Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi Ownership Review


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This is an exclusive ownership review of my car Skoda Octavia 1.9 tdi. Car is 9 years old and crossed 112000 kms already. I am not a expert technical reviewer and this is an authentic report truly based on facts and findings found on my ownership till now.

Pros
Right from day one till today it has given me the confidence of reliability and safety.

Never had a breakdown anywhere throughout my road trips except once, the recent one and still the cause of it is a mystery.

85% of the total service and maintenance were done at the Skoda Authorized Service Station (SASS).

The driving comfort of the car is excellent even for long continues drive.

The boot is very spacious, best in class and can swallow a large amount of luggage.

The interior quality is very good and durable; a minor care can make it looks new for years.

1.9 tdi engine is very powerful, the body is very muscular as well, the doors are built heavy and feel like travelling inside a tank. The performance of the turbo is excellent.

15 inches wheels are making the ground clearance better.

All the controls are very sharp in responding, do their jobs to the level of high confidence and top notch.

At high speeds it sticks to the road and hardly feels the speed until you look at the speedometer.

The paint quality is very good.

The parts and the engineering qualities are excellent and durable too.

The power steering is very good in handling though not very lite.

Skoda Rider doesn't have ABS, but the brakes are very sharp.

The suspension is very good and the parts are long lasting.

After every service done at SASS, within a week, will get a call from Skoda India to verify the quality of the work done at the workshop, whether right guidance was given by the service advisor, the costing was discussed earlier & the billing was done accordingly and the vehicle was delivered on time promised.

The FE part is remarkable; city drive – 18 kmpl, highways – 20 to 22 kmpl.

Cons
Spares are little expensive but long lasting.

Rear legroom is little cramped.

SASS net work is very poor and may have to wait for spares sometimes as they don’t stock all, they are easily available in outside market but have to compromise on quality.

SKODA policy is to replace the faulty part than repairing it.

Head lights are not powerful up to required level.

The overall maintenance cost is little on the higher side; may be due to German parts.

Major work/maintenance done on the vehicle
Until 55000 kms, only the regular services were done.

55000 kms – Replaced Timing Belt Assembly

66700 kms – Replaced the steel rims into alloys, replaced all the tyres with MRF

66850 kms – Replaced real axle beam which got bent due to stone hit, replaced battery with AMARON.

67800 kms – Replaced lower arm, disc rotors and pads.

80600 kms – Replaced AC compressor, evaporator for better performance.

85450 kms - Replaced the front struts assembly and air filter with K&N.

93140 kms – Replaced front grill and AC condenser those got damaged due to dog hit.

97750 kms – Replaced Timing belt assembly, tensioner with dampe.

108000 kms - Timing belt broke and major damage to the engine (still a mystery), replaced engine head, piston, timing belt assembly etc.

109150 kms – Replaced brake pads and rear brake linings.

110319 kms – Replaced suspension bushes, front R/L wheel bearings, all door latches.

112150 kms – Replaced vacuum solenoid valve.

Apart from the above the routine and regular services were done on or before the due date. Out of above, some of the replacements were done to bring back to the original performance of the car though not very necessary.

Modifications done on the car
Car came with the 10 CD changer. After two years the following are the modifications done.

Head unit: Pioneer 2 din DVD receiver with rear view camera. Pioneer Bluetooth BT100, Necvox head rest monitors X 2, Infinity component speakers for front doors and rear parcel tray and Sony four channel amp. to drive them, Glider monoblock amp. to drive two 12 inches BM subwoofers, and audio surge capacitor to give uninterrupted power from the battery to both the amplifiers. This set up is with the car and giving rocking entertainment for the past 7 years and now it’s seasoned and even better.

GPS: Map my India device is used and just upgraded to map version 9.0. The original pioneer head unit that came with the car is fixed inside the boot and the AUX is used to enhance the voice command from the GPS with four dedicated Pioneer speakers, two in the front and two in the back.

HD 1080p Car dvr/black box: switches on and start video recording when the car is started focusing the front view from the car; very useful as an evidence in case of any accident.

Seat Massagers with heating option are fixed on both the front seats; reduces the stress and back pain during long drive and stops fatigue and sleepiness while driving.

OE lights inside the boot and glove box are not bright enough, so lighting is enhanced with LEDs, also inside the door handles etc.

Damping/Sound proofing is done on all the doors, flooring etc with thermocol to reduce the sound getting inside the cabin and to reduce the vibration; works very well.

Maxpider 3D mats are used inside to reduce the carpet becoming dirty.

A small amount of modification is done on both interior and exterior of the car with chrome decals.

Car cleaning & maintenance
Equipments used for cleaning the car: Bosch Aquatak 100 Plus for car wash, CUMI high pressure blower for drying the engine bay, terminals etc, Dongcheng Sander Polisher for body polishing and Eureka Forbes VC for interior and trunk cleaning.
Amway car wash is used for body wash, 3M Premium Liquid Wax for polishing the body, 3M Ultimate Dresser for interior polishing, and is done in short intervals.

Few of the trips done on this car
Shirdi, Jaipur, Delhi, Shimla, Kullu, Manali, Agra, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Goa, Mahabaleshwar , Pune, Mullayanagiri, Coorg, Ooty, Kodaikanal, Munnar, Thekkady, Valparai, Kollimalai, Yercaud, Yelagiri, Horsley Hills, Wayanad, Pondychery and major tourist destinations in KL/KA/TN and few in AP.

Terrains Handled
Off-road: Yes, but not much

Temperature: Minus 4 to 7 deg C, driving under heavy snowfalls in Manali (HP)

Water crossing: Small river crossing in a forest area near Gonikoppal (KA) with one foot deep water

Scary & Dangerous drive: Driving up and down from Mullayanagiri Peak, highest peak in Karnataka. Very narrow and steep road without guardrails, zero visibility and with high wind velocity.

A narrow escape from a landslide at Kullu (HP)

Accidents, damages, breakdowns and towing
Accidents: Stone hit while reversing, axle beam got bent and replaced under insurance cover.

Dog hit: Front grill and AC condenser got damaged and replaced at Jaipur

ORVM got damaged by a Volvo bus and replaced under insurance cover.

Timing belt broke (still a mystery) and engine got damaged. Had to call a breakdown van to take to the service station. (A major incident in this car’s history)

The final verdict: nothing but EXCELLENT
 

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Thread Starter #2
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Thread Starter #3
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Awesome write up, AR Ram.
Happy to see your Skoda Octavia ran so long much without a hiccup. Very nice maintenance tips.

Me too, a proud Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI owner, just completed 18000 KMs, in last 2 years. [clap]

Wish you a Happy safe driving ahead.
 
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Great review about your 'beloved' Octavia !

Went thru the pics couple of times! You have covered 'Kashmir se Kanyaakumari' ! Wishing you many more happy & safe kilometers with your better half & Octy.

I am feeling proud for being in your friends list :D
 
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Is it TL or Ownership Review[;)]

Superb pics again Ram Sir. As I already said somewhere, I'm really happy to see a TN Reg car, which is running between the length and Breath of India. Hats off to you and your Octy[:)]

Wish you another 1L happy Kms ahead and Wish to drive Octy during our next meet [:)]
 
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Octavia is no doubt a best sedan car with plenty of features in its class. The 2ltr engine has shown the best performance over the period of time. Octavia had given SKODA a good reputation in INDIA and other countries. Although SKODA spares are quite expensive as compared to other company, people still loves to buy them. Octavia is a car with high power and super handling. It is a comfortable car with luxury interior.

Buying a 9-10 yr old car is bit risky thing, but if the car is tested well to its fitness then not a big trouble.

You said that your car is NON ABS, and has sharp braking. ABS is better to have in a vehicle. ABS is meant to built to avoid wheel lock while hard braking and thereby giving more safety and avoid skidding or slipping from its direction. [:)]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKiTAcXK6M4
 
Thread Starter #11
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Very neatly maintained Octavia!

Give you [thumbsup] on maintaining!

-PaddleShifter.
Thank you PaddleShifter for your words. Its always a passion to maintain this car.

Awesome write up, AR Ram.
Happy to see your Skoda Octavia ran so long much without a hiccup. Very nice maintenance tips.

Me too, a proud Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI owner, just completed 18000 KMs, in last 2 years.

Wish you a Happy safe driving ahead.
Thank you Cthulhu. Wish you also the same

Great review about your 'beloved' Octavia !

Went thru the pics couple of times! You have covered 'Kashmir se Kanyaakumari' ! Wishing you many more happy & safe kilometers with your better half & Octy.

I am feeling proud for being in your friends list /QUOTE]

Thank you appus for the touching and great words.

Is it TL or Ownership Review

Superb pics again Ram Sir. As I already said somewhere, I'm really happy to see a TN Reg car, which is running between the length and Breath of India. Hats off to you and your Octy

Wish you another 1L happy Kms ahead and Wish to drive Octy during our next meet [:)]
Great AppU. Thank you

Octavia is no doubt a best sedan car with plenty of features in its class. The 2ltr engine has shown the best performance over the period of time. Octavia had given SKODA a good reputation in INDIA and other countries. Although SKODA spares are quite expensive as compared to other company, people still loves to buy them. Octavia is a car with high power and super handling. It is a comfortable car with luxury interior.

Buying a 9-10 yr old car is bit risky thing, but if the car is tested well to its fitness then not a big trouble.

You said that your car is NON ABS, and has sharp braking. ABS is better to have in a vehicle. ABS is meant to built to avoid wheel lock while hard braking and thereby giving more safety and avoid skidding or slipping from its direction. [:)]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKiTAcXK6M4
The Rider variant doesn't have ABS but not felt much.

Thank you
 
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Great. Well maintained. Even after 9 years the love continues with the same car. Really good. A better companion for you in all your travel journey & your life time journey.

I hope it will be not sold to others. Instead to be handed over to your next generations.
 
Thread Starter #14
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Great review about your 'beloved' Octavia !

Went thru the pics couple of times! You have covered 'Kashmir se Kanyaakumari' ! Wishing you many more happy & safe kilometers with your better half & Octy.

I am feeling proud for being in your friends list :D
Your words are motivating me to key in more.

Hi,
A great review for a faithful car. Its impressive to see that you have traveled everywhere in India with this car. Really impressive.
Out of my car ownership history I fell in love with this car.
Thank you.

Wow great car and well maintained, wishing you many more kms of happy ride
Thank you MSN1 and wish you also the same.

Great. Well maintained. Even after 9 years the love continues with the same car. Really good. A better companion for you in all your travel journey & your life time journey.

I hope it will be not sold to others. Instead to be handed over to your next generations.
Yes truly it is my travel companion - you said it.
Thank you
 

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