My son's 2008 Honda Civic has failed it's MOT dramatically on chassis corrosion and he needs a new car.

He has found this https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510227347540

Does anyone have any pointers as to what to look for when viewing it? Does the 1.4 TSi have any problems such as drinking oil? Also will the DSG be a 6 or 7 speed and is it wet or dry clutch? It has a full dealer service history but that may not include things like DSG oil change and brake fluid change.

I have had my 2012 Diesel MK2 Octavia all of it's life so I am a bit out of the loop on modern petrol Octavia's.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Early EA211 1.4Tsi engines on the Mk3 had piston ring issues causing high oil consumption with age but this should have been sorted by now for the Mk4 as the piston rings were redesigned later to resolve the high oil consumption issues.

The DSG box will be DQ400E, and require oil and filter change every 40k.

Eco Torque

VW GTE 0DD DSG / DQ400e Servicing | Why Most Garages Won’...

Learn why VW 0DD DSG / DQ400e servicing is avoided by many garages. Eco Torque performs full hybrid disassembly to replace filters, oil & settings.

Thanks for that. The gearbox oil was changed at 41,000 miles but the sparse printed service record does not say whether the gearbox filter was changed at the same time.

The DQ400-e is a 6 Speed Wet Clutch DSG with a filter. Fitted to 1.4 or 1.5 TSI PHEV.s. Not fitted to 1.4 or 1.5 TSI,s or TSI ACTs. non PHEV. DQ400-e DSG,s might have Skoda Dealerships say change at 2nd service as they do with DQ381,s. Total nonsense. ........................ As to DQ200 7 speed twin dry clutch DSG,s with no Service Schedule but 2 oils which can be changed. The Filter is in the MCU so not getting changed unless the MCU removed.

Edited 28 January28 Jan by Evolution13

Full Service History. were the spark plugs changed. Air Filter as well? The 1.4 TSI PHEV engine oil & filter changes as to VW / Skoda servicing schedule, regime,. advice, specification were FIXED Oil & Filter changes. so @ 9,400 miles / 372 days or sooner, not Variable / Flexible. Re the Linked car for sale. I would be asking if OK to do a 50 mile road test, with the car charged to 100% before the test. Do the first 15-20 miles with the Engine. probably need to do the last 10 as well.

Edited 28 January28 Jan by Evolution13

@Evolution13 Thanks for the good advice. There were extra items such as pollen filter changes on the sparse service record printout but I will check better on Saturday when I go and see the car with my son as it is currently at a storage site and not at the one it is advertised as being sold from. It has had 5 "services" in it's lifetime so about 1 per year. We will definitely do a representative road test of both urban and motorway roads. The salesman did say that it had been a company car and I know that there are some company car drivers who look after their cars as if it were their own but there are others who abuse them.

The 1.4TSi DSG doesn't drink oil, nor problems with MOT, but it has problems of it's own, if you can bare.

Unlike the 2008 Honda Civic, the 1.4 TSi DSG are equipped with high amount of electronic sensors, which tend to become annoying after a while with unimportant but annoying error messages on the dashboard, even the car's onboard computer putting it into "limp mode".

I'd advise you to buy one which is, still under warranty as authorized service stations don't do their job properly and bugs start pouring out of it once you own it (and I'm sure those service stations are just awaiting for you to come through their door).

Over the years most Skoda drivers have either got used to the bugs or given up, just like I plan to do soon.

If you decide to go Skoda, I hope that you have strong patience and a thick wallet whilst dealing with electronic malfunctions of gadgets that you didn't even know existed.

If something is cheaper than expected, there must be a reason for it.

Edited 29 January29 Jan by Octawia

Agree with all the above. Don’t touch unless there is a good length of full warranty. My gear selector lever slowly failed and as out of warranty was over a grand to replace. Trying a claim through motoring ombudsman. And check the software is up to date, see many many posts in these forums. Otherwise a lovely car especially if you mostly drive short distances and use cheap off peak electricity to charge then it becomes pretty cheap to run

How do you check whether the software is up to date and what is the latest version?

As the car is a 2021 model sold by a non franchised dealer so there will only be a limited warranty.

Edited 29 January29 Jan by Liger1956
Latest software version question added

On 29/01/2026 at 22:50, Liger1956 said:

How do you check whether the software is up to date and what is the latest version?

As the car is a 2021 model sold by a non franchised dealer so there will only be a limited warranty.

Menu/settings/scroll down to System information. Tap and you’ll see software. Latest is 1989. Bugs slowly got fixed with most updates. Insist the dealer gets it updated as it’s crucial for nearly normal car behaviour. Prior to this there were dangerous errors