Not really an Octavia fault but a friend of mine with an Audi A4 using the the same 140bhp pdi unit, had a total engine failure last Tuesday. The car stopped instantly at Switch Island, Liverpool during the rush hour!

He was eventually rescued and trailered away. The eventual diagnosis was a failed crankshaft sensor. He's not technical so:

a) I'm not sure he's got this correct

If so is this a known fault?

I can only imagine the crankshaft sensor failing caused a more severe problem.