2006 Octavia Elegance estate 2.0 TDI PD 140 - to buy or not to buy....

[FKJ]

Hi - I've copied this over from the buying section as this forum is probably more suitable - sorry to duplicate - any help gratefully received.

 

I've seen a 2006 Octavia Elegance estate 2.0 TDI PD 140 - to buy or not to buy that is the question. It's a 6 speed manual. It's got cruise control and traction control apparently ''fitted from standard'' but I thought they were add ons?? It has a removable tow bar & 113k on the clock. Full service history, can't remember if it's main dealer for some of it, think so. I know the last few years have been done by a local mechanic who's now selling it. I have a 16ft caravan I want to use it to tow with so need something a bit pokier than my Peugeot 307 and had me eye on Skoda's for a while. I've checked out the towing weight ratios and it's all good to go.

 

I'm going back on Thursday with a mate (not a VAG specialist) who's got some fancy computer diagnostic thingy from his old work, but I'm wondering is there anything I should look out for in particular? Or any owners with any advice - good car? juicy or reasonable? expensive to fix/service?

 

I do 7-10k miles per year I reckon, do you think it would be more economical to get a petrol at these miles? I've been a diesel monkey for donkeys years and automatically only buy diesels. Am I missing a trick here?

 

I did take it for a test drive. Nice and responsive, but when the engine was cold there was a very slight whine when changing 1st 2nd and maybe 3rd gear. This stopped though once I'd been going a while. Clutch seemed OK, but will get my mate to give it a more vigorous test. The dealer  said that's just the noise skoda's make, although didn't offer any explanation of what it was. I've had a look around on here, and it could be the turbo - is there a way of testing that? should the computer jiggery pokery pick that up? and some do seem to say they'd be worried if it didn't make a slight whine!

 

So any input would be most gratefully received  

 

Many thanks

[booke23]

Traction control (ASR) is fitted as standard on a PD 140. 

 

I'm not sure what the whine would be....it is possible that it is the turbo. Other possible things to check is the Dual mass flywheel.....watch for any judder when accelerating from low revs in a high gear or rattling noises when idling in neutral. Check when the cam belt was last done......don't listen to any rubbish the sales man tells you about this....the official interval is 60,000 miles or 4 years, whichever comes first.

 

I'm not sure what type of computer interface your friend has.....if it is VCDS you can scan for any fault codes and can verify the recorded mileage (it's recorded independently from the dash in the ECU). There could be codes for overboost which could indicate turbo trouble.     

 

As for buying a petrol.........Well you will pay less to buy a petrol the same spec/age/mileage, but you will pay more to run it, and will get less for it when you trade or sell it when the time comes. So it will cost you more no matter how few miles you do. But as you intend to tow, I would stick to the Diesel.........if your looking at Octavias from the 2006 era, your petrol engine options are limited to the 1.6 FSI and 2.0 FSI, neither of which is as good for towing as the 2.0 PD or even the 1.9 PD.....although the 2.0 FSI would probably be acceptable.      

[wiilydog]

the 2.0PD140  is a good engine and should not give you any problems as they were last of diesels without DPF (apart from 4x4 ones), although the 1.9PD gives better economy if you are not bothered about outright performance

 

worth checking the aircon is ice cold but any faults should be picked up by your mates vcds scan

 

check when the cambelt was last done as it should done earlier 4 year or 80k, if not done then budget £350 and worth negotiating some money off the purchase price.

[FKJ]

Brilliant, thanks for your replies. Will take along your comments! Happy now to stick to diesel too.

When I last saw it there was an awful squeak when opening/closing the drivers door window, seems a silly thing to pick up on, but it's stuck with me!

[DanialA11]

Brilliant, thanks for your replies. Will take along your comments! Happy now to stick to diesel too.

When I last saw it there was an awful squeak when opening/closing the drivers door window, seems a silly thing to pick up on, but it's stuck with me!

My window does that aswell

[alsatian]

My front windows do that too, but only in hot dry weather (not much of a problem in this country then?!) - as reported in another thread - and no amount of WD40/silicone spray/baby oil will quieten it.

[FKJ]

Well I suppose hot dry weather is when you want to use the windows the most! What a wierd quirk for a motor to have!

[monkster]

I've had an Elegance estate for the past 7 years, it's now 9 years old with 86,000 miles on the clock. It has been serviced on fixed servicing schedule by our excellent independant, Deutsh Mark here in Doncaster.The car just passed it's MOT last week without any advisories. It is excellent, very economical and quick if needed too. It has cruise control and traction control as standard (full leather as well). Things to look out for are obvious things, service history, cam belt as previously mentioned. Also check the sills for rust as they are prone to this as is the rear tailgate, give it a good inspection.

Regards Monkster.

[FKJ]

Thanks monkster !