noccer99

There are threads on the Octavia forum about this. I would suggest that you compare the petrol automatic with the petrol manual because of a) AEB in the manual; b) the lack of torque and the revs dropping away at low speeds in 3rd in a manual. I think that the engine characteristics suit an automatic, not a manual.

The person concerned was a supervisor at a very large airport. His department was outsourced and then reorganised; he was then made redundant. He struggled financially for a few years and a good friend of his paid off his bank overdraft when the bank was harassing him (it wasn't a huge amount but the bank was being nasty). It was the same friend who heard that a courier company was recruiting drivers for a new contract delivering confidential documents; these had to be collected from locations all over the UK and delivered to other locations all over the UK. As he was in his late fifties and couldn't get another job, and after the previous few years of impoverishment, he leapt at the chance of the job. He dealt with the driving by smoking cigarettes until he had an M.I. on the M4 in south Wales and was taken to hospital there. After that he continued working until his pension from his 'old' job paid out. He did repay the friend who had paid off his overdraft. In his retirement, he worked for a chap who had a small garage; customers left their keys at the reception of their workplace and he collected and returned their cars; it was the chap's USP and his garage was always busy. He was a tough character and wouldn't be best pleased to be described as "BS"er! BTW, I agree that average hourly mileage on a cross-country journey using mainly motorways is about 50 miles on a good weekday. PS Having written the above, I hope that the truth of the "700 mpd" is is now accepted. PPS The courier company's cars were all Skoda diesels and the mileages that they were run up to were enormous.

1) It was not "BS". I knew the person and the daily driving that he was doing with classified documents. It was a huge mileage. 2) Please don't use expressions similar to "sounds like BS" on BRISKODA's forums. 3) Don't cast doubts on the accuracy of my postings by using expressions similar to "sounds like BS" when replying to my postings.

Amazing!. What a great car!

Over how many years was the 270K miles covered? Perhaps when the glow plugs seize into place it is time-related rather than mileage-related.

Can anyone advise how to do this on an Octavia Mk4.5. I have tried but with no success. Thank you.

I think that it's more mileage than the average non-taxi, non-courier diesel car is covering in the UK. (A friend was a driver for many years for a courier company in the UK, delivering classified documents. The cars (Skoda diesels) were doing 700K++ miles. He used to do 700++ miles in a day, no problem.) What has been the experience of other forum members with the mileage covered by glow plugs and diesel injectors?

Apologies for the late reply. Glow plugs: in order to stop them seizing and being difficult to remove (rounded heads, seizing, snapping), I suggest replacing them every 7 years. If the head rounds, I suggest leaving it in place and not trying to extract it; the engine will start OK on the remaining glow plugs, but obviously more might fail. They are not expensive and easy to remove if not stubborn/seized. Injectors: new OEM injectors are good for about 120 - 130K miles. Reconditioned ones last about 20K miles. When one injector fails, the rest also fail within about 10 - 15K miles. Genuine, new OEM injectors are expensive. Other forum members may have different views on the above.

"evilsheep": thank you very much for this detailed reply. It is extremely informative and helpful.

Replying to the OP, I have had my Octavia 4.5 manual since new in March 2025 (built late 2024) and it has done 8,600 miles. It is brilliant on dual carriageways, motorways and long journeys. My only concern is with Assist Brake (AEB) and I have just written about this on a different thread; I do not know whether an automatic (DSG) would work better with AEB and I am waiting for replies on the other thread. I have had no other issues at all with the car. It was given a Main Dealer service at 5,000 miles. To recap, the car has been brilliant to own and drive except for the AEB. It will take 5 passengers in comfort. The rear seats can be folded down and the boot space is enormous. I know a taxi driver with a diesel Mk4 and it has done 100K miles quite happily. It is a large car to park in small parking spaces and the doors open a long way out.

Octavia 4.5 with manual gearbox: Yes, I have had this a few times. If the revs drop too low in third approaching a junction it will cut out, sometimes even in second with the wheels still turning. It's not a huge issue. I always use Shell VPower but don't know whether that makes a difference either way.

I bought my Octavia 4.5 with manual gearbox in March 2025 with 22 miles on delivery - i.e. brand new with delivery mileage. Since then I have had 5 activations of Assist Brake (AEB) where it slowed instantly to a complete halt and stalled the engine. On all of these occasions, I was in complete control of the car and there was no danger to me or anyone else, but the car knew better. On three of these occasions, the car came to a halt and left me blocking the road and in danger from other traffic; I was left to restart the car and hope that I would get away from danger; on one of these occasions, there wasn't another vehicle for hundreds of yards in front or behind but Assist Brake objected to me making a right turn. On the other two occasions, the activation was nonsensical, e.g. I arrived at a T junction to turn left and was looking R-L-R, when a white van drove along the main road from left to right and the Assist Brake saw this and activated. I'm becoming used to the activations now, can recognise what is happening, and can restart the car and move off fairly quickly. Obviously, Assist Brake and subsidiary functions can be turned off but this has to be done every time the ignition is turned on. I like the car but I am thinking that Assist Brake and a manual gearbox don't go together. Questions: 1) Does anyone else with an Octavia 4.5 with manual gearbox have any experience of erroneous activations? 2) Can the sensitivity be turned down by using the in-car controls? 3) Can the sensitivity be turned down by the dealership? 4) With an automatic gearbox (DSG), would the car actually stall the engine or just stop with the engine running? If so, in which gear? 5) Do other VAG cars with manual gearboxes (e.g. the current Golf) have the same Assist Brake technology?

I have not seen any reference in any documentation to the space-saver that I bought (specification above) from the main dealer not fitting all four corners.

That may be the case but I think that one should not assume that it was correct for the car that it was taken from. There are many on the well known auction site with the wheel and tyre specifications mentioned in my posting above; these are good value for money compared to the one that I bought from the main dealer specifically for my Octavia 4.5.

Thanks, whippersnapper. I will try this tomorrow, after I've scraped the ice off the windscreen😁