Hi all,

I am looking to buy a 2001 51 Reg Skoda Octavia Elegance 1.9tdi, with 96000 miles on the clock. Just need a bit of advice of things to look out for. Are these cars generally very reliable? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

cambelt should be changed at every 60k, so you wil be halfway towards a second belt change. Bonus if the water pump has been changed (although not vital). Fixed or variable servicing?

Front springs had a habit of breaking a the top inch or so off.

Shocks might need replacing

ARB bushes probably need replacing (if not already done)

Watch out for the sticky turbo problem. The vanes in the turbo jam which causes overboost and the car goes into limp mode. Tends to happen about 3,000 rpm.

A skoda dealer will tell you it needs a turbo for >£1k but you can get it stripped down and cleaned. This can be a problem if the car is driven sedately around town a lot. It needs a good thrash now and then.

How much does it cost to have the turbo stripped and cleaned?

Would this be a good preventative measure? The arb and exhaust have been changed already.

I had my turbo exchanged (labour only) for 3 hours worth of work (£25/hour). A good thrash may not help if the thing is rusted up.... Someone like greg123 can probably advise as to how long the process might take. You would need new gaskets and maybe a new oil supply pipe too.

Hi all,

I am looking to buy a 2001 51 Reg Skoda Octavia Elegance 1.9tdi, with 96000 miles on the clock. Just need a bit of advice of things to look out for. Are these cars generally very reliable? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

recently had a similar aged car thast had 196,000 miles on the clock! and it still went extremely well as he had looked after it. he was only getting rid of it as he wanted a start taxi'ing

Had my TDI Elegance for two years.cambelt changed at 42000 (Car now 6 years old) No problems to report. great engine. always give the turbo a good blast on the motorway. Car sio good brother in law thinking of getting one

I bought my Octavia 110hp TDi about 6 months ago now, its a 2001 with 93,000 on the clock.

Cant grumble at all, in fact probably the most satisfying car I have ever owned. I love the fact i regularly get 550 miles to a tank..

Only things I have had any problems with is, the shocks need replacing and I sometimes get the 'sticky turbo' problem, but if you read a little deeper, you will see this is normal on this particular model.

To be honest, It doesnt bother me that much at the moment, but in time (and when I have a bit of spare cash) I will probably get it stripped and cleaned out.

Basically, as long as the car you are buying has a service history, and looks like it has been looked after, I think you will be very happy with your new purchase!

Good luck!

3 hours is about right if there are no complications. I had to have one machined once, threads awful. One had a warped face. Mostly they are okay to rebuild. I do vacuum test and set the actuator as required too, but any turbo shop can do that and more.

Taking it on and off the car is a bit more fun... I made up a tool to stop the oil lines breaking but if you just undo them 30% will fracture. New line about £35. Gaskets are not too bad, about £10. I tend to put all stainless nuts/bolts on there too, half the time you can't get the old ones off. Stainless don't rust.... I would not want to strip the turbo, rebuild it, refit it, test it all in the same day. I treat it as overnight job, but that doesn't mean I do two 8 hour shifts on it. Probably other stuff to do as well. Also cleaning out the ports/intake and blanking the EGR is an ideal time to do it as they are off already (if it's an octy, Passat etc you can pull the turbo and leave the manifolds there).

As for the car, get a full fault code scan! I class it as VITAL. So much can be wrong and initially hidden. Like you don't know, but your airbags are non-functional. Engine sensor issues. Brewing turbo issues (overboost codes). etc etc.

If it's been serviced, got a clean fault code scan, passes HPI & a physical condition inspection, then with good servicing they are a very good and reliable car.

I find that ones left to get 'bad' take a lot to get straight again, so people don't bother and sell them on. They end up being a bit of a dog, but still running.

Greg.

Hi,

I have already gotten the AA to check the car over. Nothing to really report other than a bit of corrosion on the edge of the rear discs. How much are discs by the way? I still have my vag com K-Line i believe, hopefully this will work with the octy. Full skoda service history it has. 1 owner from new. Thanks for all the advice and greg123 - how much do you charge to do the work on the turbo?

BTW - what is the worst mileage you all have had for a full tank?

Mine's reluctant to go below 425 miles in the pits of Winter, when it can spend 10 minutes idling whilst I defrost every day. At the other end of the scale I can see 55mpg in m/way cruising at 70mph. Oh yeah and that's a TDi110 as well!

Edited 25 September, 200817 yr by KenONeill

Ggot mine end of april this year (Octy 1.9 TDi 90bhp, 53 reg, 85K on it now), done 6k miles in it and love it. ARB bushes at front are worn and knock a bit so need doing now but other wise been a great car. never seen less than 52mpg, thats 4 up, boot full to top, and doing 75 .

Thanks Guys for the advice.

I decided to buy it. So far so good, did about 50 mpg on my journey back home.

I am starting to think cream coloured fabric seats was not a very good idea however - anyone know the cost of getting leather seats for the octy?

If you wanted to keep the airbags in the seat you would need leather seats out of a L&K or a golf etc, the VRS leather seats don't have airbags and would need the airbag system reprogramming to put these in.

check out cars dismantled by skospares.com for all your skospares and see what they are breaking... they might have some cheap seats.

Also some Elegance models have grey interiors.

How about leather trimming guys?

Seat Surgeons are the people you need to speak to......

cambelt should be changed at every 60k, so you wil be halfway towards a second belt change. Bonus if the water pump has been changed (although not vital).

It varies. My MY02 51-plate Octavia has an 80k belt interval. Later models are 100k. Your dealer will be able to confirm using the VIN number.

J

Thanks Guys for the advice.

I decided to buy it. So far so good, did about 50 mpg on my journey back home.

I am starting to think cream coloured fabric seats was not a very good idea however - anyone know the cost of getting leather seats for the octy?

Welcome to the world of the Octi owner.

As everyone else has said you can either speak to seat surgeons or seats from an L&K, the other alternative is to check ebay for seats out of a golf, if you want something slightly more supportive the mk4 Golf GTI seats fit and you can pick them up for less that £100. or check out this http://briskoda.net/items-sale/various-bits-sale-vrs-front-bumper-rear-bumper-decat-exhaust/125609/

Excuse me if I'm wrong, but if you retrimmed your seats with leather, wouldn't that stop the airbags deploying if you ever had an accident? I was under the impression that is why the VRS seats dont have them.

I also changed my interior for a VRS leather one complete with doorcards for about £300 off fleabay, and then I sold my cloth interior for around £250, meaning I didnt pay much for my nice leather interior at all!

And as for reprogramming the car to turn the airbag light off, its easily dont with VAGCOM and takes around 5 seconds to do, so not really a problem.

It varies. My MY02 51-plate Octavia has an 80k belt interval. Later models are 100k. Your dealer will be able to confirm using the VIN number.

J

My 52 plate (first reg 01/Sept/2002) had the cambelt changed before I bought it, somewhere in the mid 50thous (can't remember exact mileage, but it's in the service book, with all the dealer stamps).