Hello all,

I've now owned my secondhand Skoda Octavia Scout 4x4 on a 59 plate for 5 months. The car had 55000 when I brought it....It now has 66000.

I love the car....I really do but it has been causing huge amounts of grief and spending lots of time in the Skoda dealer in Edinburgh (West End).

Turns out that the previous owners weren't that good for servicing.This is now showing up.

I'm doing a minor service on the 2.0l TDI engine every 10k and boy is the engine building up a lot of sludge. Do I need to worry about this?

We had a sensor go that monitors the exhaust gases (one in the engine, one in the exhaust system itself), air conditioning recharge, full DOT5 brake fluid change, sticking hill holding brake, the tracking was out, two new tyres. Oh yes, I forgot the new tailgate on warrantee too. Today's joy was a blown HID headlight (I've got stearable Bi-xenons).

I really like this car...but the ruddy thing is bankrupting me!!

Thanks

Max

The cars name is Barnie (as in Barnie Rubble/Trouble).

I really do drive this car as gentle as it goes....driving for fuel economy.

Id be having a Barney with Barnie too, yes  when problems come they come in threes at the very least, headlamp washer pump, reversing module and alarm siren for me , 2 out of three at least I could sort 

Second hand you pay your money and make your choice.

Not every second hand is going to give years of trouble free even if it has a full dealer or Indy' service.

Things fail.

How do you know there is sludge in the sump?

 

Assuming the oil is close to operating temperature when you drop it out of the sump plug any sludge will be hard to distinguish? Or are you sucking it up out of the dip stick tube?

 

The exhaust gas and DPF sensors are a well documented weak point, especially on earlier Octavia's. Scout or non-Scout. There have been improvements. A sensor on my Scout was replaced a year or so ago and it has been fine ever since.

 

What prompted the air con re-gas? Was there a leak? As the system is sealed there is usually a leak to justify a re-gas.

 

Brake fluid, tyres, bulbs and tracking is all fair wear and tear on a 7 year old car.

 

Rusty bonnets and boot lids are rare but do crop up from time to time.

 

The headlights are xenon's (not bi-xenon's) as main beam is still an incandescent bulb on the MkII Octavia.

 

I assume it was bought privately, so 5 months in you have no warranty? I guess sometimes the premium needed to buy from a franchised main dealer is often offset but the 12 month warranty you get, which would have covered most of the small issues you've had.

Edited 28 January, 201610 yr by silver1011

Drive a diesel gently and the turbo vanes will gum up causing overboost problems and also the DPF will fail due to never getting hot enough.

Hello all,

Yes thank you for all your encouraging words. The sludge was noticed when I did my last minor service and I did suck out the oil instead of drain it. It was particularly bad around the oil cooler area. I am hoping that regular usage will keep the problem at bay.

One year warranty...got the vehicle from a Volvo dealer in Perth...where the so call warranty didn't covered any of the issues. My Skoda dealer in Edinburgh sees I am doing the right thing...so I now have a good relationship with them.

Update ref: headlamp. Yes...you are right..It is a Xenon...not Bi-xenon. My fault. The problem was a wiring fault at the headlamp. Dealer is so sick of seeing me they didn't even charge me for the visit! Barnie is okay today. We have some condensation in the 'fixed' headlamp otherwise all is good in the world of my 59 plate beast. Mileage is 66744. Will keep you all posted of any further developments! I actually really love my Skoda...so all these issues won't put me off as I do cover intergalactic miles. Thanks Max

Hello all,

Yes thank you for all your encouraging words. The sludge was noticed when I did my last minor service and I did suck out the oil instead of drain it. It was particularly bad around the oil cooler area. I am hoping that regular usage will keep the problem at bay.

One year warranty...got the vehicle from a Volvo dealer in Perth...where the so call warranty didn't covered any of the issues. My Skoda dealer in Edinburgh sees I am doing the right thing...so I now have a good relationship with them.

Update ref: headlamp. Yes...you are right..It is a Xenon...not Bi-xenon. My fault. The problem was a wiring fault at the headlamp. Dealer is so sick of seeing me they didn't even charge me for the visit! Barnie is okay today. We have some condensation in the 'fixed' headlamp otherwise all is good in the world of my 59 plate beast. Mileage is 66744. Will keep you all posted of any further developments! I actually really love my Skoda...so all these issues won't put me off as I do cover intergalactic miles. Thanks Max

 

I'd be using an engine flush and draining from the sump plug if you think there's sludge in there as vacuuming it out doesn't guarantee total draining. Just my two cents.