Hello people. Im new here so go easy on me please. Im looking ay getting rid of my current Fiat Multipa JTD for a Skoda Octavia but I am totally unsure which one to go for. I have heard thats its best to avoid the SDI as its only 68 hp and takes an eternity to get up to speed, but I quite like the sound of an Old school Slogger as I have seen they can clock up a pretty impressive Mileage. The 1.9 tdi sounds tasty as well but Im unsure what Horsepower they kick out. Could you guys give m a few pointers as to which Octy is best Please!?

I presume you're going for a used one as this is the Octy mk1 forum. In which case, I think it's more important to look at how well the particular engine has been looked after. Both the TDIs and the SDIs will go on for mega mileages if looked after; there's an SDI taxi around here with over 300,000 miles on the clock. But the TDIs should run for well over 200,000 miles too if looked after, although I don't know if the turbo would last that amount of time.

If you're really not bothered about outright performance, the SDIs can be picked up for a song because people don't tend to want the lower powered cars, only drawback is they're not available in anything over a comfort / ambiente trim (and are usually in "classic" trim). However, if you want to do any kind of fettling at some stage (power fettling that is), then definitely get something with a turbo.

HTH

The TDi came in 3 flavours

TDi = 90 bhp

TDi = 110 bhp

TDi = 130 bhp (PD engine)

The 110 and I think the 130 have VVT (variable vane) turbos which can get sticky vanes on the exhaust side - this can cause a overboost to occur and the car to go into limp home mode (power cycling the ignition cures the limp-home mode). The solution seems to be to clean the turbo up, although this is not a job everyone fancies doing. I think it is about 90 mins work to get it off / refit, to you would be looking at 3 hours before the clean up process takes place.

I have a 2001 110TDi on a 159k, and apart from the above turbo issues and some weird rear tyre wear the car is been pretty reliable. I bought it 4 1/2 years ago (ish) with about 70k on the clock. In that time I have changed all the shocks, and pads/disks front and back, and a track-rod end. Everything else has just been standard servicing. Cambelt is every 60k is is probably around the £300 mark at a dealer (inc water pump change), so remember to factor that into a potential car purchase/price haggle deal.

Slightly off the original topic, but I was interested in the above post as its pretty much been identical for me. Also have 110 Octy Elegance, which I have had five and a half years ( bought Aug '04), and your experiences mirror mine with regard to what has been replaced/problematic.

I am just coming up to 150k on mine and the motor is sweet as a nut, burns no oil, and still impresses me with the performance on tap when necessary. I have always used fully synthetic oil since day one and am convinced it helps enormously with regard to longevity of an engine. Late last year I drove from Portsmouth to the Isle of Skye (693 miles) and was hugely impressed with the cars ability to effortlessly gobble up the miles in comfort and of course, amazing fuel economy.

I would recommend this car to anyone as long as it comes with a full service record and has obviously been properly cared for.

I meant to add that the only thing I never liked about the car was the dismal thin plastic four spoke steering wheel. I replaced mine a while back with a nice leather three spoker from a MK 4 Golf GTI. Much better.

Edited 27 February, 201016 yr by Nick H

Nick,

I should have added I have to had the clutch changed, but that was almost straight after I bought it (was a lease car), so I suspect it got hammered. Mine burns a bit of oil, maybe a litre between services (I run mine on variable). I also changed the clutch slave cylinder, but that was in error - the real issue was a leaking connector at the end of the hydraulic pipe.

I have also changed the coolant sensor, maf, n75 and turbo and mine still plays up. However I am pretty sure it is the vanes in the turbo sticking as when I operate the leaver by hand it is not smooth. The drivers internal door release cable broke too. Still that said, the car never fails to start (apart from a flat battery one day), she is my reliable workhorse, generally returning high 50s to low 60s in terms of MPGs :-)

Thankfully I havent had to get the clutch replaced yet. When I first got the car I phoned the dealer who had first supplied the car, and who had serviced it for the first three years (DM Keith) to find out what work had been carried out, but I got some unhelpful numpty who just kept quoting customer confidentiality and Data protection act cobblers......

I can only assume it had already been replaced at some point during the first three years, after all it had clocked up nearly 115,000 by that time.

Ive had three MAFS, Coolant temp sensor, and the turbo rebuilt by AR turbo as the V V were knackered. Oh, and a nearside wheel bearing and new discs and pads all round. :yes:

I've got the TDi 90

with 128,000 on the clock, not as high mileage as the others but still going strong.

Getting 50mpg on a hard 'foot down' drive

60mpg economically driving, with overtaking bursts from 60 - 90mph on dual carrageway

80mpg real economic driving, with a already warm engine

£55 a tank of diesel lasts 550 miles

155ft lbs of torque is fantasic for driving in 5th everywhere especially uphill

An octavia fault that is annoying is door/mirror/window gremlins, caused by corroded terminals in the door cards.