Hi all, I am looking at getting an Octavia 1.9 Diesel (2002 upto 2005) for my son. I have never owned a diesel myself or a Skoda so please forgive if the question is a bit basic.

What are the basic service intervals for the diesel 1.9 and where do the major services fall ie cambelt, re' mileage.

This would be helpful to know so when looking at cars I will have an idea of what will soon need doing / or not, as the case may be.

Thanks

Brian

Take all the manufacturers service intervals with a huge pinch of salt. They're nothing but sales pitch. The service indicator default is set to 15,000km on fixed service intervals, but that can be changed using VCDS.

Even though oils and fuels have improved over the years and engines do burn cleaner it's still very good practice to change the engine oil and filter at least once a year, and twice a year is better still regardless of mileage. I change my oil and filter twice a year in June and December, and the air filter, fuel filter and pollen filter once a year in June. I do about 10,000 miles per year.

The cambelt is recommended to be renewed at 60,000 miles or 4 years whichever comes first, but would you be happy if yours broke at 59,000 miles or 3 years 11 months? No, of course not, so some common sense must be applied here.

I run my car on variable servicing, and tend to always get the full 30k between oil changes. This is good for me, as I do a 120 mile round trip to work so the car is doing a reasonable run, rather than stop-start driving which is much better for fixed servicing. Plus I would be doing 3+ oil changes a year. The oil (LL stuff) is more expensive though.

I tend to change my air & oil filters yearly and pollen and fuel every other year. Cambelt is done approximately every 60k, my next change is due at 180k. Also worth changing the water pump on a cambelt change as they have a habit of failure, but more so on the 1.8T.

I ran mine on fixed 10k intervals.

10k , 30k , 50k , 70k - About £100 each

20k & 60k - About £200 each

40k - About £240 which included brake fluid change.

80k - As above plus cambelt change - probably £600 at a main dealer , so best to go independent.

Unless the recommendations have changed it was a 4 year and 80k interval for the cambelt on my 03 plate 1.9 TDI

Thanks everyone.

So I take it that a basic rule of thumb would be a service every 10k, the type of service depending upon the multiple of 10 ?

Cam belt at 60k, but might be 80k, depending up particular Octavia model and year ?

Would a service history actually state "cambelt changed" or is it just a stamp in a mileage box ?

Finally, 'Variable service' ! a new one on me. My Forester has a service every 7.5k and multiples of, that's it. As said, never had anything to do with the VW/Skoda cars so what is Variable service and how is it applied ?

Sorry for so many questions but it is the only way to find these things out.

Cheers and thanks

Brian

Unless you can see an invoice from a dealer that shows the cambelt changed then I'd assume that it hasn't been done and budget for the cost when picking a car.

The service book on it's own wouldn't satisfy me.

As for the service intervals , yes , you have a choice of fixed servicing every 10k or 12 months , whichever is soonest or variable servicing. When the car is set to variable servicing it needs long life oil which costs more and it analyses your driving style plus the state of the oil itself to decide when it needs doing. If you do mostly town journeys then it will need servicing every 10k anyway so you'd be better off on cheaper fixed servicing , but if you do lots of long motorway runs it can be a bit cheaper to run on variable.

Thanks, all clear now.

Just got to find a car !

Cheers

Brian

IUnless the recommendations have changed it was a 4 year and 80k interval for the cambelt on my 03 plate 1.9 TDI

I believe it is meant to be every 60k for cambelts on the TDi now.

I believe it is meant to be every 60k for cambelts on the TDi now.

I think they make it up anyway at most dealers

I think they make it up anyway at most dealers

Now that I would believe.... try ringing the same dealer twice, if your bored