In the fall of 2020, doctor Nikolai from Kazan, tired of the rigid suspension of a compact SUV, decided to leave the Skoda Yeti crossover. The purchase of a new car and the parallel sale of the old driver went to Moscow.
Initially, the interlocutor of socialbites.ca planned to buy an Audi A3 in the back of 8V, but there were practically no worthy options in the capital and in the region. One of the main requirements for the car was the new MQB modular platform, on which many Volkswagen Group models were built, including the Skoda Octavia.
Used Skoda Octavia 2014 version cost 780 thousand rubles.
The retreat mileage at that time was 138 thousand kilometers, while the body was in excellent condition, and the interior was quite well-maintained. It was possible to sell the Yeti immediately after buying a new car for 710 thousand rubles.
The Octavia liftback comes in Elegance trim with a turbocharged 1.8 TSI engine mated to a 7-speed dry clutch DSG (DQ200). The equipment list included a combined leather interior, adaptive xenon optics, heated rear seat, 220V outlet, rear wiper and keyless entry.
“The great thing about the MQB platform is that it’s very easy to change.
You can install all kinds of assistants and additional options that the Lego for adults: Volkswagen platform supports, but they are not in Octavia. What I did next, ”says Nikolai
Improvements
Immediately after the purchase, the owner went to investigate how the vehicle could be retrofitted. First, he decided to install a lane assist on the Octavia, and with it it was necessary to replace the old windshield with a special one from Skoda. A wired array camera costs 10 thousand rubles, and glass – 18 thousand rubles. The next revision – xenon lenses have been replaced by LED Aozoom A3 Plus.
In 2017, Skoda released an updated Octavia with new multimedia and an 8-inch display, Apple Carplay support and improved audio. Nikolai decided to install the same radio in his car.
Nikolai, owner of the Skoda Octavia
“I found a complete set for sale in Nizhny Novgorod. I decided to install a rear view camera along with the new radio. Any camera built into the MQB platform is suitable for Octavia. I bought a camera from Skoda Kodiaq,” says a resident of Kazan.
The rear view camera with washer from the Skoda Kodiaq turned out to be much cheaper than the Volkswagen Tiguan and Octavia, and they have the same technical component.
The cables for the camera were purchased from AliExpress.
All camera ports in the car were already provided, it was only left to stretch the cables from inside the cabin.
There was one caveat – I had to widen the hole in the trunk lid for a larger button to attach the camera: stamping the lid didn’t mean installing a camera along with a button for 2014 cars. model year. After that, it remains to write the desired file to the camera’s memory and calibrate it.
“Six months after buying the car, I thought: ‘Everything seems to be there, but I want to install something unusual, ”says the owner. –
I chose adaptive cruise control with braking for a full stop function.
Nikolai purchased for 6,000 rubles an ABS unit with support for adaptive cruise control with the “Follow to Stop” function for wiring and radar. To install them and activate the system, the soldiers had to perform a series of manipulations, such as typing certain SWAP codes into the radar. The car received automatic braking functions and learned to follow the vehicle in front until it came to a complete stop.
“Replacing the ABS unit has opened up incredible opportunities for refining the car,” the owner states.
One of the most recent transactions was the purchase of a virtual dashboard. Now the owner believes the improvements are sufficient at this stage. The last thing he wants to install is a blind spot assistant.
The total amount spent on car modifications exceeded 160 thousand rubles.
Octavia issues
After 10 thousand kilometers from the purchase, the first problem arose – the right half of the cabin stopped heating. Not a single service was able to understand what exactly broke it and offered questionable solutions to the problem.
“I dismantled half of the panel myself and found that the heater damper was fine. When my friend and I removed the radiators of the stove, there were translucent soft crystals inside, ”says Nikolai.
Nikolai, owner of the Skoda Octavia
It turned out that a cartridge with silica gel was torn in the antifreeze tank (found on 1.8 / 2.0 TSI engines of the EA888 family of the third generation). The gel then passed through the system and most settled in the oven. I had to flush the stove several times to get rid of the crystals. After that, the car owner began to fill in antifreeze, which does not require special additives.
The results of a breakthrough package containing “silicate” made themselves felt again a few months later by the appearance in the emulsion in the antifreeze. Sticky residues of mineral matter did not allow the oil to cool properly in the heat exchanger. As a result, the heat exchanger gasket had to be replaced.
In addition to the standard replacement of engine oil (every 7.5 thousand km), technical fluids and filters, the owner has already replaced the standard timing chain with a more reliable one.
“There are three chains – timing, balancers and oil pump.
The last two on a run of up to 150 thousand km, their owners do not change, the chains stretch much more slowly due to the weaker load.
We also cleaned the intake and deodorized the engine (procedure for cleaning the piston, piston rings and combustion chamber from deposits of soot, coke and varnish). Now the engine works perfectly,” explains a doctor from Nizhny Novgorod.
The most serious problem of the Skoda Octavia was the breakdown of the DSG7 DQ200 pre-selective transmission.
“I stopped at a gas station to get water on the highway, I didn’t turn off the car, it was around +30°C outside. I got back in the car, moved the lever to the Drive position, and felt a strong blow to the gearbox. A number of errors appeared on the instrument panel, the car did not respond to the gas pedal, ”says Nikolai.
On the second try, the car started jerkily, but reverse and all gears were lost. The next day, the car reported that the box had gone into emergency mode and overheated (despite standing on the street overnight) and then stopped completely due to the starter being blocked.
Nikolai, owner of the Skoda Octavia
Car service specialists dismantled the mechatronics (control unit for the entire transmission) and found out that the board was faulty. It would take several weeks to find spare parts, but Nikolai could not leave the car for such a long time. An alternative would be to buy mechatronics for 30 thousand rubles or another gearbox.
“The box dealt a significant blow to my budget,” Octavia owner recalls.
Soon, the owner of Octavia came across an advertisement for the sale of a 6 thousand km transmission 2019 DSG7 DQ200 at a price of 40 thousand rubles. It was equipped with third generation mechatronics.
“I was lucky – the owner of another Octavia decided to replace the box with a wet DSG DQ381 and sold the old one for the price of a used or restored mechatronics. In the morning, the box was brought to the service from Moscow, and in the evening of the same day, the car left the workshop under its own power, ”says the source.
The owner of the Skoda Octavia spent more than 150 thousand rubles on repairs
and the maintenance of the car is less than two years. Of these, 125 thousand rubles were spent on finding and solving problems after the transmission malfunction. Now the mileage of the car is 180 thousand km.
“I really like my car, it’s the queen of the C-class. I don’t see problems with the transmission, changing chains, etc. as shortcomings. These are pretty minor issues that I really don’t care about,” says the owner.
If he decides to change his Octavia to another car, it should still be on the MQB platform. Replacement can be the updated A7 generation Octavia, Volkswagen Passat (B8), Skoda Superb or the second generation Tiguan.
Source: Gazeta
