ExSEAT

@robs12 Don't get me wrong at all, I'm not punting it to AC because I don't like it! I like the car apart from its ridiculous road noise and the rattles it's starting to develop. I'm just going to break the circle I've been in for years of going from one PCP to and other PCP deal and having a car that I have to treat like a porcelain ornament because I'm scared of it getting damaged. The last 18 months has shown me what's important and having a £20k+ car sat outside doing 3000 miles a year just isn't a good use of resources anymore. So it's off to old semi-bangers for me and a car that I can park wherever I like without worrying, can carry timber about and drag through hedges out in the lakes. Something that works for me more than me working for it! I've had 3 mk3 VRSesses and it's been a good time!

Wow, I tried motorway on Friday and Saturday but I found the whole thing to be frustrating. After cleaning the car and taking 50 photos I found out you have to use their photo app and templates. Then I had to call them when I thought it was finished. After half an hour on hold I gave up. They called me Saturday morning and started asking me the same questions and I was starting to lose my patience a bit, so I asked how long the process would take and they said typically 10-14 days. I told the guy to forget about it and he waffled on for 15 minutes trying to get me to go ahead. Defo not in line with how that service is advertised.

Thought I'd dig this up! I finally got round to taking my car to arnold clark for an appraisal on Friday. The online offer was £23,239 and after looking at it for 10 minutes they offered me the full valuation plus an extra £9 because I over estimated the mileage. Quote from the manager of the dealership 'we will be here all night looking for something wrong with this, it's an absolute credit to you'. So to answer my own question from the start of this thread... yes, yes they are that strong!! Car will be going this week and I'm retreating to the land of 10 year old diesels that can be parked anywhere and carry lumber inside and outside!

If you sold someone a used car as a private seller that was full of issues you would be called all the names under the sun. Seems like you can do it professionally as a dealer without being criticised, I mean a sales a sale isn't it. If they didn't pull the 'that's the first one we've heard of' line every time then maybe it would be forgivable but to sell a lemon with a smile on your face is a certain level of cretinous gouging savagery.

I'm in the same boat, the valuations on mine are beyond ridiculous and after years of PCP it looks like my best chance of getting out now with some positive equity. Mines going at the end of the month. Its true that replacing it will cost more but I'm not going like for like. I'm only doing around 3k miles a year and it's a bit of an ornament. We are going from a 2 new car family to a 1 new and one pretty old. Im moving to a park anywhere, carry anything workhorse that I don't have to care about whilst I move house and renovate. A recent present left for me by someone in the passenger door of my VRS at work makes me want to have a shiny car sat in their car parks even less. I just hope the bubble holds a few more weeks!

Sounds about OK to me, especially with how warm it is today. My 245 warms up pretty quickly even in winter. Will always seem quick compared to a diesel though, we car schooled with a guy who had an A5 diesel and it wasn't warm for the majority of our 12 mile commute 🤣

@TheWanderer I know how annoyed and disappointed you were at your Mk3 when it kept throwing electrical fits. I had a long standing issue with mine and its fuel pump that skoda refuses to fix on 2 occasions and took 12 months to sort. For me I made a new rule of not buying a new model of a car ever again after my experience with a Seat Leon that was a bag of problems. I had one of the first of the new shape, dad had one of the last and there was a big difference in reliability and even form and fit. Driving my mk3 last night on some rough roads to a local lake and I can hear the B pillar rattle and I'm being drowned out by the road noise from the tyres and thinking why do I spend the money I do on something that has such big compromises. The mk4 would have to be a night and day improvement with cabin noise for me and the stories about auto braking etc need to stop before I'll even consider paying that sort of money for the quality that comes. The flip side is the nearest dealer to me is literally in another country since my local one went bust and the nearest one after that are useless liars. If I bought a car with constant issues I'd be having to take time off work and travel a round trip of about 150 miles just to get it looked at. Not really viable for me, but back on topic that colour is the best colour the VRS has ever seen. A close second to skodas best colour which was the dragon yellow on the Superb!

There was someone on the VRSOC on facebook who had ordered one but is obviously waiting for delivery. I'm not going near a mk4 for a fair few reasons that are obvious (and some that are unique to me) but if anything has made me think twice its that colour. I'd love to have that colour!!

@Kenny R that's quite promising! It leads me into my answer to @SashaGrace response... I'd not even consider putting it up for private sale to be honest. Partly for the reasons you outline but mainly because I can't stand the kind of people you have to deal with. I've been buying and selling cars and motorbikes of my own for over 20 years now and the hassle and bother I've had over £100 let alone £18k is unbearable. There are some good people out there but its a pit of idiocy and scum. I remember I was selling my hayabusa, I was in the pub watching the football and some geordie bloke rang me up telling me he could get them 'much cheaper' where he was and he could only give me 2.5k for it, he would come get it that day, when I declined he gave me all sorts of abuse. I sold it on ebay for 5k but these people exist. I'm sat with 2 guitar amps I'm selling and I'd rather take the loss than put them on ebay lol I would look to shift it onto WBAC or Arnold Clark or similar. It has got another 6 months on the warranty and it's mint but I don't want the bother you get waiting for that right person to come along.

@e-Roottoot hence the question, has anyone seen it happen in real life @flybynite mines got the GPF but the whimsical online valuations have went up by 2.5k over the last few months. I totally resonate with what you say, I've been very lucky to have been in work the whole time and have managed to come out of things in a good financial position. I'm thinking more and more about having an expensive ornament outside that I do less than 5k a year in and putting that money somewhere else. On the other hand if the valuation is anywhere near I could lease an Xdrive M135i for the same I'm paying for the VRS and have around 3.5k left over after the deposit. One thing the changes the last 18 months haven't helped is my art of over thinking things

As per the title really. I've been seeing for sale ads on various groups on Facebook and the prices people are asking for MK3 VRS models seem a bit crazy. Lots of comments about supply and strong prices. I've seen 230's up for private sale with an 18k asking price for example. I know asking and getting are two different things but does anyone know if these are actually selling anywhere near that? The reason I ask, I have around 12 months left on my PCP and I'm wanting to jump out fairly soon and I'm trying to gauge the market. I have a 68 plate VRS (petrol 245) with DSG and only 11,500 miles and the arnold Clark finger in the air is 18k with an extra £500 on offer. The car is mint and although they won't be included in any valuation it has the virtual cockpit, DCC, reverse camera, heated seats and VRS paint which would make it more appealing to a buyer. The valuation online has jumped up quite a lot recently it seems. Anyone got any experience? I'm actually thinking of contacting the nearest dealer and asking if they want it

@JayLibove I've not been far today, I have a reasonable journey in the car with the wife on Sunday so we can do can air few as an experiment for you. I've typically had the higher end phones, the last one was a Samsung s9, LG G2 etc. I think its always going to be hit and miss

Hi @JayLibove thanks for tagging me in, always happy to help where I can. I've been using WhatsApp and android auto since 2016 and it's performance has always been hit and miss. The most common problem was always 'do you want to reply' and then 'do you want to send it or change it' both getting no response, with big pauses full of me shouting either 'no' or 'send it!!!' Lately it's been ok and I've not noticed a lot of lag, I will try it tomorrow on your behalf and see but it has been a lot more reliable for me with my Samsung s20. I've not experienced it getting worse over time as if it is getting overloaded however.

Life's too short to make compromises, but only you can say if its worth it. Me, I'd bin it. But that's easy for me to say!

Awww that's not as fun. Mind you, does the emergency kit come with an inflator or just the gunk?

That is absolutely priceless. My first thought when I read the answer was 'I'd have to get a new inflator with a longer reach, but I didn't think the supplied one would be an issue. I guess the stock answer would be you should swap a puncture repair to the rear, without a jack or any associated tools of course

I'd be tempted to take off the original plate and ensure some wonky eyed dealers apprentice hasn't drilled extra holes that will be revealed by your new shorty plate. More than one over on the OVRS Facebook page have taken off their full size plate to find holes that have been drilled outside of the normal places and aren't covered by a short plate. Probably OK on black but anything else is going to leave an ugly problem

Not a Mk4 but I had some issues with my mk3 when it was brand new. The supplying dealer went belly up a few months after purchase. When a problem came up with my fuel pump I had to use a dealer further away and received awful service and was fobbed off. I contacted skoda uk to complain, long story short they recommended I take it to another dealer (even further away) and organised for it to be looked into for me there. When this didn't get the result I required I went back to Skoda who again arranged for another inspection, whereby I was able to get a resolution. This was a mechanical issue, not a fit or trim issue which I know can be rotten to try and sort. After my first service issue skoda UK gave me a free service on my other skoda as compensation. Given that, I'm amazed at how unhelpful they have been and wouldn't blame you for doubting the brand

I think timing wise we are in the same position. I'm just into my 3rd year and keeping an eye on all this. I wouldnt have went for a brand new model on release due to previous experience but my nearest usable dealer is a 140 mile trip away and I dont have the time or the heart to make that trip every time the software decides to **** itself. Another 6 or 8 months for me and I'll think again if I don't just go electric that is 🤣

Check where the supplier meets the boot lid fro rust bubbles or signs of paint splitting. Have a look at the centre caps on the wheels, you might be able to negotiate a new set as they rot a fair bit. See which tyres it has, are they mismatched etc.

Mines not a 'proper' 245, its the run of the mill VRS FL that happens to have 245ps. I will be moving it on some time in the next 12 months due to it becoming a bit of an ornament and I'm not one for owning cars out of warranty anyway* It has the VC, DCC, heated seats, rear view camera and a few more things so it's not a bad spec and will be a good buy for someone. If this 12m is like the last 12m it will be 3 years old with barely 14k on it. * I don't NORMALLY have out of warranty cars but with the pandemic going on I didnt see the point in getting the mrs another lease or PCP until it was all over so bought out her little Fabia monte that had never let us down. It's just thrown a window wiper motor and a window regulator on two consecutive days.

I specced it on my FL VRS, ordered in October 2018 and delivered in the December. Was a very easy decision to make

Hi, the wife came home today and the front wipers have packed up. I've took the wiper arms off, got the scuttle panel out and took off the mounting screws. From there I'm stuck, it's physically impossible to get the assembly out of the gap! Has anyone done this successfully?? Any help or tips would be most welcome!

Another vote for these, I have them in every interior light including footwell and glove box. Most of them I transferred over from my old VRS so they are around 5 years old now. No problems at all, no boot open issues or anything.

Are you planning on keeping it? My running in period is normally from the forecourt to the main road then I drive normally.