Geoff77

- We got brakes bled by using a cheap pressurising system and brakes came up a treat. - Front guard on. - removed all bits from old bumper but the LHS fog lamp is busted… - the bumper came without the holes for parking sensors but OEM unit is not too expensive, so will grab one of those - sticky point is the driving aid sensors which have a hole about 28mm dia (as compared to 18mm for parking sensors). The recommended part for cutting these holes is TME01.. can’t find info on these anywhere. Has anyone came across this issue and found a solution?

They were able to scan it and get the info to work, but key program still had to come from Germany. The only difference is that the aftermarket keys have to be closer to ignition button (150mm or so) considering how it got stolen this is not such a bad thing. A few other things to fix.. - light switch was broken - lhs mirror glass was on floor - brakes - bleed and flush - bumper (a lot of bits in this) - lhs front guard - lhs front door (will sort this out last as should pass roadworthy - internal clean - cut and polish

Well it’s a nice day in Australia so got into it. Put new sump, baffle and oil filter on. Topped up coolant. Pressed the button and started first shot!. Wow. That was a surprise.. no rattles or noises.. Goes forwards and backwards.. no noises.. But no brakes… pedal to the floor. Worn set of pads in the back so I am guessing they did some home handy work and didn’t bleed the brakes properly or perhaps computer gremlin? Passenger side window went up but doesn’t want to come down.. all the rest are good. Now try and sus out brakes.. reservoir is full. So a bit of digging.

Hi Team, its been cold here in Australia.. (probably high for Europe) and have been crook, so not a lot happening... Now starting to warm up and time to get back to it... Looking to find part numbers for body panels and bumper.. Have checked docs on Hypermiler but cant seem to locate anything there. Any good ideas of where to look?

How did you get the car open? $2,000.00aud 🥲 The locksmith came and scanned the car and then sent data off to Germany to get info to program keys. Have to check with them in morning as I couldn’t be there when they programmed it all in.

Ok.. we have movement.. Had car opened and key’s made.. Keys open and lock doors, radio works. Hooked up ANCEL VD700 and lots of issues but can’t read ecu. Also dash does not light up and start button does nothing.. With battery connected it sounds like fuel pump or something is making zzz noises every now and again.. Guess we check fuses and go from here.. Assuming keys are programmed correctly if they unlock it but hoping gods start to smile on us soon..

Well thanks to Briskoda.. a big saving. Second hand headlight quote was $800.00 aud Trying to find cheaper and no luck... However this thread below popped up and terrific solution to the problem, great practical thinking by Skoda. So now we should have headlight and bumper ($1,000.00 Aud), sump ($90.00), sorted. Just lock in front mudguard (still searching), keys ($2,000) and lower sump baffle (89.00) and we should start making headway.

Put the charger on the battery and alarm started to go off straight away (3 seconds or so), could not open doors but disconnected battery and have left on charger overnight. Will try it out with a full battery tomorrow, but probably drive neighbors nuts as cant turn alarm off afterwards. This will allow us to try central locking if key is not inside vehicle.. Going to be a fun day..

Thanks for comments, might try and do the Tiguan filter but have ordered filter and sump for Octavia and will see what happens after cleaning pump. The HU66 lock pick didn't work on this car. Appears they are either 9 or 10 pin locks, but could end up wasting more money so time to move on. Put charger on battery and alarm went off. disconnected battery and put on charger to get fully charged. Cheap lesson but now time to order keys and find panels.

We also removed bumper and pulled out oil filter. Oil filter looked pretty normal and couldn’t see any metal bits, however ripped paper apart and it was pretty gritty. Is this typical for these motors?

Quick recap… Skoda Octavia Mk3 2016 /17 Recovered stolen vehicle, no keys, all doors locked, flat battery, all electric windows. Googled Skoda Octavia Mk3 bonnet release cable broken and none were the same.. —- What did we learn today… Don’t cut into grille, can’t do anything here… (see pics), there is nothing you can do from front. What works? Removed lhs front wheel and internal lining. There is a bonnet cable here, inside up above headlight that can be reached, however the join of two cables is different to everything I could find on the net. Had a look at wife’s 2015 Tiguan.. Lo and behold it has same bonnet release.. Pull case apart easily, with small screwdriver (small lid comes off), and grab join of cables and pull.. bingo bonnet open. No need to pull join apart. Sorry pictures not in order but should make sense, and hopefully help next person.

The bumper is already damaged, the grille is ok but have found that it is bonded to bumper and will come with replacement. Just being cautious.

A lot of good responses here, thanks you all. Will have a go at trying to get in door with tool pictured below.. However apparently 3 different types but only 1 in Australia so will give it a gentle shot so as not to stuff lock up. Am resigned to cutting into bumper/ grill on weekend. I did see that the Amarok appears to have same bonnet catch and there is video of opening that on line. Whatever result, I will post learnings so that answer’s available to help anyone else who ends up in same spot. If I can get bonnet open will be able to check oil filter for any metal fragments. If filter is clear, it’s probably worth a shot to order genuine Skoda keys and then start replacing panels which will keep us busy until keys arrive. As always, open to good ideas and wisdom. Thanks.

Thanks for efforts so far. Would anyone be able to check if there is a way to open bonnet lock from front with screwdriver or the like? And share photo? It is different to same model Golf and earlier model Octavia, so appreciate any help/ photos we can get.

Whilst it may seem a bit crazy to risk $ on the motor, the reality is car has just over 100,000km and has tech pack and safety pack and just about every option other than sun roof. As such it’s worth $20-25,000 AUD comfortably when it’s back on the road. But as a wreck probably get around $2,000. It is sons first car and he won’t have the $$ to purchase same quality again. Happy to spend some father and son time (and fathers and mothers money) to get it going, have had plenty of cars and rebuilt motors over the years. Worst case scenario is a second hand Golf GTI motor is about $5k (Skoda should be cheaper but likely harder to find). Also have most tools to do the works, but also work in fabrication business with some pretty talented team members and full spray booth.. might have to shout a few beers yet.. We will aim to get it sorted, hopefully get details on keys etc tomorrow and start the process to get it inside shed and get working on it. Wish us luck and will keep you posted as lot more wisdom on this site that I will need to lean on. thanks Geoff