thinkblueskies

(Sorry, deleted this text- I've put it in the Superb section by mistake)

So... I was short of time and tools, so I took it to Vindis in Cambs expecting a whole handbrake and a £300ish bill... and paid £81 for a repair. Okay, it's expensive for a button but missing work to sort it out and buy tools would have cost me more, I think. Seems to work okay for now, will report back if not.

Sorry, old post but realised I never replied! It was the Vindis Skoda dealer in Cambridge. They've cost me a lot more than that, sometimes(!) but on that occasion it was a pleasant surprise.

Maybe I'm oversimplifyming this, but I've found another way to test this before repair. If I put the original button back over the black bit, and use it to engage the handbrake, it stays up... so I know it's working and just a button problem. There's a hole on the underside of the plastic button (as in your diagram above) suggesting that a retaining clip has broken, or similar. Does the new one come with a retaining clip, or just the handbrake button itself? I don't have metalwork skills nor a great deal of time this month (it's a busy work month for me) so I might just bite the bullet and pay a dealer... but I'll report back if I find another solution.

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.