Hi all,

very new here and know nothing about Octavias except the excellent reputation. I'm thinking of buying one but would like to know how to tell the mark one from the mark two. What year did the change take place. Also how do I find out which diesel engine is in the vehicle.

I don't want to make a mistake when buying

Change was around 2004 i think, easiest way to tell a mark 1 from a 2 is look at the rear lights, mack 2 red part forms a "C"

Yes, March 2004 was the cut-over date from the Mark 1 to the Mark 2. However, according to Wikipedia "Some UK-Spec MK1 Octavias have been registered as late as 2008, putting them on a "08" plate, however most of those Octavias are taxicabs".

For comparison with the picture above of the Mark 2 tail light, here's the Mark 1:

They still make the Mk1, to register as Taxis. I have seen several 59 and 10 regs recently. The cut of was around 2004 at the 54 plate for non vRS models. The MK1 vRS lived on a lot longer than that and can be had on 57 plates.

The pictures above show the difference well, the front is also very different. The MK1 had foglights in the headlights, the MK2 had them in the lower bumper. The MK2, when you open the bonnet the wings go over the headlights.

They still make the Mk1, in our country (Slovenia) they call it Octavia Tour.

Matjaz

The difference is dead obvious from the front as well - the mk1 grills are noticably squarer and so tbh it's pretty hard to mistake a mk1 for a mk2...