Potential Octavia owner

[mrmedix]

Hi All,

I'm new to the Skoda vehicles, but liking the reviews on reliability and features I have seen online so far!

I've just been to test drive a diesel Octavia Ambiente 1.9 from a private seller this weekend. I found it drove nicely, but the brake pedal felt a bit weird; there was no resistance when starting to press down on it, but I could feel the car starting to slow down and the brakes engaging.

It didn't bother me too much, but it really tripped up the wife, she kept making hard stops because of the lack of initial pedal feedback.

Is this normal brake pedal action I am describing, or is there a problem with the brake system on this car?

[brad]

I'm not quite sure I understand what you are describing.

Generally Octavia / Golf brakes are quite sensitive when new & people complain that they have problems modulating the pedal and stopping without putting their heads through the windscreen.

When the brakes get a bit older & full of dust the pedal gets a bit long and the sensitivity reduces (and you get used to it).

I use my toes to brake so have never had an issue. If you use the ball of your foot or instep then I can imagine it might be a problem.

Also, under light braking the rear brakes come on first to reduce nose dive, possibly you are waiting for the nose to dip & therefore braking harder than necessary?

does that help at all?

[mrmedix]

Thank you that helps a lot!

It could just be that I'm coming from a Ford Focus and am just not used to the sensitivity of these brakes, yes.
The brake pedal feels like it has a long range of free travel, but the brakes engage pretty much as soon as I touch the pedal. So the car is starting to brake while the brake pedal is only in that first range of free travel.
It makes the braking feel disjointed, because although the car is slowing down, it feels like nothing should be happening yet because my foot hasn't pressed down far enough to feel any hydraulic pressure.

[spud75]

A mate of mine drove my A4 for the first time. He had an Astra. He first comment was "jeez the brakes are sensitive" My comment was "no, they work."

Coming form other cars, where you have to put your foot almost through the floor before something happens, to ones where brakes actually work and may be more sensitive can be disconcerting. The big catch is when you get into another car where you do have to put your foot through the floor and you are not used to it.

The brake action on the A4, A3 and Octavia are all pretty similar. Coming from the focus, I dont know what year you have, but you may have even had drums on the rear which would have required more of a stab before anything happens.

Finally, are the brakes original pads and discs? VAG cars are known for having softer dics but they give much harder initial bite.

[brad]

On my wife's relatively new Craptiva I'm known to say in a somewhat desperate voice "Stop ya bastard!" It's like the brake pads are made of wood.

[daMama]

On my wife's relatively new Craptiva I'm known to say in a somewhat desperate voice "Stop ya bastard!" It's like the brake pads are made of wood.

Blahahaha brad!
The sensitive brakes are one of my favourite features in VWs cars.

[mrmedix]

Lol, thanks all for your input.
I've started a new thread over in the Octavia forum, I hope this is alright?

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/f149/used-car-advice-2007-octavia-1-9-tdi-automatic-102255.html#post1105090