rangor_g

Car is back from my local garage and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. The mechanic said the prop shaft coupler looks fine, and i had a look too and it does look ok (photo attached). There are some tears but otherwise looks fine. It's booked in for a haldex service in Jan. Hopefully that will resolve it. For the past two weeks the car has been driving fine with no juddering or issues moving from stationary.

Its done 113K miles.

Right-o, in that case I'll pop into my local garage this week and see if they'll jack it up to have a quick look. Haldex oil and filter was last done in Jan 2020, just after i bought the car. I've done about 20K miles since then.

I wondered if it was an issue with the clutch, or Dual mass fly wheel? Our C-max had something a bit similar that turned out was a knackered DMF.

@Rooted, i have no idea. But i have booked it into the local independent garage in a couple of weeks to investigate the issue, so i will ask them to check it.

hi all, My 2015 Octavia Scout has started vibrating at higher speeds. The vibration is constant at about 70 mph, but only seems to occur when the car is heavily loaded. By heavily loaded, i mean a boot full of suitcases, two kids in the back, two adults in the front. The vibration can be felt through the footwell and feels like the whole car is shaking. The other thing that is occurring is that the car is juddering sometimes after engaging the gear when releasing the clutch to accelerate from stationary or slow speeds - it feels like there isn't enough power to get the car moving. Again, this only seems to be happening when the car is heavily loaded. When i drove to work this morning with only me in the car, there was no vibration or juddering. Last week the car had a tyre puncture repaired, so i initially thought the vibration was due to the wheel being unbalanced, but now i know its only happening under heavy load it seems something else is causing it. Any suggestions? Many thanks

My 2015 Octavia Scout has something very similar. I'm going to post a new thread on it.

An update: My local garage has replaced the thermostat, and now the engine is warming up in 10-15 min and sticking to 90 degrees as it used to. However, i only got to drive it once before i got a warning on the dashboard telling me to check coolant level. It had dropped to below the minimum. Fine, perhaps a bit of an airlock that had cleared after the new thermostat had been put in. But, I also noticed that the coolant is thick and black. It looks extremely oily. So, is this the oil cooler leaking oil into the coolant? or something worse? One independent VW garage i spoke with said it could be a head gasket problem? Doesn't sound good. I'm going to book it back into my local garage for them to replace the oil cooler and flush the system.

Mine's only just had a new water pump and belt fitted. Where did you find the diagram you posted?

No its not got a DSG

My local garage has quote £240 (incl. VAT) to replace the thermostat. Seems a bit steep. They say its less than hours work but the VAG thermostat only comes with housing and the whole thing is expensive (i guess around £150). Can anyone advise on non-VAG parts? Any other brands i should look out for or avoid? This is for a 2015 octavia mk3 Scout (so 4x4) 2.0 diesel manual.

thanks for the suggestion (i wondered if something like that might have happened). If that is the case, it doesn't seem like a major problem. I guess i can stop worrying about it.

hi, Not sure if i should be concerned about something I've noticed my 2015 mk3 Scout doing recently. A few weeks ago i noticed that the coolant temperature dial behaving a little odd. It took a very long time (~20 minutes) to come up to 90 degrees, and while it was warming up the temp would go up and then down again. After around 20 min it settled in its usual place at 90 degrees C. I've had the car for 2 years and in all that time the coolant temperature has always come up to temperature very quickly and then sticks solidly at 89-90 degrees. Now everytime the car starts from cold it takes around 15 - 20 min to come up to temperature. I'm pretty sure it used to take no more than 5 minutes. Some more info. Back in June, the water pump failed (after only 2 years!) and the coolant got pretty hot (although in the red zone) before i could turn the car off. I had a new water pump and cam belt done. The garage that repaired it said that the water pump had a small plastic bit broken off. They tried to find it in the pipework but couldn't - so presumably its in their somewhere! They showed me the fins of the pump and there was a little piece missing around 1 cm large. Should i worry about it?! Could that bit of plastic be blocking something and be the cause of the coolant temperature taking a while to come to temperature? Could the time when the coolant got extremely hot have damaged another part that may the cause of the coolant temperature slow rise? Any suggestions welcome.

Orded the blue one. Picking it up tomorrow. The garage agreed to sort out the cambelt and water pump (using skoda parts). They've checked the coolant reservoir and say that there is no 'mit silikan' on this one. Seems a bit strange as other 2015 octavia scouts seem to have it, but I'll check again when i pick up the car. Will book it in for a haldex full service next week and gear box oil and filter change while I'm at it. Also want a tow bar fitted. Can any one recommend a VAG specialist in Kent? Thanks for everyone's input on this thread and elsewhere. It's great to have access to a whole load of knowledge and experience from other skoda drivers.

just found another white scout, identical spec and age to previous ones I've looked. It's a couple of hundred pounds cheaper but has needed mechanical repairs. Its another ex lease car, same company the other white one I've looked at. It's just had two new shock absorbers on the front (they were leaking in previous MOTs), new cambelt and water pump. According to the sales guy its "currently having its rear differential rebuilt as it was making some noise". The sales guy sounded very open and honest and happily gave me the info on the car's condition, visual and mechanical. He says the exterior and interior are pristine, but needing new shocks, new rear bearings, and rebuilding the differential (I'm not exactly clear what this means) sounds like its been over some big bumps or something.

Good point OBS. Is there any way to find out online from number plate alone? The HPI checker i used gave me engine number, and i can see CO2 emissions, but nothing on ULEZ. It's a major concern for me as I don't plan to drive into london any time soon. But if the same rules start being applied to other cities in future then might become a bit more important. I was also wondering how serious the 'mit-silikan' silicone tea bag issue is for Skodas. I didn't know about it when i went to see the cars so did not check for the stamp on the reservoir.

White one with the rust chips has had a new windscreen at some point. I spotted it wasn't original when looking around the car, and on the MOT history shows it failed due to windscreen a couple of years ago.

Mileage on both is around 90K miles Colour of first is white (or "candy" according to skoda), second is blue. Spec on both seems to be about the same as far as i can tell. Differences are: white has cage between boot and back seat, off-road mode, some pump thing instead of a spare wheel and empty spaces where some other pieces of wheel repair bits should be Blue has spare wheel under floor in boot. The white one with rust on the bonnet there are small bits around 3 mm x 1mm (2 or 3 of those), plus lots of tiny specs on the roof. These are like pin pricks. There is also some scrapping visible on the pillars between the passenger side windows. Looks like its been driven a bit close to some tough hedges. There's moss and algae on some of the joins between metal and rubber trim, also around the boot hinges. It seems like it has been driving much for a while. The body work on the blue is excellent, without any noticable marks other than a couple of small chips on the bonnet which haven't gone through the colour layer. I'm in no major rush to buy, but its hard to think why not buy one of these cars as both seem good value. There are not that many scouts for sale. I could wait, but may not find a better option.

Thanks ScoutCJB. Sounds like a great purchase. The first car I looked I found a print out of the service history in the glove box, which is I think the only way i got to see it. The sales guy said he normally removes these things. As i'd already seen it he was happy for me to look at it again in more detail. I'm not sure he would have been so forthcoming if i hadn't already seen a copy in the glovebox.

An update: first car. Ex-lease car. They have dropped the price a bit, and have offered to do the cambelt and water pump before I buy it, but they would then add some of the cost of that back on. Basically it works out that they knocked off £600 from the orginal price, then add another £200 to do the cambelt and water pump. Pretty good deal I think. Cons: rusted chips on the bonnet and roof, fairly corroded outer edge of disk brakes, missing spare wheel, I'm less keen on the colour. Pros: has Off-road mode, more details in service record. Second car. 1 private owner. They have agreed to do the cambelt and water pump before selling to me, included in the price. Cons: No Off-Road mode, serviced history only has dates and that it was done by Skoda up to 2020. Bit of a large gap in servicing between 2018 and 2020 which is 30K miles. Pros: I prefer the colour of this one, the body work is in better condition, has a spare wheel, brakes have much less corrosion on outer edges. After negotiating with the sellers both cars are now at hte same price and include new cambelt and water pump. both come with 3 month warranty. Both 2015 (although 1st car slightly newer as has Off-Road mode), same mileage.

Thanks for your input everyone. Really helpful. The condition of both cars looks pretty good, especially the second one i viewed. Regarding engaging Off-Road Mode, i noticed that the first car i test drove did have this option, but the second car did not. The only drive modes available were eco, normal, and sport (I think), and then custom. Both cars are 2015 plates, but presumably the one without the Off-Road mode is slightly older and just before that option was added. Anyone know if an update can get the Off-Road mode added or if it is worth it?

crazy. somebody somewhere has not thought this through....

Yeah it does seem a bit silly. More likely just an excuse to share as little information as possible with the buyer. I'll ask again. I'm not buying a car without seeing its service history.

Hi e-roottoot Many thanks for the tips. I saw and test drove the two cars yesterday. Gave them a thorough (layman's) inspection. Both seem good, apart from a glaring hole in the service history of both cars. First car: ex-lease Lease Plan Uk ltd. I saw the paperwork of the servicing. The usual stuff done, including oil change on haldex at 58K miles in 2018. There's a note about recall 90k1, but I'm not sure what that is. But no evidence of servicing since 2018. No evidence that the cambelt and water pump has been done. Dual mass fly wheel replaced in 2019. There are a few small chips on the bonnet that have rust showing, and a couple more with visible metal (no rust) I found tiny rust spots on the roof. The rust can be wiped off, but a minuscule spot remained in the centre. Brake discs had quite a bit of corrosion on the outer edges. Second car: Previous owner was a private owner. According to the sales garage the service history is all digital and they can't show me any details, just give me dates of servicing. Is this normal? Why can't they print out the service record for me? It was serviced by Skoda at 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. In 2020 the sales garage gave it a check and put in new oil, filters (pollen, oil, diesel). After viewing the car I went to speak with Skoda to ask if they can give me more info on the car's service history. They were very helpful. They have no record of a service between 2018 and now (around 30K miles). No evidence of a cambelt and water pump change. So unless the sales garage can provide evidence that the car was serviced in 2019 or 2020, and that the cambelt and water pump was done, I have to assume it wasn't.

Hello Octavia experts, My trusty 15 year old avensis has finally got to the state of not worth me repairing it. :( I'm going car shopping tomorrow and will be test driving two octavia scouts, both 2015, 148 BHP, one with about 80K miles, the other about 90K. I know one is an ex-lease, I'm guessing the other could be (1 previous owner). What should I be looking out for? Service records? One car was on some lease service plan, but I don't know if this is a good thing or bad. What about Haldex oil, filter, ring replacements? Mass fly-wheel? One of the cars I'm looking at had a new duel mass flywheel in 2019 If anyone has some advice or can point me where to read what to look out for that would be great.