nbramwel

If your air conditioning is working OK, just leave it alone. Skoda will try and sell you things you don't really need and usually at a hugely inflated price.

I have bought a Fabia mk3 and an Octavia mk3 and taken out the finance package which, on both occasions, came with the next 2 services at no cost. I don't do finance so simply paid it off within a few days of collecting both cars. I paid maybe a couple of pounds in interest but kept the 2 services. A stupid way of doing business in my view but I had to protect my interests.

The clock and trip meter on my 2018 Octavia reset themselves a couple of years ago. My dealer reloaded the software under warranty and it was fine until a couple of days ago when it happened again. As the car is no longer under warranty, I just reset the clock myself. I think this is a software problem. Skoda will obviously not do anything about it now so I will just live with it.

Thank you. I'll have another try at the weekend after having bought the tool suggested by nige8021.

I've been trying to disconnect the electrical connections to the coil packs (3 cylinder 1 litre petrol TSI) but without success. They are firmly on and whatever I do, they won't budge. I've looked on youtube but no luck unfortunately. Obviously I don't want to break them or the coil packs which need to come out for a service. Can anyone help me on how to do this please? A video would be great. Also if a special tool is needed, can anyone point me in the right direction? Thank you.

My son has a 2017 1.0 litre Octavia. Earlier today we tried to change the spark plugs but didn't get very far. We had difficulty disconnecting the wiring connector from the coil packs. Do we need a special tool or is there a knack to doing this? We couldn't see an easy way of separating the connector from the coil pack anddidn't use any great amount of force in fear of doing some damage. Any help appreciated. Thank you.

Had exactly the same problem again last week. Car telling me to change down a gear when I didn't need to. I had a 40 minute motorway journey planned for yesterday anyway so I drove between 60 and 70mph in third gear for about 30 minutes. This did clear the petrol particulate filter and all is back to normal. Still not impressed with this technology which, at the very least, is wasting my fuel and increasing emissions. Has anyone else had filter problems with their petrol car?

My son has a 2017 1.0 litre Octavia without a petrol particulate filter. I have a 2018 1.0 litre Octavia with a petrol particulate filter. My son's car is coming up for its annual service which we intend to do ourselves so I have been researching which oil to use. Looking through this forum, Euro Car Parts and Opie oils web sites, I get the impression his car (without the PPF) needs 5w-30 spec oil to VW 504 specification. Looking a bit further ahead, my car (with the PPF) needs 0W-20 spec oil to VW 508 specification at its annual service although 5W-30 oil can be used quite safely (this in itself is confusing). Skoda dealers seem as confused over this and my local one can't even supply 0W-30 spec oil in 1 litre, 4 litre or 5 litre containers, Are my assumptions above correct or have I misunderstood completely. Please note we intend to service both cars annually. Thank you.

Just simply reject the car. Having such a serious fault, it is not fit for purpose.

Getting back to the original question, my MK3 1.0 Octavia registered in September 2018 unfortunately has a GPF but my sons 1.0 Octavia registered in December 2017 doesn't. Petrol cars registered from around late 2018 will therefore have a GPF. On two occasions the GPF has been problematical. The car asks me to change down a gear when I don't need to. I have managed to clear the problem by following the advice above but what a waste of my time and fuel. Absolute nonsense when something designed to reduce emissions actually increases them when they don't work.

My previous Fabia came from the factory with 16 inch wheels and a 15 inch spare with a 50mph warning sticker on it. Wasn't a problem at all as the tyre sidewall on the spare was bigger than the sidewall on the 16 inch wheels.

I had this problem about 18 months ago. The trip meter went back to zero and the clock reset itself to 00.00. Also sometimes the clock showed the wrong time until I started up the car when it corrected itself. The Skoda dealer said they re-installed the software but the clock showing the wrong time problem is still there. I can't be bothered taking it back again so just live with this problem.

Does anyone know the tightening torque and gap for replacement spark plugs please? Service coming up on the 1 litre which I intend to do myself. Many thanks.

I had a repair to my Fabia a few years ago. I took it to a well known Skoda dealer in the North West but they subbed the work out to a bodyshop repair company. like matthall94, I had to take it back a couple of times as I was not satisfied with the quality of the work. So don't assume a Skoda dealer will do a quality job or any of the actual work themselves.

I had a similar issue with my 2015 Fabia 1.2TSI. The dealer initially said it wasn't a fault but I persevered. They replaced the clutch pack under warranty and the car was fine afterwards.

Anyone? Also forgot to ask what is the spark plug gap please?

The 4 year service is coming up on my son's MK3 1.0 litre Octavia registered in December 2017. We intend to do this ourselves using genuine Skoda parts. What are the torque settings (in NM if possible) for the spark plugs and oil drain plug please? Thank you.

You can buy a car initially on finance and take advantage of the extended warranty and service plan then after a few days, get in touch with Skoda finance to say you wish to withdraw from the agreement. They will give you the cost of the outstanding finance (what you borrowed plus a few pounds interest), pay it off and keep the warranty and service plan. You have a legal right to do this as I have with my current and previous Skoda. You have to play the dealers at their own game - their arrangements not yours.

I've always felt that these arrangements are for the benefit of the dealer, not the customer. My view is that you pay for things when you get them and not in advance. It's unfortunate but over the years, I have grown to be very cautious of car dealers. This is from my personal bitter experience and not the views of others (of which there are many on this forum alone). Find yourself a good mechanic locally who you can trust. Word of mouth is by far the best recommendation.

Glad you (almost) managed to get your clutch problem and refund of your engineer's report costs sorted. But isn't it a disgrace that you had to suffer so much hassle and indifference from your Skoda dealer. They deserve to go out of business. Unfortunately we are seeing more and more of this attitude across many segments of business. You should name and shame them on the dealer reviews section of this forum once your dealings with them are over, then take your servicing business elsewhere. And well done to the member who provided you with the technical information issued by Skoda in support of your case. Just appalling that your dealer didn't come forward with the information in the first place.

I have an Octavia with the 1.0 litre engine and 16" standard tyres. I do round town type mileage and get low 40mpg. The Scala being that bit smaller, you should achieve mid 40mpg with similar type journeys. The engine is nippy enough for me so will be fine in the Scala.

Simply don't let Skoda or the dealer get away with this. They have behaved shamefully and simply want to avoid their responsibilities. Be firm with them but not over argumentative. You should not be out of pocket at all and ideally deserve some sort of recompense for your inconvenience. Take this as far as you can including a loan car at no cost to you, refund of your specialist engineer's costs, repair or replacement of the car to full specification, again at no cost to you and something for your trouble. Good luck with all of this. Don't be reluctant to involve your solicitor friend early. If nothing else, it will show Skoda you are serious.

Unfortunately the response from the Skoda dealer is what to expect these days but that certainly doesn't make it right. They simply want to avoid taking responsibility as it will cost either them or Skoda to fix the problem. And to charge over £1,000 to replace a clutch is just ludicrous. Shameful behaviour. You are wise to get an independent inspection as it will prove invaluable if you have to go down the legal route with this. Please let us know how you get on.

I bought a Fabia DSG in February 2016 on HP finance simply to get 2 free services and paid the loan off in a couple of days. I bought my current Octavia on HP in August 2019 again so I could get 2 services for something like £159 (this was the deal going at the time). Again I paid the loan off within a few days. No problems paying either of the loans off and besides, you can withdraw from any financial agreement within 14 days by law anyway. I would just check beforehand with Skoda Financial Services that they haven't changed their rules and will still allow you to keep whatever incentives they offer with their various financial packages.

I have had a 1.0 litre Octavia for coming up to 2 years now. Plenty quick enough for me and will cruise at 70mpg all day long. Round town MPG is around 42mpg real world.