Sken_80

Hi Everyone!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK AND HELP OVER THE LAST 24 HRS!!! I am really grateful, every single post helped me making a more informed decision. I brought the car to the lovely mechanics at West6 Auto Centre in Hammersmith. They charged me £144 to do a proper check up on the car. They ran it through the standard MOT checks, then went into detail trying to find any possible fault. They then connected an electronic machine (apparently it costs 40K and is much better than the VAG test, giving full info and diagnosis on every aspect on the car) Then they put it through a test drive. The inspection mechanic said the car is very clean, mechanically in superb condition. No oil spillages, very solid engine, no problem whatsoever. The electronic test only reported the Aircon Compressor not switching on, everything else ok On test driving it, the mechanic said it drives and handles really well, the only thing being a slightly bumpy clutch, probably the clutch plate, not necessarily the Flywheel. So, based on the above, and based on the fact that in the UK the days when we really need aircon are limited, I decided to accept the £1k back from the dealer and keep the car. The said the first and most important thing to do is to change the timing belt as we don't know when it was last changed... Then they quoted me £610 for a full service with all filters, plus timing belt. They said unless worn the other belts do not necessarily need changing... If I want to fix the aircon it will be in the region of £600 (most likely compressor fault)... frankly I prefer to spend that money on a service and be a little hot during the summer... `once again, thank you so much for all your help, I'll let you know how it goes with this car! All the best, Vasken

Guys, seriously impressed with all the wise advice. I keep going from one side to the other on whether to keep the car or not. So I took it for a proper test ride an hour ago, night tielme London with empty roads is a lot better :)The car accelerates, breaks and steers incredibly well. The clutch seems to be fine too, maybe slightly hesitant on biting point but i have a feeling it will go on for a while if used with care. No noises at all except a very slight hi pitched whistling squeak when the engine is revving freely after accelerating and then the gas is released. I can hear it when shifting to lower gears or when revving from idle. Maybe the belts need doing? The gearbox feels silky smooth. On lifting the engine cover, I can see "bxe recon" written on the engine with a marker, anyone knows what it means? Maybe it's been reconditioned at some stage?After reading the last couple of comments I am now inclined on keeping the car, provided the mechanic tomorrow gives me the go-ahead. My current view is that we can go on speculating forever but at the end of the day the car looks and drives spot on, and when driving it the impression is that you are driving a nice well kept modern car, not a rotten ex police one...Let's see what happens tomorrow... in the meanwhile thanks to everyone for the valuable advise!

Thanks to everyone for the precious advice.The general consensus is that I should return the car and get refunded, and that's most likely what I will do, unless the mechanic recommeds i keep it after checking it tomorrow. One thing I hadn't mentioned isbthat it is the estate model. A lot of people are saying there's plenty availability on the second hand market, but I have a feeling estate octavias are more rare. I Know the rear bench would have been removed when converted to police car so I'm not too bothered by who's been in the car.... the car doesn't smell bad or anything, it looks and feels good. I'm just concerned of expensive problems that may show up in the future...Thanks again for all the advice and I'll keep you posted on what happensVasken

Thanks for all the advice, it really helps! It appears that the majority of people would just return the car to be on the safe side. Apparently ex police cars, when bought completely blindly at auctions, sell for about a third of the market value... I wouldn't call this one a blind buy as I got a chance to test it and see that it drives well... and bring it to the mechanic too... so I'll see what the mechanic says. If he confirms the car is spot on I'll probably keep it and use it, otherwise I'll return it and get a refund. One point is how much better is the facelift 2009 model compared to the pre-face lift 2005 version? Thanks again for all your help! Vasken

I already phoned up Skoda UK, no track of Dealer ID 847874 and no record of that car being previously serviced by Skoda. But that's not a massive issue as police service their cars regularly and using their own internal mechanics. So I do know that the car has been serviced regularly, maybe not exactly as recommended by Skoda, but nevertheless regularly. About future services, is there a way to do these ourselves or does the car have to go into a dealer every time? I was thinking of doing fluid & filters myself, and have the dealer do the belts. Am I daydreaming?

Thanks Mikey, yes I'd definitely say the service history has been made up. Dealer stamp i.d. does not come up. However as I said, being ex Police it would have been serviced by the police. Then whoever bought it in February 2013 (the guy that gave it in as part exchange to the Subaru Dealer) had the great idea of making up this service history. Alternatively the dealer made it up himself. Either way the car would have been serviced by the police. It drives great, my only concerns are: - Flywheel / slight beating on the clutch pedal only when you start pressing the clutch... maybe it has thousands of miles left in it if driven properly? - Aircon - if the comp is gone it's expensive.... I might consider keeping it without aircon, once the summer's gone it's not really needed I suppose? - Turbo / is there a way of checking if this is working perfectly or not? When would it make noises on accelerating I supposes? And what would the noises be like, whistles/whines? As I said, bodywork outside is close to excellent (looks brand new) and I forgot to say it's the estate SE model.... Thanks again for the advices, keep them coming as they really help with the decision

Thanks George, I do appreciate your advice but disagree with part of it. People I know know as much about cars as we know about women makeup I highly rate the opinion of members of this forum as long as we don't go off topic.... everybody here drives a skoda, it's true that without seeing the car one can only give an guessed opinion... but it's still an opinion I highly regard for the above reasons. I'll evaluate this, together with the mechanic opinion... and hopefully make the best decision! Thanks for confirming that getting a proper inspection is the next step top take, I've booked it in for tomorrow morning Cheers vasken

Thank you so much for the prompt replies guys, much appreciated! I do understand that the easiest thing would be to take the car back and walk away... however there are a couple of things to consider: - the car does drive (accelerate, steers, breaks) really well. - it has long tax and long MOT (issued by the dealer where I bought it...) - judging from the forums I read, a lot of Octavias do develop faults like flywheel, aircon etc even if they are genuine models with full service etc. - this car will have been serviced by the police, I'd be surprised if any police cars wouldn't get proper service I phoned a local mechanic who offered to do a full roadworthiness test and VAG diagnosis, and confirm weather the car needs just re-gassing or a new compressor tomorrow afternoon. Don't you think it's worth to do this before deciding to take the car back? I think if I bought the car for £3500 (it's the 2009 facelift model) it would be a great price as they usually go for 6K+ Any thoughts? Cheers, Vasken

Hi guys! I am new to the Octavia, having just purchased one. I am posting this as I would like as many opinion as possible.... once you read the curious story of my Ocatvia Purchase below: - Octavia MK2 2009 Facelift, 123000 miles, 1.9 TD PD engine. - The car was bought on Ebay, the seller being the "reputable" Subaru dealer in South Woodford, East London, with good 100+ feedback on second hand car sales. - I won the car for £5133... went to collect it, noticed the interior was quite a bit more scuffed up than described, dealer offered £600 discount... bought car for £4500 an happily drove home. - The day after: took car to local mechanic to re-assess and confirm purchase. Mechanic quickly drove it, said it drives ok, then spotted potential problem with flywheel. When starting to press the pedal I can feel some thumping on my foot, that disappears when pedal is fully pressed or depressed. is this normal? Should I be concerned the flywheel needs doing soon? - The dealer then asked me to look at service history. BIG SURPRISE! It turns out it's most likely fake. The same hand wrote all the numbers, no trace of the dealer ID on the stamp (made up stamp???). No record on the Skoda Electronic system of any service carried out for that car. Service history pictures attached FYC - I phone up the dealer and complain about that, he says he has no idea and can't trace the service centre either. - More discoveries: Upon another inspection to the car I notice a sticker on the side by a company that carried out the "conversion". It turns out the car was a police vehicle. Not a response car but.... a Prison Car so the rear seats were taken off to fit a plastic moulded bench, the rear windows (still) disabled, no mods to the dashboard and no light at the top. No wonders it's got a few rips and scratches on the roof at the back - Phone up the dealer again, asked him to refund and come take his car back. In alternatively I would accept a refund of £1K. the dealer phoned me back after a while with the following option: 1) He picks up the car and issue a full refund for the price paid 2) He will refund the £1K on the condition that I will write a letter/email stating that should I find anything else wrong with the car he is clear of all responsibilities. Here are my questions: ... bearing in mind the car would have been )more or less) serviced while being with the police, and the fact that I do like the car (it looks great from the outside and on the inside it's not too bad, a couple of rips but nothing major) 1) What major thing could possibly go wrong with the car considering it drives pretty well right now and fuel consumption is great? 2) Should I accept the £1K back and take it in for a major service (£700 at skoda main dealer for the following). That would be for Oil, Air and Fuel filters (249) Cambelts (349), water pump (100). Do definitely think all this is necessary or do you recommend anything else? 3) Is there any way to have the above service done cheaper at a local garage or is it best to bring to skoda and fork out the big bucks? Can these car be self serviced at all? I am relatively handy and have quite a few wrenches/tools 4) Air con doesn't blow cold air, is it just a matter of re-gassing? how much will this cost? 5) I don't suppose anyone knows how they disable the rear windows on police prison cars, and how can these be re-enabled? It seems to be mechanical as when I press the switch it seems like the window wants to open (it makes a little clicking sound) but it can't Any more feedback, comments and suggestions welcome! Thank you so much for your help, it is absolutely crucial in these situations.... Vasken