Phoenixboy

I had a caliper rewind kit, had it for ages & bought it off ebay, used it on loads of cars. I also have the manual handbrake. I also had to take the caliper retaining bracket bolts off using (m14), bits, that was the hardest part of the job, due to limited access working off my drive & they're very tight. Otherwise there was no way of sliding my discs out from the caliper retaining bracket. The fronts looked easy within comparison. I just used british made discs & pads from my local motor factors, cost me £60. can't be any worse than the vag stuff previously fitted. You might get lucky, as on most you can slide the discs out from the caliper bracket past the rear hubs, couldn't with mine, as the disc where it fits over the hub was too deep. Hopefully I won't ahve to change the rears again, as they'd already covered 62k from new, fronts were changed last year at around 50k. I've only owned this car for around 3 months now.

I've also changed the rear brake pads & discs myself, none Skoda parts, saved myself a fortune. Not changed a front set yet on mine, but they do look a lot easier.

The infamous health check. I'd just say no thanks, take it home & check it yourself, tyre included.

I also own a 1.5tsi wagon dsg, personally if you were unsure whether they'd changed the plugs (if your car is petrol), I'd change them yourself or have someone change them for you. Trust went a long time ago with me & main dealers. Think last time I priced some up they were £15 each for my engine.

2019 1.5tsi ACT dsg (dq200) SE Wagon. 64,000 miles covered. Just normal serviceable items, inc front & rear brakes & pads, changed once only. Onto the second set of tyres from new. Serviced yearly from new. Engine has never missed a beat, very quiet, good on fuel. Uprated the headlight bulbs, dip & main. Happily runs on 95 ron fuel.

I had mine replaced under the approved warranty with my last mk3, I took mine over to the main dealer in Darlo, better service than slacks & I waited whilst they replaced it. Obviously they had to diagnose it first, then order the motor in. If I didn't have the warranty I'd have replaced it myself or cleaned is as shown. I also had the rear hatch lid button replaced by them, again under extended warranty. Although that would have been extremely easy to change myself & they cost very little on ebay, but if I have the warranty, the item is covered, I might as well use it. Seems to be a common issue with the mk3's. I also have the approved extended warranty on my current wagon, not used it as yet, but I'm also tempted to take out skodas all in service plan when this runs out, mainly just to cover the main components, my dsg box & engine. I wouldn't let them tough my brakes at dealer prices. Agree about not much faith in main dealers, slacks wanted £400 to replace my rear discs & pads, I did it for £70, inc sourcing my own parts (pads & discs). They were OEM, but not VW, obviously.

I replaced a set of rears on my previous Octavia mk3, on memory I think each side you have to turn it the opposite way. Wasn't that tight, but my rear caliper bracket (not the slide bolts), m14 bolts were. They had to come off to change my discs, but on a lot of them you don't. That was the hardest part of the job for me.

I doubt Skoda would cover the cost of your repair. We once owned a Ford, had a bodywork corrosion warranty repair done within the manufacturers warranty period when it was 2 years 10 months old, the rust came through again 10 months later, I took it back again & the dealership said their repair was only covered up until their warranty period ended when the car was 3 years old, wouldn't do anything about it. At the time they even told me that they'd replaced the effected body panel, too. Which they obviously didn't, just sanded the rust down & sprayed straight over the top again. That's dealerships for you.

I'd take it to a trusted independent diesel specialist for them to have a look, not a main dealer. I've owned many dpf equipment cars within the past without any dpf related issues, continuous short journeys cause many dpf system related issues. I now drive a petrol car as I don't cover as much mileage now or take frequent long trips.

I owned a Scala 1.0tsi se dsg for a short period of time. I've also owned two mk3 Octavia 1.5tsi dsg's inc my current wagon. The 1.0tsi engine is fast enough for the Scala & is very good on fuel, I was averaging upper 40's for the duration of ownership, although I think the manual transmission would be a better match with the 1.0tsi engine than the dsg. I just found the dsg not as initially responsive from a standing take off, compared with the 1.5tsi engine, not as smooth when taking off from a standing start. Other than that, I liked the 1.0tsi engine. If I were to buy a manual scala I'd go with the 1.0tsi engine, better on fuel, felt just as nippy as the 1.5tsi. I had the 16's which I wanted for comfort. I'd advise you to test drive both engines first. The biggest annoyance for me was the gdpr warning info on the dash screen which you have to constantly turn off during every ignition cycle. May not bother most, though. Also lane assist, again turned it off during every ignition cycle, as well as brake assist or whatever vag call it. That also applies to other newer vag cars now. Unwanted tech nonsense, fortunately I don't have that with my current Octavia, anything newer would probably have it though. I averaged 48mpg for the duration of ownership with my 1.0tsi dsg, well over 50 on long runs. Although I consider myself to be a frugal driver, I'm averaging mid 40's now with the 1.5tsi dsg Octavia. 50 ish on a longer run & it's an estate. I also use waze on both head units, even if I had a built in nav I wouldn't use it. I also had analogue clocks with the se spec, wasn't bothered about digital clocks. I also didn't have or want keyless entry. The Scala for it's size is a good compromise, has decent rear leg space, although I found the drivers seating position a little cramped, compared to the Octavia, especially for my drivers rest left leg room (dsg), as it seemed to have a slightly offset seating position, that's just my perception, though. I did like the led dipped beam head lights, very practical on the se spec, I've never had an issue with high beam halogen headlights before.

I first checked mine with a multi meter prior to starting and during idle. My battery was at 12.1v prior to starting, so I knew it was getting down, plus my s/s wasn't working very often, either. I then had it confirmed by taking it for a load test. My current, original battery is 5 years old & still OK. In the past I've had batteries only last two years, others 10 plus. The one I had previously fitted also came with a 2 year guarantee. I tend only to use dealers if my car had a dealer related warranty, mainly for convenience when making a claim. Otherwise I'd service it myself or take it to an independent. Even when under warranty I'd change the brakes myself, as Skoda are very expensive. Pads & discs are not covered, as classed as wear & tear, along with the battery, certainly with the Skoda extended warranty which I have now.

I had my efb battery replaced and coded in for £150 at me local trusted independent garage on my last mk3 Octavia. I'd take yours to a trusted independent first & have it load tested. You may not need a new battery yet. I certainly don't trust main dealers.

I'd have first started with a diagnostic, not uncommon for coil pack failures on that engine, as well as plugs. I have a the same engine on a 19 plate (my second Octavia with this engine), now covered 64k, still feels like new, no power loss that I can tell of, dsg still A1, very smooth in all gears Engine doesn't lose any oil between changes, smooth when hot or cold. My car happily runs on 95 ron fuel, any type. Although I have treat it to the odd tank of premium fuel, too. Does your car start OK from cold?

I bought my car with a part service history recently from a Skoda main dealer, part being a part Skoda digital service history 7 it was an approved car with a years skoda warranty attached. I waited until after I'd bought my car, when the new log book arrived, I then checked it's previous MOT history using the front ref numbers on the log book. I then realised one of the previous mot's was with an independent garage at the time that service was missing. I then rang that garage up, explained to them that I was trying to find this missed service. They informed me that they had serviced it, along with the mot. They then kindly emailed me confirmation of this missing service, without the previous owners name & address on it to keep within the gdpr rules. My car now has an fsh. I did get a bit lucky & took the car on knowing that one service was missing from it's previous history. All a fsh means to me is that it's hopefully been serviced to a minimum standard prior to me buying it. I also tend to go from the general condition of the car, too & price, regardless of a fsh. As a lot of people just don't keep receipts, even if they'd had it serviced on a regular basis with an independent or service it themselves. It's possible it could have been on a long life service, up to 2 yearly or set service intervals, yearly, as far as I know. My car is a 1.5tsi, was initially on LL service schedule, I've switched it to yearly, my preference for what oil costs. It also had an earlier service done within it's history, due to it being previously part exchanged to a Skoda garage & they serviced it early to then sell it on again.

Have you had a code reader on it? My car didn't flash up any codes until my idle became very bad mainly from a cold start, then it came up with two separate cylinder miss fires, but it seemed to run slightly lumpy before that, especially from cold, but not always. I had a Skoda extended warranty on my previous Octavia, they offered to replace 3 for free after diagnosis, I had to pay for the fourth. Also the plugs were under two years old.