Questions from a potential Octavia Wagon owner

[daft1014]

Hello all,

We are looking for a new car and on paper the Octavia Wagon looks like it will fit the bill, but I have a few questions for some current owners.

1) A/C vents in the rear: The dealer told me over the phone that there were A/C vents in the rear and these work well at cooling the second row and also the luggage area. Just wondering how effective you thought the A/C system is in the facelift octavia wagons? The vehicle will often travel in hot areas.

2) Extended warranty: After reading about some DSG's being replaced under warranty I was thinking that the extended warranty insurance might be a good thing. We intend to keep the car well past the 3 year warranty period. What are your thoughts on the value of the extended warranty insurance?

3) Servicing: I am in Brisbane and it seems that there is now only one dealer at Albion. He tells me that any VW dealer can do the servicing and warranties will still be honored. Is this the case in your experience? Does anyone here get their vehicle serviced at a non-skoda dealer? Can anyone recommend servicing locations in Brisbane?

4) Towing: I was a bit confused by the response from a salesman, but he said the RS's DSG's are not suitable for any towing. Is this the case if your experience? I struggle to see how a more powerful version of the same car would be unsuitable? Is this to do with the DSG having to deal with more power? I don't do a lot of towing but it would be nice to have the option.

5) Diesel in continual stop start use: I have been reading about problems with diesel renault/nissan engines with stop start use (something to do with dpf/egr setup causing Mil errors). Is this an issue also for Skoda's? Our driving is roughly 50/50 city and highway but we can sometimes go weeks without the car getting above 60.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Regards

Stuart

[TuNeS]

Hello all,

We are looking for a new car and on paper the Octavia Wagon looks like it will fit the bill, but I have a few questions for some current owners.

1) A/C vents in the rear: The dealer told me over the phone that there were A/C vents in the rear and these work well at cooling the second row and also the luggage area. Just wondering how effective you thought the A/C system is in the facelift octavia wagons? The vehicle will often travel in hot areas.

2) Extended warranty: After reading about some DSG's being replaced under warranty I was thinking that the extended warranty insurance might be a good thing. We intend to keep the car well past the 3 year warranty period. What are your thoughts on the value of the extended warranty insurance?

3) Servicing: I am in Brisbane and it seems that there is now only one dealer at Albion. He tells me that any VW dealer can do the servicing and warranties will still be honored. Is this the case in your experience? Does anyone here get their vehicle serviced at a non-skoda dealer? Can anyone recommend servicing locations in Brisbane?

4) Towing: I was a bit confused by the response from a salesman, but he said the RS's DSG's are not suitable for any towing. Is this the case if your experience? I struggle to see how a more powerful version of the same car would be unsuitable? Is this to do with the DSG having to deal with more power? I don't do a lot of towing but it would be nice to have the option.

5) Diesel in continual stop start use: I have been reading about problems with diesel renault/nissan engines with stop start use (something to do with dpf/egr setup causing Mil errors). Is this an issue also for Skoda's? Our driving is roughly 50/50 city and highway but we can sometimes go weeks without the car getting above 60.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Regards

Stuart

1) The rear vents do a good job. Although I am yet to sit in the back seat, however my passengers have been comfortable.

2) I didnt get the DSG or extended warranty, but this is something you might want to consider if you keep it for a long time.

3) My dad and I bought our Skoda's from Prestige at Albion. They have been great so far iwth after sales service. I was also told any VW dealership can service it, however this isnt something I would do.

4) I tow with my petrol manual and dad tows with his DSG deisel all the time. We dont take big loads (towing boats and go-karts) and neither of us have had a problem. There is loads of torque on tap. However if you had a caravan, well the Octavia isnt the best choice.

5) I have read similar things about the diesel too. Dad hasnt had any problems and it doesnt hit the highway too often. As long as you give it a good run every now and again there should be no problem.

Both dad and I love our Octavia vRS's. Brilliant car!

[space-godzilla]

I have a 2008 (pre-facelift) diesel RS wagon with DSG and I don't know if the interior changed much with the facelift. But...I don't find the a/c super strong. We changed over to the Octavia from a Prado which had air vents in the roof covering all three rows and that a/c system used to blast out freezing cold air. In fact, the kids used to complain sometimes that it was too cold. Our Octavia has two rather small air vents behind the centre armrest and the kids try to aim them towards themselves but I don't think that they produce much of a cooling effect for the backseats. And I'm not sure how comfortable a dog would be in the cargo area.

We live in Canberra so it's never really hot and humid but this summer, I found that the a/c is just able to keep the car at a comfortable temperature but never really blows out frigid air. It might struggle in a hotter climate, especially if the car has been left out in the sun or something.

I'm planning to get the windows tinted before next summer and hopefully, that means that the a/c won't have to struggle as much.

Here's a thread about a good deal on extended warranties available from a VW dealer in Woolongong. My warranty expires in Jan 2012 but I might try to lock in an extended warranty as soon as I find an extra $1500 lying around. It's the official VW warranty underwritten by Allianz so I assume that they'd be able to sell me this at a similar price to cover our Octavia.

So that's my 2c. I can't give you any info on your other three questions.

[4thchicken]

We live in Canberra so it's never really hot and humid but this summer, I found that the a/c is just able to keep the car at a comfortable temperature but never really blows out frigid air. It might struggle in a hotter climate, especially if the car has been left out in the sun or something.

sounds stupid I know, but have you tried turning the temp dial down? - I drove about for a few months thinking the aircon wasnt that cold (had read a few posts complaining about it on this board etc) before noticing that dropping the climate controlled temp a couple degrees (ie 22 to 20) can have a huge impact on the coldness of the air coming out - much more so than I would have expected

[aslsw]

Funny comment about towing. I deliberately asked the dealer about this (after all, I had paid to get a towbar fitted). The owner's manual says the 2.0 litre is good for 650kg, which is pretty close to my Commodore (although I never push it that far). That seems to be enough for me to take the trailer with camping gear. The manual does say to stick to 80km/h when towing but I read that as more of a safety message, as a car towing at high speeds will behave differently to a car without trailer. Still, I'll be panicking a bit when I tow the trailer up the Clyde for the first time and watching coolant and oil temps!

[Antiplastix]

VW/Skoda have to cover any item under warranty as long as it is serviced by any quailified mechanic who uses genuine parts., they can not specify any particular place to have it serviced under "fair trading laws".
I had a VW Transporter Diesel for 100k kms and had no problems with stop start running.
As for DSGs , yes they have a bad reputation and probably aren t that great for towing as they do not have a torque converter but rather a twin clutch set up.

[Transporter]

And try to get extended warranty when negotiating the price. I found it a bit cheaper than asking for the extended warranty later, and as everything else is going up, so is the insurance and extended warranties.

[brad]

1. The vents are OK but I find it more effective to have the footwell vents under the seat going as well as the centre console vents (press both buttons). Windows are tinted as well. I keep the temp on 20c and only run the AC when i feel hot so it is only used a couple of days a week.

2. I haven't looked into it but I've been assuming it's available under the same deal as the extended VW warranty. I was going to get it about 6 months before the 3 year warranty ran out.

3. I enquired at an Audi dealer if they could do the work. The price was double the Skoda dealer & the Audi dealer didn't have the software in his scan tool to look at Skodas. IIRC the local VW dealer was pretty hopeless too (didn't have oil filters).

4. Sounds like crap to me but what exactly do you want to tow? A mate has just bought an RS & intends to tow a gokart trailer (what is it with Skodas & karts?)

5. No idea

[woofy]

Depends on the dealer, Richmond Skoda is also Audi Richmond/Melbourne so they would be fine to do it, and charge the appropriate price for a Skoda. I've seen the exact same service cost a whole lot more for an S3.

[bobski]

4. Sounds like crap to me but what exactly do you want to tow? A mate has just bought an RS & intends to tow a gokart trailer (what is it with Skodas & karts?)

I agree, whip out the brochure, point out the specs and ask him why he doesn't recommend it. DSG and Manual have the same weights specified....

[daft1014]

Hi all,

Thanks for the responses. This confirms what I suspected.

The reason for the interest in the A/C is for the baby and the dog. I was hoping that with a tint and avoiding sunroofs it should be ok. I know what one of the posters mean about the Prado A/C. The inlaws have one and it's brilliant after sitting in the sun at the beach. From the replies though it doesn't sound like it will be an issue with the Octavia.

Thanks for the tips on packaging the extended warranty during the initial purchase. Like most things though I suspect cashflow may dictate buying it later... The story of the polo with the new engine being replaced under extended warranty is exactly the reason I was thinking it would be useful... It seems to me that the more sophisticated cars get (i.e. DSG) the more it will be to fix if I'm one of the unlucky ones!

I will only tow a box trailer occasionally on holidays or the rare time one of the bikes (motor kind) really craps themselves and needs to be taken to a shop. Certainly no towing of vans. So again it seems there should be no problems!

Again thanks for the assistance.

Regards

Stuart

[4thchicken]

on driving in hot areas/aircon etc - on the RS (not sure about standard octavia?) if you hold down the unlock button then you can wind down all the windows as your approach the car - makes a massive difference in cooling the car

[daft1014]

Hi All,

A quick update. Based on your replies and a test drive we have put a deposit down on a used/demo RS wagon.

We spoke with both Brisbane Prestige and Byford Skoda about used/demo stock and both be very helpful, but in the end we have gone with the local car in Brisbane.

Again thanks for the assistance.

Regards

Stuart

[K1W1]

Congratulations and lets see some pictures when you get it home.

[K1W1]

if you hold down the unlock button then you can wind down all the windows as your approach the car - makes a massive difference in cooling the car

And if you have auto wipers the windows and sunroof will close automatically if they are open and it rains. That's an even neater trick.