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We have had our Octy Elegance now for 5 years and apart from issues which were done under warranty am surprised at how long other parts are lasting. For Instance new battery last year , over £110, our last car a Primera had a new battery at 12 years.This week new rad' at 39000 miles , cost £332 , had Transit which had done over 200000 miles when rad ' went ,cost £75. I thought VW parts were supposed to be amongs the best LOL.

I'd guess there's a lot more electronics in the Octy for a start; you also seem to do low mileage 8k a year?-lots of short trips? That won't help either. My last Octavia, an '08 vRS PD had 104000 miles on it when I got my current one. Tyres, bulbs, fuel & servicing were all it ever wanted! Rad, battery, clutch etc. are still OK @110000-my brother drives it now. The price of your rad may include labour-there's more work involved on an Octy than a tranny I suppose!