Today, it is time to consider the 1999 Skoda Octavia 1.6 GLXI estate which I bought for a friend in 2012. For the princely sum of £775, I purchased her from a trader near Dorking. With the engine from a VW Golf, some switchgear in common with Audis and reasonable specification, she was quite a good car. The 1.6 litre engine only produced around 100 bhp, but this was fast enough, although due to the large body, fuel economy was not that good.
The Mk1 Octavia is a very spacious car, and in the spring and summer of 2012, I used to borrow this one quite a lot when I needed the extra space. With a lovely tape player, four electric windows, air conditioning and electric mirrors, she was not too bad for the price. Sadly, the minor faults she had (such as peeling lacquer on some of the paintwork, a squeaking auxiliary drive belt, a couple of slightly broken door locks and a gunged up throttle body) were nothing in comparison with what eventually killed her.
With 68,000 miles on the clock, she seemed a reasonable low mileage car, but then the gearbox failed when my friends were on holiday later that year. She was not worth repairing, and so was sent to the scrap heap. It was a sad moment, as she had been a useful car, especially during a music festival I was part of, when the air conditioning was still working, but there we are!
In general, original Skoda Octavias are known for their durability, as long as they have been correctly and regularly serviced, to which this Youtube series by Car Throttle on a 432,000 mile 1999 Octavia 1.9 TDI will attest:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist…
Note to self, always check the gearbox and clutch carefully when purchasing a used car, even if it seems like a solid buy!
