161 Skoda Octavia 1.6 diesel 110bhp a good buy

Kealyboy

hi looking to purchase a 161 Skoda Octavia 1.6 diesel 110bhp with high enough mileage 197000 km. Car has full service history and appears to be well maintained. It’s the elegance spec and has a few nice features like reverse camera etc. Purchasing from a reputable dealer. They sold the car to its second owner 5 years ago and have maintained/serviced the car since then. Will give me a 1 year comprehensive warranty, can stand over the car that long as they have looked after it for the last 5 years. I got them down to €11000.

Any thoughts ? Are these cars reliable with this kind of mileage. Would mpg be decent?

Thanks

Kealyboy

Dealer has a background in Skodas. Said they are a fairly bulletproof car. Only real issues with that car are the EGR have been known to give trouble but the one in the car I’m looking at is ok. Also the back windows wiper motor gives trouble also and they have to replace the one in the car I am looking at as it failed.
Dealer seems to be straight enough and talking sense.

goochy

Don't know much about them just will be a bit slow

Kealyboy

ah I drove a 2007 Kia ceed 1.5 diesel 115bhp for years. I never had an issue with the power it produced. So I’m guessing the Octavia will be something similar

magicbastarder

octavias are well known for the rear wiper motor to fail; i'm on my second octavia and it failed in both of them.

when i say 'failed', mine is haunted i think. it won't work 98% of the time; the other 2% it'll work maybe two minutes after i try to use it.

Kealyboy

yea he said they were two real issues with them apart from that they’re a fairly reliable car.

SimpleDimple

The mileage would put me off to be honest. I’d expect a lot of niggles I’m the way on a car with that sort of distance

bigroad

Has it had its clutch and flywheel replaced yet,because if it hasn't it's nearly a sure thing to go at that mileage.

magicbastarder

any work done on the suspension? by the time mine hit about 130k / 10 years old, i'd had the springs on all four corners replaced. i was told by the mechanic that's not uncommon in VAG cars.

bazz26

I'd go with the 2.0 tdi if you can find one with respectable mileage for similar money. A nicer upgrade in power and a bit more reliable too.

Kealyboy

no not that I know of. I have the year warranty so I’m covered if it is just about to go.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069884#Comment_122069884

Warranties don’t cover consumable parts

Kealyboy

would it not cover a clutch and flywheel? He said it is the very same warranty as buying a new car.

I’m sure if a clutch went in a new car within 12 months your expect that to be replaced under warranty.

bazz26

A clutch and flywheel are deemed consumable items, they would only be covered on a manufacturer's original if the parts were found to be prematurely worn or failed. You can wear out a clutch very quickly if you tried, just like a tyre or brake pad, hence why it is deemed a consumable item like those.

I would find it hard to believe that either would be covered on any 8 year old car with nearly 200k km on the clock unless you can get it explicitly in writing from the dealer.

User1998

I wouldn’t worry about it anyway as long as the clutch isn’t slipping and the flywheel isn’t rattling. Theres no set mileage for a clutch and flywheel to fail.

goochy

Rarely clutch covered with used cars

teediddlyeye

That generation of engine is pretty reliable alright. EGR don't really give problems like the previous model. The coolers can leak though.

DPFs can crack, check tailpipe for soot build up.

Check coolant for discolouration.

Check for any diesel injector knock, (look up youtube) under load/acceleration when cold.

Can intermittently overheat due to failed water pump. Check when timing belt was last done.

Crank oil seal on the timing belt end can leak.

Front shocks can be short lived. Check for leaks.

You wont get a clutch/flywheel under warranty.

Myself, I'd prefare the 2L although all that stuff still applies. But if there's a 1.6 you like they're plenty capable. The 2L isn't going to be setting any records anyway.

BlakeS94

Mileage isn't bad for an 8 year old car it averages out around 25,000km a year that's good for a diesel means the engine was driven for what it was designed for, probably won't have any issues with blocked DPF etc.

As others have said the 2.0 would be the better option. I think those 1.6 VAG engines are plagued with Injector issues. Follow a guy on YT and he had no end to trouble on his 1.6 diesel Caddy. Ended up swapping for a Toyota

If you're used to the 115bhp Kia, the Skoda would feel the same, although I reckon it'd be a bit smoother, I think the 2.0 is 140bhp

selectamatic

See how it starts and drives from cold.

If it's in anyway hard start and stuttery on idle/when initially driving one or more of the injectors could be on the way out.

If it starts fine they're most likely grand.

Injectors on earlier 1.6tdi’s gave more bother but the mid 2010's cars can and do still give the odd bit of bother.

standardg60

Reading between the lines it's a good un. Dealership knows the car and is retailing themselves and willing to stand over it.

As above mileage is a bonus when it comes to diesel, hasn't been fluting around leading to dpf issues.

cute geoge

Imo that price is way out .Had 131 fsh and it had overheating problems ,changed up to 201 and find it very dead alltogether compared to the 131 .Good car but 10k be more then enough ,they are no toyota

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122071893#Comment_122071893

We don’t really know that tho. Could have been a taxi for all we know or doing a lot of school runs and local driving etc

goochy

Mileage low for taxi and hope op would do history check on car ? This will show if taxi

User1998

Just using that as an example. You don’t really know what kind of driving its done. So to say high mileage is a good thing isn’t exactly true.

BlakeS94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122072087#Comment_122072087

Maybe not exactly true but would you prefer an 8 year old diesel with 200,000km or 60,000km?

Personally I think more the better, once it's not astronomical and there's a fsh to follow it.

Could have been doing school runs and local runs to the shop, we'll never know. It just lines up better that higher miles=motorway driving imo

Kealyboy

I like the car so I’m going to buy it and fingers crossed it won’t give me too much trouble and if I get 5 years out of it I’ll be happy.
sure I suppose we all take a chance buying any used car. You take a chance getting up every morning 😂

goochy

Did u do history check?

cml387

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122072122#Comment_122072122

Quite right. The Octavia (the 2012 version) I recently sold had 420k on the same clutch/flywheel and was still going when I said goodbye to it.

Kealyboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122073487#Comment_122073487

yes they sent me on a VMS Irish history check. It was not used as a taxi. It has 2 owners, was a company car for the first 2 year 9 months and then privately owned for the last 5 year 1 month.

Kealyboy

full service history as well. Timing belt and water pump done. Motor needs replacement on back window, which they are replacing . that’s about it

3d4life

Hi Kealyboy,

Have you had a browse through https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/235-skoda-octavia-mk-iii-2013-2020/ ?

BTW I see that today a thread was started by an RoI person about dodgy diesel fuel….kind of amazed that Mk 3 diesel filters dont have provision for fuel / water drain from the fuel filter https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/523158-contaminated-diesel-fuel/

Raichų

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122070597#Comment_122070597

no it wouldn’t.
look, I’ve known people to need clutch replaced in a year as I know people driving the same car for 12 years and never needing it done.
if you drive around for a year riding the clutch it’s never going to last and that’s not manufacturing faults.

colm_mcm

one job I would certainly do is coolant flush and replace with the newer type coolant that doesn’t use the silica additive in coolant bottle (which I would also replace for the part without silica)

I’d disable start-stop too. I’ve 390k on my 2015 2.0 Octavia on its original starter and battery.

earlytobed

I have a 2015 1.6 Octavia with 220K KMs for the last 5 years(140K Kms when purchased) It had a water pump/ timing belt replacement before i got it. I service it every 10K KMs and nothing other than a glowplug and the usual tyres/wipers etc has needed doing. Its a good all-rounder and I,m hanging onto it.

Kealyboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077574#Comment_122077574

hi sorry but if what benefit would a coolant flush have? Thanks

BlakeS94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122083027#Comment_122083027

He's on about getting rid of the silicate coolant with the silica bag inside the coolant reservoir, it's a poor design and the bag bursts which leads to beads blocking the heater matrix.

You can get a coolant bottle without the silica bag, it's also advised to flush and change the G13 coolant for G12EVO which is what VAG are using in basically everything these days. Although you can get by with changing the G13 coolant every few years

Kealyboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077574#Comment_122077574

what kinda money would I be looking at for a coolant flush and replacing bottle?

Is there anyway I can disengage stop start permanently?
thanks

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122760128#Comment_122760128

If it’s due a timing belt, that’s the time to change the coolant. The expansion tank itself is around €20-25 and is a pretty easy swap.

You can disable stop-start by changing a line of code, either using VCDS/OBDeleven etc. you just change the minimum voltage the stop-start should work at to a value higher than it’s ever likely to be. If you’re ever down Limerick/Clare way I’ll change it for you.

MIKEKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122069623#Comment_122069623

230,000km on mine no clutch or flywheel problems yet

Kealyboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122760267#Comment_122760267

I’m from Kilkenny so I unfortunately won’t be in that part of the country anytime soon but thank you very much for the offer 👍