MTB

Thanks for quick reply.

Hi, My wife has had a slight coming to gether with a wall while reversing the car with a Skoda factory fitted removeable towbar in place. The black coating on the tow ball is scuffed and is flaking off revealing the metal ball underneath. Is this OK to use - I only use it for a ball mounted bike carrier - or will I need to replace the removable arm. I will remove the flaking black coating. If I need a new arm, can I buy just the arm or is it the full towbar!!! Regards.

09 1.9TD Estate. Bought brand new. Droning noise for ages. Dealer just said normal tyre noise. Got worse over the months and anyone who got in the car commented on it. Complained and complained and they [David Ian, Morecambe - Very Poor after service] eventually [~20k] said 'oh yes, Skoda know about this. You have jagged wear on rears. We'll do an alignment check, but as your tyres have worn you'll need to put 2 new on the rear at your cost before the check'. Alignment checked - don't know if any adjustments were made but came back and droning has gone. After reading on the web I'm now just waiting for it to reappear as the new tyres wear. Annoying as if they had taken me seriously when noise first reported the wear may not have been as bad and adjustment could have been made without forking out for new tyres. This issue, along with a long list of other problems, has made buying the Skoda Octavia the worse car ownership experience I've ever had. Couple these with the worst dealership after sales care and workmanship possible and I can only laugh when I see the adverts and customer promise posters.

An update: Phoned Hadwins VW and they are authorised to carry out Skoda warranty work, so booked the car in. Thanks for all the replies.

Thought it was all cut and dried until read #13. Just been on Skoda website and found these listed as a 'Service Centre'. They are definitely a VW franchise. Will just have to ring them tomorrow. Thanks for your help. Copy/pasted from Skoda website: "Welcome to Hadwins Service Centre We can offer you some really good deals on new and used cars and, once you've bought one you're happy with, we see it as our job to keep you that way. We do all we can to make sure owning a Škoda is a thoroughly enjoyable experience – and we like to think we're one of the reasons a whopping 98% of owners would probably recommend Škoda to a friend. Feel free to call, fax or email us, or pop in and see us during the opening times shown opposite. We look forward to meeting you. LINDALE GRANGE-OVER-SANDS LA11 6LP Tel: 015395 34242 Fax: 015395 35167 Email: [email protected] Calls to Retailers may be recorded for training and quality purposes"

Thanks for the answers [although not what I wanted to hear :( ]

As title really. I'm sure they can do servicing, but can they sort out warranty jobs. I can't switch my lights off and it will be much more convenient to take to nearest VW dealer than nearest Skoda dealer. Anyone had any experience of using VW dealer for this sort of problem under warranty. Ta.

Had my Octy II 1.9 Ambient Estate since Feb [bought new]. Bought it with factory fitted towbar and single electrics as I have a towbar mounted bike carrier [Thule] with the normal lights. I've not been on the bike due to injury since I bought the car, until this weekend, so plugged in the bike carrier to the electrics. The bulb warning light is on all the time the carrier is plugged in [even with no lights on]. I have checked all the lights on both the car and carrier and they seem to be working OK. When the carrier is unplugged the warning light goes out. From reading the manual I don't think this is normal. I've searched the forum and can't find the same problem. I don't have the maxi dot display to give more detailed info. Any suggestion on what to do? Thanks

Had new Octavia 1.9 08 for 2 months now. Annoying things that would have stopped me buying it if I knew then what I know now, but you still have time to check out list: 1. Engine noise change at 1900-2000 revs [goes worse (louder) under load and also around 3000, but that doesn't bother me because I don't go that fast]. 2. Poor radio reception [FM, not tried AM. Most noticeable on speech based programmes, i,e, quieter bits - how hard can it be Skoda?]. HTH

I've read your post and my issue seems identical to yours, so your not alone. I don't rev it to 3000 very often, but agree that the the car is as noisey at 1900 as 3000 and very quiet in between. I'm in the process of writing the email to the dealer detailing the issues and asking how best to deal with it. [i'm doing the email first as I can see problems trying to explain the issues and getting my points over if I phone them or just call in]. A mate at work has the same car [2 years old] and that is fine. Let me know how you get on and I'll do likewise. Any dealers reading this? How would you respond? Is just one of those things that we'll just have to live with? Ta

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. I'm hoping it's nothing serious and hopefully if it is the Skoda warranty will look after me. I'm going to email the dealer to give all the symptoms before going in as it will be a nightmare trying to explain it on the fly. None of the 'local' dealers are that local, so has anyone any good, bad or indifferent experiences of the Morecambe, Preston or Carlisle main dealers. I'll take it back to the one I bought from as they were ok during the purchase, unless anyone has any service related horror stories.

You're describing a similar change in engine 'tone' I'm experiencing on a 1k 4 week old car. Same infamous DMF has been suggested. Engine sound through the revs - BRISKODA - The Skoda Forums I'd appreciate it if you could post up what your dealer advises. Ta.

Had a couple of good runs over the weekend and as you say the noise was most prominent up a long incline on the motorway in 5th at 1900-200 revs (~60mph). My wife was in the car and couldn't hear the sound I was referring to until the uphill section, but once she heard it could pick up the noise some of the time when at the same engine revs but in other gears. This thread http://briskoda.net/octavia-ii/140pd-noise-accelaration-1400-2000-rpm-hi-gears/140683/ has a good description of the noise I hear - growling and a slightly blowing exhaust - but he's done 32, I've just gone past 1k in a month. I don't get any sense of increased vibrations or shuddering, just the noise. Any other suggestions? It looks like I'll have to get in touch with the dealer but I hope I won't need to find a long stretch of uphill motor way so that he can hear it.

It does it all the time and both going up and downs the revs. It is more easily noticeable in higher gears, and louder still with more load e.g. going up an incline in 5th. I gave a mate a lift home and he didn't notice it until I pointed it out but could hear it then. I tried it stationary and out of gear, and it's harder to hear but there's a definite change in sound. I had no idea what a DMF was/is. I've done a search and I'm now worried. There is no juddering at low revs/speed when pulling away, and no spluttering jumping when changing gear, and I don't get the sense of something vibrating when I hear the noise. [i have had one 'rough' start on a particulary cold morning. I put this down to a mis-fire rather than vibration, but that was before I'd heard about DMF's:)].

At work at the moment. Will try those out on journey home. Ta