Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin

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Tue 30 May 2017 13:17
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - Wayne Dibbley

Just test drove a 1.4TSi elagance.

Very nice in every respect except an annoying 'buffeting' effect experienced in the ears similar to if you have a back window open but more subtle.

Disappointingly has put me off the car.

Noticed this has been mentioned on some Skoda forums.

Has anyone here experienced it?

Thanks

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Tue 30 May 2017 18:09
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - skidpan

We have driven 4 Octavia's since 2010. 2 were 1.4 TSi estate, one was a 2.0 TDi estate and one was a 1.4 TSi hatch

All 3 estates were very noisy with regards to road noise being transmitted into the cabin. One of the 2010 1.4 TS's was so bad it was hurting the wifes ears. Obviously we did not buy any of them.

The 1.4 TSi hatch had no such issues but it did have a small amount of wind noise from the centre/top of the screen area, it may have been replaced, who knows. It would not have stopped us form ordering a car but there were other reasons for not buying.

The Seat Leon we had which is the exact same car under the skin had no road noise issues.

We have a Skoda Superb 1.4 TSi hatch which is totally silent, suggest you try one of those. Very little more expensive than the Octavia and dfar better equipped.

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Tue 30 May 2017 18:52
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - Wayne Dibbley

Many thanks

Definietely not road or wind noise but rapid pressure changes in the cabin, similar to having a rear window open.

I will look in to the Superb.

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Wed 31 May 2017 12:28
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - Big John

Lot's of complaints about this on the MKIII Octaiva (especially the hatch) on Skoda Forums. Seems to be way the rear hatch is mounted - possibly resonating and acting as a large speaker

I'd second Skidpan - I have a mkII (Skidpan's is mk III I think) Skoda Superb hatch that doesn't suffer from this - it's a very quiet car indeed

Edited by Big John on 31/05/2017 at 12:33

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Thu 1 Jun 2017 20:10
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - Wayne Dibbley

Many thanks, the dealer thought I was loopy

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Fri 2 Jun 2017 17:46
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - skidpan

Skidpan's is mk III I think

It is indeed a Mk 3. The Mk 2 is a fine car but in hatch form is not the best looker on the market. The Estate looks fine and when we looked at one some years ago the estate was on our shopping list.

the dealer thought I was loopy

So did the dealer we complained about the noise to. The demonstrator was his company car and he thought it was fine. He was good enough to get us another to try (the ex MD's personal car) which was definitely better (different size and brand tyres) but it was still too noisy, noisier than our 5 year old C-Max..

Our vet has just bought an Octavia estate to replace his Vectra estate. He says the Octavia is whisper quiet compared to the Vectra.

Edited by skidpan on 02/06/2017 at 17:46

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Sun 4 Jun 2017 23:11
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - keithd

I have a 2016 Octavia 1.4 TSi and I haven't experienced any noise. I specified 16" wheels and also have a full size spare wheel. This may explain it to some degree.

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Mon 5 Jun 2017 13:24
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - Wayne Dibbley

Thanks everyone.

The car I tested was Elegance spec with 17" wheels.

Going to look at SE on 16" and possibly should consider an estate.

Superb just too big.

This has all been part of an extremely frustrating 2 year search for a family size petrol car, after owning a super reliable Mk1 Leon. TDi 130.

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Mon 5 Jun 2017 14:55
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - madf

As an aside, I used to suffer ear discomfort in the Jazz. Cleaned my ears with a wax removal agent and after two weeks' treatment (and a lot of wax), discomfort went (and hearing is better).

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Tue 6 Jun 2017 11:37
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - Wayne Dibbley

Now you might have something there!

Thanks!

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Tue 6 Jun 2017 22:39
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - Avant

Wayne - you could also try the SEAT Ateca which can be had with the excellent 1.4 TSI engine. A bit shorter than the Octavia but it seems to be just as roomy.

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Wed 7 Jun 2017 09:12
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - skidpan

Wayne - you could also try the SEAT Ateca which can be had with the excellent 1.4 TSI engine. A bit shorter than the Octavia but it seems to be just as roomy.

When it was announced I quite liked to sound of the Ateca. A Leon (which I loved) with the same engine but more rear space and a bigger boot. Not as much as the Octavia or more especially the Superb but with next to no discounts from brokers (and no 0% finance deals) when we were ordering it was an easy decision to buy the much bigger Superb for a lot less money.

After we got the Superb I had to pop into the Seat dealership (Seat themselves still owed me some money from the purchase which i planned to use on the next service - no car, no service so they finally coughed up) and whilst I was waiting I looked at the Ateca in the flesh for the first time. Inside exactly like a Leon but with the higher seats it did feel a bit more spacious inside with most benefit going to the rear seat passengers. Boot space looked a bigger but there is a catch. In the Leon there is space under the carpet for a space saver and if you are prepared to loose just a little space by raising the floor just over an inch a full size wheel. In the Ateca lift the carpet and the wheel well is literally 1" deep, what use is that. Even a space saver would take boot space, a full size wheel even more. With either in the boot I would suspect the available space is less than a Leon hatch and much less than a Leon ST.

To me it looked like another fashion statement instead of a genuinely useful car. Shame really since it looked great on paper. No regrets about passing it over.

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Wed 7 Jun 2017 12:08
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - Wayne Dibbley

Many thanks for the low down on the Ateca,

That sounds ridiculous about the spare!

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Wed 7 Jun 2017 17:31
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - Avant

Interesting - I was curious so looked at the Ateca configurator on the SEAT website. A space-saver is listed as a reasonably-priced option, instead of the useless repair kit - so where are you meant to put it, I wonder, if the under-floor compartnemt is only an inch deep?

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Wed 7 Jun 2017 18:36
Skoda Octavia hatchback 2014 - Ear discomfort in cabin - RT

Interesting - I was curious so looked at the Ateca configurator on the SEAT website. A space-saver is listed as a reasonably-priced option, instead of the useless repair kit - so where are you meant to put it, I wonder, if the under-floor compartnemt is only an inch deep?

Same place you'd put the full size wheel if you every needed to use the space saver - in the boot above the floor.

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