It's been over 9 years now.  Could have purchased any one of several different makes of car, but on looking at value for money amongst a myriad of other considerations, I decided on a Skoda.  With the Octy being the smallest size vehicle I would want to use for motorway work alongside a diesel donk (opting for the newer 2.0PD) for the economy and a nice 6MT with a little pazzaz from the sports suspension upgrade, I emptied my savings account.

 

She was delivered at the back end of 2004 on a trailer to my address in Hampshire and the adventures began........

 

Black and shiny (and without door dings...grrrr....) the miles started to pile on.  Numerous trips were made to Brum and back, as well as a spattering of runs to the North West, with the first 2,000 miles being covered betwen 55-60mph (where legal...) and not exceeding 3,000rpm.  After that, it was Turbo-Time!

 

Of course I got the usual Skoda jibes and digs at work, on garage forecourts and even in public car parks (FTW!) but as I looked at my re-badged VolksAudi I just let it all wash over me.  Time would tell if it was a wise move.  Popularity had been growing and the tide was turning.

 

Then the news came.  Three months after getting the car I was being shipped abroad to work in warmer climes.  Throughout the next 8 years I ended up having to move from country to country working, whilst my poor car spent many long weeks and sometimes months laid up on a drive, with spurious periods of use when I got the chance.  On the worst lay-up, the battery was toast and I had to clean mould off of the steering wheel (many thanks to the idiot that was supposed to ‘look after her’ and couldn’t be bothered)......

 

However, during that time, I still managed to put 80+K on her.  Then I came home.

 

So why am I writing this? (play nice....!).

 

Well, after what could be considered to be a far from ideal life for a car, I have finally had to change some hardware and figured that I would give my impression of an informed choice that I had made many years ago.  In a word,...... excellent.

 

She is now just shy of 109K.

 

The trip computer kept telling me that I was achieving 65-70mpg on my steady commutes to and from work over the last 12 months, which I did not believe.  So I did the fill-to-spill method of refuelling for a few tanks, working out odometer increases over fuel use.  Amazingly, this showed that the 65-70mpg was in fact a measured 63mpg......  From a 2.0 engine pulling a medium/large saloon around with over 100K on the clock.  I had to smile at that.  Alledgedly, I have also heard that 40-45mpg is possible when exceeding 100mph. Anywho.....

 

I have had 5/6 services with the usual cam-belt, brake fluid and water-pump change(s) plus the other standard service items.  The last service resulted in me being informed that I had 2 x broken rear springs, one of the rear shocks looked like somebody had battered it with a monkey wrench and I had a split in the left hand track control arm bush (large) that the mechanic could put his hand through.  TBH, I had known for a while that the suspension would be nearing the end of its life, but with no prior reported leaks, no cracks/groans/clunks and with still very reasonable handling, I had left it.  Hasten to say, this changed things a little.

 

Not wanting to have to muck about with the suspension again and hoping that whatever I did change would be it for the rest of her life, I went shopping:

2 x Veco track rod ends

2 x Veco drop-links

2 x lower track control arms (complete)

4 x Billie B4's

4 x Eibach springs

2 x front SKF top-mounts and bearings

2 x rear SKF top-mounts (oval!)

2 x Sachs front damper covers and bump stops

2 x Sachs rear damper covers and bump stops

 

16hrs on ramps, with a really fugged off mechanic (the top of every ball joint had to be ground off....) she was returned to the road.  The difference in the ride and handling was astounding.  It really is amazing how you don't seem to notice wear in a suspension system (although I believe the replacement system is a little uprated when compared to stock - even the sports suspension package).

 

Other things that have been changed over the years:

2 x sets front brake pads

1 x set front brake discs

1 x set rear brake pads

1 x set of rear brake discs

 

(TBH, the discs suffered more from long periods just standing around, corroding)

 

I guess now I will just be waiting to see what will be the next weakest link.  Turbo has slight noise but it doesn’t seem to have got any worse over the last 20K miles.  Flywheel seems OK – no lurching around when coming off, or onto the throttle.  Third gear synchro seems a little weak with the transmission cold (up the box), but then it’s been like that since about 50K miles…..  Not sure what the serviceable life of the injectors is, but the black smoke on accels seems OK and the high mpg points towards a reasonable spray pattern/atomization.  The only irritating thing that I have is intermittent cruise control drop-out (very infrequent, hence not having bothered to sort it).

 

Oh – finally, in all this time I have only had to replace one of the rear sidelight bulbs.  However, as I am doing a lot more driving on A-roads in darkness, I am treating her to new Night-breaker Unlimited H1 and H7 bulbs.  No doubt fiddling with the system when it is working fine will result in me having problems........

 

Arf

You've not missed much out there Arf.

Top stuff.

You've not missed much out there Arf.

Top stuff.

Thanx.  The old girl needed a new set of pins!