Octavia vrs confusion

[Tichwhat]

PETROL OR DIESEL??

I'm a low miler so diesel should be avoided? Then I read about all the tsi petrol failures on here I'm more confused than ever.

Petrol Diesel I have no clue any help on here please...

 

Oh and if anyone has a blue vrs estate 2009 is perhaps face lift model let me know

[silver1011]

Low or medium mileage = petrol.

 

Sure the TSI has its issues but not as many as the diesel (DPF, EGR, turbo etc.) 

[Tichwhat]

Am I right in thinking the petrol problems are all about the cam belt not being changed in line with recommendations?

[Tichwhat]

Any pointers on things to look out for on a 2nd hand Octavia vrs. Are they a good buy ? Stupidly passed on an LE for £4100 on Tuesday 105k fsh regretted it straight away

[Ecomatt]

I have the diesel and do low miles. So far no issues at all. If you go for a diesel, avoid the PD170 and opt for the CR170.

Octys are brilliant cars to own and very cheap to run.

[TheClient]

8 hours ago, Tichwhat said:

Am I right in thinking the petrol problems are all about the cam belt not being changed in line with recommendations?

Not usually the problem. Depends if you are talking pre-facelift or facelift vRS petrol. Both can have their own sets of problems - it is worth going in with your eyes open.

 

There is a huge amount of information in these forums. If you are looking at facelift, one of the high visibility and costly issues is the timing chain / tensioner  failure. This has no official scheduled maintenance regime or replacement but the tensioner has been multiply superseded and failures are quite common even at moderate mileage 30k and up.

 

You can get it changed to the latest revision preventatively before failure.  However, if you wait until you notice a problem it may be too late causing catastrophic and sometimes irrepairable engine damage. A dealer replacement engine is now circa £8k.

 

There are other things as well.  Review the information in these forums.

[Tichwhat]

2 hours ago, TheClient said:

 

There is a huge amount of information in these forums. If you are looking at facelift, one of the high visibility and costly issues is the timing chain / tensioner  failure. This has no official scheduled maintenance regime or replacement but the tensioner has been multiply superseded and failures are quite common even at moderate mileage 30k and up.

Thought they had timing belts not timing chains?

When they do a timing belt water pump change do they not do tensioner at same time

Sorry if that sounds dumb

[Pods]

Pre fl has belt and fl has chain. I have just had the chain and tensioner changed on my 2010 fl VRS. At 42k miles it just didn't seem worth the risk not to have it done. New chains and tensioner only stood me £390 inc fitting 

Edited 11 February, 2017 by Pods
Typo on the price was £390 not as initially entered as £290

[Tichwhat]

Thanks all I've come to the conclusion too much information is dangerous as now I think I will buy something else as much as I love Oct vrs I don't want to spend £8000 and realise it's not the reliable I thought.........

Had an 04 fab VRS and it was the only car to make me smile thought octavia would do the same but I can't help thinking as much as I'd look after it by servicing and replacing belts or chains it would let me down.... 10 year lifespan of a vehicle? Really.....Just some of the info I've read on here...

 

Please please someone tell me I'm wrong

[TheClient]

Trouble is, when you are looking at other vehicles, there a quite a few problems that affect all the major marques.  You just have to do your research and try to understand the risks and which ones you can mitigate and take a view on what you can accept.

 

DMF, DPF / EGR on Diesels, Dual clutch transmissions, timing chains and tensioners, Turbos. They can all be weak spots in modern cars of any marque and even a car just out of warranty is no guarantee as visibilty of all issues as sometimes the visibility is not great until the cars are out of warranty and purchasers are paying for repairs themselves.

 

Unless you want a very plain vanilla car, without any bells and whistles or performance it is quite hard to avoid all issues.

 

[Pods]

As has already been said. I think when you research any car you will find common issues and there is a gamble with every option. I believe on the whole the Octavia to be a good all round choice and balance of performance and practicality. Yes they have their issues but these are more than made up for in smiles per mile.

 

Best of luck with what ever choice you make though.

[Vegasphil]

My diesel does normal mileage but lots of start stop journeys and has been fine. I'd just say to get what you prefer. 

 

Mind you, if I was doing low miles I'd be looking at a petrol personally! 

[philbes]

When I bought my 2012 vRS diesel I was travelling 15K miles per year.  I now cover around 8K, so when I change cars later this year it will be a petrol.  However, in 3-1/2 years and 31K miles I have had no problems with the car except 2 replacement rear wiper motors under warranty.  My car sometimes goes for 2 weeks with no runs above 6 miles then one 40 mile round trip.  Every 6 weeks it will have a 300 mile round trip.  Never had any diesel engine related problem.