gnaklers

@ApertureS Thanks for answer. This is what they wrote: I don't know about the torque increase, but if it's something which truly increases the durability, perhaps it's worth it. On the other hand, there also possibility this is just some marketing BS. That is the reason why I'm looking for recommendation from other users with more experience than myself. Thanks

Hi 👋 Update 2 years later. I managed to get Skoda to acknowledge it was a factory defect (Skoda initially claimed I had had the car repainted!). At the same time they informed me that those bubble were not caused by rust, so it would not get worse with time. Needless to say, they refused to fix it. At this point I decided to stop wasting time with them. Two years later I can confirm it has not got any worse, so most likely those bubbles were there from day 1. The lesson learnt is to check very careful the day you pick a new car from the dealer's salon, as there may be hidden surprises. Some detailing workshops will agree to accompany you and inspect the car for you for small fee or for free if you purchase some of their services, like wax or ceramic coating. Cheers

Hi 👋 I need to replace the clutch, and I'm wondering if it's worth using a Sachs Performance upgrade instead of standard Sachs clutch kit for my Octavia 1.5 TSI. I had to contact Sachs because for some reason (they didn't specify) they don't have a ready-kit for the Octavia 1.5 TSI. Instead, it needs to be custom-made. It's based off the standard "3000 970 130" Sachs clutch kit, but modified for increased 15% performance. 1-1 compatibility, no need for flywheel replacement. The price they gave me is 370EUR + VAT (about twice the standard "3000 970 130" Sachs clutch kit). My car is currently not remapped, although I'm no discarding doing Stage 1 in the future. I'd appreciate any opinions on the subject. Thanks!

Hey, good for you.. Problem is, it's my original dealer where I initially went with my warranty claim, and they dismissed it claiming I had had the car repainted Thin chance they will agree to pay a bill after pulling that...

Hi, Another update after a long time My claim to Skoda's Customer Services in Poland was pretty much ignored. Initially they wrote back they would contact me back within 14 days.. After a few months of waiting, I contacted them to remind them, and they told me the only way to submit a warranty claim was through some authorized center. So I was back to the starting point :/ So I did that, I found a different authorized center not far away from my home and started the claim process from zero. Initially, it went pretty well. The people who checked those "bubbles" were surprised that my original authorized center rejected my warranty claim. They prepared all the documentation and sent it to Skoda in order to accept the costs for the repair. The new warranty claim process took a very long time. Skoda would take long time to respond, and rejected the documentation several times based on different technicalities about the documentation format, so I had to go back several times to have new photos taken etc. In the end, once Skoda had no more arguments to reject the documentation, they decided that the bubbles were not caused due to corrosion. Instead, they claim they are made of some sort of air/gas bubbles trapped while applying some sort of bitumen protection layer in the factory. They claim these are completely harmless and, needless to say, the warranty claim was rejected. Those bubbles are to stay as they are :| Due to the amount of time, effort and stress put so far, I'm really temted to just let it go and just cover the eventual repair. I guess that is their plan anyway.. sad. What else can I do? Cheers, Juan

I have submitted a claim to Skoda's customer services in Poland.

I'm pretty sure those bubbles weren't there when I picked the car at the salon. If you take a look at the close-up pictures I posted earlier, those bubbles have a shiny metal-ish color. I have no idea what exactly they are, but they definitely seem to come from underneath the paint. I was at a bodywork shop asking for opinions, and they told me they had never seen anything like this

I found some a car appraiser centre part of some official motor association where they can prepare a written report about the car's paint, but it's not exactly cheap. I'm wondering if it's worth or I'm just wasting more time and money. I don't have the impression that Skoda is willing to pay for any report.

I just came back from my dealer, where they performed the additional PTG tests. Their conclusion is that the car's been painted. Literally (but translated): "Secondary rear mudguards in the vehicle have been found to be painted. The thickness of the varnish surface on the rear edges of the wheel arches around 140 microns" Needless to say, they are not planning to cover for any repairs.

Hi, Today I noticed some suspicious bubbles while cleaning my 2 years old Octavia. They don't seem to be caused by rust (they are hard) but they seem suspicious nonetheless. Thoughts?

Hi, Does anyone have and also recommend the original Skoda roof bars 5E5071126 -> https://www.theskodashop.co.uk/products/skoda-octavia-iii-hatchback-2015-to-5e5071126 I'm asking because they seem reasonable well priced - about half what Thule counterparts cost. Also, each foot uses the 2 mounting points on each door, whereas the Thule's mounting kit 145011 uses only 1 mounting point. I don't know if that makes a great difference, but it makes me think that the original roof bars are better suited. Thoughts?