Hi All,

I bought my wife a 2012 Fabia Estate in October 2022 and have been impressed enough to buy a 2014 2l tdi Octavia Estate myself in November last year. I've looked around the various user groups and this looks the most sensible and welcoming as I've already met the spotty kid at the carwash who wants to tell me my car is "no f*^kin good wivvart a stage 2 map an' coilovers mate".  I come from Land Rovers though, so I'm used to a bit of banter! I'll keep quiet now for a bit and learn who are the various gurus for these vehicles, hopefully one day I too may be able to impart some knowledge to a newbie.

Should have listened to him 'bruv.  That spotty kid knows it all.

 

Hopefully you both enjoy your motors, so welcome 🤝

🤣🤣

You know it - I work with those spotty kids. The Fabia is my wife's daily and the dog truck, the Octavia is (mostly) the long-distance cruiser whose next big outing will be to Skye in March, a 1400 mile round trip. It'll be a completely different experience from my much-missed Freelander but hopefully a more relaxing drive. Thanks for the welcome.

 

That's a nice long trip out for the motor, hopefully you get out nice and refreshed.

The 2.0 tdi is a particularly adept motorway cruiser as you just get up to 6th and go. Efficient too on a good run.

 

I used to regularly do in the region of 250-400 a day and I’d say it was great. 
 

Make sure your tyres are up to correct pressures when cold as it makes everything better.

 

Also worth making sure your screen wash is full plus you have some concentrate to make up another 3-5L. The headlight washers drink the stuff 

Coming from a Freelander, tyres are first on my list when it comes to pre-journey checks as ignoring them can be catastrophic. Thanks for the heads-up for the screenwash: I’d forgotten completely about the headlight washers and could have been caught out.

On a damp day with salted roads and a bit of spray I could easily go through 3-4L when driving. 
 

Estate wise… get the mud flaps, they hugely reduced the rear window spray IMHO. Also make sure the wiper blades are in good nick particularly the rear as it can be a bit harder to find outside of dealerships.

 

Also worth a check for the silica bag in the coolant and its condition. There is a thread on here as that can lead to expensive repairs. 
 

Change the air and pollen filters if they have not been done in the last 12-24 months and if you have hit 80k+ do the fuel filter. All give a reasonable improvement in MPG bar the cabin/pollen filter which just makes the AC work better and keep musty smells away.

 

Finally the drivers seat took me a while to get just right. I spent the first few journeys constantly adjusting.

 

Enjoy the car. 👍

That’s a whole load of screenwash, point taken!

I had the DSG serviced and the cam belt/water pump done this month and had the reservoir checked for a silica bag. Luckily there isn’t one on my car so the previous owner must have had the same thoughts. The car was serviced before I collected it and the filters were all changed so I reckon I’m ok there. Getting the seat right is important for me so I’ll be experimenting for the next month!