So I'm joining the legions trying to figure out the best place to jack up a '99 Octavia Estate with a trolley jack and then to put jack stands. The "proper" jacking points on the sills are bent flat (clearly from improper jacking)-- I don't think it would be possible to bend them back up. I realize this would now prevent me from using the tire-changing jack there, but if I just go ahead and jack it up with the trolley and a block of wood there, would any more damage be done/would it be unsafe? And then should I put the jackstands under those "box-life" channels that are another foot further in?

Are these the only places to jack up the Octavia?

I tried putting the trolley jack on one of those box-like channels and it started to bend a bit so I've stopped. The car is lowered, so I couldn't get a block of wood between the jack and the "box-like channel", though perhaps I'll try again pulling the car up onto some wood.

As an aside, if I don't figure out how to jack the thing up today to change the auxillary belt and it breaks completely (part of it (20%?) has already broken off) while I am driving, I am assuming the only bad things that will happen will be the air conditioning quitting, no power steering, no alternator, but enough battery power to drive the 20 miles home anyway.

Thanks,

Andrew

You'll have enough battery power in a "good" battery to start several times, and drive a hundred miles in dry conditions before things like the ABS and ASR lights start coming on as they shut down due to insufficient voltage.

In the end, I jacked on the box-like channels. Just now I noticed the "sticky" thread showing the "definitive answer" from Škoda. A bit of wood between the jack and the metal did the trick.

It is really a breeze to change that auxillary belt-- the only difficulty was going to a neighbor to borrow a 16mm wrench-- for some reason VW group seems to really like 16mm, whereas I don't think that size is much used elsewhere.

Edited 5 September, 201114 yr by Andrew Ray