Recently (the past 3 weeks or so) a whole load of things have started to go wrong with my Octy:

Firstly, although small the rear brake light went - its an estate so its £60+

Secondly the clutch started slipping, a new clutch & flywheel needed

Last weekend the temp started playing up - doesn't reach 90 so a new thermo, sender etc. needed. Only £70 or so but its adding up.

Then last night something (i think the exhaust) started "blowing". Its close to the engine so I assume the down pipe/manifold or even the turbo

Without the exhaust problems i think its going to cost £600 ish to sort the rest of the problems; I've had a rough quote of £400 for a g60/vr6 clutch/flywheel conversion.

Now the car is probably only worth £2000, working. Its an 03 with 115k on the clock.

Is it really worth putting these things right, The full suspension was replaced 2 years ago but the bushing etc. will probably need doing soon too.

What would you do?

Fix it, brake it for the working parts? We buy any car

Its really starting to bug me.

Any advice is appreciated.

John

Edited 11 February, 201115 yr by JohnRS

difficult one. i haven't seen the car but personally i would keep it. you have already spent a fair wack on it which i am sure if you asked most guys on here they have done exactly the same on their octys and probably spent even more with mods etc. for example my personal expenditure in the last year has been 4 new tyres, new secondary air pump, new thermostat and that is not including mods which now tops around £1k on top of the replacement parts!! all for a car thats worth £2500. it really does sound mad, but i love this little car and have faith in it giving me at least another 5 years of good service. unfortuantely all mk1's are at a point where they will need some tlc along the line, but sort out the parts needed and you will get good service from this car as the engine is very strong and will last. KEEP IT!

Edited 11 February, 201115 yr by vrs200bhp

Estates were worth alot more than hatches, so i think £2k is way too low lol

Get it fixed and enjoy it

Personally I might consider getting rid. Think it comes down to whatever the 'exhaust' noise is. The clutch etc. are all things that are expected though... suppose it depends what you use the car for and how attached you are to it. Im hoping to keep mine till its got at least 125k on the clock whatever it needs doing to it.

all cars need parts replacing whether it be a 10 year old Octavia or a 3 year old Astra. For me personally I don't mind spending up to £1k a year in keeping my car tip top (including some mods )

I think cars go in cycles of a few years of small bills followed by a couple of big ones.

As sad as it is I am really fond of my VRS, so really don't mind spending a few £££ on her.

If you get those bits done, you will probably have a couple of years of small bills, and if you sell it as is, you won't get near market value of the car.

I think a lot depends on how much you're proposing to spend. Your car is 8 years old, but you know it's history. You could buy a car half the age and still have a lot of issues. Also, depending again on your circumstances, the finance on a new/newer car will probably be more than the maintenance on your current car. Of course you could be rich and going to spend £60k on a Porsche or something, in which case I hate you.

I think it's a case of better the devil you know.

Unless you're bless with amazing luck, any car you swap it for of similar age/value will also need plenty of money spending on it sooner or later.

The alternative is to buy a much newer car, on which may be more reliable but you'll loose loads in depreciation, which you could have lavished on the old girl.

If you still enjoy driving the car, despite these problems, keep her and treat her

No matter which way I look at it I'm going to spend/loose money. If I p/x it I could be buying a car that needs similar or more work. If I brake it I've no garantee of a return, plus it takes time.

I was just thinking the timing belt is due in 5k miles too. :'(

I'll probably try and diagnose the noise and go from there.

To be fair in over 3 years of ownership and over 40k miles its been solid.

Average the cost of fixing these issues over the period you have had the car. On that basis it would appear to have been a cheap car to run and maintain. Nothing has changed.

Even if you fancy a different car, you'd need to fix most of the issues to get the best price for it, or you'd negotiate money off. Either way, you still end up paying.

Keep her!

The Octavia's don't seem to rust, so it should last for a really long time with just normal spanner-work maintenance.

Clutch/flywheel, remap and coilovers were the big hitters on my car. But still, none of them were more than £500 in one go. The rest of the bits along the way are just normal maintenance items like senders, batteries, bushes, exhausts, pads etc.

Due to the popularity of the PQ34 platform (mk4 golf, mk1 TT, mk1 A3, mk1 Leon, mk2 Toledo, Beetle, Bora and mk1 Octavia), parts and servicing will always be cheap and plentiful. They're still using the platform in China, on the relatively new VW Lavida, so expect the supply of parts to continue long into the future. Compared to a lot of cars, the Octavia is an absolute bargain to maintain.

Mine's now a couple of months off 9 years old, and she's done 121k miles. To me it's still a new car! I've grown very attached to the beasty, and I'll be running her till the doors fall off!

Mine's now a couple of months off 9 years old, and she's done 121k miles. To me it's still a new car! I've grown very attached to the beasty, and I'll be running her till the doors fall off!

:beer: cheers to that!

Keep her!

The Octavia's don't seem to rust,

My tailgate has! but its a common thing on the estate.

As you say remap & suspension were expensive but I had the spare cash then. The cash I'll be spending now was saved for a new fish tank :'(

I think I'm going to get the Clutch/flywheel and thermo etc done at once by the garage - I rang TPS and the parts for thermo etc. are £67 (inc. temp sender) and the last time I changed them the thermo was a b*tch to do and I can do without it.

I'm changing my theromostat tomorrow (weather permitting), and I'll try to do a "how to" style write up.

I've got all the parts and tools, and a plan in my mind, so it should go OK....

'stat and o-ring cost me £26 from the dealer. I actually spent more money on the fancy tools for this job! I've got some pimp flexible sockets that should hopefully make the job super easy. Famous last words!

You can buy all the genuine parts new for the G60/VR6 conversion for about £180, then just add the labour. In my case I got Awesome to do the work for £260, which is a lot, but I don't trust any of my local garages! Here's my detailed thread from when I did it, might be of use to you: http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/150787-clutchflywheel-review/page__hl__g60+vr6+flywheel+review

Did my stat last year and is a bit fiddly but not at all impossible. If i recall just used std tools allen socket and removed the alternator from it's bracket to get access.

I'm changing my theromostat tomorrow (weather permitting), and I'll try to do a "how to" style write up.

I've got all the parts and tools, and a plan in my mind, so it should go OK....

'stat and o-ring cost me £26 from the dealer. I actually spent more money on the fancy tools for this job! I've got some pimp flexible sockets that should hopefully make the job super easy. Famous last words!

You can buy all the genuine parts new for the G60/VR6 conversion for about £180, then just add the labour. In my case I got Awesome to do the work for £260, which is a lot, but I don't trust any of my local garages! Here's my detailed thread from when I did it, might be of use to you: http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/150787-clutchflywheel-review/page__hl__g60+vr6+flywheel+review

I actually done mine this time last year with a Haynes manual but I stupidly got the parts from Eurocarparts and the temp gauge stops at 60 now. I scanned it last night with VCDS and its showing an error so I’ll do the lot.

Yea I priced them from the dealers and they are ~£9 more than TPS for the whole lot. TPS were a bit "funny" the last time I went because I am not trade! So I’ll get them from the Stealers.

I’m getting mine done by someone I know and trust, he builds rallycross cars and is a Jabba agent. He is doing vr6 clutch and I have the option of a standard g60 flywheel or a lightened g60 flywheel. He lightens them himself? I’ll probably decide on the day because a lighter one won’t benefit me. He said about £300 for the clutch (this is what I initially wanted) and an extra £100 for the flywheel. So £400 all in is OK.

I did read your thread which was what promted me to go down the g60/vr6 route rather than standard vRS.

Did my stat last year and is a bit fiddly but not at all impossible. If i recall just used std tools allen socket and removed the alternator from it's bracket to get access.

Yea I used standard tools but didn't remove the alternator, I will this time though.