AlleyCat`

The 1.5 i'd bite their arm off if it could be had with the DSG. Was sad to see it wasn't available. I'm not sure i want to go back to a Manual now. I'm a bit iffy about the 1.0 on such a big car.

Does come off easily and it's not too difficult to clean with a pin but if you don't use it regularly it just gums up again very quickly. Dealer appears aware of it as an "issue" and blames it on the type of screenwash in use (which hasn't bothered any other VW/Skoda/Seat i've owned). Smacks of a poor design / part quality.

First result in Mr (or Mrs) Google.... https://www.simpsonsskoda.co.uk/pch-offers/se-tech-offer/ Something i need to consider as i'm no longer doing the mileage to justify having a Diesel anymore (it's probably detrimental to the car as well).

Mine is somewhat down on MPG as well. I was blaming the service in late October but i suspect it might be the switch to winter diesel & colder weather that's the real culprit?

Yep mine does it from cold as well. Took it to the dealers and, as is typical, it refused to make a single noise when on a test drive. It seems to improve once "warmed up" so not a huge surprise but annoying none the less. I also had my friendly mechanic look at it and he couldn't find anything particularly wrong with the springs, shocks or bushes at a visual level. I suspect it's some sort of design issue but the local dealer isn't interested at all (no surprise) and due to the way it manifests it's almost impossible to prove.

Usually C although when it's late at night i'll often avoid going home until it finishes as the fan run on is noisy and it'd probably pee my neighbours off.

If you're going nearly new i'd say the 1.6 (because there are loads to choose from and the price reflects it). The 1.4 petrol nearly new is rarer and actually holds price better (so is harder to haggle on and less of a bargain). If new then i'd go for the 1.4 petrol. The reverse of the above applies to the 1.6d (price loss after 1 year is catastrophic). I personally didn't see the massive benefit of the 2.0d unless you intend to haul a lot of heavy stuff around all the time as the other engine choices are punchy enough, cheaper to buy, insure, tax and also do equivalent or better mpg.

To be fair i was looking at exactly the same car but couldn't find a petrol which would be more suitable for what i do / distances, etc. (DPF). I've had the diesel a year now and it's not put a foot wrong and seems to happily regen on its own with no issues. I'm more worried about the DSG lasting than the engine

Even with a good deal i can't see how buying new makes sense? The 1st year depreciation is horrific based on what i paid for a 1 year old elegance DSG (with 10K on the clock). List was something like 22.5K and i paid 13.9K for it. My maths isn't brilliant but it would appear the car lost a third of value in a year (and probably explains why so many pcp deals are in negative value). The car isn't ragged as i had a mechanic friend check it over. Couple of stone chips and a minor scuff that buffed out. The interior was pristine. It even has a spare. You can get a 1.6 Diesel elegance for under 13K in manual on a 2015 plate (10K on the clock) - Quick Autotrader check.

It was still Benfield when i got mine (just). Oddly enough i had to deal with a guy in Newcastle to haggle the price down. The gent in Harrogate was nice enough but seemed to have very little say in anything. I was intending, originally, to buy from Rainworth but they were trying to lift my legs on my trade in and the numbers didn't work.

Some people do, some don't. My company cars always bent back in very good condition. It still would show up as a fleet rental with the associated registration.

That's the same place i got mine from. Price and mileage are similar (i managed to haggle a bit more off). Same model too. Only difference is the colour.

I use a Mobius ActionCam (and have for a couple of years). It was the first one i saw "on test" that actually worked properly on an evening / at night that wasn't in the multi hundreds of pounds bracket. There is a pretty decent write up about it here: http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2013/7/8/the-mobius-camera-the-do-it-all-mount-anywhere-1080p-micro-c.html

I've already had the "don't know what you're talking about" with regards to the seals. Didn't surprise me much. It seems to be common across all dealerships of any make/model that any car with an issue is the first they've ever heard about. It must be "service department" training 101. Edit: Oddly i only have the "boot wash" issue on the passenger front door. The rest are fine. My Better Half is a huge fan...

Sorry i didn't see this at the time. It's a metallic Grey. As it happens i ended up using a company called carpaintwizard. The colour match was perfect and, although i'm somewhat ham fisted, it did a lovely job. Used it on a stone chip on the nose as well.

I saw someone with a MkII Octavia with 3 bikes on the roof doing the best part of a ton on the M62. Nice looking bikes, impressed they were still attached mind you

I always drove petrols then flipped to diesel in around 2003 (started doing 30K miles a year). Since then i always drove diesel until my previous car. I switched to petrol for that as my mileage drastically dropped and i was wary of DPF and, ironically, it was the first utter PITA problem child car i've ever had (Nissan). Which is how i ended up in an Octavia. My daily commute to the office is under 10 miles. Sometimes it's a straight shot and other times it's rush hour and a crawl (i start at different times of the day). The car does get run out every w/e, which probably helps a lot, but i don't do anywhere near the 16K you'll be getting to. The only real wild card is how cold it will get up where you are vs here. I imagine that might have an impact with regards to very short journeys in winter (but i couldn't say for sure). If i could have got a good deal on a 1.4 it was the car i'd have chosen but the 1.6 has turned out to be a nice consolation prize.

I should have made it a little more clear i will pay the "dealer" prices if nothing else as good exists. I don't want a tatty job as it's right in my eye line. I'm just annoyed some twerp damaged my car. It's really the first time i've needed to even consider doing such a thing.

I came from 1.9PD passat (via a few other cars) to a 1.6TDI octy 3. I've not had any dpf issues, other than the obvious regens it does on its own. I think the only real annoyance i've had was when it did the full annoying fans as i arrived home at around midnight. Ironically after a 3 hour mile munching journey. I was of the same mindset as yourself and fancied the 1.4, purely because i don't regularly do big miles anymore. The relative scarcity meant that the pricing was no where near as keen / negotiable as the 1.6 even when i was prepared to travel. It seems strange that a 1.4 (which was cheaper at point of sale) was on average £1.5K more second hand on alike for like basis.

I was with Direct Line. Never had to claim from them but they were always reasonable to deal with and the phone answer time wasn't bad at all. I moved to one of the groups "sister" companies this year because the Direct line price went up. The policy / price is identical to what i paid the year before but they wouldn't match it / come down. Not sure why they do that as it's all going to the same parent company at the end of the day. Not exactly a recommendation because you only know how good they are when stuff goes wrong but they seemed to be on the level.

As the title suggests i'm in need of some touch up paint for the Octy. Some expletive posting flyers has lifted the wiper and taken off the leading edge paint on the bonnet. Outside of the dealer and their interesting price methodology is there a place that does a proper colour match set for the Octy III?

I had the 1.9 PD engine in a passat between 2003 and 2007. Solid but a noisy thing. After that i've been through various VAG models with DPF and never had an issue. This particular go around I intended to get a 1.4 petrol but finding one mated to a DSG at an appropriate price (nearly new) just didn't come off. On that basis i ended up with a 1.6 diesel as it was easier to find / negotiate against. As it turns out it's been fine which, if i'm honest, i fully expected it to be. I didn't have a problem with a Yeti running the same engine previously (manual box) and DPF technology has evolved since then. Compared to the 1.9PD it's a much quieter engine (although not as quiet as a petrol). I do a lot of short journeys in mine, below 10 miles, without any sort of issue at all. Sometimes there is traffic, other times not (depends when i start work). I do tend to run it out a couple of times a weeks on a country road so it probably helps but even when it does a regen it seems to cause little to no issues - other than the fan running on. I do less than the "expected" miles for the diesel / petrol trade off to make sense but because the price was keen it worked out cheaper. Personally i think you'd be fine with either although it does depend somewhat on driving style.

Could try this. It worked for the anti-trap system on my old Yeti:- 1 - Put key in drivers door 2 - Hold it in the open position and let all the windows drop 3 - Hold it in the lock position and let all the windows close 4 - That should hopefully(!) cure it

I think the term is a metric s£$t load of money. I would assume the S5 isn't a car Audi struggle to shift either so you'll get caned on both ends.

Typically does it when it's cold for me. I assume on that basis it's more likely to be the bushes?