CianKT

Depends on how you often you feel you will use it. If it's here and there looks at OBDEleven you can pick them up on offer regularly, you can read VAG codes, do adaptions and code in items like the battery. If you're going to use it a lot or are looking to do a lot of adaptions look at Vag Com (VCDS). I have an OBDEleven, I highly recommend it as you can easily leave it in the car so if you ever have a problem on the road you can get an immediate indication of what it is, plus it's a lot cheaper.

That's why I love Skoda-Parts, you can add your VIN to the Garage and it greys out all non compatible components so you know at least the correct parts size or part number, and where there are Specific side components such as the interior blower motor it clearly states in red that it is either for LHD or RHD

I find Skoda-Parts.com is the best for looking up OEM part numbers and verifying sizes especially with brake discs. I then buy from Auto-Doc but living in Ireland means I don't have any additional charges, probably would be best buying from euro car parts in the UK, I do occasionally buy from Skoda-Parts.com but only for OEM parts as I'm not paying dealer prices for parts

Best advice to find the correct parts is to go to Skoda-Parts.com. Create an account and then you can use your VIN by adding a car to the garage and then you can find the correct parts numbers that you can search by on most car parts places.

What engine do you have? From my experience on a 2.0tdi, I would assume it would be similar for the 1.6tdi the service is not too bad. Oil service is probably the most labour intensive, you need a T25 to remove 7 screws 3 on drivers side, 3 on passenger side and 1 in the center of the front bumper and a T40 to remove 3 bolts under the firewall area, then you need a flat head to push out the under tray. A 19mm holds the sump in place. You need a 32mm to remove the oil filter housing between the sump and the gearbox. There's a 13mm drain plug but this can be easily rounded off as it's plastic, same for the oil filter housing Cabin filter can be a bit of a pain, use a flat head to pull off the side panel of the dash on the passenger side. Open the glove box and using a screw driver lift the damper via the passenger side opening, pull the glove box up and towards you at a 45ish degree angle. Using a small flat head screwdriver gently pry the tabs away these can break easily. Refitting the glove box is the hardest I find fitting the damper in place before locking the glove box is the most effective. Air filter you need a T25 I find the screwdriver in the boot kit is good for removing the 2 screws on the feeding pipe to the engine. Fuel filter is again a T25, using a small screwdriver to pry the housing apart is best as just pulling can cause diesel to go everywhere. To reset the service light press and hold the trip reset for 5 seconds, the trip will go to 0 and then when it returns to what it was turn the key keep holding the trip until it says reset oil service? Then release the trip and press it again it will say service reset, to do the major service repeat the process and hold the trip until it cycles to the reset service? Option That's my opinion on the general service people probably have their own suggestions.

Best advice is verify the battery is ok, a bad battery is liable to give random faults, then clear all codes, go for a quick drive and recheck, depending on the level of tool you used there could be some historical codes that were fixed but never cleared.

Do you have VCDS or OBDEleven? If so give the car a scan, my washer failed and there was a log the my OBDEleven scanner found. If you don't have a scanner easiest thing will be rule out a blown fuse, this should be behind the glove box, check your manual to find out which fuse it is, if the fuse is ok then look at the pump you will need to jack up the car, remove the wheel and the wheel liner, the hoses could have popped off but it is unlikely. If the pump has failed you will need a pump and a grommet seal. All in all it's a bout an hour long job, I would suggest removing any gunk that's behind the wheel liner before removing the pump otherwise you'll end up with dirt in your screen wash when you collect the screen wash in a bucket.

General consensus I hear is their pointless as the majority of people don't use them properly, they sound appealing but I would just get a good OEM quality filter like a Mahle, Bosch or Mann

Generally when I get that yellow triangle my screen wash is low. If you get the triangle again you can see what the issue is by flicking through the car menu on the stereo, should give you some idea as to what is going on.

The silica was supposed to increase the life of G13 coolant but ended up causing more damage than good due to the ruptures so was replaced with G12 EVO coolant

It's even worse in Ireland, thanks to the imports from the UK effectively being stopped courtesy of tax where it costs nearly as much if not more than the cost of the vehicle, what selection is available is considerably expensive. I bought my Octavia estate at the start of the COVID microchip shortage so paid more than the car should have been I think it was €18,000 for a 2.0 midrange TDI with just under 90,000 miles, something similar is now about €22,500. Rant over common things to look for are the silica bag if the expansion tank has mit silikat stamped on it check the bag is not there, it should be on the right hand side of the expansion tank, I think it was removed from about 2018 onwards also check the colour of the coolant if it's brownish the silica bag ruptured and clogged the heater matrix. If you're looking at ones with climate control test all the vents the flap motor is a common failure. If you're looking at a diesel check the crankshaft seal as they can leak as it's a plastic cover with a rubber seal behind the crank pulley.

Cylinder 1 should be the left most cylinder, easiest way to tell is find the glow plug with the biggest connector as that's cylinder 3. The light going off means that the initial reason for it faulting has been resolved, the reason it wouldn't clear is the ECU needed to verify the issue was resolved, more than likely this is indicating a failing glow plug. Contact cleaner probably wouldn't help as it's more than likely the glow plug internally failing. You can but the others would probably not be too far behind so it's probably best to just do them all. Just screw it down until it feels tight and then give it a small bit extra, pretty much treat it like a spark plug.

You should be able to check the current struts for a part number the should be very easy to find. Should be 5E5 827 550 with a letter after the 550 most likely a Q. Best advice is go to Skoda-Parts.com, sign up for a free account then enter your VIN into the garage section and then search for Gas Strut, all parts that do not fit your car will be greyed out. Once you have the part number try get some Stabilus struts, recently replaced my OEM ones with these and they've been such an improvement.

Year wise it should be fine it's from just before the refresh which happened around April 2017, the way to tell is the headlights are split in two, might be worth splashing a little extra for a 2018 or the newer style 2017 as it had a new infotainment system. I got my 2.0tdi 150hp estate at 87,000 miles in March 2022 it's currently on 200,000 miles and it's still mostly on original components, only replaced the interior fan and controller and boot struts apart from usual wear and tear items like brake pads and tyres. Best advice is service it regularly with quality parts, I use Mahle filters and Shell oil. Also make sure you justify a diesel a lot of people jump into diesels and only drive it around town, you should be doing A-road/motorway driving regularly otherwise you will be looking at DPF issues. Things to check are the crankshaft seal tends to leak, you can inspect it visually it's behind the driver side wheel. Check the coolant expansion tank, if it's brownish the silica bag has reptured and is blocking up the heating system, if it's ok check the tank doesn't have the silica bag present, it will say mitt silikat on the expansion tank, if it doesn't the tank has been replaced, if it does open the expansion tank and check the right hand side of the tank there should be a rectangular bag with fine mesh there, if not it has been removed.

No it's an engine in job thankfully as it's effectively a plastic cover with a rubber seal in it behind the crank pulley. I'll see if I can get feedback on it as I'm not going to be doing, despite doing all my servicing I'm not comfortable doing the timing belt and it won't be until around the summer, I simply can't afford dropping around €1000. It would be interesting to see as it's currently at 320,000km (200,000 miles) and I am pretty sure it's never been done as the independent dealer i bought it off did the first timing belt change when I bought it at 140,000km. All videos I've seen have been done around the 100-150,000 mile mark. What I can say is the engine is running surprisingly smooth and responsive for the mileage so it certainly doesn't sound like the typical behaviour of a Ford or PSA car.

Just get some Michelin, I put e-primacy as the dealer had them on promotion lasted about 50000 miles, tried Goodyear Eagle F1's as there was a set on when I got the car and had been on for ages, they only lasted about 20000 miles, currently have primacy 4's on and they're lasting similar to the e-primacy. All tyres felt great and I can see why they're highly rated.

I only found out about it on Instagram, I'm planning on replacing it when I do my timing belt as the crankshaft seal is leaking so it's a while you're there job

Lifespan all depends on location, I would assume with Australia being a more dusty place compared to the typically wet Britain or Ireland wipers would burn out quicker, but 12 months would be a typical lifespan for most places

I always use Bosch Aerotwin's can't complain with them, shame they only last around a year, but I live out in the country so I get stuck behind anything especially in wet roads where it's not actually raining

Might be worth trying a tank of premium diesel to clean out the fuel line and injectors, or trying fuel from a different place. Checking tyre pressure will help, ensure it's on the low load pressure unless you are towing or carrying a lot of weight.

My wife has something similar on her Hyundai ix20, I think it is due to the power steering motor bushing being destroyed a very common issue on Hyundai's, but could be worth looking at the power steering system as I believe it's electric on the Octavia

Knowing the Irish NCT they would fail it for not having a leveller or jet washer, I've heard people with Factory HIDs on Leon's fail for that and they ended up having to convert them to halogens.

First thing is check the voltage with a multimeter. Check the voltage when it's been off for a while, a good battery should be around 12.4-12.6v. If it's low your battery probably is gone but before you replace it check the voltage again with he engine running it should be at 13.8-14.3v, if it's not your alternator is toasty. To replace the battery get the same spec as you have a 70ah EFB type battery you can upgrade to an AGM battery but it requires a few more steps to install. The battery will need coding to the car so the car knows how to safely charge it. If you go to Halfords and pay for instillation they should code the battery to the car if you don't have the tools.

TRW seems to be a very commonly recommended brand here, they're more than likely the OEM supplier for your brake system. I've used Brembo and Feroddo both seem to be good had no issues with them.

I've seen so many videos about people replacing DPF's and not addressing the original issue, this could well be the case that the previous owner never fixed the issue that caused the original DPF to require replacement