OccyVRS

Alright alright, not constructive! I think the point you are both trying to make is that whilst battery tech has advanced significantly (EFB/AGM), the amount of drain on the battery has also increased significantly. Whereas 20 years ago the alarm might have simply monitored the doors, wheel or whatever, now there’s all the interior monitoring, plus the plethora of electronics. I would reckon the average Skoda now has near to 80/90 microcontrollers, all of which drain the battery. Not to mention, despite being beefier, start/stop batteries take more of a beating. That said, the battery in my girlfriends Fiat survived 2 months without a start, and that was with a dash cam on parking mode always turning on, etc. OP you should be okay. If you’re concerned cranking will kill the battery, stick it on a charger for a few hours before you turn the key/press the button. Generally if it’s low, the car will tell you when you click it to ignition 1.

Stick a Halfords battery charger on it, start it up and get it tested at your local garage. It should be alright, but as JR says, stuff has moved on now. Our 2011 A3 was left for 3 months on the drive and did another 3 years on that battery, but that was a nice Bosch battery and the car had relatively few electronic things going on. My 2020 vRS had a perfectly healthy battery, until I left the doors open when deep cleaning it for a day, and was left with a virtually dead battery. Best suggestion is to trickle charge it, fire it up and see.

I must admit, whilst I didn't want to say it, I am inclined to agree. The lowest mileage petrol Octavia I found on AutoTrader (UK car selling site) for your budget of c. £7500, with full service history, had 70k on it (112,000km) which isn't exactly low. It was also pretty bare bones and had the 1.0 in it, which won't get you anywhere all that fast. Most appropriate thing was something like this @maxroal I have been in your position. For my first car, I bought a very clean 2013 1.0 Focus. From a small backstreet garage in the Midlands, it had 55,000km on it, one owner and cost me 7200 euros. It was very clean, and everything checked out. Fast forward three months and it had virtually blown up, with a repair list in the thousands. Turns out it was a lemon, with an engine and gearbox from a different car. I managed to get rid of it for under half of what I had paid, and promptly emptied my bank account at a SEAT dealer. Anyway, my point is - if you don't know all that much about cars, while it is unlikely, you could run into the same issues I had. It might be worth waiting a while, or reconsidering things, and seeing what a main dealer could do a Fabia or something for. The last thing you want is to be thousands into a car that is nothing but trouble.

Did you change the coolant type for the one with no silicone bag? I can't remember what is it (neither my EA211 Leon or EA888 Octavia have the bag) however I remember seeing that if removing the bag, you should switch to a slightly different coolant. I did read you'd done the therm and pump, but after seeing someone once drain old coolant into a basin and reuse it, I always ask😂 Of course, it would help to know if this issue existed before you did all that! I'd be inclined to just keep an eye on it, and check ti every now and again. Discrepancy or not, 105° is still within limits. Certainly, I recently drove 700 miles to the North of Scotland, in one hop, and then finished up on the mountain roads. The coolant stayed rock solid at 90° which, after some 13 hours and with the car fully loaded, I find it hard to believe. I reckon, like the fuel gauge, the temp is just a bit crap. My bad re the 718 (it's a friends GT4, I'm a student and couldn't afford a wheel on it) - I was more mentioning it, as JR said, as proof that oil/coolant can go well above normal operating temps. Oil will go up to several hundred degrees, and most coolants boil circa 130°, with some even going as high as 150/60°.

Guess Yiannimize don't want the business? No reccommendations here, but I will say you apparently have to be very careful when removing the PPF, as it can take the coating with it. I would get mine done, but after 30k miles on our roads they're already scratched to f***

1) I understand what you're asking. It's actually quite a clever thing to ask! Most people see a fifteen year-old car with 20k miles/30,000km on it and snap it up, without pausing to think. One way of looking at it is that, with a mileage that low, it's either been sat for a long time (bad) or has been driven constantly around town on short journeys (bad). Cars, generally, like to be driven. For example, I'd suggest that a 2018 with 80,000 motorway miles is a better bet than a 2018 with 50,000 town miles. Of course, it goes the other way too. Personally, I try to avoid buying cars with more than 50k (80,000km) on them - simply because that gives me a few years before thinking about timing chains, clutch, etc, etc. Another thing to consider is cars are made of more than just metal. Whether driven or not, all of the rubbers and plastics (suspension, engine bay) will perish and degrade. Again though, it all depends on how well the car was maintained, etc. 2) Any TSI post 2016 or so will be alright, as they had everything sorted by then. I would say you want to get one with below 85k miles/140,000km. I owned my Leon from 40k (64,000km) to around 70k (110,000km) and it was as tight as a drum. The timing belt on the 1.4 is quite important - somebody else will have to tell you when it should be done, I can't remember. 3) A friend of mine has a 1.4TSI appraching 120k miles/200,000km. I've seen a few touching 200k miles (320,000km), but at that age they're more trouble than they're worth. The issue with higher mileage cars is that it all depends on the maintenance history. You can buy a car with 80,000km that is absolutely knackered with no regular oil changes, no timing belt, etc etc, versus a 120,000km engine that has been maintained perfectly. From my personal experience, 130,000-150,000km is when bigger things start to need replacing/go wrong. A 2020 with 150,000km on it will have virtually no issues compared to a 2010 with 80,000km on it. The money you save on purchase price will likely be offset by the maintenance cost! Just my opinion. Things aren't always as they seem - my first car (2020) was a 2013 Focus with 35k miles on it and one owner, that blew up after 2 months. Lesson learned.

Agreed. OP was asking about a general Skoda question, and then someone mentions a wheel alignment tool for a car OP doesn’t even have.

Yes, however four would require a set of axle stands and a good quality jack. Most normal people get in the car and go. If they get a puncture, they take it to Kwik Fit and let them deal with it - not to mention that of the last three cars I've had, not one of them came with a spare. You do then get the other camp (such as myself) who rotate wheels, regularly change tyres, brakes etc. To us, tools like this are very useful. By the sounds of the OP however, I would suggest he's in the former camp. My father has run a mixture of VW's, BMW's, Audi's and Porsche's over the last thirty years and I'm pretty sure he doesn't know or care what a wheel bolt is, yet he's got on just fine! FYI - wheel studs/nuts may be an easier-to-fit arrangement, however wheel bolts are easier from a mechanics point of view. No taking the hub off to replace a stud, and I would wager a bit safer too, as people are more likely to replace wheel bolts when the old ones become stretched/damaged, than they are studs.

It took me a few weeks to learn to trust it, but I pretty much completely trust it now in stop start traffic. I still cover the brake at very slow speeds, but it hasn't let me down yet! Maybe it's my age (I'm 21) - my 58 year old dad had a freak when he tried it. The only issue I can see with it is when the road in front is directly clear, and a car pulls out in the distance. My car will keep accelerating, then see the car, and brake harder than it needed to if it hadn't accelerated. Then again, I suppose it's not a Tesla! Brilliant system for long journeys.

Yes, XDS is (depending on the car) supposed to help. That said, on my Leon, I couldn't feel anything 😂

Jumping onto this a little late, but as someone living in interesting student areas - Tapo. I've got several of them now, and they've all been working flawlessly for over a year. https://www.amazon.co.uk/tapo-camera/s?k=tapo+camera

It's all relative. My parents have been using water, screen wash, fairy liquid and whatever else in one of their cars (A3) for the last 14 years and the washer system still works fine, somehow.

Wouldn't touch a main dealer with a barge pole. From selling me a crash damaged car, to claiming airbag work was done when I could literally see that the original part was still installed. Find yourself a good Indie and never look back - https://www.google.com/maps/search/Buckinghamshire+vag+specalist/@51.8379049,-1.4722038,132661m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIwMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

All that being said, I would personally buy a VAG car first! Wheel fitting tools are useful, but I don't think you really need it... certainly, stuff like a tyre pressure gauge and a spare wheel might help. I use one stud tool, but that's only because I frequently swap tyres and can't always be bothered to take Occy (my girlfriends Fiat is a much better transporter)

I trust the car enough that unless it's bonging at me, everything is okay! I make sure the oil has been at 90° for at least a few minutes before shifting the car on a bit. I've seen as high as 130°, however that was on a track day with a stripped 718.

I activated mine using a friends VCDS, as I imagined having the duo of TSR and ACC would be life changing! If it saw the signs correctly then it would be brilliant - however, it saw the 20mph limit at Cobham services, whilst I was in the middle lane doing 70. Not good.

The ACC in my 2020 Octavia is brilliant. The only complaint I have is that, if following a car that is turning (off), my car still 'sees' it for another few seconds. I've had no issues with it kicking it by itself in the nine months I've had the car. On journeys up North, I'll hit the slip road down here and not touch the pedals for a few hundred miles. I keep mine in 'comfort' ACC mode and it's not jerky at all. It can be a bit eager in any other mode though. Don't bother with TSR - it's useless and, when paired with ACC, dangerous.

/how old is it?

I can't comment on everything, however those long trips are something to consider. I have a 2.0 vRS now, but previously have had a 1.4 Leon and an 1.5 A3. They were absolutely brilliant engines (and I mean that, the Leon's 1.4 ACT in particular) around town and when empty, but once loaded up and with two or three people, they were a bit gutless - especially on the motorway. Then again, your expectations are probably very different to mine. I wouldn't bother with the 105ps option - the 140ps 1.4 EA211 is a fantastic little engine and will return similar enough economy. Also worth looking at a 1.4 SEAT Leon ST. It's the same as the Octavia underneath, but might take your fancy a bit more. I would avoid anything Ford from ten years ago - the maintenance isn't worth it. All other options are nice, however you won't really find any Japanese/Korean/etc, estates. The only thing to remember maintenance wise is that VW group cars aren't the cheapest to maintain. They are by no means expensive, but I think a Toyota or Honda will run for longer, for cheaper. Something with smaller wheels would be nice too - perhaps 17s or even 16s. The larger wheel sizes on some of the cars you look at might be more appealing, but you'll sacrifice ride quality.

Your coolant should be hovering around 90 degrees, ideally. It will boil around 130, depending on the pressure of your system, so anything above 110 is an issue. You'll start to have issues around 120, however all of those expensive VW plastics won't like being that hot. Engine oil should be above 90 and, ideally, below 110. There's more load on a long motorway journey, but then again, there's more airflow. I find my vRS sits in the mid 90s on a fast moving road, but can get up to 105 or so in traffic. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the coolant or oil temp displays - they're well known (like the fuel gauges) to be a bit rubbish. I only really ever look at the engine oil temp - as long as there's enough coolant in the tank (I must check that soon!) then I trust it to do it's own thing. If you see it jumping or giving unrealistic numbers, it may be worth looking at the thermostat.

I was in the other camp - unwilling to use fliers on what was undoubtedly soft crappy VWAG plastic. It came off quite nicely (the car isn't that old). My concern of taking it off was that I wasn't sure how to line it up once back on - of course, I realise now that there is a slot cut for it! Did you happen to test yours with the nozzle off @Baxlin? I'm still trying to confirm that the piping is all in good order, and I've no idea how strong the pressure should be normally. All I need to do once the new bit arrives is pop it on, and then get my girlfriend to operate the washer whilst I drink more fluid adjusting the jets. It is a particularly rubbish design. From what I've see, rear washer issues are a problem across the VAG group, from T6s to Fabias to A5s.

So, popped the nozzle off (no idea what that guy was on about it being difficult) and it’s completely clear. The ball joint jets themselves could be less rusty, but there’s no obstruction in either. I’ve attached a video of the washer without the nozzle on it - this looks like a normal pressure right? I.E. if there was a disconnect/split in the pipe, it wouldn’t shoot out this far? If so, then it seems it’s just one of those things. It seems weird to me that Skoda overengineer everything practicality/safety related, but leave this. According to the parts list, the mk4 and 4.5 uses the same bit! IMG_1596.mov

I only ever use screen wash, mainly because I find water never works the same. I’ve decided to order a replacement nozzle (I need to put an order on anyway). I’ll take it off, activate the washer and if it shoots out 6 feet then great it’s the nozzle, if it doesn’t then it’s another issue. The fact it shoots out of one hole fine makes me think it’s just the nozzle. If the pipe had split or popped off, where would the fluid come out of?

I would think so - what pads did you go for? I’m currently weighing up Yellowstuff vs DS2500 to pair with the ridiculously expensive OE discs! The brakes are a good size full stop - more than enough for the road (well, for under 400bhp with 225 tyres), with a pretty nice stock feel to boot. The only thing a BBK will do in these cars (without serious platform mods) is increase heat resistance and look good. Whilst a lovely Alcon 6 piston monoblock would sit behind the wheels a treat, you will then run into issues with unsprung weight. Not to mention 340mm discs aren’t the lightest to begin with either. Lots of people moan about the VAG sliding caliper on these cars. I for one quite like them - they’re nice and easy to sort when they go wrong, and they’re very light compared to similar offerings from BMW, etc. It does make me laugh when I see a 130bhp 118i with the full M135i bodykit and 4 piston front calipers…

I suppose in theory then, the weight distribution figures should be better, as there’s more weight over the rear axle. From what I can tell, all of the MQB performance cars (CS and TCR aside) benefit hugely from platform mods. On the road they’re quite good from factory, but take them to a track and they come undone a bit - those single piston calipers especially.