Okay, so having previously bought one of the last MkII FL Octavias (diesel vRS Blackline) back in 2013, I am now very, very late to the Mk III (FL) party having recently collected one of the "leftovers" of new/newish manual petrol vRS Estates - although it was registered in March it had less than 150 miles on it.

 

I'm slowly noticing annoying things that are different from MkII to MkIII, other than the obvious which were spotted on the test drive (like the handbrake) , and wondered if anyone else had similar experiences and things I should watch out for

 

- I can't get comfy. Now I've done some longer journeys it feels like either the seats have moved a fraction to the left, or the pedals - particularly the accelerator - have moved to the right. Feels like I'm having to twist my leg to reach the go pedal with my toes/ball of my foot when i place my heel in what feels like a natural place. Anyone else get this or am I imagining things ?

 

- there's no tray in between the back of the rear seats and the boot roller cover. Is that normal or is this something that the dealer has "yoink"ed out the car without me noticing it? in the mkII it was a good size for a larger brolly, a windscreen sun protector and to hide an air freshener

 

- Cruise control. On both my MkII Octy, and my Fabia MkI vRS before it, when cruise control was active, and you pressed the clutch, it completely cancelled the cruise. Now in the new car, it simply "pauses" or "relaxes" the cruise control and when you lift off the clutch, the car goes back to the cruising speed. (caught me by surprise as I was approaching the back of someone).

I had got quite used to being able to cancel the cruise with my feet (without touching the brake), rather than fiddling with that wee switch.

 

Anything else small and petty I can look forward to being annoyed by ? - maybe i should read more of the manual 

Edited 28 August, 20196 yr by Wet Kipper
edited for clarity

Our Mazda cause control cancels with the clutch... Add have most cars I've driven.   So I was surprised also.

However I have to admit I prefer it, it allows you to drop a gear on a hill, then go back up without it cancelling.

 

 

1 - Mk3 definitely less comfy but more supportive (apart from side bolsters on elegance model).  I feel less tired after a long drive but agree that the pedal position takes some getting used to.

 

2 - Never had this in my old Mk2 hatch so not missing it now.  In the process of making my own multifunction 'tray' to go under the retractable cover for brollys etc.  Will post up here once I have version 1.0 made.

 

3 - DSG driver here so not had the pleasure of this but I do use a tap of the brake to cancel cruise sometimes.  Other times I flick the wee switch as the first half of the throw is spring loaded.  Much easier to use than the Mk2 switch which turned it off completely.  This one still turns it off if you push it far enough.

 

One thing that really bugs me is the arm rest on the door.  The cushioning is very thin and soon becomes an irritant but there is nowhere else to put your arm o long journeys.  I may have a look at refitting it with thicker/firmer padding.

The two that get me is:

 

1. The lack of a foot rest on the right-hand side for your right foot when on cruise.
2. The stupid location of the bonnet release - a right PITA for me as I can't easily open the N/S door when my car is in the garage so I can't open the bonnet to check the oil before I start the car.

Apart from that I prefer my O3 F/L over my previous O2 F/L the LED headlights are brilliant as is Infotainment update.

The rear seat bases don't flip forward to allow for a proper fully flat folded seat arrangement.

 

The box under the armrest isn't air conditioned. 

1 minute ago, Kenai said:

The rear seat bases don't flip forward to allow for a proper fully flat folded seat arrangement.

If you pull the rear seat headrests fully up before you fold the seats down they will go fully flat.

1 minute ago, PetrolDave said:

If you pull the rear seat headrests fully up before you fold the seats down they will go fully flat.

You still end up with a ridge halfway along the load space though which I'm sure my mk2 didn't have (this is maybe hidden with variable boot floor cars) 

One thing that annoys the hell out of me about the Octavia and most euro cars, coming from Jap cars is the fuel filler being on the wrong side.  Laziness in design of you ask me.  

Move the steering wheel, move the bloody fuel filler! 

 

Technically the rear seats also split the wrong way too, which I find less annoying as it actually works out better when you have a child seat in the rear passenger side.

Edited 28 August, 20196 yr by Alex-W

8 minutes ago, Alex-W said:

One thing that annoys the hell out of me about the Octavia and most euro cars, coming from Jap cars is the fuel filler being on the wrong side.  Laziness in design of you ask me.  

Move the steering wheel, move the bloody fuel filler! 

 

Technically the rear seats also split the wrong way too, which I find less annoying as it actually works out better when you have a child seat in the rear passenger side.

In what way is it on the wrong side - it is the same side as the driver - so no need to walk round the car to fill up.

Filler caps are supposed to be on the passenger side, so that you can pull up close to a fuel pump and still open your door.

All Jap cars, due to them being the in Japan have filler caps on the left.  

Most euro cars, due to being natively LHD have them on the right.

They usually don't bother changing sides when they move the steering wheel.

5 minutes ago, Alex-W said:

 

They usually don't bother changing sides when they move the steering wheel.

 

Can’t think of any manufacturer that would. The logistics of it are quite considerable. Different fuel tank, exhaust etc. 

So, laziness then 😆

 

I know it wouldn't be economical to do so but it's still annoying.

Our old Mk II was certainly more comfortable. The accelerator pedal pivoted from the floor so it followed  the natural movement of your foot. 

Other than that I have no issues. I prefer the Mk III.

Oh, the PD engine sounded better from outside compared to the CDI which sounds like a bag of nails imo.

Edited 28 August, 20196 yr by Chimble

Surely one of the biggest differences between the two is the petrol/diesel divide.

 

It went from marginal 16bhp  difference hardly worth it vs the fuel saving you get from the deisel to a fair difference of 35 to 60 bhp.

 

Not that that's a negative.  Whatever the negatives, that's a fair plus.  Ive never driven a MK3 but I did a mk1 which was slow for a top power model.  The MK2 wasn't enough of a jump, I became interested again with the MK3 as it was getting that little bit better and also remaps much higher should I feel like going that route.

 

I'd forgotten about the bonnet release, thanks for the reminder

17 hours ago, Alex-W said:

One thing that annoys the hell out of me about the Octavia and most euro cars, coming from Jap cars is the fuel filler being on the wrong side.  Laziness in design of you ask me.  

Move the steering wheel, move the bloody fuel filler! 

 

Technically the rear seats also split the wrong way too, which I find less annoying as it actually works out better when you have a child seat in the rear passenger side.

Just pull up at the other side of the fuel pump ,cant see how theres a wrong and a right side ,i wouldnt want the fuel line resting on my car while i filled they seem to be shorter than they used to

So, the filler is on the drivers side, so to get it next to the pump and avoid trailing across the car etc, as you describe you have to park with the pump on your right....  Meaning quite often it's a pain to get out the car, avoiding the buckets of sand or whatever signage they have etc, making sure you don't hit the door on anything.

Quite often the kerbs the pumps are on are really high and you can hit your door on them if your car is low.

 

If it's on the left, like Jap cars, you can pull up with the pump close to the left of the car, no trailing across the car and no issue getting out.

Filling up your car sounds really stressfull have you thought of cycling lol

Not stressful at all, just a bit annoying.

A bit like explaining really simple concepts multiple times...  

Verbal hand grenade>>>>

 

How about pulling up far enough away from the pump to open the door and you also have a nice space by the car to stand while filling up.  I understand the concept of having it on the other side but it is a none issue unless the particular garage is particularly tight space wise.

Not a big deal which side the filler is on to me. Just remembering what side it's on when pulling up to the pumps. Somebody once pointed out to me if the fuel gauge is to the right of the temperature gauge the filler cap is on the offside and vice versa. Of course somebody could have been telling me porkys! 

21 minutes ago, benterrier said:

Not a big deal which side the filler is on to me. Just remembering what side it's on when pulling up to the pumps. Somebody once pointed out to me if the fuel gauge is to the right of the temperature gauge the filler cap is on the offside and vice versa. Of course somebody could have been telling me porkys! 

 

Actually there is a little arrow next to the fuel gauge telling you which side its on.

 

Edited 29 August, 20196 yr by MarkyG82

Well, so there is. I'll have a look at other cars I drive 

I am glad its on the right... imagine the problem if all cars had it on the same side, the double sided fuel pumps would be useless...  

6 hours ago, Alex-W said:

Not stressful at all, just a bit annoying.

A bit like explaining really simple concepts multiple times...  

Sorry bud ime just joshing with ya ime a sarcastic knob sometimes and cant resist ,no harm meant