I just wanted to write a comment about my thoughts on the build quality differences between Skoda and Audi. It may sound negative but I dont mean to be, its just observations.

I have a 2004 Mk1 Octavia L&K estate, previously I had a 2003 Mk1 Octavia Ambiente Estate, and my wife has a 2003 Mk1 A3 Hatch.

I do a lot of work on these cars myself, and have been intrigued how many of the parts are the same or very similar but not quite. For instance...

I have had to replace the electric window mechanisms on both. The Skoda is a PITA as you have to fight around the door panel, slicing your hand open at every opportunity and quite often work blind, trying to feel your way with fingers wrapped in elastoplasts, but the Audi, 4 bolts and the whole top half of the door and window mechanism lifts out, you can then lay it on the ground and work on it at your leisure. Soo much easier.

I have also had to replace the Xenon bulbs in the L&K, which as some of you will know includes the removal of the headlights and according to some, the bumper too. I have managed to do it without being careful not to scratch anything. But I am currently replacing intercooler pipes on the A3 which includes the removal of the light. The A3 has rubber seals everywhere with little rubber mounts and lots of anti vibration bits and pieces along the way, wheras the octavia has huge gaps where air can rush in and around the lights forcing dust and dirt in everywhere and make lots of noise. The A3 doesnt. Its ll dust free, sealed and lovley.

The dashboard and facias inside the A3 have rubber seats and felt pads everywhere to stop rattles and squeaks, the Octavia doesnt.

I do still claim that I drive an Audi Octavia which gets laughts from guys and oh thats nice's from girls who dont see the joke but in all honestly, it isnt. I know many of the parts are interchangable, but I can see why you pay more for an A3. I wouldnt change my Octavia for the world but they are not the same.

I just wanted to write a comment about my thoughts on the build quality differences between Skoda and Audi. It may sound negative but I dont mean to be, its just observations.

I have a 2004 Mk1 Octavia L&K estate, previously I had a 2003 Mk1 Octavia Ambiente Estate, and my wife has a 2003 Mk1 A3 Hatch.

I do a lot of work on these cars myself, and have been intrigued how many of the parts are the same or very similar but not quite. For instance...

I have had to replace the electric window mechanisms on both. The Skoda is a PITA as you have to fight around the door panel, slicing your hand open at every opportunity and quite often work blind, trying to feel your way with fingers wrapped in elastoplasts, but the Audi, 4 bolts and the whole top half of the door and window mechanism lifts out, you can then lay it on the ground and work on it at your leisure. Soo much easier.

I have also had to replace the Xenon bulbs in the L&K, which as some of you will know includes the removal of the headlights and according to some, the bumper too. I have managed to do it without being careful not to scratch anything. But I am currently replacing intercooler pipes on the A3 which includes the removal of the light. The A3 has rubber seals everywhere with little rubber mounts and lots of anti vibration bits and pieces along the way, wheras the octavia has huge gaps where air can rush in and around the lights forcing dust and dirt in everywhere and make lots of noise. The A3 doesnt. Its ll dust free, sealed and lovley.

The dashboard and facias inside the A3 have rubber seats and felt pads everywhere to stop rattles and squeaks, the Octavia doesnt.

I do still claim that I drive an Audi Octavia which gets laughts from guys and oh thats nice's from girls who dont see the joke but in all honestly, it isnt. I know many of the parts are interchangable, but I can see why you pay more for an A3. I wouldnt change my Octavia for the world but they are not the same.

I buy felt pads and insert as required in every car ive ever owned. Had to add some pads to my 52 plate A4 where the leather seats rubbed against the arm rest and sqeaked. Needed heaps of felt pads for the shogun and it was still a bag of bolts. Old S3 (x plate) needed a few as it squeaked badly. Golf (56 plate) needed a couple. BMW needed none and the octy so far has needed none although i did have to silicone spray the rubber vent bit to the left of the glove box where it seals against the passenger door. Dash sqeaks and rattles are my pet hate. I cant enjoy my car untill they are trcaed and eliminated. Felt pads, wd40 and silicone spray can cure any rattle or squeak. Its finding the rattle in the first place thats the problem as ive sworn a noise is coming from the left side only to trace it to the right side of the car. Car acoustics seem to play tricks on your ears.

Have to say though Audi interiors are simply stunning although id argue my BMW was its equal in terms of build quality if not style. No other car other than a roller seems to be screwed together with so much care and attention and time spent actually thinking about rattler and sqeak prevention. You can certainly see where your extra money goes for an Audi and a BMW although id wager my octy is the best ive had outside these two class leaders and certainly streets ahead of the likes of Ford.

Granted my cars are nearly 10 years old, so I dont know about the new Skodas.

I have 2 squeaks in my Occy at the moment, one around the drivers seatbelt where it is behind the trim, if you pill it so it catches on the inertia thingy it shuts up, so in summer I will strip it down... and the other which is sooo annoying as in you want to get out, torch the car and walk home! The other is the sunroof cover slide thing. It rattles and rattles and rattles like its trying to imitate the radio. I have tried to source the rattle and can't. If you open it a fraction it shuts up, which is fine in summer, but i tried it when it was icy a couple of months ago but forgot to shut it an managed to get an icy interior!

Grr!

Just to add to this, my mkIV Golf (2002) didn't have any rubber padding bits on it either, and nor does my Polo. Not sure about the new versions, but it seems at the same age as your cars the difference between VW/Skoda was pretty small/non-existent in this respect.

There must be more to it than this, the price differences surely can't be justified by little rubber pads?

rubber is an expensive commodity, It must be by the fact that 3 micron thick tubes with 1 end sealed costs 2 quid in a pub toilet.

Just to add my experience:

1999 VW Golf V5 - never had the same squeak as in thr infamous Golf ear-ring ad.

2006 BMW 120d - squeak like a 1000 mices!

- well known, hence it was fixed in the 2007 facelift

2010 Superb - squeaks here, there and everywhere :-(

My superb although superb did rattle a bit , however an awesome car

Currently considering a new lease car - 99% certain it will be powered by a VAG 1.6Tdi mated to Duel clutch box. If I was buying this myself then I would most likely go for a Mk3 Octavia but lease costs for the Audi A£ Sportback or a Golf look like being less.

Think the difference is seriously the wrong side of £5k if you're buying new, so it'd be reasonable to expect the Audi to have less rattles and squeeks?

Another difference is skoda seems to do a lot better than audi in customer surveys like which?

Think the difference is seriously the wrong side of £5k if you're buying new, so it'd be reasonable to expect the Audi to have less rattles and squeeks?

Another difference is skoda seems to do a lot better than audi in customer surveys like which?

This could be because people expect more from Audi because they are more expensive but they merely receive the same level of service as skoda. Only saying as i have no facts to back this up. I did read an article somewhere else on this and it does correlate as to why the expecsive makes with lots of toys get generally worse customer satisfaction results than cheapo cars with no toys. If cheap car rattles most people probably accept this so dont complain or claim a warranty repair. In a range rover however any slight rattle and it would be straight back in under warranty.

Edited 1 March, 201313 yr by Jockdooshbag

The common parts are usually under bonnet / non visible. Check for example the gear shifter cables and linkages.

I have found out recently that the heater blower in my Yeti is the same, for example, as in Audi TT. The reason I was interested was that the thing had squeaked and rumbled in the cold (below -10 C). Of course by the time I came to the dealer's I could not reproduce that squeaking and they quite expectedly refused to do anything about it. I wasn't disappointed. But I can imagine what I would feel if I were an Audi TT owner... Maybe Audi have a different warranty policy? :think:

You can **** a few TT owners off by pointing out their engine is pretty much identical to yours....

I've had 2 Golfs, a Fabia, an Arosa and now the A3. Over the years doing my own repairs and maintenance I can say they are all built using the same parts from a vast parts bin. I completely rebuilt the Arosa and lots of small parts were stamped with both Audi and Seat logos and a couple with the VW logo. The A3 seems a better quality build but that is because it's a much newer car as techniques and parts quality have moved on somewhat.

You can **** a few TT owners off by pointing out their engine is pretty much identical to yours....

I believe all vag diesel engines are mafe by a certain Czech brand

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Truth is, a Skoda is about as Czech as Vauxhall is British.

Its true, bit of felt or rubber pads don't cost much in themselves. The R&D to find out where to put them, does. So is the labour cost to actually do the install.

The toss could be argued from here 'til doomsday, but the economy of scale still rules. All VAG marques are cheaper because so many parts are shared.

Simple answer, Audi's cost more! Yes they share alot of internal parts and then giving some Skoda owners this false sense of self righteous thinking they own a cut price Audi, this is not the case. My first diesel was the Mk4 Golf 150ARL 25th Anniversary and this was kinda of the bench mark. Going to go view the Octavia for the first time (keeping in mind both cars are a good 6 years in age difference) The Octavia was massively unrefined, noisey, cheaper to the touch but that is not where Skoda have spent the money.

Ive driven a few Audi's and VW's in my time and both have been highly superior to the Skoda. My partner currently has a Passat, 53 plate i think so would land it around the Audi B5 time, the car is completely different, not just because the quality of materials is much better but that fact its a different car. To look from the out side the Passat and Mk2 Octy look around the same length and could easily be mistaken as the same rolling chassis but as alot know the Octy is a fat Mk5 Golf so even from the start you have the under dog which has just been put together on a budget.

To me in the VAG group it has always gone Audi, VW, Skoda, Seat. You think the Skoda is rough around the edges, try driving a new Ibiza, tbh one of the most god awful cars i have ever driven, the engine is the same as id find in something else but its how the rest of it feels..urgh no thanks!

Oh all right, the diesel engines are built in the Czech Republic

Truth is, a Skoda is about as Czech as Vauxhall is British.

I think it of this:

SEAT - a VW built by Spaniard's

SKODA - a VW built by Czech's

VW - a VW built by Pole's

AUDI - a VW built by German's

A lot has to be image. People pay more for image (look at the 'S Line', people now think they have a 'S' or 'RS' version!). I would rather know I have a quality transmission, and pocket the difference. I have a 4-door Audi TT

The amount of people that scoff when I suggest buying the SKODA version of a car. "no, my wife does not like those". Kia etc has moved up the game. When will Dacia start charging +£20K? (although Audi will then be +£90K).

Edited 4 March, 201313 yr by Higgy 69

SKODA - a VW built by Czech's

VW - a VW built by Pole's

AUDI - a VW built by German's

In Russia they manage to build all three at one factory on the same production line

They don't even try to conceal this fact, except for the Audi.

I think it of this:

SEAT - a VW built by Spaniard's

SKODA - a VW built by Czech's

VW - a VW built by Pole's

AUDI - a VW built by German's

A lot has to be image. People pay more for image (look at the 'S Line', people now think they have a 'S' or 'RS' version!). I would rather know I have a quality transmission, and pocket the difference. I have a 4-door Audi TT

The amount of people that scoff when I suggest buying the SKODA version of a car. "no, my wife does not like those". Kia etc has moved up the game. When will Dacia start charging +£20K? (although Audi will then be +£90K).

That's a pretty good assessment. The only major differences are in contact points and body panels, which account for some of the cost, the rest is profit from clever marketing.Most of the underbody chassis parts are identical - this was the business strategy key to Piech's thinking.

BTW you cannot compare an Octavia to a Passat; they are off different platforms.

I think the new platform is MQB (used to be PQ35) from which Octavia, Golf, Leon, and A3 are primarily produced. This is VAG's C segment product range. Passat and Superb (and A4/5) are off the D platform (B6 / PQ46). If you really knew how many common parts / assembly there was, then you might not be so quick to choose an Audi from a quality point of view. Perceived quality, and brand image though are a completely different criteria, whose value is highly subjective, and likely pointless in debating!

The difference is that Skoda drivers don't tailgate you

Truth is, a Skoda is about as Czech as Vauxhall is British.

Not really true.

All Skodas for British consumption, with the exception of the Citigo, are designed and built in the Czech Republic.

Skoda have their own massive R&D facilities in the Czech Republic and design and manufacturer engines, gearboxes and other parts for the whole group. So yes, Skodas may be built from the VAG 'parts bin' but they contribute a lot of those parts to the 'bin' in the first place.

Do you know what the first car after VW took over Skoda to be a straight re-badge was?

Edited 5 March, 201313 yr by OctaviaT81