Hi, I encountered a pheasant (well ex-pheasant now) at speed and it has damaged the front grille. I have been told that replacement of the black plastic bit alone is not possible and I need a whole new front bumper including respray (!!!).

 

Has anyone found a way to replace this DIY and lower cost? I've seen the guides for bumper removal and also for replacement of the chrome surround, but not sure about the grille itself?

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

 

Skoda wont sell the grille as a separate part, which is a naughty way of getting us to buy a whole new bumper.

 

However they are available on Ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SKODA-OCTAVIA-MK3-2013-2016-FRONT-BUMPER-MAIN-GRILL-GENUINE-CHROME-/272651132414?hash=item3f7b461dfe:g:NZIAAOSw3v5Ythe-

 

Just take the bumper off and it clips in.

 

The grille itself does not simply clip in unfortunately. It's plastic welded.

 

It's possible to cut the old one out and plastic weld the new one in but it's a job for someone skilled. 

 

The chrome surround can be removed by breaking the clips, and the new one clipped back in.

Superskoda do a Honeycombe to match the lower section if you'd like a more sporty look

Edited 9 May, 20179 yr by themanwithnoaim

OK so there seems to be a slight difference opinion here on whether fitting the whole grille is a DIY option? glosrich, thanks for your reply - have you replaced this yourself? Or has anyone else fitted the Superskoda grille themselves (thanks themanwithnoaim)

The grill on my vRS was mysteriously broken whilst parked earlier this year.  I managed to obtain a replacement from eBay an took it to a local body shop,  whose owner I know.  The hardest part is removing the bumper, in particular the bolts on the inside  of the front  wing behind the headlamps.

 

I watched how the old grill was removed and the plastic welds were cut away to leave what was left of the locating lugs, so it was possible to lift the grill off.  With the replacement located, the lugs were melted with the tip of an old soldering iron to secure it in place and the bumper refitted.

 

The whole process took about an hour and a half to complete and I am very grateful to Gary at Cosmetic Autocare in Northampton for his help.

You don't have insurance that would cover new bumper? This is exactly why I pay for full insurance.

Edited 9 May, 20179 yr by Croat

I do Croat but I have had a couple of accidents in last 5 years and think I may be on point of losing no-claims discount....

Same thing happened to me, I bought the Superskoda honeycomb style grill. It's been sitting in the garage for a while, waiting for me to find time to fit.

 

 

Snap...

 

 

On early MkIII's the grill was separate. God knows why Skoda changed the design, plonkers.

 

Edited 11 May, 20179 yr by silver1011

My wife hit a pheasant and it has left a neat hole in the centre of the front grille.  Speaking with my local dealership, they want in excess of £300 for a new grille and bumper, apparently you can not purchase the grille on its own.  I have looked on eBay for a grille but I don't seem to be able to get one that will fit our car.  Can someone please help me identify the correct model of our car?

 

The V5C states the following:

 

Varient: 5E

Model: Octavia SE L TDI 4X4

Body Type: Estate

CC: 1968

 

However, the listings on eBay do not list a SE L TDI 4x4.  Also, I'm not sure if I should select the Mk III Estate or the 5E5 Estate variant.  Either way, the eBay listings say that the item will not fir our car.

 

So, would the SuperSkoda Octavia III front grille in honeycomb fit our car?

 

Thanks. 

Octavi grilles are all identical, if its the same year, same model (i.e original, or face lift) then all the same grille. The FL has a different to that of orginal but within the series all grilles are the same. That yours is 4x4, or diesel makes no difference at all

£ 400 excess on my insurance would make this a difficult claim. Last time I claimed for a smashed powered  door mirror and side glass (£500) it was very unpleasant and of course when changing insurers,  a claim has to be declared, protected bonus or not. 

Edited 25 February, 20188 yr by gregoir

Just had a pheasant/grille incident which took out the centre of the plastic grille. A local non-franchise car shop (Peter Watson in Skipton) ordered a new grille from Skoda parts. It took a few weeks to arrive and when it did, they fitted it in about an hour. Parts & labour totalled £160.

 

17-plate FL Octavia VRS TDI DSG.

 

Hope that helps.

That honeycomb grille looks good. I think if i had a damaged grille I would be tempted to go that way. but I can't justify replacing working components at that cost for aesthetics however pretty it is. 

52 minutes ago, richyroo said:

Just had a pheasant/grille incident which took out the centre of the plastic grille. A local non-franchise car shop (Peter Watson in Skipton) ordered a new grille from Skoda parts. It took a few weeks to arrive and when it did, they fitted it in about an hour. Parts & labour totalled £160.

 

17-plate FL Octavia VRS TDI DSG.

 

Hope that helps.

That sounds useful.

1 hour ago, richyroo said:

Just had a pheasant/grille incident which took out the centre of the plastic grille. A local non-franchise car shop (Peter Watson in Skipton) ordered a new grille from Skoda parts. It took a few weeks to arrive and when it did, they fitted it in about an hour. Parts & labour totalled £160.

 

17-plate FL Octavia VRS TDI DSG.

 

Hope that helps.

 

I notice yours is a FL - the grille is obviously different, but I wonder if the fitting method has changed?

I'm not sure of the exact details but they showed me a photo of how they'd had to take the whole of the front of the car off below the bonnet to do the work. 

Can anyone confirm if replacing the entire grille on a 2017 facelift is DIY or not? 

FL - yes - a bit of a work up as ideally you need to take the front wheels off and wheel liners out to take the bumper off. I would suggest that you subscribe to ErWin online for the minimum time which isn't expensive and print to PDF the procedure.

 

https://erwin.skoda-auto.cz/erwin/showInfoTour.do

 

I had to replace mine after some kind sole broke it one day.

 

I did manage to get mine off without removing the wheels and liners - you can peel the liner back sufficiently to get to the hidden screws - but it isn't easy and I'm sure the official way would be a lot easier. The screws on the Facelift are accessed from below and not above.