kenbo

I was about to post about this problem when I saw this thread. My car's the same, I don't have to reverse uphill often so I can live with that problem but I hate the jerky take off at lights or junctions. I bought through the trade with high miles so no warranty and I didn't notice the fault on a test drive as it's not too bad until the car heats up fully.. In my case I tried to discuss the problem with a local dealer, refused to do so without booking it in. I had to pay £75 to be told there was nothing wrong and that lots of them were the same! A few months later I tried the same dealership to part exchange for a newer model....salesman test drove my car but wouldn't take it in because of the jerky gearbox issue. I also contacted an ecu specialist and he told me that if there was no code stored then the mechatronics unit was not at fault I've now lived with mine for 5 years, and it's gradually getting worse, I've never had a car which I've hated so much but I'm not prepared to take the financial hit yet. On the plus side it averages over 55 mpg all the time.....we only use it on long journeys and rarely in the winter because of the dreadful heater ( that's another story, thermostats, sensors, dash out, lots of money wasted, still can't fix it) My advice? If the mechatronics unit doesn't fix it, get rid of it if you can back to the dealer. At least you now know how to check out another one properly as most of them are ok., it's usually a great gearbox.

In the extreme winter a few years ago the problem I had with my Octavia was that it wouldn't heat up or demist properly so it was a drudge to use. The last straw was when the screen froze up while driving home. I had to abandon the car in a local farmyard. My wife was following in her old 95 Corsa and she collected me. I was so disgusted, I didn't bother collecting my car for a while. The Corsa has a great heater and we drove it every day...temp was down to -13 from memory and we never got stuck, passed lots of modern cars stuck because of low ground clearance/ wide tyres, including 4 wheel drives. Snow wise, many problems are due to other motorists blocking those who know how to drive properly. We still have the same cars but if it's very cold or if there's heavy snow forecast, we don't use the Skoda and that's a pity, as it would be so much safer in the event of an accident.

I love the DSG box, super quick changes, the only thing I would highlight is to take a good test drive. Mine was jerky on take off when fully warmed up, bought unseen through the trade and out of warranty on miles. Over almost 5 years it's got a bit worse, now on 130k miles, but it does the job. I have to keep it as I'm not prepared to take the financial hit. I would still buy DSG again as I reckon I was just unlucky with this one.

Take it for a good drive and make sure take off is smooth, especially when well warmed up, also changes should be totally seamless on the move. Mine is a pig starting off, very jerky.(122000 miles) Check reversing slowly up an incline, they aren't great anyway but should be reasonably smooth. I'm not aware of any engine issues, very economical usually, can be very rough as you start the engine, I hear lots of Vag cars sound the same, seems normal. Personally I don't like the car (excessive road noise and poor heating/demisting) but for reliability it's probably a better buy than most other cars out there.

I gave my car a service yesterday and when I took out the fuel filter it was completely black. Is that the way it's made or is it full of dirt? When I bought the car, I contacted the servicing dealer and they confirmed that all the filters had been changed at the 90k service. I'm now on just over 120k so they were due for a change. I've a suspicion the filter I replaced may have been on since new!

Re the Superb 2 litre, "Car Mechanics" recently did a feature on the major problems with these engines relating to the oil pump. Apparently this particular engine type was mainly usen in the Passat but also in the Superb and possibly some Audis. There are stories of a garage in London which specialises in Taxis where they had so many disabled Passats waiting on oil pumps that they had storage problems. The repair is usually expensive but if the failure was at speed then the car is scrap.That said, not all cars were affected by any means and good servicing with high quality oil is always a help. Various mods were made by Vag but there wasn't a proper fix done until 2008.

I assume this is the DSG gearbox, no torque convertor then, and the Skoda dealer should know that. I don't like the behaviour of my gearbox, similar behaviour to yours but jerky. I bought through the trade and didn't have guarantee. I don't have the thud you refer to. I think you should seek yet another opinion or try to get the dealer to take it back. Sounds like it's the mechatronic unit (this operates the clutch mechanism) and it's an expensive main dealer job.

On the subject of wives driving, I went to see the air show. There were gasps of "Ooh" and "Aah" as the crowds watched on in amazement. Near miss after near miss had some people covering their eyes and shaking their heads in disbelief. It was a good half hour, but in the end, my wife finally managed to park the car and we made our way to see the planes!!

I buy the Car Mechanics magazine most months, makes interesting reading about car reliability. Recent stories of 2.0 Passats waiting on oil pumps which are on back order, the new Fiat Twin air engines failing because the dipstick is so awkward, owners don't check the oil level and, with an 18,000 mile service interval, the obvious happens. There was an interesting snippet about an 03 Mercedes CLK, it was so rusty around the spring seats, there was nowhere to weld to and the car was basically scrap. Another story relates to someone who has a business reconditioning engines. He's very upbeat, shifting more units than a few years ago. People keeping their cars longer in these recessionary times? No! Business is booming in the 2 to 4 yr old age range. Like the Fiat story, longer service intervals, less attention to maintenance, engines are failing due to lack of oil and of course no warranty. Best selling unit was a Ford, timing chain breaks when oil is low. I had a tradesman at my house yesterday, he has had really bad luck this year, his Nissan jeep had suffered its second major engine failures in 3 years,....it is a well known problem in the trade. I think Nissan paid for one of them to be fair. He was waiting on a Car Dismantler to call to look at his latest mishap, his wife's 2005 Touareg 2.5 which has just destroyed its second engine as well, balancer shafts he thought. The first one failed and he bought a second hand engine (took nearly 6 months to find it) This engine lasted about 2 months. Today he told me he sold it for breaking...85,000 miles, well maintained but not with the main dealer. He reckons he has lost over £4,000 and has now replaced both vehicles with older Toyotas. I know these forums give us all a lot of feedback on problems but in my opinion the motorist has never had a worse time re major reliability issues. OK the above are mainly maintenance issues but technology is moving forward too fast. ABS, DPF, DMF, also, to an extent, timing chain failures are a common problem for many manufacturers but it's the poor motorist who is paying the price for shoddy design. Garages don't care, they're happy to take our money. My local VAG specialist refuses to recommend any current brands, he says they're all a lottery to buy!

Lack of a decent heater is one of my main gripes with the Octavia, I think it's just poor design. I can't be bothered with the car in cold weather, thinking of buying a friend's old 1.9 td Peugeot 406, rust free, comfortable and economical but with a decent heater,

I've just seen this thread. Virtually the same symptoms as my car since shortly after buying it in Mar 2009 with 90,000 miles. Once I'm on the move the car drives perfectly. Unfortunately I bought through the trade so I had no warranty. The car is unsaleable unless I repair it so I'll just drive it as long as possible. It irritates me so much in traffic that I use my wife's car for town runs. It's not showing any fault codes, I might have a go at removing the mechatronic unit if things get much worse, I read somewhere that there's a specialist who can repair them. Miles now at 115,000

In my experience the Octavia has the worst heater of any car I've owned, can't make up its mind whether to blow cold or tepid. Warm air is only possible in the winter during a long, fast drive. That said, I can at least get some heat. My thought would be to check for a thermostat on the heater itself or perhaps the control switch. Modern cars are so complicated, personally I would visit a local Vag specialist for some advice first.

I've had this problem since I bought my car over 2 years ago, coming in between the seal and the tailgate, tried all sorts of things inc a new seal without success. I'm not happy about this but having to live with it and dry out the wheel well on a regular basis. Local specialist who works on Taxis told me lots of them leak.

I've just come back from an 1800 mile trip from N Ireland to Kidderminster area, down to Kent for a week, plus 400 miles in France and then home.( 2008 1.9 pdi with Dsg) Never really went over 60mph, overall average was 59.5 on the trip computer. My target was 60 but traffic was slow up the M6 last night and I had to divert across country. I measured the distance on Sat nav but haven't filled up yet to check actual consumption, miles underread so I usually find the computer figure pretty close. On the way down to Kent, got a brilliant 67.2, no road delays that particular trip. As in previous post, once speed goes over 60, economy drops quickly. All that self control is tedious, car's going to get caned once I've filled up!

Re the oil pump issues on 2L cars, Car Mechanics magazine had a feature about that very problem, can't remember if it was last month or the current issue. They mentioned a VAG specialist who had run out of storage space for disabled taxis waiting on new pumps which were on back order. I think, from memory, the pumps were costing over £1000, perhaps that price included fitting. The specialist was now fitting repaired, modified pumps as a much cheaper price. Apparently the Trade are fully aware of the problems but continue to deal in these cars as they sell well!

I bought my car at 2 yrs old, 91,000 miles, now at 111,000. Economy averages 55 in the summer, 52 during winter. I have virtually no town driving but long drives are rare. Gearbox, I've been unlucky, very jerky when starting off and in traffic, totally spoils the car. Open road driving, perfect, and the changes are so smooth and quick. I would still recommend a DSG gearbox, make sure you take a good test drive first as my car drives perfectly until heated up.

Front wheelarch liners, yes, I did mine earlier this year, but you should have a look at the rears also. The muck and debris collects at the front part of these, at the rear ends of the sills if you follow me. If anyone intends to keep their cars long term, these are the danger areas for corrosion. It's not only debris, in the winter salt also lodges at these points. I treated the areas with a mix of waste oil and dinitrol which should give long term protection. I also removed the bungs to the sills when the liners were out and gave the sill cavities the same treatment. They were nice and clean anyway but on my Citroen Xsara(246000 miles from new) I didn't realise it was rusting inside the sills until too late. The rest of the car is good as it got oil sprayed every year. I've a service due on the Skoda, compressor, waste oil, and old clothes ready as well!

Well, oil light now out, what was the cause? I think you need to go to a local specialist to get the codes read for the other warning lights. I can recommend JW Service Centre, VAG Specialists in Coleraine, (I've had to use them too many times) bound to be someone closer to you. Someone who knows these cars will sort out any problem quicker, they know the most likely place to start to search. Ken

Typical Dealer advice, "no Mr Gullible, the bumpstop isn't available separately but we will sell you two nice new Shocks" I should know better than to have believed this particular Garage.

" Looks like I'll just have to get used to it and wear more warmer clothes." My solution to the poor heater last year was to park the car up for much of the winter and use it for long journeys only, and that's not what I bought it for. My argument is that in these modern times where we have so many driving aids, we should not have to live with a poor heating system in our cars. I've been driving Diesels for years, all economical and with adequate heaters. Yes, this may be a consequence of an efficient engine, surely it would be no great engineering feat to circulate even less coolant through the engine in colder weather. Volvos and Saabs are also efficient cars but apparently have decent heaters. I wonder do Skoda sell cars in countries such as Norway or Sweden? I'd be surprised if they don't and I'm sure they are better equipped for colder climes than ours are. Sorry about the rant, this issue is a big turn off for me as my journeys are mainly 10-12 miles and I don't see why I have to use my wifes ancient Corsa for comfort each winter. And then... there's the abysmal rear screen demisting as well!!

I priced ones from Skoda, not too bad though cannot quite remember. My local VAG specialist Breaker had good ones at £20 each earlier this year, but if the car passes the MOT I'm not replacing them!

My car is the same on both sides, I'm told it's a common failure. I phoned the local dealer and am told that the bumpstop cannot be purchased separately, so Shocks must be renewed! I also found that the car should pass MOT provided there is no leakage. I'm certainly not spending money for a while yet. Need to watch for the new MOT regulations though which might affect the advice I was given!

My DSG is a pig in stop/start traffic but not until well heated up...very jerky. The gearchange is perfect when on the move. I've probably been unlucky, but make sure you take a good test drive before purchase.

Could I suggest Ann Summers??

I'd be very interested to hear how you get on as I have a similar problem and it really annoys me. I tried Mulhollands in Randalstown but the receptionist wouldn't let me speak to a mechanic to see if it was possible to adjust anything, just wanted to book me in for diagnostics. They don't seem to sell many Autos or have much experience with them.