Only a couple of month ago the car needed a new thermostat and water pump at a cost of £750.

 

Last week I noticed the car was losing coolant so it's booked in at a specialist today and they've just rang to say the radiator is leaking and it's £400 to replace.

 

I'm just checking that the cost is about right? 

 

I'm a bit annoyed, the car is 5 year old with 50,000 on the clock and it's cost me over £1,000 in the last couple of month!

 

 

Radiators can usually be repaired by a specialist at perhaps half that price or less.

Check the hoses aren't leaking at the joints first. They're probably not, but I don't always have the biggest amount of faith in the diagnostic skills of modern garages. 

 

I guessing a fair whack of that's going to be labour. I don't know this age Octavia specifically, but on most VAGs, you have to open the bonnet and start detaching parts at the bumper and work backwards until you get to the radiator. It's generally straightforward spannering, just time consuming. The worst bit is normally realigning the slam/front panel and headlights (I take the bolts out of the panel one at a time and draw around inside the hole with a fine marker pen). It should certainly be DIY'able, it's just a question of the value of a day off versus the repair bill.

Motor parts direct list it as £170.

https://www.mpdonline.co.uk/skoda-octavia-2.0-petrol-2016/product/cooling-heating-co-radiators-heaters-coolers-htex-co/radiator/NIS65302

Coolant is what, £15?

 

Depends on how difficult it is to get to.  Can't say I've looked.  £200 is 3-4 hours labour.  That seems a lot on first glance. 

2 or 3 hrs labour is often around about the £80 ph mark, plus VAT.

They've said that they've pressure tested the system track down the leak.

Part, which I'm assuming is genuine is around £300, then around £100 for labour. They did explain there's a lot of hoses to disconnect and the air con needs re-gassing.

6 hours ago, TheBinarySheep said:

They've said that they've pressure tested the system track down the leak.

Part, which I'm assuming is genuine is around £300, then around £100 for labour. They did explain there's a lot of hoses to disconnect and the air con needs re-gassing.

If it's similar to a MK2 (not changed a MK3 radiator) then why does the aircon need to be touched, I might be wrong though.