After 6 months - Short Review of 1.2 TSI Octavia

[istannbullu34]

This is a chain belt driven - CBZB engine. Wanted to share my experience after 6 months.

 

I sold my 1.5 DCI Megane 2 because of faulty gear box in August 2016, which needed a gear box change, I used it for 2 years and around  25k km / around 15k miles and before the gearbox issue, I was mostly happy with it.

 

Looked and test drove new Fabia estate 1.2 TSI - which really had good performance however, I thought that 10k was a little too much for that and the car felt a little small.

 

Wanted to go for something with better quality and big boot - then decided on Octavia after checking a few in used card dealers, 1.2 TSI had really good performance - acceleration was impressive for that small engine, and I thought why not buy one? Then finally I got 2011 Nov built Octavia (came into traffick in Feb 2012) with 56k KM / 35k miiles on the clock, with full service history, paid around 6k GBP

 

I must say that I and my wife, we heard when the guy first started the car - the weird rattling sound but did not pay attention to it much.

 

My biggest mistake was to neglect checking the model and especially the engine about the known issues on the internet - I had a look but did not go for detailed search.

 

Will start with summarizing the pluses and minuses

 

I did around 7k  kms/ 4k miles  in six months.

 

I like the color,  for starters

 

+ superb acceleration and performance for such small engine

+ big boot 

+ quiet engine

+ does not consume much for a petrol engine if you do not have heavy foot

+ fair handling - (could be better ) 

+ 6th gear is good for long distance trips

 

- uncertainty about the future of the car because of issues with cam chain

- turbo lags  (after replacing the turbo actuator valve and after the adjustment, feels better)

- takes inside a lot of road noise

- rear wiper acts weird

- AC (manual controls) do not work properly

- no rear passenger airbags in Classic version

- rear parking sensor is so sensitive - especially if the car gets dirty, beeping so loud all the time

- the handles on the doors are very bad quality plastics

 

About fuel consumption. I must say I have a heavy foot however about the RPM, i try not to force the limits of the car. I can quickly become impatient and get angry in the traffic and push the gas pedal but especially until the engine temps up, try not to pass 2500 rpm, and never pushed her more than 4000 RPM - this was just for once on the highway to see how comfortable she goes without shouting much.

 

my best mpg  was 46, 60 percent extra urban and 40 percent urban (some part of it on the highway) 

Generally it is going around 40 mpg taking into account that I am in colder climate

When it is very cold (freezing weather) the wors was around 36 mpg 

 

When I listen to the engine I think that around 140 kmh / 85 mph, she revs around 3000 rpm and you feel that she is not struggling.  Generally, I do not pass the limit of 160 kmh /  100 mph which she does not struggle to do, however you can feel that it is enough for her -  not to make the engine tired.

 

I have had some bad luck which I posted in the forum - turbo actuator valve has failed 2 weeks ago and some issue with the breaks because of the stuff being used on the roads against frost - as I am also a little finicky, just put it on sale and waiting for a good offer. The cam chain set will be changed in Skoda dealer tomorrow, mostly with their participation in the cost.

 

 If I manage to sell, I plan to purchase a 2008-2010 Civic Sedan 1.8 i-Vtec - preferably an automatic transmission.

 

 

Edited 20 February, 2017 by istannbullu34