soapywalrus

Ordered my vRS estate on 28th April, was built w/c 6th June, arrived in the UK last week, is being PDI'd today and I get it on Monday. Good to be back (nearly!).

New vRS estate in race blue with black design pack+ (19s etc) and spare wheel. Ordered 28th April Build in w/c 6th June Delivery probably start July, they reckon. The spring cannot pass fast enough!

I intend to see just how much trouble I can cause with 60bhp. I think I will probably replace the engine before I replace the brake pads.

Just popped a new post in the Hello section, but thought I would say hello here too... Was a long time user of this forum until about 2011 because I used to have a MkII Octavia vRS which I adored, but moved on from VAG for a while. Mrs Walrus and I run a big family car (C5 tourer), a little runabout (Mini) and a motorbike, usually she using the C5 with the kids, me commuting on the bike and the second car getting limited use when we split the kids at the weekends and do different things, or if I don't use the bike for work for whatever reason. Anyway, our 11 year old Mini needs replacing, and I was keen to come back to Skoda, so have just ordered a new Citigo Monte Carlo, in red. Was looking at speccing a new one but cut a bit of a deal on one the dealer had ordered as a demo and was waiting for delivery of, so should get it in 2-3 weeks (I am told it is currently in the dock in Germany awaiting shipping). I am oddly excited about hopping into a 60bhp city car, especially after reading all the tales of back-lane heroism on here! Looks like the Walrus will be back on Briskoda again!

It has been a long time since the Walrus posted on here! I used to be a fairly regular contributor on here as a MkII Octavia vRS owner, but I moved on about 4 years ago and went away from the VAG group for a change. My big car is still non-VAG, but our second car (an 11 year old Mini) is ripe for renewal, so I am back into the Skoda fold, waiting patiently for my new Citigo Monte Carlo to land at the dealers! Likely to be a very different motoring experience, I appreciate, but as a funky second-car-runabout for the days when I don't commute on the bike, or when me and Mrs Walrus do separate things with the kids, it should fit the bill perfectly. I am really rather excited to be back!! If the Skoda experience is as good as I remember then 12 months from now we may be an all-Skoda family once more... I am eyeing up a Superb estate to replace the ageing C5 tourer... Hello to old friends and new. Soapy

After 3 years of pleasurable Skoda ownership, and associated Briskoda patronage, the time has come to move on. In December 2008 I bought an Octavia vRS PD on an 07 plate with 6000 miles on it from Progress Skoda in Bedford. It was a former Skoda fleet car and had satnav and 18" wheels. Collecting it was - without doubt - the most exciting car ownership moment I'd ever had. 3 years and 70,000 miles later and the time came to move on. The walrus pup is getting bigger, and Mrs Walrus is making noises about another pup for the ice-cave, so more space was wanted. Being realistic about my driving, what I really needed in a car for the next few years was space, cruising speed, comfort, equipment, economy and a little bit of individuality and character. The obvious solution would have been a Superb estate in elegance or SE trim, and in an ideal world I'd have one on the drive now. But this isn't an ideal world, and the re-shuffling of the family Walrus fleet did not have sufficient budget allowance for the big Skoda (Mrs Walrus' Qashqai has gone too). I considered buying another Octavia in wagon form, but it's not really my style to have the same thing twice. Every car I've ever owned has been from a different manufacturer, and ultimately if you buy a bad one (if there's such a thing these days) then you can always chop in and move on if it just isn't meant to be. So 2 weeks ago I welcomed a Citroen C5 VTR+NAV tourer on a very similar deal to the Octavia (ex-Citroen fleet, 10k miles, one owner (Citroen UK) and half the price of a new one) and so far I'm loving it, albeit in a completely different way to the way I loved the Octavia. But the new car isn't the reason to post. My reflections on 3 years of Octavia vRS ownership - in no particular order - are as follows... Pulling out of the dealership and pointing it up the A1 on the night of collection, I will never forget the massive stamp on the back of the head I got when I shoved my right foot into the mat. I cackled out loud, and even Mrs Walrus murmered something that might have been 'blimey'. I spanked it all the way up to York and grinned every mile. Why does a car with a satnav system not also have bluetooth? Always baffled about the fact that the satnav had a "tele" button on it, but didn't come with the phone kit. Why on earth were they not packaged together?? Had the ABS fault. Glad it was under warranty. The air conditioning compressor went pop. Glad that was under warranty too. Developed a nasty hesitation under acceleration just before it departed. Think the turbo might have been getting a little thin on life. Glad that I didn't have to deal with that one. Warranty wouldn't have saved me there. Motor never lacked for power, shoved so perfectly out of bends and roundabouts but always longed for a bit more top end - people said the CR was a bit more revvy...but then maybe I should have bought the petrol. Bottle-holders in the door pockets held my massive litre size SIG bottle which meant I always carried water everywhere and suffered far fewer headaches - my Skoda improved my health! 4-up from Cheshire to Bristol for a colleague's wedding, one of the girls commented that it was "like being in a grown-up's car". I work with a bunch of children. I always wished for a little less weight over the front end - turn-in was always a little more based on faith than feel... ...but settled into the bend and onto a positive throttle it was always easy to forgive and forget that brief moment of clumsiness on the way in. Round the country lanes near where I live I had some memorable moments chasing between the hedges with BMWs, Porsches, motorbikes... The paint on the spoiler started to delaminate. That was not really acceptable given how careful I am with my cars. Always used oil. The dealers always said it was to an acceptable level. I never thought so myself. Awesome GTi in Irlam are better than any main dealer. And half the price. My god it was noisy inside. Why one earth are the sidelight bulbs so ridiculously fiddly to get to??? And this place has been a brilliant source of information, friendship, banter and help. Keep it Brisky, kids. Soapy.

And no, not remapped, although I have been thinking about it...!

Thanks for all comments. I'm not stamping hard on the throttle at low revs in 6th, the problem's showing itself on a neutral or very slightly positive throttle in 6th. Where I'm encountering it in normal driving is when motorway traffic slows (say to around 55-60mph or so) and then starts to flow again. In gently putting the throttle down (without changing out of 6th) it's then that it's stuttering and faltering and making me go down to 5th where before it would simply deal with it and grunt on through.

Not sure whether I have a problem or not, so I f I explain the symptoms maybe somebody brighter than I can diagnose the cause... History... Octavia II vRS PD 170. 07 plate, 68k miles. Just (a couple of weeks ago) had major service and cambelts changed. No change to use of vehicle or manner of driving. I've owned the car since it had 6000 miles on it and never encountered this issue. The problem... Low revs (say below 1800-2000rpm), 6th gear, try to accelerate and met by power, then a thumping loss of power, then the torque comes back in, then drops right off again. Change down to 5th and all is well. Try to recreate the situation at lower speed in a different gear by deliberately labouring the engine and it behaves exactly as normal - accelerates through the low rev range and then takes off. Gut reaction says turbo, but the fact that it only happens in 6th makes me wonder about electronics, rather than mechanicals. Other than this it continues to drive fine. No warning lights. One other thing - the fuel economy seems to have dropped by about 8-9mpg according to the onboard computer. Might be connected? Thoughts please - something and nothing, or needs dealing with? Phil

Quick, simple idiots guide needed please... I'm looking at a few Superb estates at the moment and am pretty set on what I want, including the 170 CR engine. I have a PD 170 in my OCtavia vRS now so do not want to buy a new car with a less powerful engine. Simply put, I need to know if there's a quick way to tell the 140 from the 170 - either by external markings or by something quickly identifiable under the bonnet. I have seen some cars listed as being "PD" (which I took to mean the old 140 engine, as opposed to "CR" for the 170) but then when they are put into certain search engines (on insurance companies for example) they show up as 170s. How can I be sure that the particular car in front of me is a 170 and not a 140? Ta for tolerating my technical ineptitude!! Phil

So, how did they do? Well, firstly the price quoted was the price paid. This we like. Staff great, showroom lovely (but then it is basically brand new, so should be), courtesy car was 60 plate Octavia Greenline estate WITH DIESEL IN IT (****************) Phone call from staff is always appreciated, but this - for me - was where things started to fall down a little. The phone call was to say "one of the front tyres has an egg on it, and the two rear ones are wearing unevenly. We think you should replace all three of them. We can do it for £211 per corner(!!)." "Yes," says I, "but replacing the tyres (which are not very old at all) doesn't solve the problem, does it? The new tyres that you want me to buy will just go the same way" Reply "well it could be anything - pressures, loads, manner of driving" "Well how about checking the alignment?" "ah, well we can do that, but it's not covered by warranty" (nothing is covered by warranty - the car's 4 years old, if you care to look properly) "and what'll it cost?" "£150" "£150?!?" "plus VAT" Hmm, thanks, but I'll speak to others (eventually got it laser aligned for less than £50...) The other thing that I didn't like was to find that the service note at the end advised me to change the three tyres (fair enough) but also said "ADVICE - monitor small oil leak starting". Is that not something that perhaps you ought to ring me and ask me whether I want addressing while the car's in? So, overall first experience is very much mixed.

Ambulances have routes?! What if you don't live on one? Are you expected to stagger to the nearest ambulance-stop whilst performing CPR on yourself? Why has nobody told me about this?!?

Mine is booked in to see Lightcliffe a week on Monday for 4th variable service. So far I like the fixed price (including parts) and the speed of being able to book and get a courtesy car - would have taken at least 3 weeks to get a loan car at Claybank. Will report back on the service after its happened, but first impressions are good.

Facelifted vRS on Zenith alloys? Didn't realise they were available on the new ones. Looks good though!

Gutted. :'( Glad to hear you're ok though, and that her insurers sound like a reasonable bunch (NFU are renowned for being fair minded). Let us know how you get on. We all feel for you.