Just need a quick bit of advice pre-purchase.

Its time to get rid of the family Renault Scenic as its starting to breakdown regularly and as I have a Mk1 Fabia VRS and have previuosly always bought VAG have decided to go for an Octavia estate.

I have searched the forum for buying advice and have seen DPF problems with the VRS and Scout models, which is not an issue as I haven't got that much money to spend!

I am however considering a 2.0 PD140 in either manual or DSG. I understand that the DMF can be vulnerable and on a manual if it is going there will be a rattle and slight vibration which will dissapear if the clutch is depressed and will reappear when the clutch is released.

I take it the same symptoms will be present on the DSG gearbox (rattle and vibration) but are there any other tell tales signs I can look for?

Anything else I need to be aware of in addition to:

Dampness in footwells and boot, Delaminating screen, dashboard lights (got caught out with that on the Fabia!) and Turbo?

Thanks

When you test drive the car, load the engine by accelerating from a slow speed in a high gear, not enough to cause the usual 'wrong gear' juddering but enough to show a weak DMF.

If the car you are looking at has ESP fitted there is a well known and document problem with the ABS unit. However it is cheaper to fix now with the fix kit. ESP was an option on anything except the vRS (cant remeber if its standard on the scout) so it's quite rare if its fitted but they are around. Easy way to tell if a car has it fitted is to check the bottom left hand button on the centre console. If its says ASR then it doesnt have ESP fitted, if it says ESP then, you guessed it, it has ESP.

The other common issue with mk2 octavia is the aircom pump. They fail and you need a replacement. For an independent garage to supply and fit expect to pay around £600. A Skoda dealer will be more like £1,000.

There are issues relating to the turbo and oil starvation on the 2.0 PD140 but it looks like you are aware of those already.

Of course anything other than the vRS & Scout wont have dpf so no worries with that either.

The Octavia is a great all round family car and you will be happy with it. It goes without saying to have a test drive and see if you like everything about the car.

Good luck with your serach.

Get an Octavia 1.8 Tsi

No timing belt

No DPF

Do DMF

and cheaper to buy!

Good luck looking it can be fun choosing a new car!

Thanks for the advice people.

Just got to polish the turd that is the Scenic to try and wrestle a good price for it. Then I'll be out and looking armed with the above.

I have to say the 1.8tsi appears quite rare, there certainly are not many estates around anyway. I was quite impressed at the quoted 40mpg combined I saw which really isn't that much worse than the diesel engine quoted at 47.9 combined. With the difference in the price of petrol and diesel I wonder what the financial difference in owning one is.

On those figures the Diesel will still be 16% cheaper than the 1.8tsi on fuel.

However it does depend what transmission you are comparing. The 2.0PD manual does 51mpg (47.9 with DSG) combined, which then makes it 25% cheaper on fuel than the 1.8tsi manual......this takes into account the difference in fuel price between petrol and diesel.

It all boils down to what annual mileage you'll do as that will determine actual cash savings.

I have been getting more than 43mpg from mine! and is a very fast car!

Cheaper doesn't mean just mean MPG, there are other factors to take into account...

A diesel costs more to buy in the first place and if you look on this forum there are possible problems that cost money to sort out too

Car Giant have a Octavia 1.8 TSi with very desirable options for steal at £4799!

Unless you do lots of miles petrol is an perfectly good option

I have been getting more than 43mpg from mine! and is a very fast car!

Cheaper doesn't mean just mean MPG, there are other factors to take into account...

A diesel costs more to buy in the first place and if you look on this forum there are possible problems that cost money to sort out too

Car Giant have a Octavia 1.8 TSi with very desirable options for steal at £4799!

Unless you do lots of miles petrol is an perfectly good option

This is the very reason I ordered my new petrol version vrs as I only do about 4k a year and looking forward to some fun.

I wish I did less miles so I could chop the diesel in and get a petrol!

I have been getting more than 43mpg from mine! and is a very fast car!

Cheaper doesn't mean just mean MPG, there are other factors to take into account...

A diesel costs more to buy in the first place and if you look on this forum there are possible problems that cost money to sort out too

Car Giant have a Octavia 1.8 TSi with very desirable options for steal at £4799!

Unless you do lots of miles petrol is an perfectly good option

Your argument is sort of right......If you are buying new, and you do low mileage, then what you say is true......the list price of the 1.8 tsi is less than the 2.0 TDI I assume..........so you need to do alot of miles to recover the cost difference?

However the OP is talking about buying a used 2.0PD TDI Octavia. As far as I can see used values of the 2.0pd tdi and 1.8 Tsi (A desirable motor it seems) are much the same, so what you say does not apply in this case. (Although if you fancy a 1.6 FSI what you say is very true)

In answer to the OP's question of difference in running costs..........If you do 12,000 miles a year, at current fuel prices you'll spend £1883 in fuel on a 1.8TSI and £1530 on a 2.0 PD TDI.

When you factor in the lower road tax of the diesel and slightly lower insurance group you're probably looking at £500 per annum saving. (excluding any differences in depreciation...which probably won't be much)

Edited 13 September, 201213 yr by booke23

Any TDI is a more expensive car to buy than the petrol equivalent

With Skoda Octavia if you shop around you can get an 08/58 reg 1.8 Tsi for about £5-5,500

It appears an 08/58 TDi is £2500 more

I have based my argument on Car Giants current prices, not Rip off Skoda main dealers or dodgy eBay sellers

Car giant have a couple of 08/57 TDI`s right now for £7,300 and £7,500 respectively.

They did have a 08 1.8 TSi for £4800, that means the 2.0 TDI cost over 50... yes 50 percent more than the petrol car

It may not give as good mpg but its a whole lot faster!

The TDI "appears" to suffer more problems than the TSI, as pointed out in the first post

From my reading the posts on the site people are suffering all manner of problems with TDI

Cheaper is not just about better MPG, there seems to be reliability factors with the TDI to take into account, that can rack up lots of money.

So what is it to be... a £4800, 2008 model Octavia 1.8 TSI with 40mpg

Or splash out a WHOPPING £2500 extra for a 2.0 TDI with 52mpg

Dead easy choice for anyone unless you do 20-25,000 miles a year

Any TDI is a more expensive car to buy than the petrol equivalent

With Skoda Octavia if you shop around you can get an 08/58 reg 1.8 Tsi for about £5-5,500

It appears an 08/58 TDi is £2500 more

I have based my argument on Car Giants current prices, not Rip off Skoda main dealers or dodgy eBay sellers

Car giant have a couple of 08/57 TDI`s right now for £7,300 and £7,500 respectively.

They did have a 08 1.8 TSi for £4800, that means the 2.0 TDI cost over 50... yes 50 percent more than the petrol car

It may not give as good mpg but its a whole lot faster!

The TDI "appears" to suffer more problems than the TSI, as pointed out in the first post

From my reading the posts on the site people are suffering all manner of problems with TDI

Cheaper is not just about better MPG, there seems to be reliability factors with the TDI to take into account, that can rack up lots of money.

So what is it to be... a £4800, 2008 model Octavia 1.8 TSI with 40mpg

Or splash out a WHOPPING £2500 extra for a 2.0 TDI with 52mpg

Dead easy choice for anyone unless you do 20-25,000 miles a year

Ive been looking around for another car for the last 4 weeks and ive gone through all this in great detail.

Although some of the value ranges differ and I would question some of the prices. In principle I agree with what you have said and it's a decision making process more people should adopt.

However i've bought another diesel - The main reason is for a quiet life at home The wife doesnt want to fill up more than once a month and wants cheaper road tax

Dont forget unless you are running the car into the ground you get carry that extra cost forward and recoup the same percentage when you sell it on. As its a % the actual money "lost" from buying to selling is higher but still proportionate.

Fuel cost are pretty much the only factor that remains constant (allowing for slight changes, up & down) but running costs and in particular repairs it's impossible to estimate accuratley. You either get a good car and repairs are low so running costs are constant or theres the other end of the spectrum when repairs are very high due to a lot of issues with the car. You can apply the logic that generally diesel cars have covered more miles and therefore are more likely to need more repairs. Thats the gamble when buying a used car and it doesnt matter if its petrol or diesel.

I would say if the fuel costs are a major factor when deciding between petrol or diesel and you are doing less than 10k a year you really should consider petrol. It makes much more financial sense.

Any TDI is a more expensive car to buy than the petrol equivalent

With Skoda Octavia if you shop around you can get an 08/58 reg 1.8 Tsi for about £5-5,500

It appears an 08/58 TDi is £2500 more

I have based my argument on Car Giants current prices, not Rip off Skoda main dealers or dodgy eBay sellers

Car giant have a couple of 08/57 TDI`s right now for £7,300 and £7,500 respectively.

They did have a 08 1.8 TSi for £4800, that means the 2.0 TDI cost over 50... yes 50 percent more than the petrol car

It may not give as good mpg but its a whole lot faster!

The TDI "appears" to suffer more problems than the TSI, as pointed out in the first post

From my reading the posts on the site people are suffering all manner of problems with TDI

Cheaper is not just about better MPG, there seems to be reliability factors with the TDI to take into account, that can rack up lots of money.

So what is it to be... a £4800, 2008 model Octavia 1.8 TSI with 40mpg

Or splash out a WHOPPING £2500 extra for a 2.0 TDI with 52mpg

Dead easy choice for anyone unless you do 20-25,000 miles a year

As I say, your argument is valid for any of the Fsi models (1.6 or 2.0) but a quick look at autotrader does not support your pricing on the 1.8 TSI.....that must have been a misprint or something....there is 57 plate 1.8Tsi near me with 67,000 miles on it for £7490. This compares closely to the price of diesel models of the same age. The 1.8Tsi is relatively rare, and this holds up the values.

You can't really say there are reliability issues with the TDI that is likely to cause you more expense over a 1.8.......It's like comparing chalk and cheese........there are not many 1.8's around so you simply don't have the same number of people on forums talking about issues.....additionally any 1.8's that are around tend, on average, to do fairly low mileages compared to the average TDI car......so in actual fact, even if the 1.8's break down more than the Tdi's it would still appear they break down less of you are going by what is posted on this forum!

it was not a misprint its a fact and was based on the comparison at car giant

Car giant have the occasional 1.8 Tsi far cheaper than the diesels

Another fact is that they dont break down at all... not on this forum or anywhere else.

It is only my opinion and not shared by many

Good luck with the car

Another fact is that they dont break down at all... not on this forum or anywhere else.

A fact?

Another fact is that they dont break down at all... not on this forum or anywhere .

LOL

A fact?

lol well perhaps I should re phrase that..

Should say they are very reliable with no known issues!

Consider myself told off! :think:

Wow,

I am glad i asked the question to start off such a healthy debate!

I do however appreciate everyone's views and the time taken to do calculations of mpg against initial outlay etc.

I can see the argument from both sides and have had a look at the availablity of both petrol and diesel.

I have £6000 all of which I intend to spend on the car to get the best at that time. I don't think I will but a cheaper car and store away the extra to offest the cost of extra fuel or repairs. I can see, based on the above theory, that I may be able to get a newer lower mileage petrol as opposed to a diesel but I and more importantly my wife will then be looking at the yearly/monthly/daily running cost. Diesel wise it will appear that day to day I can get more mpg and the same with yearly road tax. Repairs are a bit of a gamble because though I can try and mitigate buying a lemon by looking for the right things I could still miss something.

Though I like the idea of a faster car with the petrol engine it will be the main family car and my wife will predominantly use it so I will rarely get to enjoy that aspect and I find myself increasingly trying not to see how fast I can get somewhere but how high I can get the average mpg (must be getting old!)

So after considering all the advice I still think I am erring on the side of the diesel just based on the day to day running cost when that initial payout for the car is spent and forgotten.

Again thanks for all the advice, I know that its a case of horses for courses and most people have cars that suit their current circumstances. Whatever I end up with it can only be better that the 80bhp Renault Lemon.