heavymetalthunder

Just a further update (as I don't see a facility to edit my earlier post) I noticed that the head unit was losing my settings every time I switched off the car. In order to resolve this I ran two new cables to the fusebox, one from the yellow cable to a permanent live fuse and another from the red cable to a switched live fuse. That seems to have resolved things, the head unit switches off with the ignition and remembers my settings! Only minor issue now is the lack of dimming when the headlights are on - the wiring harness does not seem to have a cable for the illumination so I need to find somewhere to tap in to the orange/white striped cable out of the back of the HU. Does anybody have any suggestions? Perhaps somewhere on the heater control illumination?

Well for anybody wondering, I sorted it and all is working now. I needed to join the yellow switched power and red continuous power cables from the back of the head unit before it goes into the harness adapter. Glad it was something simple in the end!

Hi all, I'm having some trouble with getting my aftermarket head unit (Sony AX3005DB) working in my 2010 Octavia. I have a Quadlock to ISO wiring harness adapter, and connected the yellow cable to the fuse box (using a piggyback fuse holder to an ignition switched fuse) but there is no sign of life to the head unit. I have also tried swapping the red and yellow cables around but no luck. Is there something obvious that I'm missing, or any suggestions on what could be an issue? The car originally had a Bolero head unit and it's an SE model so just has the base sound system (no amplifiers as far as I'm aware). I attach some photos if they help. Thanks in advance.

Hi all, just purchased my first Skoda - a 2010 Octavia SE 1.4 TSi hatchback in arctic green! I needed something sensible/practical to replace my ageing BMW E46 330i Touring, and being a serial BMW owner (I also have a Z4 Roadster as a fun/weekend car) I was a bit reluctant to stray from the Bavarian camp but the Octavia seemed to tick all the boxes and I decided to pull the trigger! It's high mileage (157k) but seems to have been well looked after. I don't have any major plans apart from upgrading the audio system and looking for some different wheels (probably the 16" Elegance five spoke ones) as the current 15s look tiny and the tyre choice seems to be quite limited and more expensive than bigger wheels.

Just an update, I decided to go for the car! The A/C seemed pretty cold, although it was a fairly cool day when I saw it so I guess the real test will be when things warm up a bit! I couldn't notice any real heat from the wheels after a drive, rear discs look worn (and was actually an advisory on the MOT) but I suppose brakes are consumables. The rear tyres are budgets, they have about 5mm left but I'll be swapping them out for at least some decent mid range ones (probably Nexen N'Blue HD Plus to match the front). It's a fairly low spec car anyway - 15 inch alloys, basic 3 knob A/C, halogen headlights, cloth seats, standard steering wheel (not leather and no multifunction buttons) and no cruise control, plus the Bolero head unit with standard 8 speaker setup. I do have the audio system which I removed from my old car (Sony CarPlay double DIN head unit, Focal Polyglass component speakers and an Alpine subwoofer) so I will probably fit those if it's not too much of a headache as I do enjoy my music! I'll be getting my mechanic to service it ASAP and give the car a once over, so I'm sure if there is anything of concern he will mention. On that note, does anybody know the correct oil filter? If I put my reg into various sites I get two different (Bosch) part numbers - F 026 407 181 and F 026 407 183 - are they interchangeable? Or is there another brand preferred for these engines? And I'll be sure to post a welcome thread with pictures of my car as soon as I get a chance to take some decent photos of it! Thanks again for everybody's advice!

Thanks for the comments. I didn't notice any issues with the gears (In fact I thought the gear change was quite nice going up and down the box) and the bite on the clutch wasn't high or anything. The engine was cold when I saw it but I don't know exactly how long it had been since it was last started. Are those timing issues common on the 122ps CAXA engine? I don't recall seeing anything in the paperwork regarding chain replacement - a majority of the services were at a Skoda main dealer so I would have thought they would have done it if it was in the service schedule. Price wise the car is the cheapest facelift petrol engined one I've seen (it's under my £2.5k budget) and it does seem to have been well looked after so I'm thinking of going for it. To be honest there aren't any of the typical red flags like lots of previous owners in quick succession, and I suppose it's less likely to have been driven enthusiastically/abused compared to the higher powered/VRS models so hopefully I won't be taking too much of a risk!

Thanks for your response. I came across a 2010 car which happened to be fairly local so just got back from seeing it. It's on 157k but two previous owners (first had it from new to 2014, previous from 2014 to present before being traded in - being sold by a part time dealer). It looked to be in pretty good condition overall, mainly minor wear and tear and nothing of concern in the MOT history. It seemed to drive quite well too, no loud rattles or abnormal noises during the test drive (although being used to a 3.0 N/A straight six perhaps not quite as smooth!) It's been serviced annually but done around 16-20k a year - I've always gone with the 'annually or 10k whichever is sooner' mantra. There's lots of paperwork but couldn't see any mention of clutch replacement or anything relating to the turbo, water pump etc. So I suppose I'm just thinking if it's going to be a gamble - I could get a well used but decent car at a reasonable price due to the high mileage (I do less than 5k/year), or potentially have some big bills around the corner! Something to mull over...

Hi all, I'm currently looking for a new sensible daily and quite like the look of a mk2 Octavia. I've seen a couple of facelift hatchback models with the 1.4 TSi (manual gearbox) and just have a few queries: Would a higher mileage (130-150k) put you off? I've previously tended to have cars with large capacity N/A engines which will happily do over 150k, but should I be concerned with reliability of a smaller capacity turbo? I know these 122ps turbo versions are better regarded than the twincharger 1.4 TSi which have some well documented issues. I've seen a few reports of chain rattle when cold and conflicting advice on whether this is a characteristic of the engine or signs of trouble - any advice? Or specific things to look out for when viewing/test driving a car which could point to imminent issues? And would a towbar fitted be a cause for concern? I guess it depends on what the owner has been towing but probably additional wear/stress on the drivetrain? Thanks in advance!