Some you just breath a sigh of relief

It all started when I realised that the Octavia was going to need a
service before the big summer trip to France.

Third variable service, so all filters and loads of pricey long life oil
etc. Cost me £250 at my main dealer. Mustn't grumble I thought. Still
not needed any brake pads and so a total of £650 on servicing over
nearly four years.

I suppose I should have been alerted when the aircon compressor needed
replacing under warranty.

Anyway, on dropping it off I mentioned a slight noise from what seemed
like the gearbox area. So slight that SWMBO hadn't noticed it. After
taking it in, I googled and frightened myself with thoughts of dual mass
flywheel replacement.

On collection they said that it wasn't the dmf. Oh good, I thought.
Wrong! Their diagnosis was gearbox input shaft bearing on the way out.
Skoda customer services might very well offer to go 50% on the cost of a
new gearbox as it is 9 months out of warranty, but you can guess the
cost of a new 6 speed VAG gearbox. Only other option was to have it
reconditioned at a cost of a grand.

I gulped and said I would have to think about it. Decided to get a
second opinion from a small independent VAG specialist close to home.
Same diagnosis. About the same cost (£750 for a gearbox rebuild plus in
and out labour). Then it would be silly not to have the clutch done at
the same time, and possibly the DMF depending on what condition it is
in.

**** that for a game of soldiers, particularly as the turbo is also
whining a bit, despite a full service history.

So tomorrow I take delivery of its replacement. Fortunately the dealer
that went in to administration, then was immediately bought up, the day
I found a suitable car, has sorted all its systems out over the last
week. Just as well, as the slight noise has become a very ominous
rumble.

BTW, before anyone accuses me of devious dealings, the dealer taking it
in PX is aware of the problem. This has been reflected in the PX value
after they checked with their former Skoda branch.

I'm not going to say what it is for fear of ridicule, but it is six
months old with just 3000 miles on the clock. It's an estate with roof
bars for the kayak carrier and the only two luxuries I really would miss
- dual zone climate control and cruise control. Oh, and sod diesels for
a while after reading all the horror stories about high mileage woes
with modern TDi motors. I've done the sums given the cost of diesel
these days, even allowing for better residuals on diesels, and that the
new car will need servicing every 12500 miles instead of the 18000
interval I have been managing. So back to 2.0 petrol.

Last VAG car for me. I've never had two major components fail on a car
at such a relatively modest mileage before.

So perhaps a narrow escape for TOG?

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

It's a Qashqai isn't it?!

 

No.

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

<SIGH>

OK, OK, yes I do hill walking and folk music (one requirement was to get
three acoustic guitars and a banjo in the back and still leave room for
three people and a reasonable amount of luggage).

I might have expected a guessing game.

Need more clues?



--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Remarkably close - Mazda 6.
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Weren't they freed years ago?

 

I know a bit about bearing specs from making the balls for a while and
it surprised me to learn just how bad and good some bearing assemblers
are. As a result of my experience there, I'd always buy Toyo, never RTM,
and SKF are somewhere at the top of the middle ground.

Oh, and have a guess who fit RTM in all their gearboxes?

 

Me too. I mean, I considered one.

<Thinks>

OK, as you were.

 

Given the trouble you have had this seems like a very sensible option.
Mazda being pretty damn reliable beasts. The odd aircon trouble being
about the worst of it.

 

???

My comment was obviously aimed at Pete and just "in the thread"

 

Yes Mum

 

Like any car, if you put 'Mazda 6 problems' in to Google you get plenty
of hits. Mainly, it seems with the diesels though ( a common theme is
emerging). I was going to go for their new high tech 2.2 TD which is
seemingly very refined and in a similar class to the Honda 2.2 oil
burner, but still something of an unknown quantity as regards
reliability. In any case, there are very few of them around yet,
particularly in the estate version and I needed a replacement PDQ.

My brother-in-law has had a succession of Mazdas. He was a chartered
accountant and is not noted for throwing his money about, so I reckon
his can't have turned in to money pits.

I collected it this afternoon. Fortunately having the MX5 has got me a
bit used to driving a petrol engined car again. My, but it's quiet at
tickover. A few times I wondered if it had stalled when waiting at
traffic lights.
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Modern high performance diesels? not WAF. Lots to go wrong. More
complicated than petrol engines these days. Narrow turbo power bands.
Little saving on fuel unless you do Starship miles. BHP for BHP a
petrol engine is always nicer to drive.

If you ignore the user reviews and look at the reliability stats Mazda,
Honda, Subaru and Lexus petrol cars are right up there.

Lots of horror stories coming through about those new Subaru turbo
diesels mind ;o)

 

Not really. Plenty of manufacturers are getting rid of their normally aspirated petrol engined cars and replacing them with turbocharged smaller capacity ones.
VW are replacing the 2.0 with a 1.8T , the 1.6 with a 1.4T and the 1.4 with a 1.2T.
Renault have done a similar thing and there are other examples.

That gets them noticably better economy but you're introducing more things to fail

Narrower , certainly , but for everyday driving plenty good enough.

Not always
Fuel prices are now near enough identical with diesel even cheaper at some garages and the newest smaller diesels are easily capable of 60+ mpg compared to 40+ for a similarly powered petrol.

 

I've been rather impressed with the fuel consumption of our new C-Max
(it's the little lady's car to be fair).

It's the 1.8 TDCi and it seems to just sip diesel while still being jolly
nippy it has to be said. Driving along country lanes to the pub for a
meal the other night it told me I was getting 48.1mpg and on the motorway
at 70 to 80 it's doing high 50's.

 

The 1.6 is supposed to be the better choice in a Focus - very little difference in performance but much better economy. Not sure if the same holds for the bigger C-Max.

My Bravo 1.6TDI did 62mpg on an entire tankfull yesterday which I'm very pleased with

 

I don't calculate the MPG of any vehicle I own. I don't do enough miles
to warrant it and I don't care.

 

You're not doing very well at this "replying to the right person"
schtick, are you?

 

I've heard that about the petrol ones. So that's why we went for the oil
burner.

This (C-MAX Zetec) is far fewer wallowy than I expected. Having said
that, my point of reference is a Range Rover - so the cross channel ferry
seems fairly taught and sporty to me.

 

Is this like the feral apostrophe police only without vaseline?