Lack of use ? is this detrimental ,Car is 09 Octavia 1.8 tsi and owner claims its never used oil between services.

As long as it has been started and moved regularly it should be fine, however the low mileage suggests it hasn't.  If you are  thinking of buying it, I would have a good look around and a test drive. Check it's not damp inside the vehicle.  Bearing in mind it is a 15 yr old car, check electrics incl. Air con works. Check for leaks from seals, dried rubbers, blocked windscreen washer fluid/jets, braking and fuel system, rusted brake discs,  sticking handbrake,  cracked tyres etc.  Upon purchase change  all belts, fluids and filters, wiper blades and  tyres and probably some bushes which will be dry cracked or worn. The MKII TSI engines had some serious  cam chain  tensioner problems, so ask if it has had a replacement. 

Everything @Redboy suggests but also check the gear change has not seized up.  That happened to our '07 1.9tdi Octy 2 after it had been laid up for a year after a cosmetic to the front wing.  It took a degree of fettling (read lots of lube plus many hours exercising the gearchange) to free up properly.  That said, it's been fine since after a little initial notchiness.

car in question is as near mint as i have seen its hardly had any problems re mot over its 15 years some tyre wear - headlamp aim and slight binding on rear brakes ,passed its last mot in august with no advisories and has had 4 new tyres ,Thanks for the heads up re some things to check for .I have done a little research re the supposed oil use and cam tensioner etc the chap selling the car assures me the car has never used oil in between services and i do  wonder how much in % terms the 1.8tsi is particularly faulty as there must have been millions sold accross the VW Audi Seat spectrum .My two Octavia estates with 1.9 pd engine have been excellent although not totally without problems ,Both rear wipers failed had must be 20 drop links and 08 has rusty cills that need painting for each mot since i had the car,

@davidbird here's the link red tensioner problems.  The car you're looking at sounds very good. They are solidly built and great value for money, I kept my VRS MkII for a long time. none of my TSI engine-ed cars have used oil between 10,000 mile annual services. 

 

@davidbird  got the never used oil between services, i assume Oil & Filter services.

?

How often were these services since it apparently did only 1,000 miles in 4-5 years?

owner had car from new and said since he owned the car he never had to add oil between standard oil changes

I bought the car now so will keep updating re car - as expected the car is in fantastic condition especially the interior - the exterior has no lumps and bumps but paintwork seems a little in need of a polish .i was surprised how lively this car was on test drive then again i am used to 105bhp 1.9 TDI .Only has one key available there are two but seller cant lay his hands on the other - i went to enquire re a spare at a lock specialist and cost is £100 for another key fob they need car to be present. 68k miles though in 15 years cant be many similar.Car was i believe mollycoddled for at least its first 10 years untill elderly owner got ill so last 5 years its been used very little all mot info shows very minor advisories and problems - headlamp aim - slight binding of rear brakes ,rear lamp out windscreen wiper not clearing windscreen efficiently.brake discs wornbut not seriously weakened.

On 26/10/2024 at 21:37, davidbird said:

68k miles though in 15 years cant be many similar.

Made me smile for a small moment.😀

 

Less than 44k miles in 14.5 years, which TBH on reflection is quite sad really.

Well bought it £2k my mechanic drove it home for me everything works as it should but rear brake discs i noticed were heavily rusted on viewing, fronts looked fine. On the five mile drive home the disc on offside was obviously binding and got quite hot so new discs and pads saturday and mechanic said he was going to order a new caliper as well ,so will see how it goes , Car is pretty mint apart from a scratch on o/s rear wing ,it may tcut out . all tyres match and have loads of tread and spare looks like its never been on car its as new. (Bridgestones) Only one key so getting a new one costing £100

2 hours ago, davidbird said:

Well bought it £2k my mechanic drove it home for me everything works as it should but rear brake discs i noticed were heavily rusted on viewing, fronts looked fine. On the five mile drive home the disc on offside was obviously binding and got quite hot so new discs and pads saturday and mechanic said he was going to order a new caliper as well ,so will see how it goes , Car is pretty mint apart from a scratch on o/s rear wing ,it may tcut out . all tyres match and have loads of tread and spare looks like its never been on car its as new. (Bridgestones) Only one key so getting a new one costing £100

 

£2K seems a bargain.

 

Yes the discs mine were replaced this year due to rusting. The only other things to look at would be the air quality sensor (part of the AC) if it has one, the alarm siren as the backup battery dies and the micoswitch in the door lock sticking.

 

Good luck with the "new" car and happy motoring.

 

Kev.

On 24/10/2024 at 21:59, MikeTheThinker said:

Everything @Redboy suggests but also check the gear change has not seized up.  That happened to our '07 1.9tdi Octy 2 after it had been laid up for a year after a cosmetic to the front wing.  It took a degree of fettling (read lots of lube plus many hours exercising the gearchange) to free up properly.  That said, it's been fine since after a little initial notchiness.

I agree the gear change selector is plastic and if seized or stiff snaps. I got a cheap replacement from Autodoc.

Check the date stamp on the tyres, if they are 15 years old I would seriously consider changing them.

Mark.

Update ,not sure how honest the mot was but brakes were binding on rear pretty bad discs were very rusty and had a wear line only about 1 inch wide how it passed mot is beyond me so re[laced both rear calipers and of course new discs and pads and a couple of short brake hoses ,not binding now lol. Mechanic noticed a broken rear N/S coil spring so thats been replaced and because i dont know history changed oil and filter .There is quite a bit of rust to be found underneath especially on rear subframe so that is being scraped sanded and treated .Just wonder what else may need attention or change mechanic is going to have a look at air filter tomorrow . 2 of the tyres have quite a bit of cracking in sidewalls so even though they have excellent tread approx 5/6 mm i will change them for new i get new budgets for £45 fitted and ballanced  never had a problem with them.

 

Edited 7 November, 20241 yr by davidbird

14 hours ago, davidbird said:

Update ,not sure how honest the mot was but brakes were binding on rear pretty bad discs were very rusty and had a wear line only about 1 inch wide how it passed mot is beyond me so re[laced both rear calipers and of course new discs and pads and a couple of short brake hoses ,not binding now lol. Mechanic noticed a broken rear N/S coil spring so thats been replaced and because i dont know history changed oil and filter .There is quite a bit of rust to be found underneath especially on rear subframe so that is being scraped sanded and treated .Just wonder what else may need attention or change mechanic is going to have a look at air filter tomorrow . 2 of the tyres have quite a bit of cracking in sidewalls so even though they have excellent tread approx 5/6 mm i will change them for new i get new budgets for £45 fitted and ballanced  never had a problem with them.

 

As long as the rear brakes work and are even then it usually passes MOT with an advise on discs. Mine were like that and I did replace them anyway. I have had 3 coil springs go on cars that have been sitting for months. Mechanic mate said they find it happens a lot. Maybe the springs get brittle over time when not being used. Not sure if its a timing belt or chain. If its a belt get it changed plus waterpump when your at it. If its a chain check the replacement interval. I normaly do my belt every 50000 or every 5 years depending which comes soonest. My 08 1.9tdi is bad with rust on the subframe and sills but so far its just been an advise. Check bushes in rear swing arms as well as mine are failing and causing rear tyre wear. I just replaced the tyres on my sons fabia for exactly the same reason. Had a flat and the tyre service I use policy is  they wont fix tyres that show cracking or over a certain age. 4 new tyres is a lot cheaper than having a blow out and if there really bad lots of points if you get caught

Alasdair