Well after just over a year the Mk3 is going. 

 

It's my 13th Skoda and other than excellent economy is the first that's performed below expectations.

 

I've had quite a few common warranty issues, DSG clutch packs, mechatronics and gear lever.  I've had a wheel bearing replaced and a pipe to the heater matrix dumped all the coolant in the cabin.

I have a hum from 1500rpm that "They all do that sir" which I know some do but VW do a fix, Skoda don't.

 

But that's not the main reason, I find the ride harsh and the refinement poor. Although the tech is newer on the Mk3 our Mk2 has a nicer ride, is more refined and feels more soild and better built.

 

I'll still be here as we still have two Skoda's, I've had VAG products for over 10 years but I'll be trying something different this time.

 

As I have a motorway commute I've gone for a larger cruiser.

 

Lee

 

Edited 27 March, 20197 yr by logiclee

Nice whip, enjoy...

Disappointed with reliability and you've bought a Jag instead - brave!

Just now, Kenai said:

Disappointed with reliability and you've bought a Jag instead - brave!

 

The reliability issues were not my biggest issues with the Mk3. Yes I had them and the warranty sorted them.

 

My main issue is with the ride, build and refinement. The ride is crashy, the doors feel like tin cans when shutting and mainly at 80mph the noise level is very poor

 

The Jag is relatively quiet at motorway+ speeds even with 245/40x19's.

 

Time will tell how the reliability goes but my model would have been included in the 2017 JD power results where Jaguar were above the industry average, above Audi, Merc and BMW and the XF won the Large/Luxury car segment.

 

But the Octavia also won that year and that didn't mean much to me.

 

Lee

27 minutes ago, logiclee said:

 

The reliability issues were not my biggest issues with the Mk3. Yes I had them and the warranty sorted them.

 

My main issue is with the ride, build and refinement. The ride is crashy, the doors feel like tin cans when shutting and mainly at 80mph the noise level is very poor

 

The Jag is relatively quiet at motorway+ speeds even with 245/40x19's.

 

Time will tell how the reliability goes but my model would have been included in the 2017 JD power results where Jaguar were above the industry average, above Audi, Merc and BMW and the XF won the Large/Luxury car segment.

 

But the Octavia also won that year and that didn't mean much to me.

 

Lee

Lee, I concur with the Mk3’s lack of refinement and build quality. Mine is a ‘14 plate petrol vRS.  My Mk2 vRS was much better in those areas. 

 

I have just bought Mrs Dunc a ‘64 plate Golf 7 1.4 TSI GT 150.  I had a Golf 5 which wasn’t up to the quality of my Mk2 Octy. Now the Golf 7 is  significantly better quality than the Octy 3, particularly inside and in terms of refinement. 

 

I still love the vRS, and the space and pace are a great family / Dad combo, but the quality of the Golf has shaken my Skoda obsession..... 

Interesting, I am no alone. I have found the Octavia a bit of a disappointment too. A cheaper golf built from many  inferior parts which are sourced locally. 

 

I had a wheel bearing fail last week and was also last week of warranty. That on top of a turbo failure a couple of months ago and I agree about refinement, tatty holed carpets, poor saggy seats.  Brake disc hubs thick rust  within months. Corrosion on extreme alloys. Door mirror dropped out.   I won’t be getting another. Be proper VW or Audi or other more mainstream. The Octy has had more problems than any car I can remember from last 20+  years and that’s a lot of cars. 

5 minutes ago, teescom09 said:

Interesting, I am no alone. I have found the Octavia a bit of a disappointment too. A cheaper golf built from many  inferior parts which are sourced locally.

 

My 63 plate VRS failed me on (i) p1$$p00r fuel economy, (ii) sticky buttons on the right-hand side of the steering wheel that only worked when they felt like it, (iii) constant regens and (iv) a headlight washer flap that refused to retract fully.

 

Other than that, no complaints - very solidly built and it felt like it was putting out way-y-y-y more than 184bhp (maybe it was and that accounted for the dreadful fuel economy?)

 

Skoda have come a very long way since the days of my childhood where you pointed and laughed at them (and Ladas).

2 minutes ago, teescom09 said:

Interesting, I am no alone. I have found the Octavia a bit of a disappointment too. A cheaper golf built from many  inferior parts which are sourced locally. 

 

I had a wheel bearing fail last week and was also last week of warranty. That on top of a turbo failure a couple of months ago and I agree about refinement, tatty holed carpets, poor saggy seats.  Brake disc hubs thick rust  within months. Corrosion on extreme alloys. Door mirror dropped out.   I won’t be getting another. Be proper VW or Audi or other more mainstream. The Octy has had more problems than any car I can remember from last 20+  years and that’s a lot of cars. 

 

I had Skoda's before VW.

 

An Estelle and a Rapid when it was a rear engined Coupe.  Yes they were cheap and sometimes unreliable but you knew what you were getting.

Then through Favorite, Felicia and Fabia that my wife owned every model was a big improvement.

 

I had Mk1 and Mk2 Octavia's and again the progression was easy to see and feel. We had a pair of Yeti's and they were rock Solid build wise.

 

Then the Mk3 Octavia. The MQB chassis and tech maybe a technological marvel but the way Skoda have built the Mk3 and the components used are a step backwards for quality in my opinion. That's the first time in nearly 4 decades and 13 cars I've felt that.

1 hour ago, Kenai said:

Disappointed with reliability and you've bought a Jag instead - brave!

 

Mondeo with a Jag Skin 

 

47 minutes ago, CJW1973 said:

 

Mondeo with a Jag Skin 

 

 

Wrong platform.

 

X-Type was Mondeo, transversed engined and FWD.

 

XF is bigger, longitudinal engined and RWD. The original platform is Ford DEW98 (Mid to large RWD World Platform) based which was used on the S Type Jag but heavily revised  for the XF.

 

You'd never fit a 5.0 Supercharged V8 in a Mondeo platforms engine bay.

 

 

Lee

Edited 27 March, 20197 yr by logiclee

50 minutes ago, CJW1973 said:

 

Mondeo with a Jag Skin 

 

Even if it was, whats wrong with a Mondeo? Consistently one off if not the best large family hatchback of last 25 years.  Endorsed by every motoring specialist that knows what he is talking about. That’s why they have sold millions more than Octavia and always will. I would have a Mondeo without hesitation if they brought out another hot version. If I just wanted a standard powered car I wouldn’t consider any Skoda now. 

5 minutes ago, teescom09 said:

Even if it was, whats wrong with a Mondeo? Consistently one off if not the best large family hatchback of last 25 years.  Endorsed by every motoring specialist that knows what he is talking about. That’s why they have sold millions more than Octavia and always will. I would have a Mondeo without hesitation if they brought out another hot version. If I just wanted a standard powered car I wouldn’t consider any Skoda now. 

Nothing wrong with Mondeo Had one for 15 years as a Taxi Now own Skoda Mk3 and do prefer Mondeo 

 

8 minutes ago, teescom09 said:

Even if it was, whats wrong with a Mondeo? Consistently one off if not the best large family hatchback of last 25 years.  Endorsed by every motoring specialist that knows what he is talking about. That’s why they have sold millions more than Octavia and always will. I would have a Mondeo without hesitation if they brought out another hot version. If I just wanted a standard powered car I wouldn’t consider any Skoda now. 

 

Had four Mondeo's

 

Loved my last one. 

 

If people drove a Mondeo and were honest.......  most wouldn’t even consider an Octavia ..... and don’t.  I got the VRS estate because I wanted petrol only, the performance and size. Has a nice engine but that’s not enough to get another, 

3 minutes ago, logiclee said:

 

Had four Mondeo's

 

Loved my last one. 

 

Great engine. Designed by Cosworth with extremely tight tolerances to get it into a transverse layout. I had the 2.5 in a Cougar.  

4 minutes ago, teescom09 said:

If people drove a Mondeo and were honest.......  most wouldn’t even consider an Octavia ..... and don’t.  I got the VRS estate because I wanted petrol only, the performance and size. Has a nice engine but that’s not enough to get another, 

 

The current Mk5 is a little softer. The last Mk3 I had drove much better than the Passat that replaced it.

 

Even if they were not the fastest the handling was sublime.

 

 

I'm not surprised to hear many of the comments. The use of thinner high tensile steel has made the Mk3 Octavia in the region of 70kg lighter than the Mk2 and that is bound to come through in terms of lessrefinement and quietness. I too have noticed the almost 1960s Peugeot like solidity of the Mk2.  I quite like my Mk3 4x4 estate and with the 2.0 tdi it certainly goes quite fast enough for me. I'm not a power merchant, but like general driveability and long journey ability. I'm OK with the ride and wonder if some people have gone too low profile on the wheels/ tyres as that can play havoc with ride. I've always been nervous of the DSG, just like I steered clear of the Selespeed on my Alfa 156. When it works its great......But..the Alfas seemed to need a new actuator every few years and the DSG's seem to be plagued by expensive glitches too.

 

Mine has just goosed its clutch slave cylinder at 30,000 miles and having goosed a front wheel bearing at 25,000 miles......I'm not that impressed either. I'm reading of failures on here that are directly relatable to lower quality components. I've never really been a Ford man..had three Escorts though, but my late father in laws Mondeo Titanium 2.0 is a superb car ( his son uses it now) 

 

Not that good sounding is it. I certainly like my Octavia, but i can't say I'm in love with it.

14 hours ago, logiclee said:

 

The reliability issues were not my biggest issues with the Mk3. Yes I had them and the warranty sorted them.

 

My main issue is with the ride, build and refinement. The ride is crashy, the doors feel like tin cans when shutting and mainly at 80mph the noise level is very poor

 

The Jag is relatively quiet at motorway+ speeds even with 245/40x19's.

 

Time will tell how the reliability goes but my model would have been included in the 2017 JD power results where Jaguar were above the industry average, above Audi, Merc and BMW and the XF won the Large/Luxury car segment.

 

But the Octavia also won that year and that didn't mean much to me.

 

Lee

 

That's intersting, not long after I registered with Briskoda I mentioned that very door issue and got slated for it with one person saying I was a Skoda hater!

 

Had my car serviced recently and filled out the survey - the vast majority of it 10 out of 10. Then the question would you buy another? And that was so hard to answer, I said no.  It's cheap to run, my car has been 100% reliable, it's big, comfortable, has most option boxes ticked, yet it's hard to get over the cost cutting on the car.  But of course, that's why it's cheap!  I often think what would I replace it with and I can't honestly say there's any car I would replace it with.

 

Jaguar XF? Good luck with it. If ride etc is a priority then you've done the right thing, but you need deep pockets to keep it on the road.

 

re: X-type.  I was in the market for a small exec when X-type first appeared. Whenever I'd walk in to a BMW / Audi / Merc / Lexus etc showroom and was asked what other cars I was considering, the salesman would say " bah, it's just a re-badged Mondeo" to which I would always retort " Yes I was a bit worried about the X-type at first, but when they said it was based on a Mondeo which is one of the best handling cars I've ever driven, I was really happy".  It's not an answer they expected.  Anyway I rejected the Jag because of the running costs. Buying it was easy but keeping it on the road would have been painful, especially for a true Scot.

 

 

I don’t hate Skoda, yet. But certainly proved to be not as good as other VAG brands and as they produce more of the parts themselves, getting worse. Safe to say they aren’t even on my future shopping lists. I don’t become biased to justify my purchase. 

 

Why will an XF be expensive to keep on the road? I know of a few and all 100% reliable. On top of that vastly superior in every way to any Skoda, not on the same planet.  My vRS would have cost me £4000 the last 3 months if the work hadn’t scraped into end of warranty. And I’m by no means alone. 

I am sorry but I can never look at a Jag without thinking of this Top Gear segment