amazing. 12,500 final payment for a 3 year old VRS. I can assure you they are selling for way more than that here in Ireland. On a trade in they will screw me quite a bit, but that has nothing to do with pcp or any other finance. That’s just trade in prices which is another topic. You overcome that by selling the car privately if u can. Also to consider, maybe higher trim & therefore more rare & sought after cars hold there value a bit better & sell easier on the other side. So a PCP contract may work slightly better on a higher trim car, but I’ve not compared. I can only go on my experience on my last 2 PCP deals. & id go PCP again without blinking an eye - as long as the GMV is set at below 40%. Some companies may raise it to bring down the monthly repayments but then you will have issues. U want GMV at close to 35% as u can get & no more than 40 & u should be fine. If it is higher than 40% then that means ur monthly will be very low & u could stick aside a balance every month to have something saved for the end of term. Either way the cost of the car doesn’t budge. If the car is costing 30k - it costs 30K whatever finance way u go about it. Higher monthly will mean lower final payment & more equity in car, low monthly will mean higher final payment & less equity - but due to the lower monthly u could save the extra ever month to allow for it.

...That it was. An old 1981, if memory serves. 4 door saloon, rather then 2 door or the hatchbacks, that were more popular. The handbrake cables went from left to right, right to left... Also, came up a very long way, by design. Had a bit of a disagreement with an MOT tester about that. He insisted two or three clicks was normal, mine was over raising. I had to teach him a lesson!

There's one or two issues that have been known to cause problems. Using a Mac to download and extract is the most well known issue but assuming you're using a Windows pc and from reading the information supplied in your post the problem could simply be that you've put the whole extracted folder onto the SD Card when in fact the only folder that should be copied onto the SD Card is the folder contained inside that one named " Maps ". Nothing else. Maybe that's the issue.

I hope it is a step towards reforming attitudes of road users who enforce ‘I, self, me and don’t care about anyone else’ and encourage folks to be more tolerant of others making errors. It adds another level of awareness to hazard perception of trained road users that ‘should’ make for a more cautious approach around other lesser trained people. I also hope that the most vulnerable the changes are designed to protect don’t grow overconfident and put themselves into situations that are inherently dangerous on the basis that if they get hurt, it’s the other persons fault. However, there will always be those who travel with a ‘just don’t care about you’ mentality and those are the people who are most aggressive towards others and most likely to overreact and give off at the first slight against themselves.

Any spelling mistakes are of course forgiven! Your English (and translated English) is much better than any of our Spanish!

There is a new field in profiles to add the car year as well. As I have.

I know I’m being fussy as I have my heart set on this colour and it’s the first time I’ve ever gone car shopping for a car in one specific colour and when it’s used that’s hard. I guess I don’t really want to flex my retrofit skills too hard this time as I want to keep that £ in my pocket as the car is going to be over double what the Octy has been provisionally sold for so I’m trying to get the car with the most options and right now that 1.4 stands out as it has almost all the right options and I have a lane assist camera for it already and the blind spot monitoring mirrors so I could do that and I drove a 1.4 today and it got up and went but I worry a few months in the novelty of the colour will wear off and I’ll want more oomph so I think I’m going to be firm and aim for a 2.0, preferably an MY18 or newer with the MIB2.5 (one less costly retrofit) and as much spec as I can get as I’m going to be good and be patient. I’m not fussy on body style, mileage, location, fuel type, front or four wheel drive or engine output as long as it’s one of the 2.0’s and it’s a DSG and a lot of other factors that would put a lot of other people off, but I am sold on this colour 100% and I know if I get one in a different colour that every time I see a Dragon Green one I’ll have to go off and have a little cry somewhere so I’m sticking to that.

cruise control, RNS 510 DAB, Nav , DVD etc, rear electric windows, self dipping mirror, centre armrest, under seat storage, bonnect struts, working side lights in headlights..........not sure which was "cheap" though ......underseat storage maybe...🤔

Get your Indy to take a photo showing the reason they believe the shocks to be faulty. Either take that to the main dealer or post it back here for a more informed response.

Black: Anthracite: Black badges: I actually think dark bronze wheels would look really good against meteor grey...

Another ex Saab 900 Turbo owner here (1992 Car) - didn't remember that ..... but then of course remembered yours must have been one of the earlier ones with the handbrake operating on the front wheels.

On the motorway, exactly the same as you

Tyre puncture foam, is the work of Satan. Use it and a repairable puncture becomes irreparable and a new tyre is required. The bloody stuff should be banned.

As a Chartered Electrical Engineer since 1988 I have to say that any claim that you can make a live connection/disconnection without generating a spark is probably made by someone who also sells snake oil.

The 1.8T will indeed fit but you really need the 2.0 to start with, however there's a problem, the bellhousing is so shallow that fitting a decent clutch in it is almost impossible without getting a custom unit made at vast expense, the standard clutch can barely hold the torque of the 2.0, let alone a 1.8T. There is no bolt-on performance for that 1.4, just drive it and spend your money on petrol instead.

Thank you

Rang the local Exeter garage and was told that it is not possible to alter the height of the brake pedal. It was the receptionist, not one of the mechanics, but I got the impression it's been asked before. I solved the problem by cutting up some left over carpet offcuts to fit EXACTLY under the driver's mat (the optional extra, not the main one!). Needs to be a precision cut to make sure it doesn't slide about. Needed three layers to raise the level about an inch (2.54cm) but it has worked well and driving is now so much more comfortable. Thought anyone having the same problem might find this idea helpful.

To cut a long story short - some folk love the feature, while others find it does not perform as well as a competent driver. I think your comment above alludes to a concern that the auto system cannot anticipate the road ahead as well as you can. You are correct

I went to look at a yeti and ended up with fabia! Now looking to get a yeti ... just can’t part with fabia. It’s been reliable, comfortable to drive, good handling, I have the green so lots of compliments, but the practical yeti is screaming out to me. I have three dogs and they are banned from the fabia, I bought a smart car from them to go in instead. I ideally just need a practical family car instead of running two cars.