Good afternoon,

I am very keen to buy a secondhand Octavia estate Mk 2, and my natural inclination would be to go for a 1.9 td, as it seems to offer the blend of power, fuel economy and generally reasonable running costs that I am looking for. However, I am a bit concerned about quite common reports of flywheel failures, and the 1.9s do seem to hold their value very well. I drove a 1.6 fsi - nice enough, but a bit underpowered, in my opinion. I am also considering the far rarer 2.0 fsi (I have not driven one yet).

Should I be concerned about the flywheel issue, and do any other forum members have advice about the 2.0 fsi version?

Many thanks in advance for your advice.

I run a 2.0 FSI which is nearly two years old, and a friend of mine has one which is nearly three years old. We are both very happy with this engine. Truth be told though that we are not particularly enamoured with diesels. Having said that though, neither of us does particularly high mileages, so petrol does cost in.

TBH i wouldn,t worry very much about the flywheel thing with these as the 2.0TDi suffers more than the 1.9TDi but mine will be going in under warranty soon as i have clutch judder so maybe flywheel issue too.

Don,t let this put y ou off the diesels as they are great engines with good performance and MPG

Thanks very much, both, for your replies. I hope that the investigations on the clutch work to your satisfaction, Taxi 219.

I'd give the 2.0 petrol a wide berth and look at a 1.8TSI or one of the dervs myself.

Flywheel, yes I've been through a few, but they seem to have a modified flywheel, which so far seems to be doing it's job (touches wood)

1.8TSI is amazing engine!

diesel only if you do a lot of miles....if not then it doesnt sum up...

See other thread about mpg on octavia vrs just in case you are tempted. I do enjoy my 1.9tdi as you say it has a decent blend of performance and economy, returning long term ~50mpg. I do like being able to do round trips to hull / yorkshire on one fill-up from glasgow, or from here to south coast without worrying about paying motorway prices.

Whilst noticeable the fuel is but a small cost of motoring though, and parkers.co.uk have diesel v petrol calculator. AFAIK the 1.9tdo doesn't have a dpf so that one reason for me getting it.

As you are buying it 2nd hand then if really worried then get a decent warranty for say the first year.

Picked my 1.8TSI up yesterday (4,000 miles) & have done almost 200 miles at an average 35mpg mixed. Initial reaction is - brilliant. If you don't do many miles a petrol will do!

Yes, diesels do make more sense of covering more miles and the outright performance isnt as important as running costs.

BUT, on the other side, if only do small around town journeys, diesel engines warm up quicker and are less prone to the damage done while engine is cold. A petrol engine doing short journeys will never ever get warm and 90% of damage done to an engine occurs when its cold.

Steve

Go for the Octavia trim level you want, stuff the fuel.

Test drive the cars to find out which suits your driving.

Unless you do 1000's of miles a year the cost of a petrol car may be best. (good deals to be had on petrol cars)

I do around 8000 miles a year and it will take me 7.1 years to see any change in my pocket from my VRS (170bhp) diesel compared to my old 1.8 20v Turbo (150 bhp) petrol.

Starting off in a diesel seems aggresive but the drive (3rd through to 6th) is great. The old 1.8 20v had a very smooth power band and very long legs in all gears.

Give me 1st and 2nd in petrol then change to diesel for the rest.

One last thing, get a car with all the bits, Columbus, Maxi-Dot, Elec Windows all round, Leather with heated seats, Dual Zone etc, etc,etc.... and you will enjoy the car because that is where you sit.

it is actually the other way around...

BUT, on the other side, if only do small around town journeys, diesel engines warm up quicker and are less prone to the damage done while engine is cold. A petrol engine doing short journeys will never ever get warm and 90% of damage done to an engine occurs when its cold.

Steve

I thought the same thing. My Fabia takes a lot longer to get up to normal operating temperature than the other petrol cars I sometimes drive.

Bottom line is that lots of short journeys aren't good for any car, no matter what fuel its running.

Steve

it is actually the other way around...

Best tell the AA then.............

On the Road Diesel engines warm up more quickly from a cold start than petrol which can take around a mile to get up to temperature. Once warm though, a petrol engine is cleaner than diesel, and gives out lower emissions – better for the locals.

So, if you do frequent short journeys where the engine barely warms up, then a diesel could be better.

Steve