[Closed] Octavia VRS owners

Used to have the older shape one - seats were the most hideously uncomfortable devices of torture I've ever experienced. Other than that it was great - 40mpg, reasonably quick, decent size in the back.

Petrol or diesel?

OK...

What sort of price range should I be looking at?
A 59 plate estate or hatch will set you back about £10k with 60k on the clock. Thats for a diesel - the petrols are a touch cheaper.

Are there any known issues with them?
Not really. They're pretty bullet proof. The diesels, as with a lot of modern diesels, can suffer from DPF problems etc but they can be removed.

How do I know if it's a facelifted version?
The FL version first appeared on a 59 plate en mass. I think there may be a few lurking about on 09 plates. Easiest way to tell the difference is the headlights. FL lights are swept back. Pre-FL are much squarer.

There was a LE cross-over edition which was basically a pre-FL on the outside and a FL on the inside in a grey colour.

I've owned by 2006 mk2 now for 2.5 years. Had toyed with selling it but looking around, the only thing I'd want to replace it with is another vRS estate so decided to keep for a bit longer (and then get another later this year probably).

Mine is the 2.0T so isn't exactly frugal but I get upwards of 35mpg sat at 70 with the car loaded which, for the annual mileage we do, works out cheaper than running a diesel. But, its a great car to drive, the boot is great even with two little kids, bikes/surf boards on the roof etc and a load of holiday gear.

Not sure about the seats comment - I find them really comfy.

Like I said, one very happy owner here and I suspect come the end of the summer we'll be getting a 3'ish year old FL.

We had the petrol one for a while, as a company car, as the OH worked for Skoda for a short while (nice cars, horrible company to work for).

I have an 08 plate diesel CR paid £12k for it 18 months ago with less than 30k on the clock.

Its now done 63k and has cost me a service including new fuel pump (recommended change at 50k) for £450 plus 4 tyres. I have not had a single problem with it since I have had it. Insurance is pretty cheap also.

If you factor in price to buy and run its probably the best car I have had its cheapp to run at 50mpg on an A-road steady run, comfortable enough, quick enough and huge boot I can comfortably get four mates in plus camping gear for a weekend no problem. Its a bit noisy round town and prefers open roads.

My last car was a BMW 330d Touring brand new on a 59 plate and new cost double the price of the Skoda but the Skoda does not feel like its half the car.

I reccomend one for diesel you want the CR version rather than the older DPF version as this gives smoother power delivery and is a nicer drive.

Good cars but estate let down by the lip on the boot.

Was looking at a diesel

What's wrong with the boot lip?

What kit comes as standard inside?

Options are (I think), xenons, full leather, Columbus Sat Nav (Bolero touch screen as standard), Bluetooth, privacy glass, manual/DSG/DSG with paddles...

Depending on how much you want to spend, there seems to be a few Blackline runout models knocking around in dealerships which are about £18k but new and fully loaded...

The boot has a lip, some see that as a problem so when you open the boot the bottom door is not flush with the floor of the boot. Not an issue for me but if you are carrying large things you can't slide stuff in and out. Also you can't sit in the boot and put your shoes on but of course you can sit on the bumper.

Standard kit is sparce, you get radio, multi CD changer, IPOD connection, 8 speakers, air-con (including the glovebox and centre console) and thats about it. I think reverse sensors are an option as is cruise.

Its a clever car though, lots of storage bins and boxes which are really handy it took me 6 months to find them all.

The older diesels (PD engine rather than CR) suffer from piezo enjector failure however this has been the subject of a VAG recall/upgrade programme. Worth checking that it has been done as they are about £500 each in parts alone!

I ran a 2007 diesel hatch from 34k to 100k with very few problems.

I did suffer the dpf issues and in the end had the dpf removed and a remap (to about 235bhp). Was a cracking ncar with loads of space and epic performance....but with a light foot on a long run I managed to hit 57mpg and over 700 miles on a tank of fuel.

Mine did suffer with water in the tyre well which was put down to a boot seal issue.

For heaps of good advice use briskoda.net

Forgot to mention rear window spray pipe can become detached, relatively easy to refix and superglue. Needs a handful of new trim poppers as they always seem to break!

I like mine a lot. I've got the facelift diesel on an 11 plate so is nearly bang on two years old - if it's any sort of guide webuyanycar priced it at £13,250 last month on 23,000 miles (not that I'm thinking of selling, just curious!).

Kit levels are OK though they don't have some of the stuff that's standard now on the latest cars - parking sensors, bluetooth and steering wheel controls for the radio spring to mind (the latter is just silly really - it's only the case on the manuals strangely - but you can live without quite easily).

Diesel not as quick as the petrol but not that far off. Estate doesn't actually offer a bigger boot floor area than the hatch, though obviously gives a higher load space and IMO makes the car look a bit more classy.

DPF problems with the older PD engines have occurred but aren't the massive problem you'd believe. CR engine appears to have got rid of what problem there was. Only other issues you hear about are the usual diesel things - EGR, DMF and suchlike.

I'd recommend having a look at Briskoda.net for loads of info and advice.

Yep www.briskoda.net is the oracle for all things VRS 😉

I've had 3 VRS since 2002 and they are great cars. First one was petrol and chipped to 225bhp it was mental fast, but I needed better fuel consumption so the last 2 have been diesel and I averaged low to high 50 mpg on the daily 80 mile round trip commute.

Diesel doesn't accelerate as good as the petrol from standstill, (obviously, but still not too shabby), but get it in third and it then starts to fly. In top on the M/Way it pulls from 70 and you think you're still in a low gear, the torque is ace, whereas you'd have to drop a gear in the petrol version.

Value for money they can't be beaten, for equivalent performance v's size of car you'd have to pay £10k+ for an Audi, VW, BMW, Volvo etc..

I'm on my 3rd now and my 2nd diesel.
The PD engine does suffer from duff injectors - i had 2 go at different times and it's not much fun having the car cut out on the outside lane of the motorway.
I understand they are a warranty recall now but they weren't at the time of mine going. These were £500 each plus £200 for the associated loom! Luckily it was a company car.
The rear wash wipe pipe can detach causing fluid to enter the wiper motor resulting in a new motor. These aren't too expensive and i never had any problems after using the recommended VAG screenwash.
I bought a Limited edition model in July of last year which has the FL underpinnings but older style body.
The CR engine is a big improvement on the PD engine in terms of smoothness, power delivery and noise and economy is better also.
I had the DPF filter pack up and Skoda were looking for £1630 to replace! I had this removed by Shark Performance and remapped at the same time to remove engine warnings and a bit more power(about 205bhp and 330-340lb/ft of torque) for about £800. They also do a map to give standard power. Factor in for a new clutch if going for the more power as standard are rated at 310lb/ft from memory. Had mine done last week at Jabbasport for a Sachs uprated one for £1,000 but included new Dual Mass Flywheel and CRB.
It's worth trying to get a FL model with leather as the standard "silver" seats (read white) are completely impractical and get filthy in no time!

I looked at a vrs estate whilst looking for an estate car.

A very nice car let down by a few things like the lip into the boot and the stingy rear leg room!

I ended up buying a Mazda 6 sport estate which I find better in every aspect.

They come fully loaded - front and rear parking sensors,radar monitoring if blind spots, Bose stereo, xenon adaptive headlights!

Have a look you may be pleasantly surprised!
Cheers

Steve

I don't think the boot lip will be an issue since I have one on my Golf Tdi.

All very informative.

Thanks.

DPFs are not chronically unreliable, you just need to know it's there and understand its needs.

My Octavia has the raised floor in the back so it's flush (but can be removed if you need the height for something), not sure if that's an option on the VRS. Personally I wouldn't even bother with the VRS unless going for a diesel, the 1.8tsi is plenty fast enough. Not sure how the rear leg room is stingy either, I'm 6ft and there's more than enough even with the drivers seat back - although there's always the Superb if you need limousine-like rear leg room.

My 09 limited edition vrs was a nightmare, owned for 2 years and put 50,000 on it, owned since it had 400 miles on as an ex demo car, 170bhp diesel CR engine.

It was seen by 8 RAC men in the 2 years I owned it. Always some sensor going pop disabling the engine.

Although I may have been unlucky, I'd never own another VAG car.

fuzzywuzzy... read all the reviews, they all say that the octavia lacks the leg room of the cars in competes against.. its an old design now and based on the gold floor plan.

To give you an idea.. when i put my lads car seat in the back of the octavia and set the front seat up for me driving(6 foot 1) his legs pushed against the back of the seat.

in the back of the mazda his feet dont even come close top the back of the front seat !

Not the VRS, but I've got the 4x4 estate. Brilliant car. Lots of space, good enough power for everyday driving and sensible fuel economy (45-47ish). Bought it at 66k now has 117k. It feels more solid than any other car ie had with 100k on it. Major bill last year for an aircon compressor, but I could have just left it.

I have a CR diesel on 58 plate, estate.

It is fast enough, comfy enough, would be really economical if I wasn't first away from every set of lights.

Into real world issues - I can get 3 bikes, kit for a day and 3 people in. Or me, two bikes, and easy up and all the stuff I need for Mayhem so it is big enough.

I does wallow on the occasions it is heavily loaded - the bump stops can easily be found. For 98% of the time the handling with me and the bike only or 2 peeps and 2 bikes is fine.

Bit disappointed it needs interim service at 10k and main at 20k.

Bigger than my previous 3 series but not quite as faultless.

I preferred my 180bhp mark 1 VRS. The current ones are a bit grown up. Would I have another - not sure, I preferred the 320d in some respect but it wasn't as much fun so will be keeping the vrs for another 20k at least.

As mentioned, back seat space isn't great. Even at me at 5'8", my little lad in his car seat behind me can quite happily sit there and kick my seat. There was a lot more room in my old Mondeo but overall, the Octy is a smaller car.

As mentioned above, I've been toying with changing ours this year and looked at everything else I considered to be 'nice':
- 3##D M-Sport Touring (lovely cars but boot is useless vs the Octy)
- A4 2.0T Quattro Special Edition S-Line (very tempting but can't escape the fact its based on a car that came out in 2001 and the dash etc shows that)
- Mondeo Titanium X (to be honest, this is second in line after another Octy at the moment. Big, lots of toys and highly rated.)
- Mazda 6 Sport (really like the look of these and they're loaded with toys but can't escape that friggin ugly big circle design dash thing)

So after owning an Octy vRS for 2.5 years, I think I'd only change it for another Octy vRS or a Mondeo. My god, my life is over 😀

So after owning an Octy vRS for 2.5 years, I think I'd only change it for another Octy vRS or a Mondeo. My god, my life is over

Have you tried the Skoda Superb? Much larger and nicer to drive than the Octavia.

What on earth is this nonsense about rear seat space. This is a golf / focus segment car, in that class the rear leg room is HUGE.

My Facelift Petrol VRS estate had been brilliant. One small component failed early on but replaced under warranty. 40k miles on and it's been utterly brilliant, especially when considering the value for money.

I've had a stage 1 remap on mine since new and so it's a bit more sprightly as well.

Sam you don't see the point. This car is trying to compete with the likes if the mondeo and insignia and Mazda 6 and comes up short in a few areas! Hence why we are all recommending other cars.

Don't get me wrong the Octavia is a nice Car buts it's long overdue a remodel!

The Octavia isn't the same sector as a Mondeo/Mazda 6.
It's a small family car so competes with the Focus etc.
The fact it's got a huge boot confuses people i think - there's a couple of inches less rear legroom than a mk vi Golf for example.
Not sure how the mark 3 model compares as i haven't seen one in the flesh yet.
The japanese still can't do interiors though.....

Fair point, although I think skoda would probably say that the outgoing model was only competing in the golf segment. Against cars in the next size up it's definitely smaller. The new model looks more upmarket and is a bit bigger, but I guess it's going to cost more as well.

The Superb is the Mondeo equivalent.

footflaps - not tried the Superb but I do really like it. Only downside is that the estate (saloon is wholly impractical for us) is absolutely vast. Or it certainly seems that way - its probably no bigger than a Mondingo so it might have to do on the list...

The new Octavia is due out in a couple of weeks. Not sure how much different it will be.

I'm surprised there is so much talk about octavia, mondingo, mazda6 etc.

No one mentioned Passat? 2008- onwards with CR engines are the way to go, most niggles were sorted out and you can get handy Highline or SEL model for 6-7k.

Popstar passats are as dull as dishwater though!

I just managed to almost keep up with a Ferrari something through Surrey hills (si money supermarket!!) In our trusty 1.9 diesel Octy Elegance estate in Racing cuppacino!
Would love the VRS. But happy with our mr&mrs average estate.
Im 6'4" ans our boys are still little 5 and 2.
Last year we drove to Dordogne region to camp with everything.
MASSIVE BOOT.
Great car.
Golf size nothing bigger.
Superb may be next on list or E-class merc.

Popstar passats are as dull as dishwater though!

On a thread about diesel estate Skoda's? 😀

Anyone running a hatch VRS? how do you all find puttinga bike in the boot? wheel off?

I've got a VRS hatch. The boot is pretty much the same shape as the estate; the only bit you loose is the height at the back corner. As a result, it'll swallow bikes no trouble.

I've not tried it, but i suspect you could get three bikes in the back and still leave one back seat in place.

It's a nice car, but if you look hard enough you'll start to see evidence that Skoda is the "budget" brand in the VAG lineup.

The main problem I had when looking for one is so many are very basic spec (ex-rental or ex-Skoda company cars), I wanted a Superb really but 99% of them were absolutely rock-bottom spec and looked horrible inside, then you'd get a couple of fully loaded ones that were too pricey but very little in between. Had to switch to the Octavia in the end as got bored of looking.

I've had an Octavia Estate for 10 months now and can't fault it (1.6TDI Elegance). Don't have issues with the lip in the boot as mine has the false floor option.

The new Octavia VRs Estate is launched at Goodwood Festival of Speed (11th-14th July)

[url= http://recombu.com/cars/reviews/skoda-octavia-estate-review ]http://recombu.com/cars/reviews/skoda-octavia-estate-review[/url] (I know this isn't the VRs, but it's the same colour :D)

New version is longer and wider than the outgoing model, has a much better spec and has insanely low emissions.

I was wanting a Superb next, but the new Octavia might be big enough.

So similar size boots, good to know, bike need wheel(s) off or does it go straight in with seats down?

I had an FL Octavia estate for 3.5 years and recently changed it for a new Focus ecoboost.

Focus is actually the same size as the old Octavia but the Focus is a bit smaller on the inside.

But, the wheel arches on the Octavia intrude into the boot area so the Focus has a much wider and more 29er friendly boot.

Getting the Focus really showed how boring the Octavia was to drive. However, it wasn't a VRS.

So similar size boots, good to know, bike need wheel(s) off or does it go straight in with seats down?

I always take the front wheel out as a matter of course; it might go in complete, but i've never tried.

I've only ever carried one bike in my Octy, but by dropping the rear seat down, and putting a big blanket over it, I could get my hooligan Inbred with 6" Nixon fork in with both wheels on by taking the seat post out. Could have just shoved it down, but I didn't want to then have to wipe grease off after taking the bike out, in case it got all over stuff.