Diesel engine 1.9TDI - URGENT advice please!

[barry.m]

OH dear! HELP!! I just yesterday placed an order for a brand-new Skoda Elegance 1.9TDI hatchback, As this is the first NEW car I have ever been able to buy, I was thrilled with my purchase & looking forward immensely to my new vehicle. However, I made the mistake last night of dong some browsing on the Internet, and came across 2 independent reviews of this car – in Which? and in What Car? – which both made heavy criticisms of the engine I have just bought. Both sites said they were old and rattly, and one also added that it gives a whine from the supercharger.

I am now distraught! I only went to the diesel option because of the £3500 scrappage allowance, compared to only £2000 for a petrol engine. It was the only way I could afford the Elegance, and I didn’t want to go to the 1.4 engine.

Can anyone please reassure me that I will have trouble-free motoring with the Diesel TDI or have I committed myself to a noisy and unreliable car?

Apart from this diesel issue, I am extremely happy with my choice of car.

A speedy response or advice would be helpful, in case I need to try and get out of this deal before it’s too late.

Barry

[vRSLen]

Welcome

Nothing wrong with that engine.

[howardshe]

Don't worry, that engine is actually very good, though a bit outdated. I have been driven my Octavia 1.9tdi for two years as a taxi, no problem so far.

[Nick P]

Wouldn't worry about it. I had one. They're fine. Plenty of torque and they've got a good reliability record.

[Jason@Willis]

I agree the engine is old, But its still a brilliant engine, The 1.6 CR is the newer engine but if most of your driving is around town the dpf filter will forever be clogging, I say Great Choice

[BurialConstant]

Had 1.9 Tdi for 3 years, trouble free 48,000 miles, struggled a bit when fully loaded (5 people and full boot) on A roads but was fine on motorways.

[teggy]

Had my 2009 1.9TDI since Friday and comparing this with my replaced Zafira the engine is much smoother and doesn't sound like a diesel. I'm extremely impressed with the Octavia - so fear ye not!

Trev

[barry.m]

Thank you very much to everone who has responded so quickly to my pleas for help. I am very impressed with the response I got and of course pleased that almost without exception the results were so postiive and encouraging. I do feel much more comfortable with it now than I did. (btw, this isn't a SKODA Company-run web site is it?!)

Thank you all of you - too many to list all the names here.

Barry

[Greenie58]

Dont worry these reviews are done by idiots, its a very good reliable, proven engine

Edited 7 March, 2010 by Greenie58

[vwcabriolet1971]

You have chosen a well developed proven engine . It is true that the 1.9 PD engine is not as smooth or refined as the later engines but it has one big blessing in that it has bags of low speed torque which makes driving a real pleasure.It is also remarkably economical & has the benefit of no DPF. There are many examples that have done more than 400,000 miles in taxi service with little problems. Don't concern yourself about reviews by the motoring press. If they are not driving a Ferrari or top of the range Mercedes then everything else is rubbish. Most of the testers don't even open the bonnet, sit in the rear seat, review servicing costs, review durabilty etc of normal cars when testing. They do not do any extended tests to establish true consumption figs. but just publish the makers rolling road figs.

I have recently bought a new VW MK 6 Golf 1.6TDI after owning a MK4 TDI 1.9 Golf for many years and still miss the low speed torque. If I could change the 1.6 engine for a 1.9 PD I would be delighted.

I have just taken delivery of a 1.9 PD engined Octavia estate ( I could have ordered the 1.6 CR TDI version) .

Edited 7 March, 2010 by vwcabriolet1971

[michaelp]

You made a good choice Barry, My 1.9DT is a dream to drive.

[cheezemonkhai]

OH dear! HELP!! I just yesterday placed an order for a brand-new Skoda Elegance 1.9TDI hatchback, As this is the first NEW car I have ever been able to buy, I was thrilled with my purchase & looking forward immensely to my new vehicle. However, I made the mistake last night of dong some browsing on the Internet, and came across 2 independent reviews of this car – in Which? and in What Car? – which both made heavy criticisms of the engine I have just bought. Both sites said they were old and rattly, and one also added that it gives a whine from the supercharger.

.....

....

Barry

A whine from a supercharger on a car that doesn't have one, should tell you how little that reviewer knew.

The 1.9 is a solid engine and while it is a little bit noisy as it's an older design, there is nothing at all wrong with it.

[KenONeill]

With the radio off and the driver's door window open, you can just about hear the turbo spooling up and down if you shift at about 1700rpm.

[fireftrm]

My last Octavia was a 1.9TDi PD 110bhp. I am still in regualr contact with its new owner, who is a friend. That I sold it to a friend should tell you a lot about its reliability, economy and all round acceptability. That he is a mecahnic tells more, as does the fact that it is his first diesel and all his other cars have been souped-up, large alloyed 2.0 petrols, or bigger. He loves it. It now has !40k on the clock, it had 125k when I sold it a year ago. 2 wheel bearings (the first after a large road pothole 3 years ago, the latter a replacement for the replaced one!), rear discs at 130k, two sets of rear pads and one front (since new), new timing belt at the recommended interval, new front anti-roll bar runners at 130k and a small exhaust hole welded. No other repairs at all.

[psycholist]

Even better, the 1.9 PD will run forever even while remapped to 140 odd horsepower provided you follow the correct service schedule. I recommend a remap to make the engine rev more freely - one of the complaints about the PD is that on a stock map the engine is pretty much done with putting power down by 3000 rpm - a good remap will haul all the way to the red line. Driven carefully 60mpg is quite achievable on longer trips too (I got 68 mpg on 37 mile trip on Sunday driving for all out economy) - at motorway speeds (75 mph in Ireland) this will drop under 50 mpg...

There is no question that the common rail engines are smoother and quieter, the CR VRS is nothing short of epic, but the DPF issue if you're not doing a lot of long journeys means the CR engines are less attractive for my needs.

[chesterben]

Got the same engine in an A3 at the moment, and as others have said I have had no probems. It is a little on the noisy side, but if the Skoda is anything like the Audi you wont notice it once you are inside. Plenty of torque at low revs which means you get good pull from the lights.

It may be an older engine in terms of design, but its a 'new engine' that you will be buying. As an engineer myself older is not always bad, in fact we would call it 'proven'!!

Also, fuel economy is amazing in the A3, on motorway driving I get over 60mpg, on one journey down to oxford using a lot of 50 mpg roads, managed to get 75mpg average!!

Edited 6 April, 2010 by chesterben

[Browny_37]

143k here and going strong.

[martzweb]

...what psycholist said. mine is a pd105, and yes, it can be a bit noisy, but it has great economy, good torque, and goes even better with a quality remap and regular servicing.

[Phil_P]

Hi Barry,

Sorry, only just seen this thread...

I was in exactly the same boat as you - purchased the 1.9TDi partly because of the £3,500 scrappage allowance.

I collected my car at Christmas, so have had it 3 months now, and I'm absolutely delighted with it. The engine is great

When I first got mine I was actually surprised how quiet and smooth it was. I'd not really driven a diesel before (except for a loan car for a month), but having read all the "agricultural unrefined" comments, I'm not sure what I was expecting but the 1.9TDi definitely didn't feel like that to me.

As others have said, it's proven technology that will run for ever. It has great economy and bags of torque and power. 3 months on it still puts a huge grin on my face, partly because I've bagged such a great new car for less than £13K. I'll be highly surprised if you are anything other than delighted with your choice :yes:

[Captain Scarlet]

I had a Fabia with that engine in and my brother and dad have both had Octavias with them in. A very good engine in my opinion, good reliability and awesome fuel economy when driven right. I managed 72.1 on the computer coming back from Newcastle one day.

Sleep easy.

[redcar_reds]

I've had two cars with the 1.9 pd engine, Seat Cordoba,Seat Altea and one 2.0pd a vrs Octy, no problems with any of them with regular trips to France, loads of oomph(that's a technical term) and great fuel economy, these engines go on for ever.

[nanaman]

115k on mine. . Had it serviced when told to do so by the computermabob. Engine has been solid but It's never won any prizes in high performance classes tho !

As for other ancil bits and pieces....thank the lord for warrenties !

Edited 6 April, 2010 by nanaman

[Browny_37]

115k on mine. . Had it serviced when told to do so by the computermabob. Engine has been solid but It's never won any prizes in high performance classes tho !

As for other ancil bits and pieces....thank the lord for warrenties !

With a remap they can be quite pokey, mine pulled out 150bhp on awesome gt'i's rollers. And could pull away on the motorway in 5th from 70mph and launch towards triple figures.

But the way the map was wrote, wasn't particulaly good and didn't tend to like the turbo's attatched.

Since its been returned to standard the engine has been the strong point of the car.

Edited 7 April, 2010 by Browny_37

[Stuart_J]

Our old Octy 1.9 is now on 161000 & has been sold & thankfully weve managed to get a new 1.9 PD just before the cr comes out. The PD is a good solid proven power unit thats good for a zillion miles if serviced. Ask any taxi driver.

[veloplus]

Even better, the 1.9 PD will run forever even while remapped to 140 odd horsepower provided you follow the correct service schedule. I recommend a remap to make the engine rev more freely - one of the complaints about the PD is that on a stock map the engine is pretty much done with putting power down by 3000 rpm - a good remap will haul all the way to the red line. Driven carefully 60mpg is quite achievable on longer trips too (I got 68 mpg on 37 mile trip on Sunday driving for all out economy) - at motorway speeds (75 mph in Ireland) this will drop under 50 mpg...

There is no question that the common rail engines are smoother and quieter, the CR VRS is nothing short of epic, but the DPF issue if you're not doing a lot of long journeys means the CR engines are less attractive for my needs.

I ran an Octy II 1.9TDI for 115k over 4 years and was extremely pleased, so much so, that I have replaced it with a Superb II with the same engine. After 3,000 miles I had the engine remapped and this instantly transformed the driving experience.

Driven carefully, I regularly achieve 53-55mpg based on actual fill-ups, rather than the MFD readout (60+mpg average per computer).

What's more, remapping is easier with no DPF to be concerned with.

The Superb has now done 41k miles in 15 months and is a great long distance cruiser (700+ mile range).