kenbo

Luckily I have no Mot problems, I'm in Northern Ireland which just has a visual test for emissions. My car isn't smoky, but like most older cars, smelly in comparison. If your car is used in built up areas, and with stop start use, then there may be wear. Likewise clutch, I've never ever had to renew one (last car covered 250k miles with me) I live rural, probably less wear and tear. Tricks for emissions? I'm told, use some type of diesel purge a few times approaching Mot date plus a short high rev drive on the way to the garage. I'd buy Dsg again but more likely to go Electric as recent second hand models are really good value.

I've got the 1.9pdi with 189k miles. I've owned it for 16 years and yes, now getting a bit smelly. I can't really see the 2.0 being much better in this respect. These engines are apparently bulletproof and that mileage shouldn't scare you. I'm tempted to advise you to keep it, even if you have to renew the clutch. My car also has the dsg box and apart from often being jerky, has been totally reliable until last week when it gave some problems. I have a separate thread on this, but I'm hoping it's abs sensor related. Remember a gearbox problem on the dsg effectively writes off the car where, on a manual, a second hand box is relatively cheap. Another thing, a dsg box has a clutch, I think it's quite expensive to replace.

After 16 very reliable years I now have my first potentially major fault with this car. The DSG box is holding onto 3rd gear, so far only on long runs. Local 'experts' blame the mechatronics unit and unviable repair costs, so I was preparing to have to sell for scrap. I've been on searching here for hours and now hoping the fault may be a rear brake sensor or hub. There are no codes. My query, will a cheap OBD scanner read live data? The issue is random so far. I see lots of them listed on ebay, starting below £10

Admittedly mine is the 1.9 but I clean it out every now and then though never found much gunge in it despite the lack of long runs. If the car is otherwise good maybe worth cleaning or a mechanic may know of common issues.

I'm interested to read this as my 08 Octavia (190k miles) has just shown similar problems. On a recent long run, reluctant to change up, slight juddering, though I think it's because the gears are going up and down as the rev counter is variable. I don't have any other symptoms though I'm trying to get advice but am told it's probably the mechatronic unit and not worth repairing. I've searched various forums, not changing up gears seems to be quite common, more so on longer trips when the car is fully warmed up, and seems to signal the end for older high mileage autos. I've owned my car for over 16 years, luckily I've spent absolutely nothing on it other than routine servicing so scrapping isn't a big financial hit. Nonetheless, I'm reluctant to let my rust free and otherwise reliable car go to the breakers.

I haven't been on this forum for a while,, my 2008 car is now on 184k miles , starter has always been slow but not any worse over time. I just buy a stronger battery, just in case. Re the engine earth strap, good point, I must check it at the next service. I've perhaps been lucky but my Octavia has been supremely reliable in the 15 years I've owned it. I can't really expect this to continue, but who knows.