Hi guys and gals.

My name is John Ftizpatrick, brand new to the world of Skoda ownership, haven,t even got the car yet, put down a deposit and paperwork etc means I,ll have it tomorrow. Its a 2005 octavia 1.9tdi with a DSG gearbox. It has 184,000 kilometers (about 115,000 miles). I was very impressed with the test drive. My last car was a Mercedes E200 1994 petrol, 170,000 miles, until it was sent to the great carpark in the sky, by other driver going through a red light and unfortunately ending up in my path, thus bringing an end to my relationship with Mercedes.

I drive a taxi for a living and this car is going on the road as a taxi, so reliability is very important to me. I will most likely get the car serviced i,e. oil filters, etc, (although the car has a very comprehensive service record). My main concern is the gearbox at the moment. If its driving alright now, would i need to get the fluid changed immediately (and is it an expensive job) or is it an easy/ish DIY job. I really need to get over my distrust of mechanics, (I,m sure they are not all bad).

Anyway any advice that you have regarding stuff I should get checked out straight away. I have no understanding of the computerised systems in modern cars, so please speak jargon free, or if you could direct me to a good website, i would appreciate it.

I usually do a bit more than the normal recommended oil and filter changes etc, i.e. 5000 miles service becomes 3500 miles service for me. I try to use high levels of maintenance as a precaution to try to avoid bigger issues. A full breakdown means I am out of work and earning no money, and when I add to the repairs cost, it works out cheaper to avoid major breakdowns.

Please feel free to send me any advice or pointers you think a complete newbie should know.

I learn quickly, but find jargon really hard to comprehend.

I hope I can give more help than I need to get (means I have less breakdowns).

I look forward to getting to know you all over the next while. I have seriously high hopes for this car, it really really impressed me, its a real credit to the previous owner, and I hope I can keep it in the same mechanical condition.

Hi and welcome John , the search on here is pretty hopeless, if you need to search for any topic, IE, Dsg gearbox problem etc, open up a new tab and on google type in that followed by Briskoda, brings the topic up quicker, also the diagnostics etc can be scanned for any faults with vag-com VAG stands for Volkswagen Audi Group and is just a lead and program on a laptop which scans your car for faults, settings can be altered on it , coming home lights, both rear fogs etc, the dealers have a version of this but cannot get into the nitty gritty like this can. For instance, mine is petrol and a mate realigned the throttle body after battery was unplugged , (http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Throttle_Body_Alignment_(TBA) There are members on here with it who if you have a problem will help you for beer money.As you are in Dublin you will have less members with it, see list here http://www.briskoda....em-vcds-owners/ Anyway hope it all runs smoothly

Hi and welcome aboard.