Hello fellow Škoda owners. 
 

I am new to this forum and have quite a dilemma with my engine that I would love some advice/feedback and opinion on.

 

For context, I have an Octavia vRS MKIII (2019) that I own, 51,000 miles on it. The car is in excellent condition, regularly serviced and maintained, within the last 3 months having had new front and rear brake pads. It is high spec with rear-view camera, electric tailgate, flat (multi-level) boot floor and adaptive cruise as optional extras. 
I recently had the car valued that came in between £16-£19k at various locations. 

 

Now onto the dilemma. The car is out of its 3 year warranty and I opted out of extending it due to monthly cost. 
Around 3 weeks ago, on a short journey from my home, the car engine started knocking, initially thinking it was a stick under the car. 15 minutes into the journey the knocking got louder and the engine lost almost all power and broke down. The AA couldn’t resolve and recovered the vehicle to take to the dealership. 
 

Given zero issues in the past and recent health checks, it came as a shock when they told me the engine seemed irreparable and suggested a replacement. They also offered an engine strip to try and better diagnose the problem (£1,000 job) which I had to agree to. The outcome was that a replacement was required with following issues:

 

- Large amounts of metal found in oil sample, large amount of swarf in oil filter.

- Crankshaft seized multiple points. Bearing seized/spun causing bottom end knock. 
 

Replacement engine now required, at a huge £13,000 expense with labour etc. They have contacted Škoda customer service to see if they will significantly contribute to the new engine replacement, but customer service have asked the dealership for specific crankshaft photos to decide, a further £900 job to complete. There is no guarantee with these photos that Škoda customer service will be able to contribute/support the replacement anyway. 

Now, I am out of warranty so trying to understand if I am stuck between a rock and a hard place here. 
Am I forced to pay the £13k (more with recent work) given no warranty? 

Given car was well maintained, carefully driven and recently checked, is this something Škoda should be helping more with? 

 

I have looked at alternative outcomes. Do I just paying for the fix and sell the car with a new engine at a premium (apparently increases the value). Also should we decide not to fix it, do I sell it as a non-runner as we have had offers between £5k - £9K for the engineless car. 
 

I have attached two photos, one is the health check on 3/10/24 and the other was having four new tires on 09/01/25 (just before incident) and shows an engine visual check was done. 
 

Any advice or guidance is welcome, even if it means I need to stomach the inevitable.

 

Thank you.

 

Peter 
 

Spoiler

 

 

Bump as was held in mid queue for a bit.

Welcome. 

A sad tail.

 

That old invoice. 

 

DID YOU ASK AT THE SERVICE THAT THEY USE 0w 30 FS III OIL?

is it a 2.0 TSI 245 ps?

 

So a vRS with a TSI engine.  Replaced spark plugs.   £21.65 each.  Taking the p!th there.   Cleaner!!

 i see they used 0w 30 FS III oil,  VW504 00 / 507 00

 

The Recommended oil for a 2019 TSI is VW 508 00 / 509 00   0w 20 FS IV.

 

?

So was oil the destroyed engine running, not the SKODA / VW Recommended oil? 

ASK THE DEALERSHIP IN WRITING IF IT IS THEIR STANDARD PRACTICE TO NOT USE THE RECOMMENDED OIL FOR THE ENGINE,

OR IS IT THE RECOMMENDED OIL FOR YOUR ENGINE? 

 

That £1,300 is one huge bill.  Overcharging would say. 

Edited 27 January, 20251 yr by Ootohere

1 hour ago, Ootohere said:

Replaced spark plugs.   £21.65 each.  Taking the p!th there. 

Well VW group may be, but that's the RRP, so the dealership isn't.

If VW Group or the Dealership are paying out something towards the engine then half the cost & a used engine fitted at an independent might be the way. 

 

£1,000 to diagnose the issue by stripping an engine you are not putting back together is yet another **** take. 

It is not 7 hours. 

 

 

£900 to take photographs of something that they have already been paid £1000 to allegedly inspect with their eyes says it all (emoticons not working but am expressing sad one)

 

Its the VAG modus operundi get the customer to keep jumping through stupidly priced hoops before ultimately refusing the claim in any case.

30 minutes ago, J.R. said:

£900 to take photographs of something that they have already been paid £1000 to allegedly inspect with their eyes says it all (emoticons not working but am expressing sad one)

 

Its the VAG modus operundi get the customer to keep jumping through stupidly priced hoops before ultimately refusing the claim in any case.

That really is taking the micky. 

Does your car have a full skoda serivce history? If it does, then it maybe worth the £900 gamble to see if Skoda would make a decent contribution towards a replacement engine, as you've already chucked a grand at it. If you don't have a full skoda history, then I'd be tempted to buy a decent used engine & have that fitted. A lot breakers offer a few month guarantee on used engines. 

I think you've been unlucky for your engine to destroy it's self at that mileage.

I'm not an expert on vag cars or how their dealerships interact with Skoda, have made plenty of other claims through other dealerships over the years, dealerships tend to have lower labour rates when dealing directly with the manufacturer, compared to what they've quoted you. Same with extended warranties. 

A grand to drain the oil and remove the sump. Jesus.

 

What have the intervals been between services with that spec oil?

Edited 27 January, 20251 yr by SuperbTWM

On 26/01/2025 at 23:37, CornishSkodaman said:

the car engine started knocking, initially thinking it was a stick under the car. 15 minutes into the journey the knocking got louder and the engine lost almost all power and broke down. The AA couldn’t resolve and recovered the ve

 

It sounds like it had lost oil pressure when the knocking began. Was the oil light illuminated?

 

I think the 15 min of driving with the knocking engine might be the downfall here.  Maybe it would have been pertinent to stop and check it out...

 

Did they say what had actually happened? Was there any oil in the engine or was there a big mess under the bonned. Maybe the oil filter came loose or the sump plug fell out. Even an obstical punctured the sump.

 

If it were the oil filter or sump plug you may have recourse on whoever serviced it last.

 

I would investigate that as a priority.

 

I don't think there is much blame on the brand at all. No engine will live long with no oil pressure.

I don't really know anything about this engine, but there is a well known problem on 1.8T engines as fitted to Audi TTs and Golfs, I believe.

 

My neighbour talked me into having a look at his Audi TT which had suddenly lost oil pressure.  A quick google came up with a problem with the oil pick-up pipe getting blocked.

 

This is what the oil strainer looked like when I removed it.  I'm actually shining a light up the inside of the pipe, but there isn't much getting through.

 

17 hours ago, Phoenixboy said:

it maybe worth the £900 gamble to see if Skoda would make a decent contribution towards a replacement engine, as you've already chucked a grand at it.

 

Seriously?

 

Escalation is what happens when you show weakness to a thief, in their mind if you were daft enough to be exploited the first time you deserve to be taken for as much as they can extract, we have a word for it in France un pigeon - a willing victim.

35 minutes ago, daveo138 said:

I don't really know anything about this engine, but there is a well known problem on 1.8T engines as fitted to Audi TTs and Golfs, I believe.

 

My neighbour talked me into having a look at his Audi TT which had suddenly lost oil pressure.  A quick google came up with a problem with the oil pick-up pipe getting blocked.

 

This is what the oil strainer looked like when I removed it.  I'm actually shining a light up the inside of the pipe, but there isn't much getting through.

 

 

The inner lip has taken a bashing, did it obstruct the sump removal?

24 minutes ago, J.R. said:

 

 

The inner lip has taken a bashing, did it obstruct the sump removal?

Possibly an optical illusion.

 

Well I'm darned!!!!

 

Now I look carefully it was a regular shape, the oil drips looked like deformation.

Wow.... Pretty unbelievable that, 2019 with 50thou on clock... 

I would buy an engine, eg one of the photos, get it fitted and px it get rid of it.... My 2017 plate 75 tho on clock, due for a service. Got me thinking.......... 

2 hours ago, J.R. said:

 

Seriously?

 

Escalation is what happens when you show weakness to a thief, in their mind if you were daft enough to be exploited the first time you deserve to be taken for as much as they can extract, we have a word for it in France un pigeon - a willing victim.

 

The inner lip has taken a bashing, did it obstruct the sump removal?

It's got nothing to do with how you perceive weakness, the op has already paid a chunk of cash to have it diagnosed, there's a chance skoda could pay a significant contribution towards a replacement engine. 

It's up to him what he does next, he was asking for our opinions, I wasn't asking for or wanting yours. 

 

Fingers crossed for the skoda contribution on this one

Sadly Škoda will only contribute 10% maximum to the engine replacement. External garages in the area all quoting  around the same figure (without me revealing what Škoda quoted), so may be forced to sell as a non-runner. Getting quotes as much as £9,000 so it’s sink £13k or recoup £9K and start again. All told, bloody disaster! 

I would personally recoup, if it's worth 9grand....Get a decent mk3 for that price.... Poss just been unlucky but what caused it.... The oil as someone pointed out...... Or have I not read it..... 

1 hour ago, CornishSkodaman said:

Sadly Škoda will only contribute 10% maximum to the engine replacement. External garages in the area all quoting  around the same figure (without me revealing what Škoda quoted), so may be forced to sell as a non-runner. Getting quotes as much as £9,000 so it’s sink £13k or recoup £9K and start again. All told, bloody disaster! 

I think I'd be tempted to pursue a second-hand engine, if it's going to cost about £3k plus fitting.

4 hours ago, Phoenixboy said:

he was asking for our opinions, I wasn't asking for or wanting yours. 

 

Consider it a bonus 😁

Something has got very silly in the modern world when a 6 year old car is supposedly worth £16-19K, when a dealer wants £900 to drop a sump and inspect for debris and another £900 to take a photograph of it, when the main dealer wants £13K to fit a new engine and non franchised dealers want £9K, when a second hand engine for a 9 year old car costs £3k

 

I have bought multiple 3 year old vehicles over the years and usually paid less than £3K for them.

 

Maybe its to persuade people who have no choice but to pay the dealer to do any repairs to rent new vehicles on PPwhateveritscalled and chop them in for a new one when the warranty expires.

How much would this vehicle have cost new in 2019?

1 minute ago, J.R. said:

 

Maybe its to persuade people who have no choice but to pay the dealer to do any repairs to rent new vehicles on PPwhateveritscalled and chop them in for a new one when the warranty expires.

I think you might be onto something there. 

For sure they dont want to sell cars, only finance, they want even less to have to repair them but have no choice, so they keep increasing the stupid parts and repair prices up for as long as people are willing (daft enough) to pay them. They must have special training in keeping a straight face.

 

Before VAT when there was purchase tax on new vehicles you could buy all the component parts of a car (purchase tax free) and assemble the vehicle yourself at home for a great saving, I'm not talking about kit cars although that is what created the industry but production vehicles notably the Morris Minor, I also knew people that built MK1 Escorts from a new shell and all new parts cheaper, both got new registrations.

 

If that were to be done with a modern car just buying the gearbox or rear differential on a 4x4 variant plus a pair of matrix headlights would take you way over the price of a new vehicle

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

I have bought multiple 3 year old vehicles over the years and usually paid less than £3K for them.

Possibly in the 20th century but not in recent times especially since covid not finding many three year old cars in the 3k bracket. I paid circa 14k for a 2020 plate 1.5 petrol with 40k miles on it last year so 4 years old, new list price was 26 27k