Hi all, I'm looking to buy a 2002 Octavia diesel estate that has full Skoda service history with recent cam belt and water pump changed, so it sounds like a decent motor. It has only done 130k. What should I be asking the owner before I commit to travel 170 to check it over? What should I be looking for if I do go and look at it? Are there many common faults of this model?

I do hope someone can give me some advice, as I'm new to Skoda but have had to work extensively on my old knackered escort!!

Cheers in advance

Check if the clutch and flywheel have been changed (feel vibration through the clutch etc). Its a £650-900 job at an indie

Ask have any of the door cards been off, and if so why -

Window regulators, speaker replacements etc. damaged membranes can lead to water ingress.

Corrosion around the wheel arch areas, and boot pull area.

Battery top fusebox for corrosion.

Take it for a drive give it a good on boost bootful to check if drops into limp mode for any reason.

Check all the usual things you would on any used car, steering, brakes, suspension, tyres etc, &  general condition inside & out.

As above on possible clutch/DMF issues it's a big expense so very important to check for grinding noises & juddering at idle that stops when the clutch is depressed.  Another check for impending DMF failure is to hold the car at about 40mph in 3rd, & if it surges that's bad news too. If either of those happen walk away.

Limp mode under load caused by sticking turbo vanes is pretty common to so find a hill & give it some beans.

Check the carpets are dry front & back.

Check that all the doors are responding to the remote fob & internal switches as central locking problems are common on mk1 Octavia's, & can be a pain to sort out. Open & lock all the doors from inside & outside the car. Check the electric windows all work smoothly too, Another small thing is to check is that the dashboard trip doesn't reset to zero every time the ignition is cycled as this is a work round fix for dash voltage regulators solder dry joints, which can cause erratic speedo etc.

(Removing fuse 15 overcomes this but the trip resets all the time).

Thanks for the advice, going for a look on Tuesday, apprantly the clutch and flywheel were done 2 yes ago, cost £1100 there is no rust at all and it has been serviced by same dealer all its life. Can belt and water pump done 20k ago. I'm sorry to say if I do buy it it won't be getting any main dealer trips from me, is there a good place from decent parts and am I right that it needs a specific engine oil?

Thanks again, and I'll let you know if I become a Skoda owner later this week

not a specififc oil brand per say, just has to be the correct vw spec oil, cant remember the type off hand

 

 

Another check for impending DMF failure is to hold the car at about 40mph in 3rd, & if it surges that's bad news too. If either of those happen walk away.

 

and side bump the thread slightly, Mr Dazzle,

When you say surging, do u mean the revs/ speed, increasing  on their own while holding the throttle steady?

 

Just curious as im coming up on 160k service soon, and will be getting the cambelt and pump changed at that.

the history on my car is fairly complete, though there are gaps and no mention of a clutch change along the way that i know of

So I went to see the car and it was as described, and seems to drive perfectly, so I bought it and brought it home to Yorkshire from Watford tonight. It has a stone chip on the bonnet that has a tiny bit of rust, none anywhere else. It pulls like a train without any smoke, I was stuck crawling in traffic on m1 and temp gauge didn't move from 90, only faults I've found is the rear wiper no water coming out and it has a JVC radio CD player and its ****, CD doesn't work and it struggles to pick up stations so, don't know which way to go, either put a Skoda radio CD back in or just a new generic one, var that it looks and feel like a 2 yr old car so all in well chuffed, its even got 5 almost new Michelle tyres on it

Open up the boot interior panels around the CD changer and look for dampness. The clever people at Skoda put the rear wash pipework on the wiring loom and there is a joint in the pipe below the CD changer. This joint can open if there is a blockage. When it does it leeks all over the plugs for the CD changer.

That's what happened mine, really annoying. I believe CD changers are not interchangeable with head units.

Thanks for that, the CD changer has been removed leaving only the mounting bracket, I think the wiring loom for the CD has gone as well. Where is the pump located from the rear wiper wash? I've just ordered a Haynes manual off eBay

Pump is located on the rear washer unit behind the hatch trim - it just pulls off, bitch to get back on though!

When you turn on the washer can you hear the pump spinning up at all?

there's another joint under the washer bottle somewhere.

 

Next up, My octy had a crappy JVC head unit too -

first tip, pull t out and check if it has an in line signal booster attached to the aerial behind the H/U

failing that, just replace it, esp if its eating CD's mine was also starting to do that -

i picked up a no-CD deck B/Tooth H/Unit in lidl a month ago c/w hand free capacity.

whole lot better in a hundred different ways...

Check sills for rust. Make sure all the electrics work and make sure its got service history.

The pipe for the rear washer was disconnected and the washer head that comes out of the 3rd brake light had the end sheared off. After a mop out and reconnected it was working albight sending water directly backwards, a quick trip to local scrappy and new washer head for £2 so working perfectly.

It has full Skoda main dealer history

I've order a Sony radio CD & a 6 CD changer off eBay for half the price of a non brand from halfords,

Next is to give it an oil service including oil, fuel, air & pollen filters been quoted £43 + vat for all parts including vw spec oil from my local motor factors, does that sound reasonable?

Thanks for all the tips andadvice

For servicing use genuine VAG/Quantum fluid & filters. Pollen filter should be ok from a motor factor though.

So would this stuff not do the job?http://www.eurocarparts.com/mobile/ecp/c/Skoda_Octavia_1.9_2003/p/car-parts/car-service-parts/regular-service/engine-oil/?521776061&1&8b281296f905e7f001a6e4f1d352250d15562e82&000398

I've used euro car parts for yes or would you suggest getting from a stealer?

I use ECP for some things myself, but I always use genuine VAG service parts from TPS (Trade Part Specialists).