Moving on... but thinking of keeping the Mk1?

[numskull]

Hi all,

 

Been a long time since I've been here, but I'm moving from my pretty reliable 2006 MK1 TD140 Elegance to a 2011 Mk11 CR170. Its a one private owner car, with park assist and with 23k and FSH.

 

The MK1 has now covered 119k. She's had a few issues, a lot of which were covered by the great Skoda warranty and the oil pump failure at 99k, but was lucky enough to get SUK to cover the parts so just paid the labour of circa £750 (thank you to Jason, the Svc Manager at Ridgeway Skoda Reading for getting that sorted!).

 

I've just had a full service, including the brake fluid change, AC recharge and clean and the cambelt kit, water pump, inner CV gaiters all replaced. Also had the carpets and soundproofing removed and dried out and CU checked (was all OK) due to water ingress though an incorrectly fitted scuttle panel when the RAC replaced the battery in Feb. Yes, naturally they denied all liability - terrible really. So, the question is this... does she stay, or does she go?! Having just spent in excess of £1100 for all the above and the car seems only to be worth circa £3,000, should a flog it or should I keep it? The reasoning behind flogging is obvious; having had the car for 7 years and paid £13k for it, its been cheap motoring. The reasoning for keeping it is its in wonderful condition, is still lovely to drive, is really well equipped and its going to be a rare car in 10 years time. So, who knows what will happen, but what are your thoughts?

 

Cheers... Rob  

[Gizmo]

Sell it before the engine fails again making it worthless.

[BJM]

6 months ago I part-exed a 2007 MkI PD140 with 210,000,  for a 2010 Mk II CR170.

 

It still had the original oil pump but had most of the other MkI "feature" sorted.

 

I got £1500 for it, and it was going straight to auction without even being washed etc.

The trade don't want to know them, for the same reason I didn't sell it privately - nobody wants them due to their reputation.

 

Frankly, you will be very lucky to get £3,000. £1500 was my best offer, with your lower mileage you might get £2000.

 

I personally don't think they are likely to appreciate in value, although they were well equipped they are a long way from a classic, just a flash taxi really.

 

If you don't need the money in your hand, keep it as a hack car, otherwise price it to go.

[rotodiesel]

Get rid of it asap. A wet 140PD Superb must be the most undesirable car ever. The trade knows this.

 

Keep it, and you will be rewarded by everlasting electrical problems and another expensive engine failure. Sell it to a VAG dealer - they are "not aware" of any problems in these areas...

 

rotodiesel.

[dieselV6]

If you have the space to keep it and can plan on driving Mk1 at least once a month on a long-ish trip (50+ miles), I'd keep it. Main issue is extra tax and insurance for running 2 cars. I'd only keep it to use it, if you cannot find use for 2 cars, then best to sell Mk1.

 

Bear in mind that you had just addressed water ingress problem, electrics still work and after they'd been fully dried out, they will not corrode further.

First oil pump shaft lasted 100k miles, there is no reason to expect that the next one will last less than half that (likely will last the same 100k or more), so you've got at least 30k miles of low cost motoring ahead of you, possibly another 80k if you are lucky. 

 

It is your money, selling the car for double the cost of recent repairs makes little financial sense if you've fixed all key issues now (I assume pollen filter housing has been resealed and plenum chamber bungs are removed). As other posters stated, you are not going to get a lot of money for a car with that particular engine. I would keep it till the next pricey maintenance item pops up.

 

In any case, you might want travel for a while in Mk2 before you get rid of / decide to keep your Mk1. You may find that Mk2 is nowhere near as comfortable on very long trips as Mk1. That has certainly been my impression, but I am quite tall and the main complaint was centre console in Mk2 biting my leg.  And of course Mk1 pretty much drives itself in a straight line on uneven roads thanks to better front suspension, while Mk2 likes to follow ruts and requires a lot more frequent steering input on uneven roads, just like pretty much all cars with the simple suspension geometry. I test drove Mk2, before you ask. HTH

[rotodiesel]

I can't agree that a "fixed" wet car will give no further electrical trouble. Once water gets into the loom, nodes and connectors, the plating corrodes from the contact surfaces. That's why the nickel plated hard brass connector pins go green. Once this happens, the rest is downhill all the way. The B5.5 data system wiring is flaky at best when all working to specification.

 

Equally, the 2.0PD has a fundamental design problem - torsional oscillation hammering an oil pump drive coupling which is totally inadequate for its job and which has poor concentricity. 

 

Bad design and its consequences never, ever go away.

 

rotodiesel.

[dieselV6]

....and after they'd been fully dried out, they will not corrode further.... being the key phrase

 

Galvanic current corrosion happens in presence of water, if the water was thoroughly removed, no more corrosion. If water was there long enough to corrode things past the point of failure then yes, it would need addressing.

 

Ultimately, throwing the car away after spending £1100+ on repairs makes no financial sense, best guesstimate for sale would be <£2000 as no one wants it, so net "profit" would be <£900.

 

For £900, if the car runs well for a year and then falls apart completely, it still is worth it, IMHO. Chances are it will run for much longer, especially that water ingress was likely from clean rainwater rather than leafy stuff (if the battery man did it). I would not put any more money into it, though.

 

Selling the car up would have made a lot more sense before the repairs (and before the oil pump failed).

Edited 18 July, 2014 by dieselV6

[rotodiesel]

Once the plating has gone from connectors or joint ferrules, they will continue to corrode (in the presence of a potential difference caused by current flow) from atmospheric moisture. That's why they're plated in the first place. A connector or joint which has "gone green" is a long term disaster.

 

rotodiesel.

[dieselV6]

No argument there, however if electrics still work now and are kept dry, 1-2yrs is not going to make it much worse, and is enough to recoup current low resale/profit value, even if the car falls apart.

Basically, driving that car till its end (electrics or engine) is more profitable than selling it after £££s put into repairs already.

[numskull]

Thanks for the advise / thoughts. Its hard; I still love driving the car and its in such great condition, so no idea what I'll do. I may shove it in AutoTrader to gain the possible interest. Still, I'm really looking forward to getting the new (to me) MkII. Drove it on a good 35 min test drive and the first thing I noticed was how much more refined and quieter the CR engine is over the PD, together with a lot more grunt and far better handling and poise. 

 

Its in Candy White, which I know isn't to everyone's taste, but I've always had a penchant for white cars; my first car was a battered old English white 1071 Cooper S (oh God how I wish I'd kept that!) also had several Escort XR3i's and a couple of RS1600 Turbo and three or four Sierra RS Cosworth's all of which were in white) so I think it looks great. The dealer has been really helpful, chucking in a set of OE mats, replacing the missing brolly and sorting out a couple of minor paint issues too. So, I'm hoping it'll be delivered next week at some point, so I'll post some pics when its here.