Hi all , hope you are all well , time has nearly arrived to upgrade the 2005 Octavia … what 2016 ish model do people recommend?? Will be used mostly weekends for mostly football away days and knocking about in , I’d fansied moving to the 1.4 petrol and dsg , help the environment and cheap road tax etc but not sure on 400 Mile round trips with plenty of motorway miles so maybe a 150 hp Octavia 2.0 td with dsg ? Think they are only £30 to tax to and great on economy    
 Anyway thoughts and recommendations appretated, and any problems to look out for? 

The DQ250 six speed wet clutch DSG in the 2.0 is better and more reliable (as a general rule) than the DQ200 seven speed dry clutch DSG in the 1.4.  I've got both, DQ250 in the Golf, and DQ200 in the Polo and were I buying, I'd choose the DQ250 all day long, even though our DQ200 has never missed a beat.

 

Gaz

 

Obviously biased reply as not had any other engines in an Octavia but I've a 2016 SEL 2.0tdi with Dsg Estate. It's effortless to drive with this combo. Loads of torque to overtake even when fully loaded for holidays. 

 

 £35 road tax now. 

 

Gets me over 500 miles per tank without fail as a daily driver on my mix of a and b road travels for work. I rarely get above 50mph most trips. 

 

Dpf regens once per tank and has done for 55 k miles of ownership. Now on 103k miles.

 

If going estate, variable boot floor is excellent if was optioned at first sale. 

 

Factors to consider: dsg oil change on dq250 is every 40k miles. It's got a lot more expensive in last few years so check it's been done when buying. 

 

Check colour of coolant expansion tank on all TDI's you view. It should be bright pink and for full heat on both sides of the car WITHOUT FAIL, if is colder on the DRIVERS side walkaway from that car. This is sign heater matrix is blocked. 

 

I have suffered as others across the VAG group from a blocked heater matrix due to silica bag issue. It's well documented on the forum. So have a read. It can be mitigated early but if it goes it's going to cost. Main dealer is £1100+...dash out but can be done cheaper without removing the dash. 

 

As soon as I got mine (purchased with 47k miles)  I went to religiously getting it serviced at 10k miles without fail. I get oil and filter every 10k and all other filters at every 20k with oil. 

 

Love my Octavia for its comfort economy and versatility with big boot. 

 

Early MK3 had reputably poor sound system Speakers. My 2016 was a lot better than a 2015 model my colleague had. 

 

Smart link that gives Android auto or apple carplay connectivity via a cable to your phone was an "option" on my model and not activated (at cost from dealer). 

 

SatNav is not "friendly" interface,  and now has lost Traffic alerts/ redirection on route guidance due TMC service it used from FM frequency being turned off by traffic master in 2023. 

 

Good luck.👍

 

 

13 minutes ago, paulski said:

Obviously biased reply as not had any other engines in an Octavia but I've a 2016 SEL 2.0tdi with Dsg Estate. It's effortless to drive with this combo. Loads of torque to overtake even when fully loaded for holidays. 

 

 £35 road tax now. 

 

Gets me over 500 miles per tank without fail as a daily driver on my mix of a and b road travels for work. I rarely get above 50mph most trips. 

 

Dpf regens once per tank and has done for 55 k miles of ownership. Now on 103k miles.

 

If going estate, variable boot floor is excellent if was optioned at first sale. 

 

Factors to consider: dsg oil change on dq250 is every 40k miles. It's got a lot more expensive in last few years so check it's been done when buying. 

 

Check colour of coolant expansion tank on all TDI's you view. It should be bright pink and for full heat on both sides of the car WITHOUT FAIL, if is colder on the DRIVERS side walkaway from that car. This is sign heater matrix is blocked. 

 

I have suffered as others across the VAG group from a blocked heater matrix due to silica bag issue. It's well documented on the forum. So have a read. It can be mitigated early but if it goes it's going to cost. Main dealer is £1100+...dash out but can be done cheaper without removing the dash. 

 

As soon as I got mine (purchased with 47k miles)  I went to religiously getting it serviced at 10k miles without fail. I get oil and filter every 10k and all other filters at every 20k with oil. 

 

Love my Octavia for its comfort economy and versatility with big boot. 

 

Early MK3 had reputably poor sound system Speakers. My 2016 was a lot better than a 2015 model my colleague had. 

 

Smart link that gives Android auto or apple carplay connectivity via a cable to your phone was an "option" on my model and not activated (at cost from dealer). 

 

SatNav is not "friendly" interface,  and now has lost Traffic alerts/ redirection on route guidance due TMC service it used from FM frequency being turned off by traffic master in 2023. 

 

Good luck.👍

 

many thanks for this , currently got a 1.9tdi elegance ,I’ve done over 100k in it and it’s done 190k but at 2005 it’s old and getting very rusty and think the gearbox is about to go but always loved driving it although 105hp very under powered , edging towards a 2ltr I think , my brother got a 2019 2ltr estate last week tax etc is a bit more on those so I’d rather go 16 ish plate , seem to be able to get a nice one between 7.5 and 10k 

 

 

My previous car, a 2005 Seat had the 1.9pd 105 lump. What a reliable engine that was, it did over 185k miles with only one minor engine fault.  I was in the same position as you are, the rest of the car was so tired, electric gremlins in all doors, dmf was going so had to chop it in. 

 

Going from that to the 2.0 was like night and day. It really is effortless. 

 

I will admit that the Dsg took me some time to get used to, I read up on it after purchase to understand it better. 

56 minutes ago, paulski said:

My previous car, a 2005 Seat had the 1.9pd 105 lump. What a reliable engine that was, it did over 185k miles with only one minor engine fault.  I was in the same position as you are, the rest of the car was so tired, electric gremlins in all doors, dmf was going so had to chop it in. 

 

Going from that to the 2.0 was like night and day. It really is effortless. 

 

I will admit that the Dsg took me some time to get used to, I read up on it after purchase to understand it better. 
 

in what way did it take getting used to? I’ve never owned an auto before but fed up with constant clutch and gear work with all the traffic we have these days , I thought a dsg was simply put it in drive and press the pedal lol