My last Octavia I had for over 4 years without any problems. This is not the case with the one I have now. When it was 1 year old the floor of the front passenger side was soaking wet caused by a hole in the bulkhead. Whilst on holiday this year the left centre air vent (passenger side) seized up. The exhaust management light came on. The garage replaced the sensor and whilst they were working on it found that the water pump was leaking. Air vent, sensor and water pump were replaced. Half an hour after driving out of the garage the exhaust management light came on again. This time they have replaced the intake manifold So far the light has not come back on. Fortunately the car is under warranty. Octavia Elegance 1.8TSI 18 months old 10.000 miles on the clock.

Sums it up really mk1 octavia's were fairly bullet proof now that they are gettin mega popular its "bolt them together get them out" routine, certainly not impressed with ours not one bit.