Fallen out of love with my VRS.

[butchvrs]

Just got back from the 4 wheel geometry check, and the N/S/R was toeing out a tad so the car has been adjusted.
Certainly seems to have helped and the car feels more settled on the road, however I forgot to ask them to check the inner side of the tyre for damage so it looks like I'll have to get my trolley jack out.
I also went and saw a fellow Rally competitor who runs a large group of VAG approved body shops, and got a very favorable price to repair the n/s/f wing where a woman drove into it and bogged off, and to diamond cut and refurbish my wheels.

Maybe the car isn't so bad really, probably just me being overly sensitive to niggly problems.

I part own an old 130Tdi Galaxy with my son for rally car towing/servicing purposes, maybe I should drive that solidly for a week and then get back in the VRS as I'm certain I'll appreciate it again!

[stu83]

The same happened to me @butchvrs, I just couldn't gel with the car or get excited about driving it. I started to nit-pick at it and almost start to resent it weirdly. Almost swapped it three times in the 18 months I owned it.

 

Ended up trading it in towards a new Alfa Giulia Veloce last month, which has re-ignited my love of cars ... Both driving and detailing.

[Exeterj]

Well, the wifes new car (i.e. my weekend car) is now causing me a problem - a brand new golf R vs a 4 yr old TDI vRS isn't a fair fight.

 

I now get back in the vRS and it feels slow/old/scratched/smelly/worn out but 2 weeks ago before we picked the R up it was still the apple in my eye! I'm pretty sure a new vRS would feel better in comparison and a new car will always feel better and i also have to look at the cost difference. The daft thing is my vRS hasn't changed, its still great car and gets good comments from people, so i can't/shouldn't feel sad its still my daily drive.

[logiclee]

Front wheel bearings are a very common problem on the Mk3. I had one fail at 20k miles. 

Before the mechanic got in the car he said "It will be the wheel bearing, I've changed loads on the new Octavia."

 

Lee

[EddGee]

1 hour ago, stu83 said:

 

Ended up trading it in towards a new Alfa Giulia Veloce last month, which has re-ignited my love of cars ... Both driving and detailing.

Out of the frying pan...into the fire 

 

I fully expect you’ll be on first name terms with the Alfa service department in three months 

[shyVRS245]

On ‎12‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 14:20, AtomCom said:

 

I agree.  It is really a problem of our own making.  We want more power, speed, gadgets and all at an affordable price, so something has to give.  Build quality is normally the thing that has to give.

 

New Skoda badges are much better quality than those old ones whose lacquer loved letting water get under the surface. Told my dad to insist on new badges front/rear on his newly aquired Superb Elegance Estate on 62 plate, under warranty of course as it is a known fault.

[ahenners]

3 minutes ago, shyVRS245 said:

New Skoda badges are much better quality than those old ones whose lacquer loved letting water get under the surface. Told my dad to insist on new badges front/rear on his newly aquired Superb Elegance Estate on 62 plate, under warranty of course as it is a known fault.

 

The old badges were terrible, my 59 plate MK2 facelift had whiteworm on most of the badges.

 

Wish Skoda would address the poor quality centre caps though. These still corrode easily on the MK3 

[shyVRS245]

35 minutes ago, ahenners said:

 

The old badges were terrible, my 59 plate MK2 facelift had whiteworm on most of the badges.

 

Wish Skoda would address the poor quality centre caps though. These still corrode easily on the MK3 

Think I will treat myself to some of those VRS centre caps for the wheels when the current Skoda ones start to look shabby.

[Boatman1]

Decided to give my 06 fabia vrs a face lift, new badges, scratch repair t cut, new number plates and recoated the wheels in Mercedes gun grey and she looks as good as new, runs like a dream as I merrily blow smoke at newer vehicles, I just love this car which has been economical to run and fun to drive, great fuel economy on long drives with cruise control, yes my back doors leak but have sealed them up the car runs like clockwork and cannot imagine parting with it also, the mk1 vrs is going to be a collectors car, the SE prices are already rising.

[shyVRS245]

8 minutes ago, Boatman1 said:

Decided to give my 06 fabia vrs a face lift, new badges, scratch repair t cut, new number plates and recoated the wheels in Mercedes gun grey and she looks as good as new, runs like a dream as I merrily blow smoke at newer vehicles, I just love this car which has been economical to run and fun to drive, great fuel economy on long drives with cruise control, yes my back doors leak but have sealed them up the car runs like clockwork and cannot imagine parting with it also, the mk1 vrs is going to be a collectors car, the SE prices are already rising.

Must admit my old 54 plate Mk1 Fabia VRS was very good at deploying the black smoke just like something from a Batman movie to lose the baddies!

[stu83]

22 hours ago, EddGee said:

Out of the frying pan...into the fire 

 

I fully expect you’ll be on first name terms with the Alfa service department in three months 

 

Just like you make use of the heated rear window to warm your hands as you're pushing your broken down Skoda 

 

It's not only Alfa who has a reputation best left in the past!

[shyVRS245]

On 4/12/2018 at 13:21, Redboy said:

The car consumer aspires to more tech economy, speed, acceleration. Unfortunately this requires lighter materials throughout he car and these don't have the longevity of the older ones. The MkIII is not as robust as the MkII and probably the Mk1 was even more bombproof. I expect you'll get similar comments from Fabia and Superb owners. Sunroofs look great but they do seem to have their leaks and creaks...not just Skoda. It's not just VAG group, Fords, BMW, JLR to name a few recently have had some appalling catastrophic engine failures. I thought the Alfa Guilio Veloce was looking good until I read a report today, saying it was a lovely car....apart from ECU electrical gremlins caused by water ingress. 

Fresh from the Auto Express Driver Survey 2018 where 80,000 readers took part and rated their vehicles good and bad.

These are worst 10 from top 75 cars listed with most reported faults, drum roll.

BMW 5 series on sale since 2017  No.1 with 50.8% FAULTS.

Alfa Romeo Giulia on sale since 2016  No.2  40.3%.

BMW 4 series on sale since 2013  No.3  35.9%.

BMW 2 series on sale since 2014  No.4  34.6%.

Land Rover Discovery Sport on sale since 2015  No.5  30.8%.

BMW 3 series on sale since 2012  No.6  30.6%.

Toyota C-HR on sale since 2016  No.7  29.0%.

Citreon C4 Cactus on sale since 2015  No.8  28.6%.

Audi A4 on sale since 2016  No.9  27.8%.

Dacia Sandero (the cheapest new car in the U.K.) on sale since 2013  No.10  24.3%.

For comparison Skoda Octavia on sale since 2013 7.3% REPORTED FAULTS.

And finally Skoda Fabia on sale since 2014  4.1% REPORTED FAULTS.

Conclusion if you like visiting your dealer other than for routine servicing then buy a BMW!

[shyVRS245]

On 4/14/2018 at 22:05, stu83 said:

 

Just like you make use of the heated rear window to warm your hands as you're pushing your broken down Skoda 

 

It's not only Alfa who has a reputation best left in the past!

You might want to think again about reliable ALFA's see above list!

[Gerrycan]

Brother in law loves his Alfas with a couple of new 147 in succession followed by a diesel 156 over the last 20 years and he claims no problems experienced. However his annual mileages are low.

Conversely my niece bought a new Guliea 1.7 (5 years ago?) for her then big commute and although it was a good drive it left her stranded 3 times in 18 months so was replaced with a Mazda CX5 which has been trouble free.

I hope you are lucky with your Alfa.

 

To be honest VW do not have a good reputation for reliability here in Australia because of the twincharger engine issues and the dry DSG problems and particularly VW's appalling treatment of affected customers at that time (since improved). Many of the VW sold here were/are manufactured in South Africa or Mexico but I do not know if that is a factor.

The VW are good drives so opinions tend to be polarised depending on past/recent experiences.

 

Skoda seem less tainted here and my original decision to buy a Skoda when they were re-introduced in Australia was based on the facts that the Octavia Mk2 estate was far more spacious than the equivalent  Golf mk5 and the Skoda always polled far higher than VW for satisfaction and reliability, even in Germany.

After owning a succession of pragmatic and boring Korean MPV and SUV, even the bog standard Octavia (mk2 and mk3) just felt a relative joy to drive. Both reliable too (touch wood)

Edited 18 April, 2018 by Gerrycan
speling

[shyVRS245]

2 minutes ago, Gerrycan said:

Brother in law loves his Alfas with a couple of new 147 in succession followed by a diesel 156 over the last 20 years and he claims no problems experienced. However his annual mileages are low.

Conversely my niece bought a new Guliea 1.7 (5 years ago?) for her then big commute and although it was a good drive it left her stranded 3 times in 18 months so was replaced with a Mazda CX5 which has been trouble free.

I hope you are lucky with your Alfa.

 

To be honest VW do not have a good reputation for reliability here in Australia because of the twincharger engine issues and the dry DSG problems and particularly VW's appalling treatment of affected customers at that time (since improved). Many of the VW sold here were/are manufactured in South Africa or Mexico but I do not know if that is a factor.

The VW are good drives so opinions tend to be polarised depending on past/recent experiences.

 

Skoda seem less tainted here and my original decision to by a Skoda when they were re-introduced in Australia was based on the facts that the Octavia Mk2 estate was far more spacious than the equivalent  Golf mk5 and the Skoda always polled far higher than VW for satisfaction and reliability, even in Germany.

After owning a succession of pragmatic and boring Korean MPV and SUV, even the bog standard Octavia just felt a relative joy to drive.

In the same survey VW products had consistently more faults than the equivalent Skoda and my last 2 Skoda's which included a 2016  Superb (16,000miles in 16 months) and current FL Octavia VRS245 (so far 8,500miles in 8 months) have had NO FAULTS whatsoever. Therefore I have been very impressed with the build quality and state of the local roads where I live is shocking, local council should be ashamed of themselves.

[stu83]

On 18/04/2018 at 14:33, shyVRS245 said:

You might want to think again about reliable ALFA's see above list!

 

Meh, it's put a much bigger smile on my face in the last month than the Octavia did over 18 months, so it's worth it. My Octavia went wrong twice in this time, so it'll be interesting to see how the Alfa fares.

 

The Alfa also came in at number 3 in the "best cars to own", which considering the scarcity of them on the roads is pretty damned impressive.

[Mark7]

On 4/19/2018 at 00:14, Gerrycan said:

To be honest VW do not have a good reputation for reliability here in Australia because of the twincharger engine issues and the dry DSG problems and particularly VW's appalling treatment of affected customers at that time (since improved). Many of the VW sold here were/are manufactured in South Africa or Mexico but I do not know if that is a factor.

The VW are good drives so opinions tend to be polarised depending on past/recent experiences.

 

Skoda seem less tainted here and my original decision to buy a Skoda when they were re-introduced in Australia was based on the facts that the Octavia Mk2 estate was far more spacious than the equivalent  Golf mk5 and the Skoda always polled far higher than VW for satisfaction and reliability, even in Germany.

After owning a succession of pragmatic and boring Korean MPV and SUV, even the bog standard Octavia (mk2 and mk3) just felt a relative joy to drive. Both reliable too (touch wood)

 

Same here, i was originally looking at the Golf R wagon but chose the Octavia based on an number of things but reliability and customer service were a couple of main reasons. The sales rep could'nt do enough for me when i was looking at the Golf but the attitude soon changed when he realised i was heading towards the Octavia.

 

For fully comp i was quoted $1770 for a Levrog Sport, $1090 for the Gold R Wagon but only $610 for the 245 VRS, just another tick for the Octavia when deciding which to buy.

[Gerrycan]

23 minutes ago, Mark7 said:

 

Same here, i was originally looking at the Golf R wagon but chose the Octavia based on an number of things but reliability and customer service were a couple of main reasons. The sales rep could'nt do enough for me when i was looking at the Golf but the attitude soon changed when he realised i was heading towards the Octavia.

 

For fully comp i was quoted $1770 for a Levrog Sport, $1090 for the Gold R Wagon but only $610 for the 245 VRS, just another tick for the Octavia when deciding which to buy.

The conflict of interest factor was probably the reason that the Skoda franchise was taken away from Solitaire in Adelaide. Not that I had any issues with Solitaire on the two occasions I bought from them but I'm not sure if the new franchise has the deep resource of VAG product experience that Solitaire has for servicing since they did everything from Skoda, VW, Audi up to Bentley at their Mile End site.

I am out of warranty now and weighing up whether to go with an independent on the next service.

[shyVRS245]

9 hours ago, stu83 said:

 

Meh, it's put a much bigger smile on my face in the last month than the Octavia did over 18 months, so it's worth it. My Octavia went wrong twice in this time, so it'll be interesting to see how the Alfa fares.

 

The Alfa also came in at number 3 in the "best cars to own", which considering the scarcity of them on the roads is pretty damned impressive.

Yeah and at No.1 is the KIA NIRO, not exactly exciting winner was it! Bet your not jealous of the runner-up either, the equally thrilling Peugeot 3008.

[shyVRS245]

50 minutes ago, Mark7 said:

 

Same here, i was originally looking at the Golf R wagon but chose the Octavia based on an number of things but reliability and customer service were a couple of main reasons. The sales rep could'nt do enough for me when i was looking at the Golf but the attitude soon changed when he realised i was heading towards the Octavia.

 

For fully comp i was quoted $1770 for a Levrog Sport, $1090 for the Gold R Wagon but only $610 for the 245 VRS, just another tick for the Octavia when deciding which to buy.

In the UK just got fully comp insurance on my VRS245 for £280 for comparison, group 29 here out of 50 highest possible groups. Great value considering the performance and possible 47mpg with a little self control.

[Mark7]

I think your right about Solitaire loosing the franchise and your definitely right about have more knowledge and experience, we shall see how Jarvis go should I need any warranty issues fixing as I’ve only just had the car in Dec, but was registered in Sept so plenty of time to go

[Mark7]

Sound around the same cost for fully comp insurance UK vs AUS then especially since the cost of insurance has gone up in the UK over the years 

[Robbijay]

On 13/04/2018 at 08:22, butchvrs said:

Some main roads in Gloucestershire are akin to driving down farm tracks they're in such a state! But I guess it's the same Country wide .

 

No you're right, it's Gloucester, they're all appalling. Unfortunately for my wife (and named keeper of the vRS) she works for HIghways Gloucester, so I go home and just complain to her that its all her fault! (even though she has nothing to do with the actual quality). It get even worse when they 'resurface' but actually they just 'surface dress' and let the cars compress the tarmac. They did that to the A38 between Quedgeley and Whitminster a couple of years ago, at the time I was cycling to work In Bristol once a week and they just made it all worse!!). 

 

As far as the car quality goes, we probably have caused this ourselves, because everyone just wants the newest, so stuff doesn't have to lat any more. I took my 86 and asked for some new locking wheel nuts as they'd gone black within 2 years and was told it was wear and tear. the nuts on my then 9 y/o 100+k Volvo were still shiny and like new (as was the inside). I doubt any car bought now will be like that in 10 years time!

Edited 20 April, 2018 by Robbijay

[EddGee]

9 hours ago, shyVRS245 said:

In the UK just got fully comp insurance on my VRS245 for £280 for comparison, group 29 here out of 50 highest possible groups. Great value considering the performance and possible 47mpg with a little self control.

Was that with the modifications declared?

 

Yours is running over 300BHP which I would have thought would make the  insurance costs much higher. 

 

The only reason I ask is I’m thinking of getting mine remapped myself and wondered how much it would increase by. 

 

If thats the cost including the mods then that’s brilliant. Who are you insured with? 

[shyVRS245]

7 minutes ago, EddGee said:

Was that with the modifications declared?

 

Yours is running over 300BHP which I would have thought would make the  insurance costs much higher. 

 

The only reason I ask is I’m thinking of getting mine remapped myself and wondered how much it would increase by. 

 

If thats the cost including the mods then that’s brilliant. Who are you insured with? 

To be quite honest I was going to blow them out because they charged me an extra £113 for the 8 months from August until now and when they quoted £438 was guaranteed to change as everyone was telling me about £330. It was only when I said I was going elsewhere they came up with low £280 price. Don't want to give them any publicity either because they did not QUOTE ME HAPPY come renewal time!