I have finally today, after nearly 2 years of looking, bought a Scout. (It seems to be an ex Skoda press car and has appeared in a lot of the motoring press, including this little video clip http://www.nicarfind...a/Octavia/2327/ .)

It has a very nice spec:

• Xenons
  
• Curtain airbags
  
• Maxidot
  
• Silver roof rails
  
• Spare wheel
  
• Detachable tow hook
  
• 1.8 tsi engine
  

After a 75 mile drive home from the garage here are my initial impressions compared to my just departed Audi A4 Avant 2.5 tdi quattro Sport (2003 B6).

Positive:

• Engine is very quiet and refined and has a surprising amount of grunt (obviously not as much as the Audi but enough, with potential for more!)
  
• Ride is great, soaks up pot holes without a murmur. Its a revelation compared to the Audi which I don't think had the suspension option ticked and tried to shatter your spin at every opportunity!
  
• It is a very easy car to drive.
  
• Great vision out of the car
  
• It grips!
  
• Very comfortable - no aches and pains after nearly a 2 hour drive home on motorways, A and B roads.
  
• It has masses amount of space - boot is huge and a great shape. The A4 was very narrow and an odd shape - push chair took up the whole of the boot as it never seem to fit width ways or long ways.
  
• Storage everywhere.
  
• I can sit behind the drivers seat when it is set for me (6'2") and my knees don't touch the seat in front. The B6/B7 A4s are very cramped in the back.
  
• Toys for days. Maxidot is great. It even has puddle lights - did not know they had them on the Scout.
  
• Everything feels light - steering, gear change, clutch. The Audi everything was very firm / heavy.
  
• It looks great and has a definite presence. The neighbours came over to have a look and the general conclusion was it had a passing resemblance to the A6 Allroad and that is looks an expensive car.
  
• Xenons are great - went out for a short drive to test them out.
  
• Everything feels nice to the touch. Not quite as solid as my old A4 but not far off the newer A3 / A4 which are not, in my opinion, as solid as my old A4.
  
• Clip for parking tickets on the windscreen (I missed this, my old Xantia had one the Audi didn't).
  
• Aircon works way better than my A4, which never worked as I expected. It had been back to Audi three times as I was not happy with it. It clunked all the time resetting all the internal flaps and sounded like a fresh air vent - the faster you went the more air it pushed into the cabin!
  

The not so positive:

• The dashboard has the passenger side squeak / rattle. (The A4 had a no rattles anywhere from the interior)
  
• It seems to have rattle or more of "loose" sound somewhere in the back
  
• The road noise is quite loud. It seems to be coming from the back / boot. I don't know whether this is because there is very little in the way of sound proofing in the boot or under the rear seats or whether it is just generally a "loud" car. (The tyres on it are half worn Michelin Primacy HPs (nice surprise) and there does not seem to be any wear on inner edge of the tyre. I don't believe that these are known for being too loud?).
  
• The alloys have badly delaminated. (These will need doing and I quite like the Polish Proteus look.
  

At the moment that is all I can think of.

Over all I really like the car. Love the engine. Love the look. If I can quieten down the road noise and kill some rattles I would be a very happy man. Unfortunately the girlfriend has already stated it is her car!!!!

James

Nice car, it must be strange seeing someone driving your new motor 3 years ago!

Its a real shame about the Scout's Proteus alloys, I love the polished spokes but they are a real weak point on the car. With the edge of the spokes being so pronounced and vulnerable to stone chip it very quickly allows the damage to begin, especially if you use the car as its designed - off road.

I'll be interested to see what you do come refurbishement time. All the refurbers I've spoken to have said they'll just sand blast them and paint them all silver. No good for me as the polished spokes look too good when clean and really make the car stand out so I don't want to lose the effect.

Good spec too, looks like Skoda UK gave it the toys as it was one of their press cars, it's got the essentials for me, xenon's, Maxidot, curtain airbags and spare wheel, everything else is already standard!

Where has it been for the last few years, did you buy it privately or did it end up on a dealers forecourt? Can I ask where you saw it advertised?

Glad you're happy with your purchase. I have a large soft spot for AWD estate cars, and this is no exception.

Would be interested to see how the Scout deals with a decent bit of off roading. Anyone on here go shooting at all..?

Clarkson tested it and put it in his Top 10 for 2009... which was a surprise.

There are a few vets on here using Scouts, and there was someone who worked for the Forestry Comission.

Once decent off-road tyres are fitted then it's pretty much unstopable!

As the wife drives ours it's lucky if it see's a kerb and the odd deep puddle!

This was actually the second time I had seen it advertised. The first time was about a year ago, at Vindis Skoda, but I was a little slow and it went before I could see it. This time it popped up at a classic car dealer (!) on Ebay at a great price, and thanks to Ebay notification I put a deposit down within 20 minutes of it appearing. A bit of a gamble as I had not seen it - only on the video clip! But it turned out to be a lovely car with 36,000 miles, full Skoda service history (serviced in Jan, full MOT and had a LifeShine done 11 months ago) and I am now its third owner. It is quite nice to own a little bit of Skoda history - however minor it maybe.

As I said previously I have been looking for a Scout for sometime, but the 1.8 tsi are not too common especially with a nice spec. I had seen a Scout two weeks previously, which was a year younger with full leather and Maxidot, but it was a shed. It had done 65,000 miles, and had actually been used as a skip (the boot floor was going rusty - it was filthy, with old wall tiles in the spare wheel well) and had attacked both a Renault Clio and a stone wall. Also a rear speaker grill had been smashed - a new leather trimmed door panel from Skoda........£470! And it required 4 new tyres, full major service, new external trim bits and valet. This was similar money to the one I have just bought!

I have only been out in it for a couple of little trips today, but I really do like it. A much more rounded family car than the A4. The only thing that I will miss from the Audi is the grunt from the V6 and the incredible way it would go around corners with zero drama at some interesting speeds.

I will keep you informed on the how successful I am at finding someone who can recreate the Polished Proteus look. But first I will save up a few pennies to pay for them!

Regarding its off road capability this lot seem to like chucking their Scouts through a bit of water

and it seems to cope quite well!

Looks a nice buy. Where are you based? I might be able to recommend someone for polished wheel refurbishment.

Would be interested to see how the Scout deals with a decent bit of off roading. Anyone on here go shooting at all..?

Mine gets plenty of off road action, frequently need to drive across fields or into forestry / woodland sites for work. The Scout continues to impress, got me in & out of a very wet muddy wood every day for last 2 weeks. Only limiting factor is lack of ground clearance but so long as I stay out of the deep ruts traction is never a problen even on summer tyres. Have run various 4wd cars, last two were Subarus & would definitely have another Scout, just hope they'll make a version of the new model.

Hi Wardy,

I am based just North of Worcester and about 20 miles from Birmingham. I am assuming that the wheels would have to be refurbished by someone who is capable of using the diamond cut process - with the wheels off the car. They are really quite scruffy, the lacquer has actually fallen off in places.

I must admit I am really quite impressed with the 1.8tsi engine, it is quite a cracker of an engine. Smooth, quiet and once you hit around 3,000rpm it really starts to fly. It is quite strange having an engine that does do not stop revving past 4,500rpm - having mostly driven diesels for the past 20 years!

I am hoping that I have stopped the dash board squeak by taking the end off the passenger side of the dash and inserting strips of thin cardboard between the plastic and steal bracket at the top of the dash where the top torx bolt goes and then at the bottom of the dash where there is plastic against plastic. But only time will let!

I know a place in Coventry so not far for you at all. Proven work but the wheels would have to come off the car.

As far as I can see the wheels would have to come off anyway as they have delaminated right up to and probably past the bead of the tyre. It would need to be done properly and stripped back to bare ally - and maybe it would last a bit longer.

I would hope it could all be done in a day - its a long walk back from Coventry!

Oh yes, it's not a proper job unless the tyre's been removed! The wheels will have to be chemical dipped etc.

I'll look up the details and post them on this thread, but it's not the sort of job that can be done in a day anyway. In my experience you don't get the best job with them done at that speed.

If you don't have a 2nd set of wheels (I accept many people don't!) then there might be the option of a local Briskodian who does letting you borrow some while the refurb was taking place.

Apart from that I'm not aware of any places that could offer a one day turnaround refurb on a polished wheel. You could ask LapTab in Birmingham about it - they offer day services, but not sure if that includes polished wheels: http://www.lap-tab.c...alloywheels.php

More offroad action

More offroad action

I now have a sudden, insatiable craving for a muddy field, a Scout and some ex-military machinery...

Hi Wardy,

Thank you for the information. I will have to make some enquiries - and see how much it might cost.

Now I will see if I can find a muddy field! But then I have just polished up my twin stainless exhaust pipes - a shame to get them dirty so soon!

My cardboard washers have also stopped the dash board from squeaking - peace at last!

So what we have established is, if you are ever going to go into battle in Hungary, you're going to be quicker, and probably more comfortable, doing it in an Octavia Scout, than a tank. Should be considerably cheaper too. So the next project should be to add some kind of gun turret to a Scout

My cardboard washers have also stopped the dash board from squeaking - peace at last!

Placed under the bolts (if so which one) or between the end panel and door seal?

I've been following the other thread with interest and tried using copper slip on the bolts without success...

My squeak was through plastic rubbing against plastic as well as plastic rubbing against the steel supports. So not matter who hard I tighten or loosened some of the Torx screws the squeak came back.

So once you take the end off the passenger side of the dash you will see the silver torx screw at the top angled slightly towards you. Take this out then you need to gently leaver the plastic lug away from the steel support behind it and insert a thin bit of cardboard (cereal packet is ideal) making sure the card is wide enough to cover the area of possible friction between the plastic and steel. Then you will need to pierce a hole in the card so that you can screw the Torx back in. Before I put the Torx screw in I made a cardboard washer to go between the steel washer and the plastic just in case. Then tighten Torx.

The next area of friction seems to be at the bottom of the dash near the A pillar where external end of the dash sits (not the bit you have taken off to get inside but the actual outer dash moulding) against the seperate internal plastic structure part of the dash. Here I just inserted a piece of card between the two, make sure it is fairly long and tall to again ensure that it not only separates the 2 pieces of plastic but also covers the possible friction points. There is also a Torx screw on the outside, on the underside, of the dash near the bottom that might need tightening (mine was loose) - you can see it when from inside the dash.

Then go for drive with the end still off and it should be quiet - hopefully. The put the end back on and see if this might also be rubbing, mine was not.

Of course I will have to see what happens when it gets really hot and things expand!

But so far quiet and our roads here are rough and pot holed!

Hope this helps.

Will give it a try, thanks!