Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Wed 26 Jul 2023 14:41

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - DN

Hi all,

We’re about to move overseas for a bit. We can’t buy a left hand drive second hand vehicle there, so are thinking about importing one. We plan some big road trips so need a large(ish) reliable car.

We’ve found a UK plated Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 TDI Laurin & Klement 4x4 DSG with 112,000 on the clock. The asking price is £7995. It’s had one owner from new, has a full Skoda service history and has an in-date MOT.

Does anybody have any experience with these (esp the 4x4 variants) with higher mileages. Other than the cambelt, is there anything else we should be looking for?

Grateful for any advice.

Cheers in advance.

Edited by DN on 26/07/2023 at 15:01

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Wed 26 Jul 2023 17:08

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - SLO76

Not one I’d buy, the DSG automated manual gearbox has a terrible reputation for failures past 6/7yrs old. It might last a couple of years or it might fail after a few months, the cost of repairing/replacing the box will write the car off. The diesel motor suffers plenty of woe too as they age, mostly relating to emissions control equipment such as the DPF and EGR.

I’d instead suggest a petrol Toyota Avensis or Auris estate, a Mazda 6 petrol estate, a Ford Focus 1.6 petrol (don’t touch the 1.0 Ecoboost or the Powershift auto) or a Honda Civic estate if you need an estate car. All of these options will be vastly more robust than a DSG equipped diesel Skoda. You could find it written off very quickly with the near complete loss of £8,000.

When buying an older car on a budget, remember these three words… keep it simple. Don’t buy DPF equipped diesels, anything fitted with a complex automated manual gearbox or any prestige German brands. All are total liabilities when they get beyond the manufacturers warranty period.

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Wed 26 Jul 2023 19:30

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - Adampr

It depends slightly on what country you're going to. You might not normally consider a Renault, but they are cheap and easy to fix in France or Spain. The same is true (strangely) of Fiats in Turkey.

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Wed 26 Jul 2023 19:47

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - badbusdriver

It depends slightly on what country you're going to. You might not normally consider a Renault, but they are cheap and easy to fix in France or Spain. The same is true (strangely) of Fiats in Turkey.

The OP hasn't said, but I was actually thinking Turkey might be the destination. Because my pal's brother has lived there for a couple of years and there seems to be some weird rules for non Turkish citizens. AFAIK he can't buy a car there because he doesn't have Turkish citizenship. But also, the camper van he drove there from the UK in, can only stay in Turkey for a certain period of time. He can apparently get round this by driving it back across the border to Greece (or Bulgaria presumably) then return, which seems a bit odd!?.

But as to the OP's conundrum, I'd agree with looking at which cars are most common in whichever country it is. If the OP is going to be doing long road trips, that presumably means going to or through some remote areas, where something like the aforementioned 4x4 DSG Octavia might be a complete mystery to a rural mechanic should something go wrong.

Re lhd or rhd, surely lhd would be the best choice in a country which drives on the right?. So is it not feasible to buy a car there, could you not buy something in a neighbouring country like (assuming it is Turkey) Greece?

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Wed 26 Jul 2023 22:29

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - alan1302

The same is true (strangely) of Fiats in Turkey.

A lot of Fiats are built in Turkey so may explain that.

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Sat 29 Jul 2023 15:48

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - John F

Despite the horror stories of DSG boxes, this car sounds good to me. At this age, the provenance is more important than anything else. L & K is top of the range, probably bought by a discerning careful owner with the intention of long term ownership. If the 'full service history' can show that the box has had the right oil exchanged at the right times I would go for it. It's done less than half the mileage of Mrs F's reliable old last century Passat 2.0GL (with its original cambelt, but replacement whining stiff tension pulley at about 140,000); a similar car from the VW stable. I see no reason why a carefully maintained much more modern car shouldn't last as long.

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Sat 29 Jul 2023 16:10

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - badbusdriver

It's done less than half the mileage of Mrs F's reliable old last century Passat 2.0GL (with its original cambelt, but replacement whining stiff tension pulley at about 140,000); a similar car from the VW stable.

In what way is a 1990's Passat 2.0 petrol similar to a 2013 Octavia 4x4 turbo diesel DSG?

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Sat 29 Jul 2023 18:17

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - pd

The DSG box is generally pretty reliable in these. Like anything else they can go wrong but if the fluid has been changed and the dual mass flywheel is silent I wouldn't be that afraid of it.

Likewise the 2.0 CR diesels in them are pretty solid. EGRs can stick and are a pain to replace but on the whole they are way better than the PD engines which went before.

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Sat 29 Jul 2023 19:16

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - badbusdriver

The DSG box is generally pretty reliable in these. Like anything else they can go wrong but if the fluid has been changed and the dual mass flywheel is silent I wouldn't be that afraid of it.

Likewise the 2.0 CR diesels in them are pretty solid. EGRs can stick and are a pain to replace but on the whole they are way better than the PD engines which went before.

It isn't just the car though, it is what the OP wants to do with it.

And we've still no clue where this "overseas" destination is. Without knowing that the Octavia 4x4 DSG is a fairly common sight in whichever country the OP is heading for, it wouldn't be a wise buy.

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Sat 29 Jul 2023 23:04

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - sammy1

There cannot be many LHD cars in the UK with full history. If you are going to Europe or near then most will be well versed with Audi/VW etc running gear. The car you mention will probably be as good as any for what you envisage,

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Sun 30 Jul 2023 09:30

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - John F

And we've still no clue where this "overseas" destination is. Without knowing that the Octavia 4x4 DSG is a fairly common sight in whichever country the OP is heading for, it wouldn't be a wise buy.

Assuming 'overseas' is Europe/Asia, I would think this car and its close relations would be a fairly common sight within a thousand miles of the main factory where they are built. Apparently Skodas are built in India and China as well, should the foreign trip be that extensive.

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Sun 30 Jul 2023 00:25

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - Big John

Check re Haldex oil/filter change 4x4 service history as well as cambelt / water pump etc.

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Sun 30 Jul 2023 13:48

Advice sought re Skoda Octavia 2013 2.0 4x4 DSG with 112,000 miles - daveyK_UK

Personally i wouldnt go near the octavia at this age, its a ticking time bomb.

Could you not find a Toyota Avensis estate petrol for similar money?

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