Just a quick hello to introduce myself.

I am now the proud owner of a 2002 4x4 1.8T Estate picked up from my local dealer with a mere 13,000 miles on the clock. A bit of a step up from my last car, a Felicia 1.3LXi estate!

This is my third Skoda, the first being a rather awful 1992 Battleship Grey Favorit. It's amazing to see how the marque has progressed over the years. Just can't see why they don't produce a 4x4 VRS, or would that be too much off-the-shelf performance for the other VAG members to allow?

I shall be browsing the site to see what modifications are going to make this good car great. Keep up the good work.

Cheers,

Graham

Hiya. You're completely right; the reason there isn't an Octy 4x4 vRS is called Audi!

Welcome

Welcome from a fellow 4X4 owner. A remap would completely transform your car!

Hi

Mate, I've just part exed my 02 plate 4x4 1.8T purely because of the deal I was offered on this new one. I had my last car for 4 years and it was TOTALLY trouble free. I hope you enjoy the car as much as I enjoyed my 02 plater - welcome to the community!!

Streety

Hiya. You're completely right; the reason there isn't an Octy 4x4 vRS is called Audi!

Sorry but its the Skoda Caviato, 350 bhp 6 speed 4 whel drive, Ive got one in my Garage ;)

Welcome from a fellow 4X4 owner. A remap would completely transform your car!

I think the remap will have to wait 'til the end of the 12 months Skoda warranty, unless I go down the DNA Tuning SRS route...

First I have to get used to the fact that it just launches away from junctions without any scrabbling etc. Nearly hit one car up the jacksie already

I think the remap will have to wait 'til the end of the 12 months Skoda warranty, unless I go down the DNA Tuning SRS route...

First I have to get used to the fact that it just launches away from junctions without any scrabbling etc. Nearly hit one car up the jacksie already

I can still remember just how good my 4x4 was as std, even the handling was very predictable

If you are modding it I would start with the remap, Jabba one should see 225 bhp, next look at suspension & brakes before going further with engine mods.

The only other engine mod to consider pre remap is a decent exhaust & this should see you achieving 245 bhp. At this point on mine I could beat an M3 in a straight line once he had maxed out at his limiter 155 mph, on a Foreign motorway of course

I can still remember just how good my 4x4 was as std, even the handling was very predictable

If you are modding it I would start with the remap, Jabba one should see 225 bhp, next look at suspension & brakes before going further with engine mods.

The only other engine mod to consider pre remap is a decent exhaust & this should see you achieving 245 bhp. At this point on mine I could beat an M3 in a straight line once he had maxed out at his limiter 155 mph, on a Foreign motorway of course

I have to admit I'd love to go all out & tune the n**s off it but I just know it will still feel a bit slow in the end - my 'other car' is a Triumph Daytona 955... I think most likely I'll just get a remap to get the best I can as stock & leave it at that.

Cheers

G

I have to admit I'd love to go all out & tune the n**s off it but I just know it will still feel a bit slow in the end - my 'other car' is a Triumph Daytona 955... I think most likely I'll just get a remap to get the best I can as stock & leave it at that.

Cheers

G

Probably wise, Mines done a Tom Tom verified 170 but cost thousands to mod !

Add to the remap some decent pads on the front, Ferrodo DS2500 are my prefered & some dot 5.1 fluid, that with the remap & decent tyres will make a very useable fun car.

So it transpires that my 5 year od car still has its original cambelt. Which is a bit odd because when I agreed to buy it the salesman assured me that any service work required to validate the Skoda used warranty would have been carried out because "Skoda are really hot on that". So having read on here about the new service schedule I assumed it must have been done.

But having got home & gone through the service history, lo & behold, previous owner declined cambelt change in Sep 06 as belt was inspected "& found to be in good condition". More of those x-ray specs obviously . Nothing to indicate it has been changed since either.

So I contact selling dealer who reassure me that the warranty is OK, as it is "only a recommendation". Response from Skoda UK; "Should you not have the cambelt changed Skoda cannot be held accountable for any implications this may cause to your vehicle". So it's only a recommendation but the warranty is not valid without it.

Now so far as I am concerned the salesman, acting as an agent of the dealer, has obligated the dealer to cover the cost if this all goes horribly wrong, because he has misrepresented the status of the warranty on the car, caveat emptor not applying as not a transaction between equals.

Anyone else had a similar problem?

If you havent got it in writing from the dealer its worthless, even more so if the salesmans no longer there

If the dealer subsequently goes out of business its worthless

Personaly I would explain to the dealer your chat with Skoda, again offer him the option of changing it free of charge, if he wont then say that you are going to write to skoda with his details & quoting his comments & that you are going to another Skoda dealer to do the work & will be expecting him to foot the bill, if he does not do so then its the small claims court.

Odds are your car could last the warranty period but you then will have to get it done at your expense anyway so better to try & get someone else to pay. If it does break the dealer will probably try & blame something else for causing it, whatever the outcome of that odds are you will be without your car for a while whilst you all argue the point.

If unsure talk to the citizens advice beurau, a good source of free legal advice

When its done dont forget to fit a metal impellered water pump

Hello and welcome to the uber-grip-filled world of 4x4 Octavia ownership.

It depends a bit on which of the very many sets of cambelt change recommendations you believe. On pure mileage recommendations, the most conservative is "every 48_000 miles", and on mileage/age "every 48_000 or 4 years". From there they go up to as much as "every 72_000 miles", and I've also seen "every 60_000 or 5 years", and "check at 48_000 or 4 years, then check belt width is over every 12_000". Which is a nightmare of confusion for us owners. That said, I'd expect a belt change on purchase with a 5yo car that didn't have a change marked in the service history.

Response from dealer this morning, their suggestion was that I let them replace the belt free of charge (including courtresy car), just to make sure that I'm happy about the warranty coverage.

Sounds more than fair to me, I hadn't even got so far as suggesting a remedy to the situation; I was still trying to clarify whether it was covered or not.

Response from dealer this morning, their suggestion was that I let them replace the belt free of charge (including courtresy car), just to make sure that I'm happy about the warranty coverage.

Sounds more than fair to me, I hadn't even got so far as suggesting a remedy to the situation; I was still trying to clarify whether it was covered or not.

The response you should have had in the first place, dont forget the water pump, its only a few quid but costs a lot more if done elsewhen, also failure can be catastrophic to the engine.make sure its the metal impeller one & not another plastic one from Skoda

There are several threads on it if you do a search, its a very common problem

Response from dealer this morning, their suggestion was that I let them replace the belt free of charge (including courtresy car), just to make sure that I'm happy about the warranty coverage.

Sounds more than fair to me, I hadn't even got so far as suggesting a remedy to the situation; I was still trying to clarify whether it was covered or not.

Result!!

Now brace yourself for the list of people suggesting a waterpumpt change with it. This is a non-service schedule recommendation as a precaution against impellor failure, but I'd do it even if the garage won't fit a non-Skoda part which they'd have to do to fit a metal impellor pump, and want to charge for the pump, cos it's pump plus 15 mins labour, against pretty much the full several hours cost of a cambelt change, due to the location and drive of the waterpump on these engines.