Buying used Octavia - ungent advice needed!

[sukebe]

Hi all, I've been looking for a replacement for our aging Subaru Forester for a while and keep finding myself coming back to an Octavia wagon as, apart from some reliability concerns, ticks all the boxes. I have put a deposit down on a 118TSI DSG wagon with 27k km, 2009 build 2010 compliance which has recently come out of factory warranty. It had its DSG recall done last week and I am aware of the timing chain tensioner issues with these engines.

Most people on this forum seem to have bought new with warranties, but how do you feel about owning / buying these cars with no warranty? I have been in contact with Consumer Affairs regarding the potential failing chain tensioner and they indicated that such a failure would be covered under Consumer Law, regardless of whether there is a warranty or not (but assuming you have followed the recommended servicing and the car is of "reasonable age and km"). Are there any other potential major issues I should be concerned about? Given the DSG has just had the recall done, will it be reliable or are there other common DSG issues that could be costly? Ive never even had to think about such issues with my Forester, never needing anything but normal servicing/maintenance for over 6 years of ownership.

Bascially what I'm asking is, should I buy this car? Or am I being foolhardy, given that it is out of manfacturers warranty?

I should probably also note that it would be primarily a weekend car as I commute by bicycle, so not tooo much stop-start traffic (which I believe is an issue for DSGs overheating?).


Thanks in advance for an opinions / advice!

[woofy]

I have a 5yr old RS that had its first real issue recently and Skoda recently covered a $500 part no worries due to it being a known issue. Should be ok. You haven't said how much that car is, could be possible you can get one still under warranty for the same price?

[Antiplastix]

The " timing chain tensioner " issue only seems to affect the 147/155 kw 2.0 l tsi not the 118 kw 1.8 l ,so you should be right there.

[brad]

I've been out of warranty 2 years & intend to keep the car in the family for many years to come.

Mine's M6. No issues with the gearbox but it feels like the clutch might be getting tired after 125,000km. Daughter will be learning to drive on it soon so that will probably kill it.

N75 valve needed replacement not long after the warranty ran out. I could have had it done as "a good will gesture" but the dealer was too far away & I was too busy so paid my local guy ~$400 to do it.

Water pump died around 105,000km. That was $1200 but we could have taken a punt & saved $400 in parts but I'm not a risk taker.

I haven't had issues with the timing chain tensioner. If it goes i'll just pay up unless VW has put out a "recall" by then (fat chance they'll admit to anything)

Services were done every 15,000km up to 60,000km. Every 7500km since then because I had the oil sitting in the garage.

Good car

[sukebe]

Thanks for the quick and hepful responses guys!

I have a 5yr old RS that had its first real issue recently and Skoda recently covered a $500 part no worries due to it being a known issue. Should be ok. You haven't said how much that car is, could be possible you can get one still under warranty for the same price?

Hi Woofy,

can I ask what was the 'known issue' that you had? The car is $18k drive away including window tinting (from a Subaru dealer, they got it as a trade-in on a new car). The cheapest I can find with full warranty are ex-factory driven for around $27-28k. Cheapest I can find with some warranty remaining (1 year), 55k km is $22.5k. On balance I think the car I have found is a reasonable bet value-wise.

[roshea]

I bought mine (same as yours but 2010 version) with a few months warranty remaining, just to have a chance to check everything over properly. The only issue with mine was the clutch plates, which were replaced under warranty once I finally convinced the dealer that they needed fixing - the 7-speed DSG is notorious for shuddering on take-off and into 2nd gear, and replacement clutch plates solved the problem for me. Hopefully these new ones are better than the originals and last longer than 3 years ...

Now that I've had the car nearly a year, I'd definitely do it all again. I have no concerns about "common problems" with this model - fingers crossed that it behaves itself for the next 5+ years.

[rjg]

Thanks for the quick and hepful responses guys!




Hi Woofy,

can I ask what was the 'known issue' that you had? The car is $18k drive away including window tinting (from a Subaru dealer, they got it as a trade-in on a new car). The cheapest I can find with full warranty are ex-factory driven for around $27-28k. Cheapest I can find with some warranty remaining (1 year), 55k km is $22.5k. On balance I think the car I have found is a reasonable bet value-wise.

Wha?

I paid 23.5 for my 10 built MY11 RS with a few months warranty and 53k only a couple of months ago, there has to be something cheaper unless I got the bargain of the century!

[sukebe]

Wha?

I paid 23.5 for my 10 built MY11 RS with a few months warranty and 53k only a couple of months ago, there has to be something cheaper unless I got the bargain of the century!

For a wagon with DSG, drive away price from a used dealer including 3 year limited warranty ($1k limit per claim)?

Thats 30% more than Im looking to pay for a 118TSI with half the km, I'm not sure how yours is any better a deal??

Anyway, Im not asking for debate regarding the purchase price - I've been watching the used market for some time and have a good feel for price. I was looking for opinions / advice regarding purchase / ownership of vehicles out of factory warranty.

[rjg]

For a wagon with DSG, drive away price from a used dealer including 3 year limited warranty ($1k limit per claim)?

Thats 30% more than Im looking to pay for a 118TSI with half the km, I'm not sure how yours is any better a deal??

Anyway, Im not asking for debate regarding the purchase price - I've been watching the used market for some time and have a good feel for price. I was looking for opinions / advice regarding purchase / ownership of vehicles out of factory warranty.

Several reasons. Seems what you are after is in short supply at the minute. Might an idea to hold off if possible until a few more pop up to get a better price.

I wouldn't be bothered by that warranty either, dealer warranties generally aren't worth the paper they're written on and a 1k limit is low. Even for a dealer.

Sent from my GT-I9305T using Tapatalk

[woofy]

The common issue I had relates to the 2.0L TFSI engine, so won't matter with the car you are looking at. It's not a big deal, it was a PCV valve, those and the Diverter valve (tech name for the blow off valve) had several revisions. They are dirt cheap in the UK but around $500 here. Basically if any funny idle things start happening in the UK they just buy them and replace themselves as they are cheap.

That price seems about OK. One thing to consider is the price is about to drop completely out now that a fully all new model is around, the new version of what you have is now available, and I expect the RSs to drop in value once the new model is out. That will always be the case. The prices are often higher for Skodas than what people think, mainly due to them being hard to find at times. I reckon there will be a small flood of people trading in for the new ones in the next 18mths. Sounds like you are doing OK either way and yes the dealer warranty is OK, but I would imagine it would involve servicing at that dealer and being a Subaru dealer, not really ideal.