Phoenixboy

It's mixed messaging at the moment, dealerships I spoke to said they'd recommend 5 yearly change intervals, Skoda now say 10. Skoda extended warranty may also want it changing earlier to keep warranty valid, once I have verification of this I'll post it. Cheapest dealer cambelt change I found was £589, other £850, down from £1100. I certainly wasn't prepared to pay £1100. Although I have 6 months before mine reaches 5.

May still have to replace it more frequently than 10 years if you were to take an extended U.K Skoda warranty, though. This is what I'm also trying to clarify.

I've just spoken to two Skoda dealership's whom now have said Skoda had revised their cambelt change intervals from 5 yearly to 10 years or 140k, as from July 2023. I've also rung two Skoda dealership for cambelt change prices, Skoda Darlington initially stated £1,100, then came down to £850 all in. I then rung Derek Slacks Skoda dealership at Middlesbrough, they stated £589 all in for this engine. So if you want it changing its worth shopping around, even with Skoda dealership's. I'm also trying to find out if the Skoda 'all in', extended warranty, service plan would cover a snapped belt if it occured to the original belt under 10 years of age. When I have I'll update. As I'm considering buying this plan and want to know if the original timing belt over fives years old would still be covered.

No doubt I'd find out the true cost of replacing it the day I ring the dealers up for a quote. I'd only consider going to the dealers if the price was competitive or I had an Skoda extended warranty.

Not like it's submerged in oil, costing mega money to change it. The Skoda dealer I used for some servicing work last year quoted me just over £500 to change the belt, although no idea if their prices had gone up, too. I'd certainly shop around no matter what, anyway.

Ouch! Over a grand for a timing belt. Mine is due within 6 months time, I won't be paying that for sure. I'll post some prices nearer to the time, if I decide to keep it. Other option put the grand into another car. Neither am I going to pay for their tool, they'll be using it on hundreds of engines no doubt. Just had a quick look online, PSC would do one fro £664- https://www.pscautocentre.co.uk/cart

One of the reasons I chose my current Ocatvia was for it's 16" wheels, mainly for comfort & less pothole damage. If you prefer looks over comfort with a firmer ride then go for larger alloys.

I've just swapped my newer tyre over to the back and the noise had seemed to have gone🙂I think it was a combination of tyre noise and a recent stretch of duel carriageway close to me that had been resurfaced, too.

Yes the 1.5tsi does, but the turbo noise is not very noticeable. You also have to listen hard for the whine, easier for me as I know it's there🤣 Just strange how I've recently picked up on it, maybe due to the honeymoon period being over with my car now.

Thanks for the info, guys. I shall monitor it, I don't feel it's bad enough to try to make a claim on what's left of my extended warranty yet, if I do keep it for longer, I'll also consider buying the Skoda 'all in', warranty, servicing package and breakdown cover for two years at £840, then it's the dreaded timing belt after that, so plenty to think about. The other thing to consider is that I'd replaced one of my front tyres around 2 months ago (I'd forgotten), as the one I'd replaced with 6mm tread remaining (Continental), had suffered from very bad side wall cracking, yet it was a 2020 tyre. The other 3 on the car were A1, those were Yokohamas. The only sure way I'd know would be to swap the front wheel over to the back, but it doesn't really sound like tyre noise.

I've owned my 2019 Octavia 1.5tsi SE ACT dsg for around a year now, over the last two weeks I've picked up on a slight whine, sounds like my transmission, only when accelerating slowly through the gears. May have been there from day one, but not sure, may have just picked up on it more due to the weather being warmer now. It's not loud, never had any bad or jerky changes from it. Always performed as it should. Prior to this I owned a torque converter type auto box, that was more or less silent throughout it's gear changes. I've also previously owned manual boxes that have whined, too. Just wondered if this was a characteristic of a dsg box?

I'd say that your steering sounds similar to mine & you have the same sized wheels & tyres fitted as I do. It has a slightly none directional feel to it on longer runs or mine does, anyway. I'm generally happy with the 16" wheels to be honest, one of the reasons I'd bought my car. I prefer a slightly softer suspension set up. I've owned many Astra's previous to this car, too, but on a whole I'd say the Octavia feels far better put together & up to now has been more reliable, too.

I have a 12v air compressor at home (infact I have 3), I inflate tyres to roughly 35psi (as read on compressor), by the time I've disconnected the valves, lost a bit of air doing so, then rechecked pressures with a manual tyre pressure guage they then read 32psi. The compressor gauge was only a rough guide to their actual pressures. I always put a few psi in extra to allow for this if inflating from home. You could also have fluctuations of readings due to outside air temperatures, as much as a 3 psi difference between summer and winter tyre pressure readings. As I always have to recheck mine over the winter months.

I have the same size wheels and tyres on my 1.5tsi ACT dsg, 19 reg. I went for this spec also for comfort with the higher tyre wall running with 205/55 16's. I wouldn't consider my car to have a firm/bumpy ride, as it doesn't have a sports orientated suspension set up. I'd first check your tyre pressures, mine are all set at 32psi (read 35psi), then check all your tyres have the same speed & load ratings, too. As the cheaper type XL rated tyres can give you a firmer ride feel. Then tyre choice/brand would also make a difference with side wall comfort, too.

Good news, sounds like your persistence should pay off.

I'm fairly new to Skoda, only talking from my own personal owning experience. Although I'm not new to driving, owned many cars over the last 35 plus years of driving. I've now owned my 2019 1.5tsi ACT dsg SE for nearly a year now, has only 27k on the clock from new. So far the dq200 gearbox has been a pleasure to own, drive & it's been 100% reliable so far. I like my 1.5tsi ACT engine, it's the most fuel efficient 150bhp engine that I've every owned so far, for obvious reasons. I've averaged 48mpg long term with it so far on mainly e10 fuel. Within the year of ownership I've had the rear wiper motor replaced (common issue), under extended warranty & an s/s efb battery paid for myself. The only downside I can see from owning this engine is that it's a little jerky from a cold start at zero degrees or below, until it's fully warmed up, which sometimes takes up to 2 miles when very cold. This vastly improves when using a higher octane fuel, would this put me off from buying another? No. Obviously down to this super efficient engine running at it's emission limits. Fine when the outside temperature is above zero degrees (most of the time), from a cold start. If I were to buy another I'd also buy an estate, as you might as well maximise the space that you already have. I'd also consider a mk4 estate with the similar engine and dsg box within the future, probably the sel spec or possibly a Passat or a superb, too.

I think I'd personally fight on a bit with 'skoda', not the dealership, try and increase their goodwill gesture, pointing out it has a fssh and that you've serviced with them last. It's a low mileage car just out of manufacturers warranty. See if they come back with an higher offer. If not, see if you could negotiate your £250 diagnostic charge down a bit. Then take your car to a independent gearbox specialist and pay at least half the price to have it repaired or reconditioned. If the o.p is stuck for an independent gearbox specialist I do know of a couple up north around 70 miles away from Leeds. Although I'm sure you'd have some closer to you. Good luck with it.

If it has a 4 year guarantee, may be worth having it load tested. As I'd say it was a little low at 12.34v, swapped mine at 12.28v. Mine being an EFB, yours an AGM. I was quoted a £10 difference between the two, fitted.

I've just had my 4.4 year old battery replaced, was at 12.28v prior to starting, had s/s fault come on a few times, prior to starting. After testing it with my multi meter, then had it load tested at my local garage whom also confirmed it needed replacing. It's an EFB battery, new battery replaced, now reading 12.6v at rest, s/s light not come on since and my s/s now seems more reliable. New battery has a 2 year guarantee.

I own the same gear box & the same engine, my cars an 19 reg & covered 27k, up to now the dsg box has been faultless. I'm not sure what Skoda are like with regards to goodwill gestures once your car is out of manufacturers warranty? As I'm fairly new to vag cars, although in the past I've made many warranty claims with other manufacturers. Do you have a fssh? I hope they paly ball (Skoda that is).

I now understand what point you were trying to make. The extended warranty with Cazoo is payable monthly at £19 per month or a one off fee via their checkout. It's an insurance backed rac product, so I presume if Cazoo were to go "bust", then you'd keep the cover. Not sure about paying monthly though, as no doubt Cazoo would take a cut from that, too.

When I sold my last car to them, they offered me a grand more for my car than anyone else, so I happily took it & they collected my car from my home, then bought my Octavia elsewhere. Although I think most people want to test drive their cars first, prior to buying, as Cazoo are now finding out. No I'm not buying an warranty from Cazoo or a car, I was replying to the original op on here with regards to purchasing a car from them.

After buying and selling many cars within the past, including recently selling one to Cazoo (easy process), I'd always test drive the car first, look over it with a fine tooth comb, if you are not happy with it, walk away, there's plenty more out there. It's easier to get jobs done prior to buying a car, than afterwards. I bought my last Skoda online only, after driving a similar specked car from a different dealership within the same group. The car was good when I received it, but needed some bits & pieces doing to it, including some bodywork & servicing, after arguing on the phone & threatening to drive their car back to them for a full refund. The work was eventually done to an acceptable standard, but I had to take the car in to another dealership to have it done at my own time. When you pay top cash for a low mileage nearly new, used car you'd expect it to be of a decent standard, you can't pick up everything from photo's. I certainly wouldn't buy a car from Cazoo, as it's a failing company now. If you took out their extended warranty, they went bust, what then? Generally with cars, like most things in life you pay for what you get & if it's cheap it's usually cheap for a reason. Within my experience a lot dealerships don't prepare their cars to decent standards prior to sale, so it's best to view them in person, first.

So far, yes, although it's early days.

New battery now fitted (EFB), they'd ordered an AGM in by mistake, 20 mins later had an EFB dropped off. So in the end had it supplied, fitted and adapted for £150 all in, so was pleased with that and a 2 year guarantee on the battery. They used a type of cloned system to adapt the battery. New battery showing 12.7v with engine switched off.