So my car is going in for its first service next week and whilst drawing up a list of niggly problems I thought I would post them up here to see if any of you had had the same problems on your own cars. 

 

For reference my car is a 16 plate Octavia vrs petrol which has now done 10066 miles. 

 

So far this is the list of problems.....

 

Rattle from under car at certain revs (possible fuel line issue)

B pillars rattling on both sides

Knocking sound from drivers side rear on bumpy roads/speed bump

Fraying stitching on drivers seat

White smoke from rear whilst accelerating

Loss of coolant (topped up twice)

Coolant smell in engine bay (related to above ?)

 

It doesnt make for good reading really and Im quite disappointed to be honest. This is my first new car and its got the most problems out of all the other cars I've had. 

 

I will give the dealers chance to rectify things but it would be good to be armed with info about your issues from the above if you had them. 

 

Thanks. 

 

Steve. 

Edited 5 February, 20179 yr by renton

I'm not a mechanic, but I would suggest driving VERY carefully until you get it in for the service, based on the smoke/coolant/smell you've described.

 

These engines are notorious - as I recently discovered - for breaking the oil-cooler.... in which case, the oil mixes in with the coolant (and in the worst scenarios, coolant in the oil).

 

I would suggest opening the cap on the coolant reservoir and taking a good smell/look inside.... if it looks like clear red liquid, you should be quite safe.

 

If it looks like soggy porridge and smells of oil, STOP driving it immediately and get it towed to the mechanic.

 

All the rest of the issues I'd be annoyed with too, on a brand new car..... make sure you don't get ripped off with the whole "normal wear-&-tear" excuse as that's rubbish on only 10k miles.

Ive been checking the coolant reservoir constantly since Ive had it and never noticed the oil mixing with the water.

 

You can occasionally smell the coolant towards the rear of the engine bay but never actually seen any leaks.

 

Apparently the steam is normal from the exhuast??

 

 

Another chap had coolant leaking from the thermostat housing.

I think this will be the response. Steam from exhaust in these conditions...normal. Wear on Skoda seat bolsters/stitching .. normal. Rattle from B pillars....annoyingly...normal. Bit of card stuck up between the pillar plastic covers might do the trick. 

Thanks.

 

The car has already been looked at once for the steam. They pressure tested it and said it was fine with no leaks however my coolant tank seems to disagree with that as Ive had to top it up twice.

 

Also I was under the impression that there was a technical bulletin for the b pillar rattles that I hoped someone on here had a link to.

 

I dont think the seat is normal wear and tear as its not the bolster that you rub getting in and out of the car rather it is the bit that your legs rest on. I will post a pic later but you can see the stitching looks as though its pulling apart. The passenger seat is fine.

 

Good luck. My old MkII VRS TFSI required one decent top up, I had it pressure checked and dealer said it was fine and it never needed another fill, so hopefully yours will be fine. Skoda seat materials still don't seem great even though prices have risen, so no excuse really.

Do your front door seals hold water in that soaks your feet when you open the doors?

No no issues with front door seals. 

 

The rear door seal seems to let water in slightly from the top. When I open the door I get water dropping into the rear seat. 

Here are the pics of the stitching that is coming apart .........

 

 

 

 

 

Do you think that would be classed as wear and tear ?  

White mist/smoke on putting your foot down and coolant drip. Mine does this. Did it back in the winter at the end of 2015. Coolant dropped a fair bit whilst on a London to Scotland and return run. Topped it up and since has been fine. Mist went in the end, but has returned this winter (no coolant loss).

 

Possible that I do a fair number of short runs so it doesn't burn off the condensation in the exhaust?

 

I'm sure there was a post on here about it which was related to turbo issues, but don't hold me to that.

Mine has steam all the time, albeit a short run or at the end of a spirited run etc 

22 hours ago, renton said:

No no issues with front door seals. 

 

The rear door seal seems to let water in slightly from the top. When I open the door I get water dropping into the rear seat. 

 

Ah you may have gotten updated seals on the front. I think at the rear doors, it's the shape of where the roof joins the door aperture. Mine drips in as does my partner's Roomster.