Buy a used Octavia.

[MYSKODA]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to buy a Skoda octavia 2011 1z. The car is only 2 years old, has around 40,000kms. Presents well, very well looked after. It drives well, my only concern is that there is road noise and road vibration from the front wheels, i have read up on sawtoothing and feathering. The guy selling the car is willing to take the car to pedders for a inspection, ill pay offcourse, hopefully they might pick up alignment or camber issues. What are your thoughts, should i buy or not?? I really appreciate everyones feedback and opinions. (Also the car is still under warranty for another 6 months.)

[gldgti]

The octavia is the same suspension as the golf 5/6 on the front (and back) and there are some well known, not so much issues, but eccentricities about the setups.

All the A5 platform cars are sensitive to alignment, and tyres. Most alignment shops (even pedders) will say that the front is not adjustable except for toe.... although technically correct, there is enough play in the front strut top mount bolts and lower balljoint bolts to allow ~0.5 degrees of camber change, depending on how its put together.

Regardless, the most likely issue it will have, if any, will be incorrect toe setting on the front which is easy to fix, and pedders will be able to tell you what the camber and castor is like.

Also, the particular tyre and the pressure its run at can make a big difference to what you notice in the cabin of the octavia. Also remember that if the tyres on the car have worn poorly due to bad toe setting, they might be noisy for a long time after the problem has been fixed.

I notice on my car (17" wheels with 235/45 continentals) that I can hear a lot of tyre noise from the front when they are above about 43psi - a bit less pressure and they are quieter.
Having said all that - buy a used octavia - they are FANTASTIC.

[Mysticality]

Two years, 40,000km? Do it!

Get the check - but they are fantastic cars.
Mine will be two years old in December, and its done 118,000 faultless KM so far!

[MYSKODA]

Thanks for the info mate, hopefully pedders will provide me with some good news!

[NOO63N]

Mines 2009, 29,000km! Lol

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

[Antiplastix]

The saw toothing effect comes from too much negative rear camber ex the factory and affects the rear tyres, It is easily adjusted and suggested figures are on Briskoda ,etc. Maybe the car has had a rotation and the rears are now on the front. as for "pedders" , they have a bad reputation for finding "faults" that aren t really there in order to upsell. A good independent would be a better idea.

[brad]

The fronts have probably been on the rears.

Pedders abilities vary quite a bit as they are franchises. The place near Green Square (Roseberry) gets a good report from one of my very fussy mates.

You might be better to take it to Matt at Camden GTI for a check.

I still haven't heard of any good wheel alignment places in the area (CAmbelltown & environs). There are probably a few well trained donkeys that will set it to your specs but cant diagnose if their life depended on it.

I take mine to Spinning Wheel Tyres. The guy there has been with them for ~15 years IIRC & knows VW product very well.

My last alignment with them was ~$120 and it was spot-on. As GLDGTI says, there's plent of slop in the bolt holes to allow minor adjustment.

You also need to ensure that the tyres are X-rotated every 7500-10,000km. Non-directionals or Assymetrics seem to be less inclined to saw-tooth. Quality of tyre also seems to be a factor.

I've never had any issues with abnormal tyre wear. The alignment seemed pretty good from the dealer & the first (only) wheel alignment I had done was at ~100,000km. I'm now on 125,000km. I fitted lowered Eibach springs just before 100,000km & koni yellow dampers around 110,000km.

OEM Continental CSC2 (assymetric) wore beautifully and were replaced at 45,000km (sold them with the wheels & the new owner ran them a bit longer).
Fitted some 2nd hand Kumhos (directionals) that also wore OK but I turfed them at 55,000km.
Fitted Michelin Preceda (assymetric) which have now done 70,000km & are wearing very evenly & passed rego in July. Rego guy said there was heaps left.

I usually run ~34-36psi

Short story: A good wheel alignment, regular x-rotation & quality non-directional tyres & you won't have issues with abnormal tyre wear.

I love my Octavia & the only issue I have was that I was a tight-arse & didn't pay the premium for the wagon.

[MYSKODA]

Cheers Brad. Unfortunately i cant take the car too far, as the guy lives near by, so my options for taking it to a suspension/alignment specialist are limited to ones close by, which are companies like jax,goodyear,blairs tyres etc. The tires on the octavia im looking at are still the original ones from factory which are the Dunlops. My biggest concern is buying the car and spending big $$$ on it. Hopefully it's just poor tyre wear and replacing them with some decent new tyres and a wheel alignment will fix the noise problem.

[Lucas_R]

If that Octavia doesnt work out in your favour, my brother is selling his Octavia vRS at the moment. http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...nty-91062.html

[brad]

Camden GTI is just down the road in Campbelltown. He'll tell you if anything is fuxored.

I'm not a fan of Dunlop tyres so my biased view is that the tyres are at fault & they were stuffed due to poor alignment.

You haven't actually said which model / body / engine / trans you are looking at yet. Care to share?

[MYSKODA]

Sure mate, its a 2011 octavia, wagon, 90tsi, 6 speed manual. Here is the link Brad.

2011 Skoda Octavia 1Z 90TSI MY11

[brad]

looks good. Good body / engine / trans combo for an economical run-about.

there should be some wiggle room in that price as there were near new / demo 90tsi wagons occasionally coming up in CarSales earlier in the year for just under $20k.

[MYSKODA]

Certainly room for movement in price, considering ill have to put 4 new tyres on board, and a service in 5000k's time.

[brad]

45,000km service is a minor one IIRC - about $300-$350. You might need brake fluid flush (~$80) if it wasn't done at 30k. I'd probably do a pollen filter & air filter because they are cheap ($25 each) & fuel filter to be anal retentive.

Tyres: I'd actually look on eBay / Gumtree & the various VW/Audi forums for some near new 15" or 16" tyres already mounted on wheels from somebody "upgrading". Nobody wants them & they are often dirt cheap ($400 for 16") once the seller has come to there senses. My Michelins were from eBay. $400 mounted on 16x7.5 Audi rims. They'd been on the A4 1 month & had 9mm left on the rear & 8.5mm left on the fronts.

by all means tell the seller that new tyres will set you back about $600

[MYSKODA]

Much appreciated for the info Brad. So all in all, would you buy it?