Bidding all a fond farewell.

[DBennett]

My brief ownership of a 2004 Mk1 Octavia is at an end (circa just over three weeks), but you have a great site here and it's been interesting to browse through some of the knowledgeable postings.

 

Just a pity I didn't join the club before purchasing the model concerned (and learn about some of the common issues with it), or I could have saved myself some financial pain. But that's my silly fault!

 

Anyway, keep up the good work for your regular members, and I hope you go from strength to strength.

 

 

[Superb170]

That's a pity, what happened with it?

[DBennett]

Hi Superb170, I ended up taking it back to the dealer and traded it back for my old car. Had to take a hit of course, but it was a case of cutting my losses for peace of mind.

 

The car concerned was a lovely looking low mileage example (25'000 miles), with reams of service history (it was a one owner and had been serviced every year regardless of the mileage). Further to that, the bodywork and interior was mint,  so I thought I was on a winner. It seemed to run ok on the test drive, though the throttle seemed very sensitive compared with my 2002 Astra, so I put this down to my being unfamiliar with the marque. On reflection, I should have taken it for a much longer test drive before committing myself, and I'd have maybe picked up on some of the issues I discovered later.

 

The most annoying of these was an erratic idle and unpredictable response to the throttle (when it had reached normal operating temperature). It seemed reluctant to drop its revs in the normal manner when coming off the gas, and if the throttle was blipped, the revs would rise and fall (and continue to do that until the engine was switched off and restarted). After a couple of days, this problem resulted in an engine fault light coming on. I should say at this point that I was unable to contact the seller (a small private trader), because he was on holiday in Spain.

 

Anyway, I booked it into my local garage for a diagnostic check, but nothing was showing up. They changed the lambda sensor (which didn't make any difference), and they told me they eventually found a split in a hose at the back of the engine (think they described it as a vaccuum feed of some sort), and that appeared to have resolved the problem. Happy days, I thought, but unfortunately the problem returned the day after. Long story short, the garage did another diagnostic check which again showed no faults, but told me they reset some of the throttle perameters which they hoped would improve things. I was advised that short of changing the various costly sensors in the hope of finding the cause, I should just see how it goes for now (I wasn't charged for that second visit thankfully).

 

It did seem to run a little better after that, but wasn't entirely cured, and it became more a case of me allowing for its faults and driving accordingly.

 

The car had other issues also. The driver's door lock micro switch didn't seem to be working (ie, no interior light when opening the door, and no lights left on warning buzzer). It also had what sounded like clutch release bearing rattle when thoroughly warm (at idle), or might have been the early signs of the dreaded DMF issues I've read about. On top of that, there was also the annoyingly noisy charcoal canister chatter, that I've read is quite normal. But why they (Skoda) couldn't have come up with a quieter solution than that device, is a puzzle to me.

 

So all in all, it was a brief ownership of a very nice car, but which had unexpected issues. But at least I appreciate my old Astra more now (which I can barely hear idling at the traffic lights).

 

Thanks again for a great forum.

 

 

 

 

[Robjon]

Sorry to hear your woes.  Glad to hear you've got things sorted.

 

Stick around, mate.  Everyone is welcome on Briskoda, whatever make of car they drive.

 

Even Vauxhall   

[DBennett]

Thanks for that, Robjon (apologies for it sounding like a tale of woes).

 

I did in fact have a very happy relationship with a Skoda many years ago (a rear engined 130GL), so it's not been all bad!

 

In those days, you could have a good old mess with cars (fitted a Nikki carb to mine back then), before they started stuffing them with electronics and computers.

[JED]

Sorry to see you go Mr Bennett shame you picked a bad one better luck in the future .

[Superb170]

That was certainly a bit of bad luck alright.  It wouldn't have been viable to keep the car with all those issues.  Will you stick with the Astra (assuming you still have it) or try something else.  You might venture towards Skoda again some day, hopefully with better luck.

[DBennett]

1 hour ago, Superb170 said:

That was certainly a bit of bad luck alright.  It wouldn't have been viable to keep the car with all those issues.  Will you stick with the Astra (assuming you still have it) or try something else.  You might venture towards Skoda again some day, hopefully with better luck.

 

Thanks, JED, and Superb170.

 

No it wouldn't have been viable to keep the Skoda for what it would have cost to sort it, but it will hopefully make a good car for somone.

 

Yes, I'm hanging on to the Astra for a few months at least, as it's just had new tyres (and still low miles for a '52 at 42,000). But when I get the urge to look again, I won't be discounting Skodas.