Bought our Octavia Estate end-2001 and have now (Nov 2005) done 34,500 miles - have just replaced the front tyres and the rears still have 5mm tread depth. To put it mildly, Kwik-Fit were surprised.
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<br>Overall Im very happy with the Octavia, but there has been the odd niggle. The Mass Air Flow sensor packed up after 21 months (replaced under warranty) and the new one has the occasional glitch - you lose all turbo boost, but only when you accelerate hard before the engine is fully warm. The cure is to stop, switch off the ignition and restart - the electronics will reset and all will be back to normal. But irritating if youre heading home out of Portsmouth with a full load of goodies from France and cant pull up the hills.
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<br>At present the drivers "door open" sensor is playing up - the light comes on (and goes off) over bumps. Ill mention it at the upcoming service - it probably only needs a squirt of WD40.
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<br>Final thing to note on the Mk 1 Octavia is that the rear passenger room is very limited - the front-seat passengers will have to slide their seats forward if the rears are to have any legroom. And my wife, who is just over 5 feet tall, finds the relationship between the seats (at whatever height/reach setting) and the accelerator makes her right leg ache after an hour on the motorwary unless she drives flat out (well, thats what she says).
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<br>Still, these are minor niggles for a car with excellent reliability, enormous rear luggage space and which over its life has averaged 45.6 mpg - and I dont hang around. The engine is smooth once warmed up and the seats make long journeys a pleasure.
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<br>If I could Id give the Octavia 4 1/2 peaches, but since Im feeling in a generous mood (and planning to replace it with a top-spec Mk 2 L&K estate with the 2.0 PDI engine and DSG gearbox) Ill give it the full 5. I know our car will be a great buy - probably for one of the mini cab firms who have realised just what good value the diesel Octavia is. |
