Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and in need of some advice please.
I'm considering buying a used Skoda for the first time and it's an Octavia that I'm looking at, ideally between 1 to 3 / 4 years old.
The wife and I test drove the Mk3 diesel SE recently and really liked it. However, it's the only model we've driven and I'm not sure if it's the right one for our needs, or perhaps an "unnecessary" extravagance.
We've got two young boys - 7 & 4 - and ideally we want something that will be able to accommodate their bikes and ours too - not sure if an estate would be better than a hatchback, or if the hatchback is adequate given its cavernous boot.
Annual mileage is under 5000 miles and this is predominantly a 40 mile commute on the A1M twice a week and then local driving. Based on this, I'm presuming petrol is probably ideal but would be interested to hear if anyone disagrees.
In terms of budget, I'd like to obviously pay as little as possible but if it's justified, I'd be willing to pay what's required for a decent car that would be a medium to long term investment. Therefore, I'm not sure if its worth paying more for the mk3 (have seen some advertised around £13 - 14k) - do the upgrades over the mk2 justify the incremental cost? Also, is the premium for an Elegance worth the extra you get over the SE spec models?
Finally, we drove the DSG but I've heard about VW recalling some cars that have the DSG. Therefore not sure if the DSG is likely to be problematic or not. My wife and I don't have a preference in terms of manual vs automatic... we have one of each currently.
As such, the five key questions essentially boil down to the following:
Mk2 or Mk 3?
Hatchback or estate?
Petrol or diesel?
SE or Elegance?
DSG or manual?
I appreciate that many of these things are potentially just personal preference but I'd really appreciate any good advice that people are willing to share.
Looking forward to hearing from you and moving me closer to hopefully making a great purchase.
Thanks
