Common problems with the Mk3 Vrs

[butchvrs]

Hi all,

 

have any common faults come to light on the Mk3 Octy Vrs?

 

The reason I'm asking is because I'm on the virge of signing on the dotted line and ordering one.

 

I currently have a Mk1 Vrs hatch which I've owned for 11 years, and has served me extremely well, but due to an ongoing spinal problem which means I have to sell my rally car I've decided to treat myself to a new road car.

 

I test drove an 18 month old supercharged Audi S4 which I've always fancied on Monday, but came away very disappointed as it just seemed to lack any character or feedback, even with everything set in "sport" mode it just didn't excite me.

 

So today I went and had a drive of a brand new Vrs, all be it a diesel (I want the petrol) and it had so much more feedback and actually feels more comfortable and has more leg room in the the front.

 

So, I've made up my mind to get another Octavia Vrs with a couple of options, however I have agreed with swmbo that the rally car goes first (it's what's financing most of the Octy)

 

Race blue Tfsi, black design package, heated seats (feels sooo good on my back) and maybe a sunroof.

 

Is there anything anybody would recommend, without going to crazy? 

Is the standard music ok or is the Canton really required?

 

CheeRS

Andy.

 

Oh forgot to say, manual box.

[shrops_paul]

Hi. After the problems I had with the sunroof on my yeti I will never have a sunroof again. Just my experience tho. It also add a lot of weight to the car. I love my Bluetooth connectivity for the phone so I would have that if its not standard. Sunset glass looks nice too. I am in Telford most days for work so if you want a look give me a shout

[meta55b]

I don't have a mk3, but I heard there is still a problem with the door cards still letting water inside the cars like on the mk2 and a host of other vag cars.

[BigLee]

Your spec is the same as the car I`ve ordered Butch + canton + sunset glass. Imo a sunroof doesn`t add that much weight compared to a diesel dsg vRS vs a manual petrol

[shrops_paul]

Not sure how much it adds, but there's a reason you can't have it on the green line models

[DanEds]

After having mine for about 2 weeks engine management light came on and car wouldn't accelerate or Rev more than 3000rmp. 28000 miles later EML back on but no fault until you drive hard. The heater plug light starts to flash then and the car looses power.

Off to the dealer on Monday!

[Redboy]

Get the TSI. I haven't used its performance yet because it's only done 600 miles, so just my first impressions. Feels very torquey and averaged 40mpg on its first long motorway run, even in cold conditions. Bigger and more comfortable than the MkII. Bluetooth works ok with phone. Heated seats and front screen a must for this time of year. No condensation problems. Canton does give the system a better sound than the Stream in my MKII.

[themanwithnoaim]

Order the spare wheel, th Vrs front brake calipiers don't help to find one that fits after ordering.  The boot netting system is cheap and helps out loads too.

Edited 23 January, 2015 by themanwithnoaim

[butchvrs]

Yes I was looking at the boot netting in the brochure last night, and it's not just the single net like the Mk1.

 

With regard to the Canton upgrade, £500 is a lot to pay for 2 extra speakers and an equaliser.

Has anybody upgraded the standard speakers for quality aftermarket ones, that made a massive difference in my current car, and is there any pre-outs on the Bolero head unit to power an aftermarket Sub.

 

I think I may drop the sunroof and go the opposite way and order the winter pack,

I had a heated screen in the 4x4 Sapphire Cosworth I had before the Octy, and found it invaluable when the weather turns for the worse!

 

Thanks for the replies guys, keep them coming.

 

Andy.

[Redboy]

Check that standard VRS wing mirrors come with anti-dimming. I wasn't sure so got the folding mirrors and it's nice not to be distracted by super bright or badly aligned headlights.

[shrops_paul]

I fnd the standard stereo fine. I've not heard a canton tho to see the difference. The rear view mirror is auto dim but not the wing mirrors. Must be part of the folding system

[pipsyp]

Yes the folding mirrors on the vRS as an optional extra (not standard fit) do come with dimming.

The standard stereo does sound OK once the bass, mid and treble settings are tweaked but the more you ask of the headunit in terms of bass output, the more the volume gets artificially capped.

I find that whenever i hear a song I want to play loud and has alot of bass, i can never get it to go quite loud enough, gets to just over half volume and never gets louder (can have it running full volume without distortion but when the bass fades to something more trebbly it deafens you.

I do regret not having the canton, for me the standard audio is one of the weaker points of the car.

[pipsyp]

Also unless you jack the bass and mid up, the audio sounds v flat indeed...is a catch 22 in that respect as you get more volume but a flat as a pancake output.

[JJBS3]

14k miles into having mine, I had no spare budget to get extras, but if I had - the heated front screen would be a definite, a spare wheel, auto-dimming wing mirrors, and that mobile phone signal booster box thing would have been handy.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kristianRS]

After having mine for about 2 weeks engine management light came on and car wouldn't accelerate or Rev more than 3000rmp. 28000 miles later EML back on but no fault until you drive hard. The heater plug light starts to flash then and the car looses power.

Off to the dealer on Monday!

I had the same yesterday. Did you read your fault codes? Mine are p2279 "intake air system leak" and p0236 "turbo charger boost sensor" so we'll see what the dealer says on Monday.

[Rsrob]

My octy vRS is come up to 12 months old and it not put a foot wrong as to options I've got one or two of them.

If I was you go for the spare wheel and black design + package and colour maxi dot as well I've got the sunroof I like it not had a problem with it so far the canton sound system is very good I like the sound of it but I've got Columbus sat nav with mine so I don't know what the canton is like with the bolero

[Bindinbear]

Still waiting to collect mine but i had:-

TSI DSG HATCH- metal grey

Columbus/canton

Winter pack inc rear heated seats

Heated windscreen

Leather

Bluetooth plus

Front assist

HBA

Spare wheel

5yr warranty

Folding mirrors

Rear parking sensors

Black grille/mirror pack.

Decided against the sunroof as i used the one in my golf about 10 times in 4 yrs.

Most others are winter convenience based and potential cost saving (folding mirrors-less likely to get damaged)

Got it booked in for venture shield bumper guard and rear bumper protection when i get it

Tbh hear too many issues on diesel cars and only do 7k a year.

I'd suggest rear sensors due to size of vehicle and convenience.

Park assist is a gimmick imo.

[M4rkos]

Had mine a few months now, and one problem that's common to my old Mk II VRS and the Mk III, at least on the hatch, is that water tends to collect on the large rear window, open it quickly as you might want to do when its raining for example and all the water off the rear screen pours off the sides and quite a bit goes in the boot. 

 

Parked in the warm sun, I then had condensation forming on the inside of my rear windows for a couple of days following that and had to get a cloth to wipe it down as rear wiper and heated screen doesn't do too much for the inside :S Not a great design!

 

I would also agree with others on here that the standard Sterio Bolero on the Mk III is not great. It seems to be missing a 'section' of base, so some tracks with low down base can sound fine, but other maybe more 'pop' tracks  can find their base almost totally missing and it sounds very tinny indeed, again not great for a 20k car and I don't think its as good as my old Mk II. I am actually thinking of buying a sub and giving it to a professional installer to try and help but will have to save my pennies for this.

 

Heated seats are great though in these winter months and work incredibly quickly which is a real bonus in the cold winter mornings and the heated screen seems to work automatically and is just fab.

[ExpatHotspur]

Get the Petrol, you won't regret it. 2500 kms and now its run in, goes like a scolded cat. You won't regret it

 

This is my car performance car, and i'd say this:

 

I've got some misgivings about the lateral abdominal support the leather seats give when cornering hard. They are comfortable on the straight ahead, and the heaters are great. And the lack of front traction on anything like full power can be poor. I also have park sensors fitted to a car for the first time and they aren't accurate enough (to within say 3 inches) to garage park, but sound off like a hypochondriac on acid when i'm within 4 feet of something, which mutes the tunes.

 

However, the DSG, the panoramic roof, the KESSY, the adaptive cruise, and the Canton are wonderful. 

[themanwithnoaim]

Yes I was looking at the boot netting in the brochure last night, and it's not just the single net like the Mk1.

 

 

Andy.

The twin smaller nets are best setup as front and back, they take 3 carrier bags each and with the twin curry hooks you've got 1 bags of shopping not moving around the boot spilling their contents everywhere whilst still having a large area available for other items.

[butchvrs]

Again, thanks for all the replies peoples,

 

I went and saw my "local" dealer yesterday (drove to another dealer for the test drive as local doesn't have a demo), and we negotiated for a while and we came up with the following options, despite him knowing I'm not in a position to order until I sell the competition car.

 

race blue

Tfsi

standard anthracita alloys (not keen on the design of the 19's, plus probably no good for my back)

Manual

sun roof 

black package

space saver spare wheel

folding door mirrors

boot net program

colour maxi dot

winter pack (heated screen, seats and washer jets)

grey stitching.

 

I'm giving the Canton and sat nav a miss as they can be replaced with aftermarket items.

 

In the real world what sort of fuel return on the Tfsi, as an average of town, motorway, urban etc.

 

I currently get between low 30's up to low/mid 40's on a run (using fill to fill calculations, not the trip), that's with the car being stage 2 tuned to 228bhp.

 

Sorry for so many questions but I would sooner find out now than when I get it home!

 

Oh, and glad to see Skoda has sorted the rear hatch water ingress problem that the Mk1 suffers from!!

[Rsrob]

Looks like you will be ordering one very nice octy vRS soon

Can't help with the fuel returns as I've got a TDI

[Redboy]

You will get similar MPG I think if you live in a rural area. I have one roundabout on a 9 mile commute and it's about 36MPG at the moment in cold weather with the engine and oil warming up for half of the distance. In the summer I expect it to hit 38+. 40+ MPG is easily possible at 70 true speed keeping up with the flow on A roads, dual carriageways. . You won't need to thrash it, Today I had the first real squirt up to 4000 Rpm in 3rd and 4th and it gets along very nicely. I suspect if you're buying a TSI that you're not too worried about the price of fuel or don't do very high mileage.

[RSgeoff]

Done 10,000 miles in 3 months - only fault has been the GPS antenna went faulty / was replaced.

 

Loving the car - one of the best all-rounders i've ever had and love the comfort of the Seat's - far better than Audi.

Edited 25 January, 2015 by RSgeoff

[butchvrs]

I've been doing 15-20K for the last couple of years hence my Mk1 is on the 130K+ miles mark now.

 

I prefer the urge of a petrol car even when the price of fuel was stupid, the best I ever got from my sapphire cosworth was around 24mpg, worst, I emptied the tank (16 galls) in 152 miles!

 

I now work around 2 miles from home now, but because of my back I still use the car so fuel really isn't a problem, just curious really.

 

The engine for the rally car should be back from a winter freshen up (Toovey race engines,http://www.tooveyraceengines.com/) this week, hopefully (regretfully) she'll sell pretty quickly so I can place my order.