Good afternoon.

 

I'm hoping to tap in to some of the expert knowledge and experience within this forum to advise me on my new broken Octavia!

 

I purchased a 64 plate Octavia VRS just over a week ago from a local car supermarket. During the test drive, a DPF warning light appeared. The salesman explained that this often happens with cars they have, as they spend a while on the forecourt and then only being taken on a few mile test drive run. This seemed plausible, and from reading the manual it stated it is easily fixed with a good run. The salesman endeavoured to fix it prior to collection (and it seemingly was).

 

Jump forward a week, and I now have an Engine Emissions Light or similar appear on the dash (yellow solid light. Box shaped. Looks like an engine). The car also went into limp mode. The manual suggested turning it off for 30 seconds and back on to see if it cleared. It didn't...

 

The car is now back with the supermarket being checked out however I'm getting some alarm bells here... It's also an ex demonstrator with Skoda, so has possibly spent much of its young life on test drives before having another owner prior to me?

 

I'm merely assuming this latest problem is linked to the DPF, but surely this shouldn't be happening with a young car, or is this normal?

 

Anyone had any similar problems or advice? Would you steer clear? Accept a repair?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

 

Hi and welcome.

 

How many miles has it done?

 

It might be worth getting a Skoda dealer to check the car over and do a diagnostic check, to see if there are any other problems. You can then ask the car supermarket to pay for them to be fixed.

 

Do you do sufficient miles each day to warm it up?

Before I got my 230 I had a 63 plate Octavia MKIII Vrs oil burner. Most of the time it went 2 miles to work and 2 miles home. In the two and a half years I had it I never had the DPF light on, it did regens and I just drove it as normal. Never had any problems at all.  You might have a faulty sensor. As said by glosrich a trip to a Skoda dealer would be the way forward.

 

Hope you get it sorted.  

Thanks for the replies.

 

it has just done 14k miles and my commute to work is 13 miles one way through national speed limit and small village roads. It usually takes 20-25 minutes. I do about 12000 miles a year. I thought this would be sufficient to keep the DPF healthy but now I'm not sure!

 

It just seems strange that after only 14000 miles it has the DPF filter light coming on. I'm expecting an update phone call from the supermarket imminently so fingers crossed!

As above, needs a proper dealer diagnostic to find the cause, so check with the supermarket this has been done. 64 plate should still be under Manufacturer's warranty, so even though the onus is on the selling dealer to sort, you have another potential course of action if it drags on and they don't seem to be able to resolve.

Probably is a sensor as auric says, but might need Skoda to properly diagnose that. The dealer diagnostics can also see the % full the DPF is. As Auric says it should be ok at that age/miles, although its not really done many miles in just over 2 years for a diesel.

 

As above, your mileage & driving conditions are more than suitable for a diesel O3.

I'm sure the problem was inherent at the car supermarket & they just didnt understand they had a real problem.

 

Agree with requesting an independant check because fixing a sensor might make the light go away but it doesn't guarentee the DPF is in good condition.

 

I would ask for the history of the car, warrenty work, things that have been done by the previous owner/dealer.

If the car supermarket cant give you this, try going to a Skoda garage with your VIN & owners document & they should give you a service printout (like the old log books).

 

If you are not confident about any of the checks/replies from the garage or car supermarket I would suggest to think about giving it back.

Thanks all

 

Had a very brief phone call from the supermarket late on yesterday saying the car had gone off the VW Skoda for them to sort. He said they know what the fault is but he didn't know it off the top of his head and it needed more investigation work. Very vague...

 

The mystery continues!