2001 Tdi Elegance, 76000 miles now covered. Bought the car from Dennis Horton and Son in Lincoln under the Skoda Approved Used Car scheme in September 2005 at 61000 miles.

Recently Air Conditioning comprsessor failed leaving me with no cooling part of the climatronic system for the rest of the time I own the car. Best part of

Try an independant air con specialist.

I'm sure they could repair or fit a new compressor for a lot less than the £1000 a main dealer wants. You won't get the same piece of mind, but at the same time if you are not going to spend £1000, then £250 might be a lot more reasonable.

Thanks for your reply. However, I simply can't afford to spend out any money repairing the air conditioning. I am still repaying the loan I got to buy what I hoped would be a trouble free car. Reading others tales of woe does not inspire confidence for the future.

Why did the dealer say it wasn't under warrenty.

Personally I can't believe that if the car is warrented then there is a problem they can say no to something as serious as a mechanical failure on the aircon clutch, but yet to a dual mass flywheel.

I'd be poking them to fix the aircon personally or speaking to skoda customer services to find out why it is refused bearing in mind it was bought under the skoda used car scheme.

(http://www.briskoda.net/forums/octavia/mk-i-octavia-reliability/55443/2/ - do you mean this thread )

Dennis Horton offered as a goodwill gesture to pay 1/3 the cost of the air conditioning repair. I simply cannot afford to pay the other 2/3 cost. I have to operate my windows to stay cooler

It was not covered by the Skoda Approved Used Car Warranty. In my opinion it should have been. For example I asked that question to a local Honda garage because my girlfriend may buy a used Civic(had considered a Fabia, but put off by reliability issues, same as my Octavia). They said their approved used car warranty would cover the air conditioning compressor. Even a local car supermarket warranty would cover it on their used cars.

I always recommend reading the terms of any warranty or guarantee before buying the item covered. That way there are no nasty surprises when things go wrong. I don't think that air con compressors used in the Skoda are any less reliable than those used across the VAG range siince they all come out of the same parts bin.

2001 Tdi Elegance, 76000 miles now covered. Bought the car from Dennis Horton and Son in Lincoln under the Skoda Approved Used Car scheme in September 2005 at 61000 miles.

Recently Air Conditioning comprsessor failed leaving me with no cooling part of the climatronic system for the rest of the time I own the car. Best part of

have a word with the CAB too, thats rediculous that it stops working after such a short time and isn't covered.

and with the clutch issue it sounds more like a failed thrust bearing to me and my limited mechanical knowledge

I found this information about the Retailer Approved Used Vehicle Programme on Skoda UK's site. Paying circa