thinkblueskies

I used to own a 2006 one. Really loved it. Mine drank oil a lot. (Petrol version.) If buying privately I'd ask about making on top of oil levels/changes etc. Water pumps fail frequently. If changing a cambelt, just change the water pump while you're there even if it's behaving itself.

Because I wasn't well enough to do anything before. Thanks all. Really helpful.

Dear all, I've been unwell. I'm recovering but my car's not been driven since mid January. I'll probably get behind the wheel near the start of April. It's on a driveway, so I could start it and idle it for a while, but obviously that's not ideal. I'm thinking about getting a trickle charger, overinflating the tyres/moving the car by a few inches to stop wear on the same but of tyres. 1) Does anyone recommend a trickle charger for a MK3 Octavia vRS petrol (220)? I'd prefer to charge through the cigarette lighter if I can but that's not essential. 2) Is there anything I've not considered after a car's been laid up for a bit? 3) Normally idling on the driveway isn't great but if the car starts, is that preferable to leaving it without running for another month? Pragmatically (long story), there's no one who could give it a run for me. Thanks for any help people can offer.

A few days after picking up a MY 13 Octavia wagon, it started to get a buzzing sound in the driver's side B Pillar. A tech traced it to a vibrating fuel line, and secured it with an extra clip. Total cost of diagnostic time and repair= £9.52. I hope my post helps someone else with a buzz!

Hi folks. I had a small mark on the casing of the driver's wing mirror where someone's clipped it. But after leaving it, it's beginning to peel. I've now got a peeling area around the original mark that's about 2x2cm. The mirror itself and the indicator bits are all fine. (The paint's Black Magic, if it makes a difference.) I know I haven't the skills to repaint it so I'll have to pay someone to do that... so I wondered if it'd be cheaper and easier to just replace the mirror housing instead with a pre-painted one? Thanks for your time, thinkblueskies

Talk about timing- I was about to post the same question. My 56 plate is using a fair bit of oil and there was mayo around (but not in) my filler cap today. Phew!

No worries- I'll ask around and be less lazy when it comes to prices! Thanks for the info.

Thanks. How much did a new one set you back? I'm wondering whether to get out a circular sander/epoxy resin instead.

Not necessarily budget choices... but when I swapped the Yokohama S306's for Continental SportContact 3's it transformed my car's wet and dry weather grip. Still crap in snow though! :hehe:

Has anyone replaced the plastic panel inside the bootlid of an Octavia Hatch? (Mk2 vRS pre-FL, if it makes a difference) A family member who shall remain nameless-to protect the guilty! - slammed the boot down on a mattress in the boot, forcing it when it wouldn't shut. The end result is a cracked tailgate panel, with a good 15-20cm full-thickness crack so I'm not convinced a repair is possible. Has anyone ever replaced one? Is it easy/hard to do?

Petrol vRS's are pretty good, not as bad on fuel as you'd think (about 30mpg if pushing hard, 35mpg on an average MWay trip and 38-39mpg if you drive like a saint). The petrol engines are pretty reliable if not abused. I'm usually a diesel fan but plumped for petrol for my vRS. Diesels are much better on fuel but not without problems- see above- and do cost more. By all means go for diesel, but you'd have to do a lot of miles to make up the fuel costs and avoid DPF issues. If long distance isn't your kind of driving, look long and hard at the petrols. Oh, and did I mention they're a lot of fun?

I have to try *very* hard to get over 40mpg on a long trip on the trip computer, say 38-39mpg in the real world. With more typical M-Way driving it sits at about 35mpg, and cities are about 20mpg. Still, for cars that are comparable fun, that isn't bad! Try getting that in a Focus ST five pot. Mind you, I've seen the trip computer dip to 6mpg when (legally) accelerating very hard uphill...

Love my Occy vRS... but sometime wish I could have the 2L engine without so much weight to carry. Would be looking to change in 2012/13. This would be good... ... but would it be a better deal to buy a low mileage second hand Scrirocco? I'll have to think about that one. It's nice to be able to carry my bike in the Octavia's boot, but I'd be sorely tempted by this and buy a bike rack.

Love mine, but concur about checking the service history. Was surprised that my (main dealer purchased) Skoda had 3 owners in 3 years and servicing done by lots of random independents instead of the main dealers or a known independent specialist.... I thought I wouldn't need to check such things for an approved dealer car but I won't make that mistake again. That said, the car turned out to be a peach so I'm happy anyway! And I'm not going to sell it in a hurry, so the resale concerns of multiple owners in a short space of time won't worry me much. In a year, I've needed a turbo air sensor replaced (for £119, covered by warranty anyway) and standard service items. Hardly a money pit, and it's put loads of smiles on my face. Some people love the DSG gearboxes but they cost more to buy and to fix if they go wrong and the manual's really good anyway. Only thing if I had my time again is that the Black Magic paint scheme is tough to keep looking good. Any time I park mine next to one of these blue ones, they always look a little better to my eyes. If that's the worst thing I can think of about my car, it's got to be a good choice.

I couldn't get winter tyres and found my Yokohama S306 were rubbish. Changed to Continental Sport3 (I thought that if I can't get decent winter tyres, I'd get the best "summer" ones I could...) and they were still not brilliant, but they were better. Just leave plenty of room for stopping and turning, and for other people's errors... (Next year I'll invest in winter ones before there's a mad rush on)