Hi everyone, I hope you can help!


I recently was on the look out for a new(er) skoda. And had a 5k budget. I was using a 1.9 fabia estate but needed a bit more space.

I picked up an octavia elegance 1.9pd with 90k on the clock (2006) for the budget. "Great!"  I thought....But so far have found it to be slower, have no low down grunt (can't pull away without accelerator, and sometimes stalls changing into 2nd!). And the mpg is about 15mpg less than I got with the pd100 in the fabia!

All the time I was searching I was trying to find an L&K model but nothing came up. Now I have seen one for sale within budget.....but its a 2.0pd, and has 95k on the clock.

MY questions are:
a) I was only getting 51mpg out of my current 1.9 (motorway and A/B road), though I feel this is down to the car would I notice any loss or gain with the 2.0?

I'm clocking up 30k a year and the possible "new" car only has a 3 month warranty compared to the current 12 month - should I be concerned?

C) are the leather seats, mfsw and dvd/satnav really worth the swap or should I invest money in trying to get the 1.9 working as it should and or/remapped to 140pd power?

I'm really unsure as to what to do. I'm starting to get a dislike for my current octavia as it hasnt really lived up to expectation, the economy problem is the biggest hit. On a route where I got 73mpg calculated out of the fabia, that same engine in the octy only managed 54!

Please advise me on what I should do!!!

a)  The 2.0 will be worse, 45-48mpg is reliably achievable but the word reliable isn't one used to describe the 2.0 TDI (google or check on here oil pump failures)

 

You can get an after market warranty from warranty direct (I don't work for them, there's probably others but that one is advertised and I remember them).  Be careful of small print as high mileage means reduced cover.

 

c) satnav in that age is awful, get a £150 top of the range TomTom and a beanbag mount.  Leather seats you can get off fleabay for £300ish, very easy to fit. 

 

I know it's a Skoda forum but for £5K you can get a cracking 2.2TDCI Ford Mondeo Titanium X with about 60,000 miles, all the toys, more power and 50mpg on the motorway.

Edited 19 January, 201412 yr by Sheldon.Cooper

I would have the fault codes scanned, check the usual suspects brakes binding, tyre pressures air/fuel filters etc. The 1.9 is usually a very economical and puncy engine.

If all clear consider a remap. Shark are highly recommended. I have used Upsolute a couple of times with good results.

Mark

Thanks for the replies guys. Was thinking of getting a shakedown done on the octy as my local mechanic (ex-skoda) usually gives the brakes a strip down every service to clean them up. Might get this done before I rush in..............though the ivory leather interior is VERY tempting.

My 2.0 PD returns 48 mpg as a long term average, but I do a lot of rural driving and rarely hit decent A roads or motorways.

When I do, I can get 55+ mpg fairly easily with sensible driving (just returned over 65 on motorway & A roads today, but not a complete tankful though).

My trip computer is calibrated to within 1 mpg and based upon long term data over 65+ brim to brim tankfuls.

The full leather on the Octavia is of budget quality and the cloth seats or half leather is a nicer alternative unless you got messy kids.

Sounds like your car is a bit choked up and worth adding some archoil fuel cleaner to see if it makes a difference.

a)  The 2.0 will be worse, 45-48mpg is reliably achievable but the word reliable isn't one used to describe the 2.0 TDI (google or check on here oil pump failures)

 

 

 In fairness the 2.0 PD 140 engine in the Octavia isn't bad reliability wise, its only real vice is an appetite for turbos, and didn't ever suffer from the oil pump failures that affected some VAG 2.0 TDi engines. It was tedious problems with Ford and PSA diesels that led me to buy a Skoda originally and mine has been faultless.

 

Mine averages 50 MPG over a mixture of driving.

Just had another thing to add to the conundrum guys. The car is 99% of the time fully loaded (boot is to the brim with work equipment) Could this be having an effect on the mpg and make the 6 speed 140bhp more "economical"? As it is mainly M/A roads I drive on. 80% of the time its 60+

Don't think you get any better mpg out of 2.0tdi, it will nicer to drive because extra power but the 1.9tdi is best engine for mpg. You could try a tuning box such dtuk to improve power and mpg. You also need to bear in mind the octavia is a heavier car compared to your fabia so 50+ mpg is good going.

Edited 21 January, 201412 yr by wiilydog

Double post

Edited 21 January, 201412 yr by wiilydog

I believe the 6th gear is the same ratio as 5th on most 5 speed boxes.

No idea if that applies specifically to the 1.9 you have.

Sounds like your car is a bit choked up and worth adding some archoil fuel cleaner to see if it makes a difference.

Gave this a try, got the new 6400-D stuff and added it to a tank of V-power. Although there was no instant mpg difference, it feels like its got 50 more bhp!! That and when getting up to motorway speeds in 3rd a large cloud of smog was left in my wake. so hopefully that should solve part of the issue. Also booked it in for a brake service with my local skoda guy. Hopefully I will then not have to worry about a 2.0pd as a purchase.

That doesn't sound right at all.

 

I went from a PD130 to the PD105 and have never felt it lacking in power even fully loaded with bikes on the roof and camping gear climbing thousands of feet through mountains etc.

 

One quick thing to check it to remove the engine cover and then unclip the turbo pipe to the top left where it joins the EGR valve. It is very common for these to clog up and you will be able to tell straight away.

 

Also another thing to check are all the joints on the turbo pipes. Black smoke can be an indicator of a boost leak too.

 

Phil

The full leather on the Octavia is of budget quality and the cloth seats or half leather is a nicer alternative unless you got messy kids..

 

Only on later models where they started using "synthetic leather". Earlier L&K models (certainly £5000 examples) had full proper leather and mine is still pristine after 8 years and 80,000 miles.  

I think mine is synthetic (2008 car) but it is still in pretty good nick and comfortable after 111k miles.