13 hours ago, MikeT850 said:

Thank you so much for everyone’s support on this, and thank you @OccyVRS for the extensive feedback, that’s provided me with some really clear information on the situation.

As you say, I’ll wait to see what codes have been thrown and make a decision based on that. Would you guys be happy to help me out if I come back with codes on Monday, to see whether any of them are concerning enough for me to walk ? That final insight would really help me feel confident with the decision I make.

Just to answer a few of those questions you raised Occy, I’ve left some notes below:

1 - interestingly , my interior is stitched red (seats, steering wheel, gearstick etc). Brakes wise I’ll have to check in the daylight tomorrow. Unless you could spec a VAQ from factory on the 230 (?), I still don’t think this would have come with one right?

2 - As you say, I was a bit wary buying from Cinch given the fact that most cars traded into WBAC are most likely hiding something… I guess I proved the point to myself the hard way!

In terms of a good deal, can you tell me? It seemed decent at the time. It was £11,999 for an 86k miles, 2018, 230ps petrol manual estate in meteor grey. I did keep my eye on the market, maybe not for as long as I should have before buying, and anything manual + petrol + estate was around 13-14k, though granted they were 245 editions. What do we reckon, bad or good deal?

3 - appreciate the insight, I’ll wait to see what codes were thrown

4 - do you reckon they could have refitted the parts incorrectly as part of the repairs, and that’s now throwing this EPC issue? I might have misunderstood the suggestion you were raising here.

5 - similar to my question above, do you reckon they’ve reported the relevance between the issue and the fix wrong here?

Two more things:

• I’ve booked the car in to a ŠKODA dealer for Friday next week (assuming the car is fixed by then) for a post purchase inspection effectively (not what they call it but whatever!). Is there anything in particular I should ask them to look at? I obviously can provide all the context I’ve given on this thread, but should I get them to focus on a particular repair that has been done by Cinch, to check they were done properly?

• Interestingly, and @Warrior193 thanks for your insight also, the wheels on the car are actually 19inch Xtreme alloys (photo attached to make sure I’m not being stupid??). They look like they’ve been recoated also, or once again am I being stupid?

Thank you all so much for the help, I appreciate the time you’re putting in to help a ŠKODA novice not make a £11,999 mistake! I want to be part of the gang after deciding to part ways my current car (currently selling my 1995 Volvo T5 manual🥲), but maybe I should not be so hasty. yet again, there’s some positives amongst what’s been said, so there’s a chance this car is still worth keeping, right?

Cairus is the person I'd tag to ask about any electrical issues, or DTCs.

1. Seemingly while it's normally white for a 230 and red for a 245, there are exceptions. A definitive answer will be found on the rear axle - vented, or solid.

2. I wouldn't say it's a bargain, but provided everything checks out, that's absolutely on the cheaper end of the market, IMO. In reality, there isn't much of a price difference between the 245 and 230 (or, indeed, the GTI and GTI PP)

3. /4/5. Wait and see what codes are produced. It's entirely possible, but I'd be very suprised if someone can't fit two jubilee clips and a bit of corrugated pipe.

11 hours ago, Warrior193 said:

If you do intend to get an inspection, I'd suggest one by an independent Engineer - although rather a closed stable door scenario.

Would you still be able to reject after this proposed inspection?

Good shout! I would still be able to reject the car after the inspection. It would be 4 days prior to the money back cutoff period, so should be fine, and is at a garage completely non-associated with Cinch and their approved dealer network, though it is still a Skoda specialist :)

8 hours ago, OccyVRS said:

Cairus is the person I'd tag to ask about any electrical issues, or DTCs.

1. Seemingly while it's normally white for a 230 and red for a 245, there are exceptions. A definitive answer will be found on the rear axle - vented, or solid.

2. I wouldn't say it's a bargain, but provided everything checks out, that's absolutely on the cheaper end of the market, IMO. In reality, there isn't much of a price difference between the 245 and 230 (or, indeed, the GTI and GTI PP)

3. /4/5. Wait and see what codes are produced. It's entirely possible, but I'd be very suprised if someone can't fit two jubilee clips and a bit of corrugated pipe.

So guys @OccyVRS @Alasdair1 @Warrior193 , ready for a deep dive into my Skoda adventures today?!...

The RAC were called out by Cinch for an UPLIFT of my vehicle to the garage, for repair on Monday. On arrival, RAC confirmed that they had actually been called out for a ROADSIDE REPAIR, not an UPLIFT. Despite this, the guy was actually super helpful, and gave me the code readings below:

• P33B800 - cylinder 2 combustion misfire during direct injection (permanent code)

• P030200 - Cylinder 2 misfire

• P130A00 - controlled cylinder shutoff

He believes its either a spark plug, injector or coil pack.

So, my RAC man switched the spark plugs between cylinder 1 and 2, and swapped the coil pack between 2 and 4 to test what the culprit would be. He CLEARED THE CODES and took the car for a spin, but no luck in retriggering the EPC issue.

So, I was told to drive the car to the garage today after he'd left, as he was unable to offer an UPLIFT now that he had diagnosed it and the fault had cleared. So I did so, but I also had no luck triggering the EPC light on this journey to the garage.

When I dropped the car off, the garage said that because the codes had been cleared and the fault hasn't been replicated, they don't really have anything to go off, and can't authorise any repairs unless Cinch give them authorisation. This is super frustrating, as if the garage give the car back without any repairs, then this spark/coil/injector issue is just going to crop up again!

I have just finished quite a strongly worded email to Cinch to say that I expect them to authorise repairs, whether or not the garage can replicate the EPC fault, because of the fact that the RAC has reported and provided documented evidence for the existence of a mechanical fault with my vehicle.

So, my question to you all is, ignoring the admin nightmare I am dealing with trying to sort this all out, if the EPC fault is simply down to a faulty spark plug, coil pack or injector, is this anything to be concerned about? Or would you still be happy to proceed with keeping the car if you were in my shoes?

Thanks guys for bearing with my long messages again! On Monday the garage are actually looking at the Skoda, today was just a drop off with a salesman, not a mechanic. So I will find out whether they have managed to replicate the fault or not. And if they have, then my strong email to Cinch was a little pre-emptive, but still fully deserved!

Hopefully the above all makes sense, sorry if not, its been a very long day once again!

Thanks guys :)

42 minutes ago, MikeT850 said:

So guys @OccyVRS @Alasdair1 @Warrior193 , ready for a deep dive into my Skoda adventures today?!...

The RAC were called out by Cinch for an UPLIFT of my vehicle to the garage, for repair on Monday. On arrival, RAC confirmed that they had actually been called out for a ROADSIDE REPAIR, not an UPLIFT. Despite this, the guy was actually super helpful, and gave me the code readings below:

• P33B800 - cylinder 2 combustion misfire during direct injection (permanent code)

• P030200 - Cylinder 2 misfire

• P130A00 - controlled cylinder shutoff

He believes its either a spark plug, injector or coil pack.

So, my RAC man switched the spark plugs between cylinder 1 and 2, and swapped the coil pack between 2 and 4 to test what the culprit would be. He CLEARED THE CODES and took the car for a spin, but no luck in retriggering the EPC issue.

So, I was told to drive the car to the garage today after he'd left, as he was unable to offer an UPLIFT now that he had diagnosed it and the fault had cleared. So I did so, but I also had no luck triggering the EPC light on this journey to the garage.

When I dropped the car off, the garage said that because the codes had been cleared and the fault hasn't been replicated, they don't really have anything to go off, and can't authorise any repairs unless Cinch give them authorisation. This is super frustrating, as if the garage give the car back without any repairs, then this spark/coil/injector issue is just going to crop up again!

I have just finished quite a strongly worded email to Cinch to say that I expect them to authorise repairs, whether or not the garage can replicate the EPC fault, because of the fact that the RAC has reported and provided documented evidence for the existence of a mechanical fault with my vehicle.

So, my question to you all is, ignoring the admin nightmare I am dealing with trying to sort this all out, if the EPC fault is simply down to a faulty spark plug, coil pack or injector, is this anything to be concerned about? Or would you still be happy to proceed with keeping the car if you were in my shoes?

Thanks guys for bearing with my long messages again! On Monday the garage are actually looking at the Skoda, today was just a drop off with a salesman, not a mechanic. So I will find out whether they have managed to replicate the fault or not. And if they have, then my strong email to Cinch was a little pre-emptive, but still fully deserved!

Hopefully the above all makes sense, sorry if not, its been a very long day once again!

Thanks guys :)

Provided the supplier agrees to replace the plugs and coil packs, and have the injectors tested, I'd say you would be safe to consider keeping it.

How long is the Cinch warranty?