Phil_P

I had abnormal rear tyre wear on my Octavia which was picked up at the second service (at 2 years old) and a 4 wheel alignment was done at no cost under warranty. Happy Driver

I get exactly the same thing in my Passat There's a very specific point on my commute where I go over a crest, down a dip and up a hill the other side. As I go down the dip the car loses power for a second. Does it every time, and even the wife has noticed it so it's not even driver related. It's quite disconcerting at first but now I'm used to it I just lift off the accelerator and it's less noticeable.

Thanks for that. Were you able to secure any discount elsewhere?Online vendors (DtD, autoebid) show healthy discounts so I'd be wanting a dealer to at least make an effort to get near to those prices to secure my custom. I see the 0% 2 year finance is also no longer available on the diesel estates :-(

That was my thought - best consumption/efficiency should coincide with peak torque, all other tings being equal.

You don't need to do high annual mileage, but the DPF is definitely not suited to town driving or shorter trips. I don't do high mileage by today's standards, but most of my trips are at least 10-12 miles each way so the engine (and DPF) does get a chance to warm up. Judging from the length of time the car takes to show as up to temp (can be 5-7 miles), I'm guessing anything under 10 miles really doesn't give it a chance to heat up and burn off the soot in the DPF. For shorter runs and around town driving, definitely avoid a diesel with DPF and go for a petrol.

What about on a diesel estate which don't have the VAT free offer - what sort of discounts have people been able to obtain?

That rear end looks so much better than the current car IMHO

My dealer told me pretty much the same today. He said they were doing new releases/updates/facelifts every 6 months (~ June/Nov) and listed about 4 to come down the pipeline before the Superb gets any attention. So it could even be late 2014.

A serious redesign of the rear end - it reminds me too much of that stupid Renault Megan shakin' it's arse.

I felt the same when I first picked up my Octavia. Try adjusting the front tyre pressures and see if that helps. Try increasing them a few psi at a time. You can't change the km/h to mph. Because the dials don't have km/h displayed, it must be displayed somewhere in case you go to Europe hence it's on the digital readout.

Be careful, you are not comparing like for like. The US uses MON (or PON) octane ratings which are very different to our RON ratings in the UK. For example, 95(RON) = 91(PON) = 87(MON)

Do you have the 100km/h cruise figures for the 1.6TDI (77kW) please (the new GreenLine)? For reference, my 2.0TDI (110PS/81kW) 5-speed manual Passat cruises at 100km/h at ~1950rpm

We are going to need LOTS of photo's when your new car arrives! Bet you can't wait

Could you explain this please? The front that just came off mine was worn more in the middle than the edges, yet when you looked across the profile of the tyre surface it appeared concave as if it were underinflated (no, it wasn't), so it was hard to see how the middle could have worn more than the edges - you'd expect the reverse. Is this "cupping"?

Had the fronts replaced on my Passat TDI last week at 17,000 miles. In places they were down to nothing. They were the OEM Factory fitted Conti's. It's a lease car, and they were replaced by KwikFit (done by their modile service), who have the contract. Was talking to the guy about tyre wear as I figured he changes a lot of tyres for a living, and his advice would hopefully be impartial as he's not trying to sell me anything. He said my 17K was pretty good, and 12K was more of an average for FWD diesels. He said he saw no real difference between any of the major brands in milage of the tyre but said that many considered Michelin to be the market leader in terms of stopping distances in the wet. Last time they fitted a Pirelli (puncture replacement), this time they fitted Michelin. These are 235/45/17's. My Octy has Dunlop 205/60/15's and looks like they should achieve similar milage (they've done ~12K and have a bit of wear left in them yet). We drive very gently, for economy. Don't do any motorway driving, all A and B roads with some coutry lanes.

I was recently looking at an ex demo 140CR SE Estate, priced at £1000 more than the same model costs new on DriveTheDeal. It took them over six months to sell it but it is gone now. I guess some people will pay a premium to drive away the car that week.

I had a 1.4TDI Fabia on loan for about a month a couple years back and I hated it. The 1.4 diesel really needed some revs (typically ~2000) to be happy and I found I constantly needed to be down in second gear on roundabouts etc where most cars were happy in 3rd. You were constantly up and down the gearbox trying to keep the thing happy. The 1.9TDI is a completely different engine and a far better proposition if you go the diesel route. My advice - avoid the 1.4TDI.

Sounds like the 1.9TDI will be a good choice for you. It's cheaper to insure and tax than the 2.0L and even on short trips to the shops my wife averages ~45mpg in ours. On longer runs it will easily return above 50mpg. Looking on autotrader, £8-9K will get you a pre-facelift 2008 Elegance estate (assuming you want another estate) with average/sensible miles. Face lifted SE models seem to start at around £10K, as seen here: http://www.simpsonsskoda.co.uk/Used-Car-Details/used-skoda-octavia-19-tdi-pd-se-estate-red-pearl-effect-manual-diesel-ID_1916815602386688.aspx

What you go for will llargely be determined by the age of the car you are looking for. The CR engines were phased in around 2009-2010 to replace the older PD engines. They are generally quieter, more refined and more economical, like for like (e.g, 2.0PD vs 2.0CR). I have the 1.9TDI PD (105bhp) fitted to a 2009 (59) octavia estate and I love it. Sure, it's a bit noisy and unrefined but it's very economical and great fun to drive with the surge of torque you get from this engine. It was phased out in 2010 so mine was one of the last. If you are going pre-2010 then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it The 1.9TDI doesn't have a DPF fitted whereas I beleive the 2.0PD's did. These are prone to blocking if you do low milage/short trips/town driving. The DPF technology seems better suited/matched to the 2.0CR engines. The 1.9TDI avoids all this nonsense completely by not having a DPF fitted. If you do longer runs then it's generally not an issue - I've not had an issue with the 2.0CR in our Passat doing a daily 20 mile A road commute at ~40-60mph.

The 1.9TDI Octavia doesn't have DPF so that could be an option too. Cheaper to insure, tax and fuel than the petrol variants. The 1.9TDI was available in face lifted models for a period in 2009/2010.

Octane rating and oxidation stability are already standard tests on all petrol sold in the UK so no need for any additives to be added after manufacturing for general use. I don't know too much about knock but I would have thought that was more an engine tuning issue rather than an issue caused by the fuel that could be cured with an additive.

Having just had my 2nd year (or 20,000 miles) service done I'm of the same opinion. Looking at my service book it would appear I've paid quite a lot of money for two oil changes and not a lot more. Most things appear to be 20K miles rather than 2 years, and as my car has done less than 20K miles they didn't get done. As the 3rd service would just be an oil change service, and my car will probably have reached 20K miles by then, I seriously doubt they'll get changed then so they just get missed. It all seems a bit of a con to me and I'm not a particularly happy driver.

There could be. I have no specific knowledge of any additives that may be added once the fuel has left the refinery. What additives do you think are being added, and by whom?

You can't generalise about supermarket fuel. I work at a refinery. We have two refineries in the local area. I see the supermarket tankers in and out all day filling up. Same at the other refinery. Branded tankers from various branded filling stations are also in and out all day. We also sell fuel to Esso and Shell. I know the quality of the fuel we are putting out the gate as it's my job to test the stuff. I have no idea of the quality of the stuff the other refinery puts out as I don't test that, but it must meet the UK legislation at the very least. So when I fill up at my local supermarket, which fuel am I buying? How the hell would I know unless I tracked the tanker that delivered it. It's a complete lottery. Petrol is rated by octane number (RON). Regular is 95 octane and Super is 98 Octane (minimum). Occasionally we run out of regular and will ship super in it's place, so if you are lucky you are getting super for the price of regular (how's that going to affect your tank for tank comparisons?). Regular is very rarely bang on 95 octane - usually there is "giveaway" and it can easily be up near 96 octane, or above. Diesel doesn't have an octane number, but rather a cetane number, and I think the spec is 51 minimum. Again, noramlly there is a level of giveaway. The point is that no two tanks of fuel are ever going to be the same - all you can guarantee is that each fuel meets the legal minimum in terms of it's specs. One Tesco or Asda is not going to be the same as another as they each get their fuel from a different source. Heck, even at the same supermarket I suspect the fuel will come from different sources during the course of the same month, depending on area. Bottom line, buy what you are happy with. Personally, I buy the cheapest I can find.

Worked on my Passsat when I had a puncture. Put the spare wheel on and the warning light triggered. Checked/adjusted the pressures and reset by holding the button. I think it triggers when two wheels on the same axel differ by ~3psi or more. It's not always instant - you might have to drive a few miles before the light will come on.