Hi there,

First post on here as I am thinking of buying an Octavia in the next couple of weeks.

Initially looked at Vauxhall Vectra and VW Passat or Jetta but think I have decided on a Octavia as they get better reviews and seem to one of the most reliable cars these days.

Anyways, not sure if it will be new or second hand yet, need to sort out our budget.

I will prob try to get either Elegance or L&K or maybe a 4x4 with probably the 2.0PD engine.

So, A couple of questions if I may:

Do the 1.9 and 2.0PD's use cam belts or chain?

What is the servicing costs (ish) and intervals.

Has anyone here got an imported Octy? Seen an L&K for the price of a SH Elegance. Only has balance of 2 yrs warranty (about 22 months is the norm) but is 4k cheaper than UK price. Any problems with warranty and service from Skoda UK?

I have previously had a Zafira as an import, UK dealers serviced it and did warranty work on it with no problem (up to 60k and 2 years). When I traded it in I got the same value as a UK model with a bit of leg work and good timing with the dealers.

So any other points to think about with an Import?

Thanks,

Steve

Hi

I can only comment on the 2.0TDi but it has a cam belt, so needs changing at 60,000 miles. Mine is on variable servicing and I get just over 20,000 miles between services, which costs about £220-250, depending on where you go.

As for a import, it is up to you.

Mark

The 1.9 has a cambelt also.

Any other comments, especially regarding been a paralell import? L&K 2.0TdiPD been sold for 15,599, delivery mileage seems a good price!! Steve

The only issue will be warranty, parallel import cars will have 2 years warranty only compared to a UK cars 3. I dont think you get the free recovery either, so thats a couple of things to consider.

sometimes spec's differ

With an import, do your homework carefully and if you're not fussed about the 3rd year of warranty then in my view, why not ? I once imported a Pug 206 and saved just over 2k on a 9k car. Had no problems with dealership servicing, or warranty work (although the 2 dealers near me were very poor). When I sold it I didn't get hit on the value either, getting the market rate for a 206 of that model.

As I said in OP, I bought a PI on a 02 plate Zafira elegance. A no brainer--pay 14k for a import or they had a UK spec one for £17k sat next to it. Only differences was warranty, no sunroof but had Cruise control instead. AND this came from a Vauxhall dealer!!!

Thanks for the replies guys. Will hopefully getting a 4x4, Elegance or an L&K. I like the vRS but spec seems a little sparce in it.

Steve

If L&K, remember they changed the L&K spec early 2007 IIRC. Hopefully there shouldn't be any old spec floating around but worth checking. Do a search on here and there will be some posts showing the difference between old and new L&K.