MikeTheThinker

Neither I nor any other third party can make that decision for you. We've not seen or listened to the car so can only offer you opinions as to what might need looking at and possible ways of addressing the problem. I don't know why you chose to ignore the oil warning light for so long but you are now where you are; agonising over what could potentially be a dead motor. Time to take a deep breath and really look at where you are, rather than going on knee-jerk forays into one possible problem area after another. If you're looking for more info from the motor I'd take a good look at the oil - metal particles are an indicator of wear, check the magnetic sump plug (if fitted), have a look in the oil filter (chop it open and see what's been trapped in the folds) and - if you want to go further - pull the camshaft cover and visually inspect the cam lobes for wear. You could also look at the camchain similarly.

You've said that you ran it for a while showing an oil light. That warning light was telling you the engine's lubricant supply was riskily low, leading to times when there would be no lubricant available for the pump to circulate. That potentially affects every moving part in the engine, starting with the oil pump which relies on a good supply of oil to lubricate itself, then (depending on the oil routing in your motor) to the main bearing journals for the crankshaft, through the oilways in the crankshaft to the big end bearings and then draining down into the sump to be splashed up to the little ends on the gudgeon pins and to lubricate the cylinder walls so the pistons don't sieze. In parallel the oil should be forced at high pressure up to the camshaft to lubricate the camshaft journals, the cams, rockers and tappets, plus also (depending on whether you have a chain or belt drive to the camshaft) to the camchain, tensioner and idler wheel. The suggestion from your mechanic that the main bearings have gone puts the whole state of the motor in doubt and you would likely end up spending a lot of money getting the crankshaft reground and new main bearings only to find other parts of the motor were also terminally damaged. If it were my car I'd drop the motor and replace it with one from a recycler. Then, if I was bored enough, I would gradually strip and check the old motor on the bench to see just how far the damage had gotten. Either than or use it for a sea anchor. Just FYI there are several motors on offer on fleabay - here's one at 800 squid plus postage.

+1 for what he ^ said

Have you tried aliexpress.com? You may have to fight their search system for a bit but there's a lot of stuff like knobs available there.

I suggest taking a look at the parts catalogues on LLL Parts or skoda-parts.

You can get a cheap one from fleabay; around a tenner last time I looked but may have gone up a bit by now.

The 2l is a bit quicker, can be a bit smoother (depends on the tune), and is a bit less frugal (both of my 2l motors (BMM) average around 42 on long runs). I've managed to 'nurse' one of our stable of 1.9s (BXE) to 67mpg on a long 55mph motorway run but mid fifties is more the norm. BTW neither can beat our old 'taxi spec' 1.9tdi mk1 estate which still turns in mid sixties in general running in our son-in-laws hands.

Take a look at the selections of aftermarket covers on aliexpress. Delivery may take a few weeks but you'll save a fortune! https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-octavia-mk1-vrs-wheel-nut-covers.html

According to THIS parts diagram it appears the cabin carpets are the same but the boot carpets are different - much as one would expect.

Octavia mk2s are very particular about battery voltage/condition and interconnection quality. I suspect (based on my control systems background) that there would have been software changes made to later Octys to build in some resilience for power supply fluctuations but for this generation the cars are very sensitive to poor battery or intermittencies. What this may mean for you is that your intermittent fault states may be down to ageing connections between elements of your car's control systems. First step (I suggest) is to check that the relevant fuses and control modules are cleanly connected and there is no wiring damage or breaks. If it helps I have the Octy2 wiring diagrams from Mr Haynes manual. There are a number of forum members whose detailed experience far outweighs mine and hopefully one or more of them will step in.

You might do better to look at breakers and just swap the seat/s over.

Check the bulb in your reversing light; it may be one with a built-in sounder. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjv1faS3vf8AhWQP8AKHZr-DlkQFnoECBIQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FUniversal-Automotive-Reverse-Beeper-Buzzer%2Fdp%2FB07518KM1M&usg=AOvVaw3Axjgiujq36SRJJusiJtfH

I have a VCDS lead for older cars here on The Wirral but don't know enough yet about the detail of addressing your queries. However, if you can find out exactly what to tell VCDS we may be able to stumble through

According to the parts catalogue for a 2004MY Octy mk1 HERE there are several body types for saloon, combi, 4x4 but I can't tell the differences from the diagram.

There was someone on here doing this a little while back. I suggest a search through postings on the mk1 and projects fora to see what you can find.

Found this rather disturbing post on YouTube entiled "72 chargers and only 1 works" regarding a dearth of viable EV charge points in Ruislip. What's even more enlightening are the detailed comments that have been added ...

The part number for the wiper arm for a 2011 Octy 2 combi/estate is 1Z9955707. Parts catalogue entry HERE.

The parts catalogue entry for a 2011 Octavia Scout is HERE. Can you identify which parts you need from there?

Have a search on fleabay with the part number and you can see what one would look like. Note that the left and right hand parts are different and come in black or ivory. Take a look at the parts catalogue link to see what I mean.

I believe you are looking for one of THESE - 1K0971981A, which appears to be common to most (if not all) the VW ranges for that era.

Have you checked the tyre tread for uneven wear?

I believe it's 1U0837993 (in black) and a fleabay search brings up a number of options.

You don't say what model year or whether it's a saloon or an estate/combi but for starters the parts catalogue page for a 2003 mk1 4x4 is HERE.

We've had four Octy 2 estates in the family and every one has had the same problem. We get around it by inverting the filler nozzle, and as long as it's inserted into the filler neck there are no problems with blowback.

I was wondering if you had water in the wheel well that could evaporate when the car was parked somewhere warm and would then conbdense on the rear window and run down and into the bodywork. It may sound a bit fanciful but it does happen. A good clue would be if your rear window especially gets fogged up when the car is left.