Hi all,

 

In advance, thanks for your time in reading my post. I have low income and hoping someone would be kind enough to guide me with my issue.

 

I have a Skoda Octavia Mk2 Estate, 1.9tdi, was driving along a couple days ago and suddenly one of the rear wheels suddenly went inwards - im not a mechanic so forgive my poor way of describing it. Managed to crawl it to the local garage I use who are very honest and understand my finance position and told me my rear beam axle has failed. He said one brand new is a lot of money so I could try ebay. He did say if possible try to get a complete set and mentioned the word subframe but maybe I miss heard or its the same thing?

 

Would someone kindly sanity check the ebay item I found and say if its a good or terrible idea as its unbranded. I thought perhaps replacing the control arms, etc would be a sound idea.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234038610616?fits=Car+Make%3ASkoda|Plat_Gen%3AMK+II|Model%3AOctavia&hash=item367dc9cab8:g:EFAAAOSwhIRkPjCs&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAABAOP%2Foo3vFsjNGFSX2mBFcqet71No2f%2BfPe2a2LIIABxphow11zmnWO7WLbpqyt9ddjbSR6Q0g4MrMzbOc083VJp7%2B%2FGoYKul7Wxjg2PpXMSsR5gcAXmvieAE%2BoZR0w%2FxnaVYSvNCltjb%2B%2Bh7DsjSTTPgbhOgGEL1HWitoqkLgIhTq78un9oRW93WlrPf8q07jnHy21REAHsWnceaGiLh5RRnbvxnLaiQQkiAVGonQzqbD5qi75VWv1AQl28mq4X9ZD2J1WjiXuCl2lDzms%2BkVovXnlrD1Mvz7xmmHaHwTmGloOVyBpyKIKO3RPwO2HKQtCVDe0p2aSoygDcBkQqlIKY%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR-yXw5HFYg

 

Thanks again for any input

 

The Octavia MK2 has independent rear suspension, not a beam axle.

 

Can you take a photo of the part that is broken? Perhaps the upper wishbone (13), lower wishbone (7), or the axle guide (2).

 

Broken rear springs are very common. When you say the wheel suddenly went inwards, do you mean that it looked like the rear spring was suddenly fully compressed? If so, this is most likely a broken spring.

 

If you don't have a factory fitted towbar, then gknautomotive thinks you have rear springs with OEM part number 1K0511115BF. These springs have 1 white dot, and 3 yellow dots.

https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/skoda/CZ/OCT/419/5/505/505005

 

Edited 24 August, 20232 yr by Carlston

Similar post to @Carlston so removed

Edited 24 August, 20232 yr by xman

I suspect that the rear crossmember/subframe/call it what you will has severe corrosion and the upper wishbone has parted company, that would explain the confusion in the terms.

 

Could equally be a rotted upper or lower wishbone, the whole set up is self composting!

 

Every day someone is on here saying, "my garage/my mechanic says.................." and the challenge is usually to find what the real issue is or indeed no issue at all, and then to convince the owner who has swallowed the guff.

Complete secondhand subframes are available on ebay, which might be suitable if the subframe has broken through corrosion. The labour cost of fitting will be more than the parts.

 

If you go this route, it makes sense to chose as new a car as possible. The one in this photo came from a 2010 Octavia MK2.

 

New subframes are also available, but then you don't get any of the associated parts if any of these need changing...such as wishbones.

 

Edited 24 August, 20232 yr by Carlston

That ebay listing does look like most of the rear suspension for your car. But ask the garage to check first before ordering.

 

I'd make sure to use a credit card so have section 75 protection.

 

However be aware the seller is in Germany so there will be VAT, import duties and possible carrier admin charges in addition to the price quoted

Edited 24 August, 20232 yr by xman

Thank you everyone for your help. I know all of you cant see the issue so you are doing your best to help. I will try to get to the garage and take photos.

 

What the garage owner said was "The rear beam axle is the only thing that tends to rust and give out and everything else is fine" but I agree i need to take photos.

 

Thank you again everyone, will report back most likely on Monday.

9 hours ago, SilverArse said:

What the garage owner said was "The rear beam axle is the only thing that tends to rust and give out and everything else is fine"

 

As a qualified translator of garage Bravo Sugar I can explain what that means to you:

 

Customer - "you have had my car for X time to look at why the rear wheel is leaning inwards, what did you find?"

 

Garage - "The rear beam axle is the only thing that tends to rust and give out and everything else is fine"

 

Translation - We could not be ar5ed to look at it so we will avoid the question.

 

My observation - They have neither admitted that they didn't look at the vehicle nor told any direct lies, "everything else is fine" does not relate to your vehicle but a statement that in general nothing else rusts and fails which is actually far from the truth.

That subframe and suspension in the photo looks like it has spent its 13 years at the bottom of a canal!

 

Thats about the condition of any second hand parts available on E-bay etc in my country and priced at more than you could buy a good vehicle for!

Most people never ever wash off the the winter salt and crud stuck to the suspension and underneath of their cars . It only takes a couple of minutes wth a hose on full blast to remove the worst accumulation.

 

Prolongs spring life, they fail due to rust.

 

The black paint that VAG suppliers put on their suspension components is micron thin and purely cosmetic offering no real protection whatsoever. Despite its appearance, the subframe is made with substantially thick steel. Its around the welds and brackets that maybe the weak points as they are never properly finished or painted.

 

Hi all,

 

I managed to walk over to the garage, get under and take some photos. Jesus im no expert but was shocked at the sheer amount of rust, Even part 16 in the drawing in previous post looked like hell. Im now wondering if its even worth it but any thoughts or advice or even if you need more photos just say, would be really appreciated. Im bracing myself for the worst

 

 

Replace the lot, springs may be good for a while yet.

Thank you, if im getting the local garage to do this then how much would you guess it should cost? Would £1k be realistic with parts, labour and VAT?

 

Perhaps a stupid question but should I look at the rest of the underneath including the front to see if its the same? If so then simply rid the car?

 

Thank you again in advance, im sorry to take up time but this is really helping and every penny counts. The rest of the car has been sound so far and its just a run about for shopping and odd 100 mile journey. 

@SilverArse

I completely understand your situation...

 

All things considered, your wisest choice may be to source a good/younger complete assembly from an online breaker as suggested previously.  It makes no sense to buy new parts for such an old car, just patch it up as best you can.  A used assembly with less rust just perhaps needing bushes will be less outlay than new pattern parts from Germany, be wary of used part condition and breakers asking unrealistic prices but do allow for shipping, it's a large and heavy item on a pallet.

 

That may sound negative but bear in mind old car road tax cost and the inevitable other jobs likely due or imminent.

 

If you supply the parts of course you'll get change from £1k, seek out a reputable indie as it's just a matter of deconjoining the old bits and bolting the replacements on, likely with new bolts and getting a wheel alignment afterwards.

Edited 27 August, 20232 yr by MicMac

I think photos 2 and 8 show what has let go, I assume you are no longer driving the car, if you are please cease to immediately if not sooner!

Hi,

 

I absolutely stopped driving it, the wheel was wobbling everywhere.

 

Sadly, Ive decided to scrap it. I went through my last MOT and remembered the front coils need replacing plus Ive got knocks in the front and well I just have to bite the bullet. So public transport for a bit whilst I save up

 

Thank you all for your advice, it helped me decide what I needed to do.

Probably a sensible, if unfortunate, decision if you've got to get someone to do the work. There's a lot of labour involved in building the rear axle up on these, and you can't be sure how good the mount points really are until you drop the axle off. 

Sell it to someone in London and they can then get £2K for scrapping it.

 

If I have understood correctly how the ULEZ rebate works.

13 hours ago, J.R. said:

Sell it to someone in London and they can then get £2K for scrapping it.

 

If I have understood correctly how the ULEZ rebate works.

 

There might be a minimum time period that the vehicle needs to be registered in your name to be eligible to apply for a scrapping grant, ie. perhaps 6 months.

 

You would also need to be on certain benefits, to be eligible to claim the grant.

 

A third problem is that there's only so much money and I expect they will run out soon.

 

I haven't read all the rules, so do your own research to check all the details on the TFL website.