Hi Folks,

Firstly, just to say it is great to see this active and supportive community posting quality constructive information; I have been really impressed with what I have read here so far and I only wish I could find a community with these attributes for my daily-driver; well done to all of you it has been a pleasure reading your forum.

 

So my wife and I were delighted to pick up a bargain VRS hatch in Sydney, Australia last week with a mere 54,000km on the clock.  After some cosmetic TLC by me, she looks good as new.

 

There is a only a couple of months remaining on the manufacturer warranty (5yrs here) commencing at the point of sale, not earlier.  So whilst seemingly the car is fault free, I am keen to get it looked at independently and then drop in to Skoda with a "please check or rectify" list (as was a good play with my daily driver).

 

SO I'M LOOKING FOR COMMENT FROM THE GROUP ON COMMON ISSUES ON EARLY MKIII VRS.  DO YOU FOLKS KNOW OF ANY COMMON ISSUE ON THE EARLY MODELS?

 

What I have gleaned to-date:

 

Turbo: I'm pretty certain the car was a 2013 build, so the variant for the IS20 Honeywell Turbo is a probably my biggest worry, seems a few reports in VRS and rather more in the MK7 Golf GTI (which I'm assuming was released earlier) breaking up and pieces of turbine going in to the engine. Need to get a cleaning brush and magnifying mirror to the tag to check the variant.

 

Suspension: Some niggles and noises (not sure why), I have to say this car is a noiser and bumpier ride than I expected but again everything is relative to what you are used to  - anyone know what the actual issue with the suspension/chassis is (accept that it not blessed with much sound deadening).

 

Lights: Minor Electrical faults, no real pattern in relation to operation of exterior and interior lights

 

DSG Gearbox: Some comments about, I'm forming the view these are not applicable to the MKIII Octavia having been worked out by VAG.

 

Any advice, no matter how loose or broad is much appreciated, be it issues not touched on here or correction/confirmation of my understanding here.

 

Thanks all.

 

 

 

 

 

I am guessing that if you do not have an actual fault the dealer will simply say normal for age and refuse to do anything.  There is no way they will return the car to as-new or change parts just because there may have been issues with a small number of cars.

 

If you bought from a Skoda dealer did you not get a 12 month warranty?

 

If you bough privately and are concerned about the future then take out an extended warranty.

24 minutes ago, octavia5 said:

I am guessing that if you do not have an actual fault the dealer will simply say normal for age and refuse to do anything.  There is no way they will return the car to as-new or change parts just because there may have been issues with a small number of cars.

 

If you bought from a Skoda dealer did you not get a 12 month warranty?

 

If you bough privately and are concerned about the future then take out an extended warranty.

Unfortunately this.

Skoda are not interested in what your independent garage has to say.

They will complete their own diagnostics and unless anything comes up as fault, it won't be looked at.

This isn't a Skoda thing, no manufacturer is going to do pre-emptive work based on what "might happen".

If there are any actual faults to be seen, then it should be going back to Skoda in the first instance - as diagnostics through to repair and all parts would be covered under the warranty.

Thanks for your thoughts folks.

 

Picked up the car privately; the seller advertised an extended basis but he's actually voided that by not getting it serviced every six months (seems absurd unless clocking high kms), suspect that was chucked in by the dealer to make the sale.

 

Anyway, will definitely be looking out for any outstanding service campaigns and have the independent see if there are any fault codes as well as a visual once over and test drive by them; agree with your comment that if its not actually a defective part with a active defect then skoda shouldn't be expected to do anything, we buy one car not an on-going unlimited access to any and all replacements.

 

Might be worth a private extended warranty option to cover these contingencies as you say, I should compare that to putting away some cash is the IS20 turns out to be one of the early variants.   Will need to look at the terms and cost for providers here in Aus.

 

I guess the key suggestions I'm looking for is if the forum knows of common issues that are worth keeping an eye out for (notably if they are not something that provides an error code early on).

 

From my reading arouind the DSG + 2.0TSI looks to be the pick of the bunch for reliability, with Skoda being right up there for relaibility and customer satisfaction. 

 

Cheers.