**WARNING DO NOT BUY SKODA!***

I currently own a 2006 Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi PD Ambiente which has only just completed 41,000 miles.

It has a FULL SKODA DEALER service history, the timing belt was replaced at 36,000 miles, everything

has been done EXACTLY as Skoda recommend.

The car has NEVER been thrashed or driven in anger.

I used to regularly get 60mpg over a tank of diesel.

3weeks ago whilst driving home, at a busy motorway junction, I was pulling out onto the roundabout and

suddenly, without any warning, noise or indication the car lost ALL POWER, engine dead, electronics alive,

but no engine, no brakes, no steering!!! It could have killed me!

Fortunately the oncoming vehicles managed to avoid my car and eventually some people pushed me to safety.

I have AA cover, so they assisted but the OBD2 laptop didn't report any engine fault codes whatsoever?

The engine still wouldn't start and some smoke was coming out of the turbo air-intake ducting as the AA

turned the engine over. He couldn't fix it at the roadside, so the car was taken to my nearest Skoda dealer,

the same place it goes for all services, timing belt exchange e.t.c.

After 2 days they diagnosed that:

(i) Turbo seized

(ii) Catastrophic turbo failure - turbine/fans disintegrated

(iii) Metal parts from turbo ended up inside intercooler

Their recommendation, to replace turbo £1200 + intercooler £500.

Cannot guarantee this will completely resolve issue, meatal parts may have reached engine!!

Now, given that the car is only 5.5 years old, has only done 41,000 miles and has a FULL SKODA DEALER

SERVICE HISTORY, I would expect that Skoda would take some responsibility for this PREMATURE TURBO FAILURE.

However, they are saying that as the car is out of warranty (only 3 years with Skoda!), they are not

willing to pay anything towards the £1700 repair costs! The car is probably only worth £4000, so basically

it's half the value of the car!

I have heard that this particular Volkswagon Audi Group (VAG) turbo design has a known design fault, but

VAG are not admitting to it. The design fault is this:

The turbo relies entirely on engine oil to spin freely, it has no additional bearings, just oil.

The problem is that engine oil is fed to the turbo via a single braided pipe.

If the turbo is starved of oil for just 1 or 2 seconds it will seize and/or destroy itself.

It is easy to imagine that the likelyhood of this happening is fairly high, just a kink in the pipe,

some oil sludge or air bubbles is all it would take!

THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE! There is no warning at all, then complete loss of engine power, brakes &

steering.

I would like to know if anyone has experienced similar issues with early turbo failure.

I personally would NEVER buy ANY VAG car again!

David.

sorry to hear this when was your last service in miles and time ?

Turbo's or other components can fail on other cars too. It is widely documented that taxi owners cover 300,000 miles without too many issues, I think that only stands as a testament to the reliability of Skoda.

You seem surprised at the 3 year warranty... that's pretty much standard... =/

sorry to hear this when was your last service in miles and time ?

Last service @ 31,000 / 4years old.

Turbo's or other components can fail on other cars too. It is widely documented that taxi owners cover 300,000 miles without too many issues, I think that only stands as a testament to the reliability of Skoda.

You seem surprised at the 3 year warranty... that's pretty much standard... =/

3years maybe standard for VAG cars, but

Japanese manufacturers offer 5years (+ FREE extended cover)

Korean offer 7years

I was so pro-Skoda / VAG before ( I had a A4 before the Octavia), but after this NEVER again!

I'm going for a non-turbo, petrol Honda or Toyota.

I'm going for a non-turbo, petrol Honda or Toyota.

Good plan, at only 8K a year it doesn't make sense to pay the premium for a diesel engine and then again at the pumps.

So one turbo failure and that's it?

Your car is 5 years old so that'd be no good if it was Japanese.

Personally I wouldn't buy a Korean car but each to his own.

Good luck.

So one turbo failure and that's it?

Your car is 5 years old so that'd be no good if it was Japanese.

Personally I wouldn't buy a Korean car but each to his own.

Good luck.

Also, Mitsubishi (Japanese car company) are using the VW diesel engines in the Lancer at least so worse yet you'd still have the same engine as buying a Skoda. This part stood out on the OP's post:

The car has NEVER been thrashed or driven in anger.

I used to regularly get 60mpg over a tank of diesel.

The recommendation I've always read with turbos is to make sure they're regularly pushed a bit harder to make sure the turbo spins up properly as well as giving it time to warm up and cool down at the start and end of journeys. Because this is difficult to prove due to the timescales I've not seen much factual data but the reasoning appears sound and not too much of an issue to follow so I go with it anyway.

John

3years maybe standard for VAG cars, but

Japanese manufacturers offer 5years (+ FREE extended cover)

Korean offer 7years

I was so pro-Skoda / VAG before ( I had a A4 before the Octavia), but after this NEVER again!

I'm going for a non-turbo, petrol Honda or Toyota.

TBH I think you've just been very unlucky. Sudden turbo failure is not unheard of on some of the 2.0 engines, but quite rare on the 1.9 PD105.

The Korean 7yr warranties are not always as good as they're cracked up to be either. They tend to cover progressively fewer and fewer components after each of the 7 years and won't cover anything that the manufacturer considers to be wear and tear.

Playing devils advocate here, but if you are so certain that is purely isolated to VAG cars then why go for non-turbo Japanese car?

Complain to Skoda UK directly, not a dealer.

The have a history of covering part cost, but not labour, for turbo failures providing all servicing work has been carried out at a Skoda dealer for the entire life.

As you say some turbo's have a track record for failing, so push them hard and you may well get somewhere. Remember as well the usual "was looking to buy another Skoda, but...."

...I have heard that this particular Volkswagon Audi Group (VAG) turbo design has a known design fault, but

VAG are not admitting to it. The design fault is this:

The turbo relies entirely on engine oil to spin freely, it has no additional bearings, just oil.

The problem is that engine oil is fed to the turbo via a single braided pipe.

If the turbo is starved of oil for just 1 or 2 seconds it will seize and/or destroy itself...

You seem to be unaware that the majority of turbos out there use exactly the same journal bearing (sleeve bearing and pressurized oil) design. All of Garrett VNT series and many of the GT series use this arrangement. As turbos go, they are very reliable.

Now, given that the car is only 5.5 years old, has only done 41,000 miles and has a FULL SKODA DEALERSERVICE HISTORY, I would expect that Skoda would take some responsibility for this PREMATURE TURBO FAILURE.However, they are saying that as the car is out of warranty (only 3 years with Skoda!), they are notwilling to pay anything towards the £1700 repair costs!

As a matter of interest is this the Skoda dealer saying that Skoda won't pay or have you spoken directly to Skoda UK? The reason I ask this is because I had a turbo issue on my old 1.9 MKI a few years ago and the dealer said 'sorry out of warranty' I called Skoda UK and they paid 50% of the parts and the dealer paid 50% of the labour.

Low miles and full service history is not the be all and end all. Have you always made sure that the engine is idled for a few minutes at the end of every journey, avoided too many short trips, avoided using boost until engine is warm and taken the turbo through the full speed range occaisionally? If you have not followed all of these then you could shorten the life of a turbo!

Have you always made sure that the engine is idled for a few minutes at the end of every journey, avoided too many short trips, avoided using boost until engine is warm and taken the turbo through the full speed range occaisionally? If you have not followed all of these then you could shorten the life of a turbo!

This isn't strictly true. It is nigh on impossible not to use the turbo in a diesel when driving! What would be the advantage of having a warm engine on the turbo?

All you need to do is not thrash it and then turn the engine off. Also not using the turbo will shorten the life as it may not be fully spinning up all the way and hence why it has probably seized.

Hate to say it but the car is 5.5 years old and lots of short journeys (evidenced by a low annual mileage) doesn't do ANY type of car good. Yes a turbo failure is not nice but they really are rare in terms of %of units sold and, on the 1.9 a failure is like hens teeth! In reality what you have experienced could have happened to ANY turbo vehicle from ANY manufacturer.

If it has put you off a Skoda then fine but don;t cut your nose off to spite your face... other manufacturers use exactly the same turbos and technology and have a worse reliability record (even the Japanese ones you talk about!) and with downsizing non-turbo cars are becoming rarer.

Last service @ 31,000 / 4years old.

what other services has it had?

Only one things certain - Something made out of metal parts which revolve at over tens of thousands of RPM, will eventually wear out......