Coolant low warning light during test drive, is this a worry?

[Mmcg1]

Hi all, I am about to buy a 64 plate octavia (11k miles) however during the test drive the low coolant light came on. The dealership has said they will top it up. Should I be worried that this has happened on a car under a year old? I don't know much about what this actually means. Also, will any problems associated with this be covered in the SKODA warranty?

Thanks in advance

[Mmcg1]

Sorry this has posted 3 times, my phone has went mental,

[andyvee]

What is the history of the car and how old is it - a year or 6 months?

 

You shouldn't be getting coolant level warning lights coming on once the levels have settled, which normally takes a month or two at the most to get any air out of the system.

 

There have been reports of water pump failures, so look out for that.

 

Was it serviced at 10k or is it on the variable servicing regime? If it was serviced at 10k I would be quite concerned as it could have dropped in 1000 miles and may indicate a problem.

[Orville]

Several members including myself have suffered faulty/leaking water pumps. The coolant system is sealed, so should only need filling if there is a leak somewhere. With my car there were small spots of pink coolant left after parking it up, and a small puddle caught by the plastic under tray.

My guess is coolant pump, but it could be a pranged rad or loosely fastened hose. Definitely check for pink fluid.

Edited 30 September, 2015 by Orville

[Mmcg1]

Thanks for the replies. The car is a year old, I do not know the service history of it yet. It's from Motorpoint, I had originally been meant to test drive it a week ago but it's been in the body shop getting work done which is a worry in itself. I spoke to the mechanic to ask what has been done and he said the front bumper needed resprayed so it could've been in a collision I suppose. It was still not fully ready when I was down today, there's a few minutes or scratches to work out.

Yeah I'm definitely concerned, I don't know much about coolant but iv been driving for 15 years and never had an issue with any other car!

How serious could this potentially be? Also would any problems with this be covered under skoda warranty?

Thanks again

[Pumatron]

If you have doubts then walk away, plenty more used Octavia's out there.

If it was me, I'd be put off by vehicle having paint work repaired as how do you know it has been done to Skoda's standards? Also the seller appears to not of done any pre sale safety checks to insure vehicle is safe for road tests, other wise they surely would of noticed low coolant level and acted on it.

[andyvee]

Walk away .......

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[Orville]

If you are unsure, walk away.

[Mmcg1]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I have emailed them last night saying I'm happy to buy an octavia but I want a different one, I think that's the only 64 plate SE they have on site though so I'll see what happens. I'm a bit gutted as I love everything else about the car and seemed to have got a pretty good deal but it may be back to the drawing board now!

In terms of safety checks etc, the manager at the branch had pre warned me that the car was not finished yet and still needed bits of work before I could take it away (despite already being in the body shop for a week!), this may have worked in my favour though since if they had topped up the coolant it wouldn't have alarmed during the test drive so if there is an underlying problem causing it then I wouldn't have known until I had already bought it.

[Orville]

There will always be another car and a better deal around the corner. Be picky and wait for the right one. A one year old car should not need to be in the body shop for a week. A few stone chips and more nor dinks are expected, but these should be taken care of within a day or so. Low coolant is a sure sign that Motorpont do not yet know what they have on their hands.

[pipsyp]

I took delivery of a 65 plate Golf GTD last week. It of course had been through PDI so for the first few days I didnt bother popping the bonnet.

A few days later I did....to find that my coolant level was quite low...a little above the min marker....but not low enough to set off a warning.

Luckily I carry a bottle of G13 around so given it didnt need alot to top up I just added it in neat (better to have too much protection rather than not enough!).

These cars do suffer from air locks

....I suppose I could find in time that my level ends up above the max marker but it will vent off the excess fluid if thats the case.

Also when new (though not at 11k miles when it should be pretty run in) they are quite tight and run hot so suspect early on you might see a small drop in coolant...though it should stabilise after some miles.

Personally I wouldnt worry too much....when the warning appears the reality is the car will still have plenty of coolant in it.....whilst not wise you could realistically drive the car for a period like that without doing it any harm...much like if the oil level gets low....there is in built contingency there.

If you'd said it had come up with a red coolant warning and was exhibiting signs of overheating then Id say run a mile but thats almost certainly not the case here.

[MRJSVRS]

Walk away brother, it's a lot of £ to not be totally satisfied

[Gabbo]

Sounds like its a good deal because the car has had (or still has a few problems).

There should be quite a few 1-year old Octavia's around these days, so I'd keep looking.

 

If there was a real fault, like the coolant pump, this should be covered by Skoda warrenty, however, if there is some damage from stone chips or a small accident/bad repair job, there could be a chance Skoda would notice this & ask you to pay for the repairs yourself.

 

 

Asside from the problems with this car, can I say you have made a good choice with the Octavia.
Its the best car I've ever owned (previously Mondeo's & focus) and my wife currently has a BMW 320d.

Stick with it, & I'm sure you'll be happy!

[M12MKD]

Walk away and fine another one........unless it's very cheap.

[Mmcg1]

Cheers, yeah it looks like I'll leave it, it was priced at £12k, they have several others at this price however none of them are at my local branch (Glasgow). Iv emailed the salesman to get me a different one, I think he's gettin bit ****ed off and thinking I'm a time waster as I had originally been looking at a Toyota however I was not convinced by it after the test drive and changed to the octavia.

Yeah, I think iv made the right choice with going for the SKODA, I have looked at loads of alternatives in all different dealerships and the octavia has stood out for me

[Mmcg1]

Just off the phone to motorpoint. The only other black SE that they have is a 64 plate with 14k miles an a 14 plate with 11.6k miles which is 500 pounds cheaper. The 14 plate has not been serviced yet tho, (it is 15 months old) will this invalidate the SKODA warranty? I know with other cars iv had that they need to b serviced at 12 months to maintain the warranty.

Thanks

[philhoward]

Depends on the service schedule set on the car - it might have been put on to "long life", so 18,500 miles or 2 years?  If in doubt, get the registration number and phone a Skoda dealer with regard to a possible warranty issue.  I think there's a bit of leeway on the time/mileage but not sure if 3 months is OK (I think they're more concerned about mileage).  If it's on 11600 miles and hasn't been serviced yet, it will either have longlife servicing set, or have had its warranty (probably) invalidated.

[Mmcg1]

Cheers, I have emailed skoda with the registration and asked the question, hopefully they'll get back quick, id like to sort out which car I'm taking tonight.

[philhoward]

Best give a dealer a call then - emails aren't exactly first on their "to do" list..

[Mmcg1]

Phoned the servicing department of a dealership in Glasgow, they have no record of any servicing (as expected) bt he thinks it's on a flexible plan of 2 years /19k miles.

Thanks for all the advice on this btw.

I'm down to 3 options I think :

Silver 64 plate 11.5k miles £12k

Black 64 plate 14k miles £12k

Black 14 plate 11.5k miles £11.6k

Any of you have any thoughts on which you'd go for if it was you? It sees much of a muchness to me, I'll only have the car 3 years as I'm doing a pcp.

[philhoward]

If you sit in the car, you will be able to see when it's service is due via the dash display.

 

As for which one of the above to go for - all much of a muchness.  If you're keeping it for a while, the depreciation will overtake any possible price difference between the newer or higher mileage cars.  Whichever one you like the best, or is the best condition I'd say!

[butchvrs]

Don't forget that skoda themselves have an approved used car list that may be worth a look.

 

At least that way you know the car should be as it should (if that makes sense!)