Asked Claybank Motor Company in Eccles to diagnose a whining noise from rear of my Octavia II at 62000 miles. They said it was due to feathered tyres and required a four wheel alignment. One alignment and 4 new tyres later and, hey presto, NO difference!!! Local VW dealer diagnosed a failed rear wheel bearing. One new wheel bearing later AND THE NOISE IS GONE!! Total cost of both jobs £815. Draw your own conclusions but I don't think I can afford to run a Skoda any more so have got rid. My Merc is much cheaper to run!!!

I'd be surprised if you manage to get a four wheel alignment, four new tyres and a wheel bearing done at a franchised Mercedes garage for less than £800!

As reliable as Merc's are rumoured to be I doubt running a Merc is cheaper than running a Skoda.

Good luck with the Mercedes, having run one in the past I can confirm that they are more expensive to run than any of my three Skodas. I dumped the merc because of the running costs, especially service costs and dealers that find any way they can to make money from their customers.

Asked Claybank Motor Company in Eccles to diagnose a whining noise from rear of my Octavia II at 62000 miles. They said it was due to feathered tyres and required a four wheel alignment. One alignment and 4 new tyres later and, hey presto, NO difference!!! Local VW dealer diagnosed a failed rear wheel bearing. One new wheel bearing later AND THE NOISE IS GONE!! Total cost of both jobs £815. Draw your own conclusions but I don't think I can afford to run a Skoda any more so have got rid. My Merc is much cheaper to run!!!

Hmm, never owned a a Merc, but did own 2 Volvo's (1 x 745 & 1 x 945) both these were expensive to run but great load carriers and I really enjoyed the conform/seats in them, last car was a Subaru Legacy (2005) had to sell it 6 months ago for poersonal reasons, but it never went wrong (apart from a faulty battery cell which was replaced under warranty) service cost were cheaper than certain German makes and was great to drive.

Now driving a Octavia (second hand) 2007 Classic 1.9tdi Auto, no probs so far gulp/pray!

Irrattions with my Skoda;

Possible Teves problem soon?

Aircon problem soon?

Replacement of DSG oil - expensive?

Minor iritations so far;

Paint or whatever the black stuff they use to cover the electric window switch has now worn off (had when I bouth the car - silly me did nit think to get them replaced under warranty!) in a car then under 3 years old.

Front seats showing signs of wear - only 30k mile??

Drivers window squeaks sometimes when used.

Strange squeaks from back of my can when I get out?

I am getting another Subaru ASAP!

Yes, i owned a mercedes too, the honeymoon period didnt even last until i got home from the dealers, within about 8 weeks it had gone, i hated the thing and dont believe what people say about quality, there wasnt any quality!

Are you sure the car isn't clocked? After 136,000 miles all of my switches are fine and the drivers seat is fine as well. No wear to speak of on the steering wheel or the pedals. It's just over three years old

Talking of Volvos, when I was a boy we had a 240 GLT and it was a great car. That did over 150k with nothing more than a dodgy fuel pump.

I'd be surprised if you manage to get a four wheel alignment, four new tyres and a wheel bearing done at a franchised Mercedes garage for less than £800!

As reliable as Merc's are rumoured to be I doubt running a Merc is cheaper than running a Skoda.

Point is, at 10 years old my merc has only needed tyres...AND the dealers get their diagnosis right.

Hmm, never owned a a Merc, but did own 2 Volvo's (1 x 745 & 1 x 945) both these were expensive to run but great load carriers and I really enjoyed the conform/seats in them, last car was a Subaru Legacy (2005) had to sell it 6 months ago for poersonal reasons, but it never went wrong (apart from a faulty battery cell which was replaced under warranty) service cost were cheaper than certain German makes and was great to drive.

Now driving a Octavia (second hand) 2007 Classic 1.9tdi Auto, no probs so far gulp/pray!

Irrattions with my Skoda;

Possible Teves problem soon?

Aircon problem soon?

Replacement of DSG oil - expensive?

Minor iritations so far;

Paint or whatever the black stuff they use to cover the electric window switch has now worn off (had when I bouth the car - silly me did nit think to get them replaced under warranty!) in a car then under 3 years old.

Front seats showing signs of wear - only 30k mile??

Drivers window squeaks sometimes when used.

Strange squeaks from back of my can when I get out?

I am getting another Subaru ASAP!

My DSG oil and filter cost nearly £200 ON TOP of the 40,000 mile service charge!

Are you sure the car isn't clocked? After 136,000 miles all of my switches are fine and the drivers seat is fine as well. No wear to speak of on the steering wheel or the pedals. It's just over three years old

Talking of Volvos, when I was a boy we had a 240 GLT and it was a great car. That did over 150k with nothing more than a dodgy fuel pump.

I wondered if it was clocked as well, but as I live in Jersey don't think this is possible (we only have 1 Skoda dealer here and they confirmed the milage was correct before I bought the car - I bought the car from a well know local dealer who happened to be the the local only local Subaru dealer) but there is no wear on the steering wheel/pedel rubber etc.

I think I am just not lucky with this, I think the original owner used to rub her fingers (?!) on the swithes as she drove the thing, when I am feeling brave I think I will take he door card off and fit new switches & try to cure the squeak!

Seats are in good nick, but they have little baubble things, rather like an old jumper.

thanks for you help.

Mercedes, Skoda etc etc.... all have their plus and minus points. I am forever reading about how poor Mercedes dealers are, but surely not everyone can have problems with them, especially at the charges they make.

As for your Skoda issue - did you go back to them to discuss about getting your money back?

Point is, at 10 years old my merc has only needed tyres...AND the dealers get their diagnosis right.

So its still on the original discs and pads, battery, wiper blades and exhaust? Amazing!

Little bobble things can be removed with an electric fabric shaver. Saw one in John Lewis for ~£6.50 in the kitchen department. They do mail order.

Maybe the car was used as a taxi? That might explain the accelerated wear on controls and seats. I got similar wear on the coated door bits of my Passat but at over 100,000 miles. The seats showed no wear at 140,000 when I traded it in for the Skoda.

Edited 4 September, 201015 yr by gregoir

Playing devils advocate as I normally do I don't see a problem to be honest.

It's a process of elimination, if your looking for a droning noise and find tyres are out of shape or feathering the that really needs sorting first before accurate diagnosis of a wheel bearing can be carried out. It's easy for the VW dealer to correctly identify a wheel bearing as the other cause has now been eliminated. And what if they had put a bearing on and you had a droning still, wouldn't have been the wheel bearing would it?