Beauty of the Beast Skoda Octavia RS - 30000 km review

[ashish22]

yeah thanks abhinav do let me know for sure as i have to get my car connected to VAG
since last few days whenever i drive car i get this parking brake audible warning which blinks with three long audible beeps and then again repeats itself after few mins while i'm driving.
Any idea ajmat??

[ajmat]

Had been complaining to the old man that the front end was a bit stodgy and maybe I need to do do some drastic upgrades. The old man - he who makes me spend, now makes me save - said nothing was wrong.

Koramangala speed breakers were driving me mad. The way the nose dived easliey and reluctant scrapes were driving me nuts and then...

graunch, graunch, yes, the grinch took away xmas but what the hell was this graunch noise. Added to that I drove a Skoda 2.0 with 69k on the clock. That felt more stable.

A quick search on Briskoda and I found the answer - the anti-roll bar bushes were shot. Rang Fayaz at Vinayak who confirmed this was common and parts were in stock. Car went in yesterday for the morning and the repairs were done.

Cost = Rs 1000

Car is surefooted - will comment on the Koramangala speedbreakers later today

[siddartha]

hey ashish22 , check the brake fluid level , if its not that then check the switch near the hand brake.
3 beeps is for the brake fluid level.

[v1p3r]

ajmat, siddartha, we should meet up if you guys are free. Need some advice from you guys.

Originally Posted by prabhuav

Only difference being that Hyundai gets parts from Korea - and since the same engine is sold in 5 cars in India, I dont believe it will be that big an issue. having said that , engine parts are bound to be expensive in the diesel, but I am betting on the fact that they are built to last a lot longer.

The Elantra engine is sold in 5 cars in India?

[JayD]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

The Elantra engine is sold in 5 cars in India?

I guess these are the cars,


Elantra, Tucson, Captiva(?), magnum(?), and??

[ImmortalZ]

Optra, Captiva, Elantra, Sonata. Hmm, which did I miss?

[reignofchaos]

^^You missed Tucson. Its not the same engine - the basic block is the same detroit diesel. However the tune, engine management etc is completely different in them other than the Tucson and Elantra.

Totally offtopic though.

[ajmat]

1: The GM engines are different from the Hyundai engines

2: Don't desecrate the skoda thread talking about Hyundai's

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Car went in yesterday for the morning and the repairs were done.

And I also complained that the car's idling was getting rough when in hot traffic. They could not find anything.

Filled car with a full tank. The rogh idling came nd went and then on Friday, in Viveknagar, the EPC light came on and I found the car not revving beyond 1500. Switched off. Car will reset and carry on for 500 mts. Luckily I carried the VAG Com/ A quick scan showed the throttle body in error. I deleted the code and car ran for a coupe of KM and it all happene again. Kept VAG COM pluggedin and leted codes at traffic light. Luckily home was downhill.

Called Vinayak. They said bring the car in. I said, it is undrivable so the service truck comes in on Sat mornng. The mechanic looks at it, finds the rough idle and calls up the service centre. They say, bring it in. I refuse to drive it so they send a driver. They could have towed it - next call was in Whitefield - not too far off!

Driver picks up car, I warn engine is rough. He drives off and I vamoose1

15 min later, Vinayak ring and say that the car needs to be towed. I tell them to go ahead. Car reaches at 5.30 pm. Nothing can be done till mon.

Mon morning - thrttle body is cleaned, it revs but idling is rough. they clean spark plugs. They think injectors and also check fuel sender. They call to tell me that it needs a new throttle body and coils. Rs26k +12k

I am in depression. Old man tells me that TB is impossible. I go for the mon evening meet with Ishan and am depressed. Old Man upset that I never spoke to him. Jaggu suggests doing the TB clean myself. I consult Briskkoda who recommend I reset TB myself.

Tues, Get up early morning and write a stiff mail to Skoda about their fragile products. I go to work and an hour frees up. I go to Vinayak. They are taken aback as I have come to see things for myself. Car is being reassembled. I insist on seeing the car. They start it and it is a little roughbut it revs. Maybe I can live with it. Since I have the fault codes, I clearly state what is wrong is the TB signals are in error. I get a call to take car but consider ordering the TB and coils

Weds - Reach Vinayak. I find that Fayaz has been assigned the task of dealing with me. We go for a trial. the mechaic drives, Fayaz in the back. Fayaz enquires about the VAG COM. He can't beleve a customer can come with fault codes in hand. I pull out laptop and connect. I find varios misfire codes and faulty hose codes appear. I delete and we go for a drive. Engine is rough at low speeds. I decide to take car. Am charged only for towing Rs 2000. My letter to skoda had some effect.

Drive 10km to office. It cruises okay, a bit laggy. Park and catch up on work. Luckily, the admins aren't bumming a ride of me. So I conect the VAG Com, delete those codes and do a throttle reset. I drive the car carefully.

I have no problem. Thurs morning, 5 am cold start, no problem. Thrus late morning, heavy HAL airport road traffic, no probs, similar ride home no probs.

today - car zings to work and back. Slight uneveness with AC on but it is running fine for now. I will change the coils as a preventive.

Will do a TB clean myself every quarter.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by ajmat

They call to tell me that it needs a new throttle body and coils. Rs26k +12k :

They quoted 12 for the coils? IIRC @shuvd got a quote of around 16 or more for his tpi. He finally got a set from Peter arnd that price range.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by shuvc

They quoted 12 for the coils? IIRC @shuvd got a quote of around 16 or more for his tpi. He finally got a set from Peter arnd that price range.

Update

Car is running smoothly - slight uneveness in idling with AC on but I am nit picking.

I ordered a set of coils from the UK. It reached me 3 days after receipt of payment. Cost - Rs 9000 (7000 for the set and 2000 for courier, I could have saved 1200 if it came by ordinary post). These are the orginal VW coils and come fully packed.

The dealer would have charged me 12000 minimum

Bottom line - Skoda's are not too bad to run if you source parts from other sources and find a good independent repairer - the latter is a challenge still!

[taranonline]

German engg... Thanks a lot for the great cars... I will prefer a japanese anyday.

[Jaggu]

Idle issue if its very minimal, as in the rpm jumps by couple of tens on idle, then i think you should leave the coil pack on for the time being, have noticed the same in many MPFI cars. My guess was O2 sensor being dirty.

[abhinav.gupta88]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Update

Car is running smoothly - slight uneveness in idling with AC on but I am nit picking.

I ordered a set of coils from the UK. It reached me 3 days after receipt of payment. Cost - Rs 9000 (7000 for the set and 2000 for courier, I could have saved 1200 if it came by ordinary post). These are the orginal VW coils and come fully packed.

The dealer would have charged me 12000 minimum

Bottom line - Skoda's are not too bad to run if you source parts from other sources and find a good independent repairer - the latter is a challenge still!

Aren't there any duty issues or is it with duty?
Can you PM me your source. Just in case i need something
Backup should be there in case something goes woooosh.

[normally_crazy]

12K for coils ? JMD qouted me 8K.

And they were surprised on seeing the VAGCOM ? Don't they have a scanner in the workshop ?