Evening,

Just been to check out a 2004 Octavia VRS at a Skoda dealership. Nice car - I don't currently own a Skoda but I was impressed. Couple of concerns, though.

There was a lot of water in the boot. The false floor was soaked and mouldy underneath and there was water running down the right hand side of the inner boot, near the speaker. The salesman said there was a common problem with the seal between the rear window and spoiler. But, I think it was coming in higher up. Has anyone else heard of this problem? He said the service department would water check it, test all then electrics for corrosion and fix the leak.

Is it a design flaw? Should I be put off by this? I'm not conviced they'll be able to tell if it's fixed and it won't be covered by warranty - I asked.

It also had condensation in the headlights which I was less concerned about, but still asked them to check. I might be being paranoid but I thought the glove box seemed a bit damp, too, maybe just because of moisture from the afore mentioned boot leak.

Are seals a common problem with this car? It was otherwise very well maintained with full dealer service history and 84k on the clock.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I do fancy bagging one of these cars but don't want a shed.

Thanks again.

You might get a better response by posting in the Octavia MkI forum.

The Octavia MkII is certainly known for water leaks into the boot so the MkI may also suffer...