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These are two very interesting points I hadn't considered. The used EV market is going to be very interesting in a year or two. Thinking ahead, I think dealers will have to come up with some tempting offers for used vehicle buyers to overcome buyer hesitation, and balance that against the risk of high depreciation for used EVs. From my own perspective, the prospect of buying a used EV is filled with uncertainty. As ignorant as I am, I still fancy myself as someone who is able to buy a decent ICE car, and avoid a duff one. This (perhaps misplaced) confidence is because I've been driving ICE cars for getting on for 40 years, and I am familiar with them. I know how an ICE car sounds when it's healthy, and I know how it sounds when it's not. Likewise I know the way they should drive, what the exhaust smoke should (or nowadays shouldn't) look like, mayo in the oil, discoloured coolant, etc. But there's clearly so much I don't know about EVs, that I really wouldn't know where to start. Pulling random imaginary worries straight out of the air:- How would I know if the regenerative braking on the front offside wheel is knackered? How much does it cost to put right? How would I know if the battery or a motor is on the way out? How much would that cost to put right? How do I tell if an EV has been thrashed? How can I tell if an EV has been "clocked"? (Can you even clock an EV?) I think there's a big EV learning curve for anyone who tries to buy their car as a well-informed choice. Not only are there things I don't know about EVs that I'll need to learn to buy on with confidence, but there are certainly things I don't know I don't know about EVs. Just as a random worry, how would I know if there's an issue with the battery cooling system? It's only by chance I even know that EV batteries have cooling systems, and I don't know if that's common to all EVs. Goodness knows what I'd need to look for being covered by warranty for an EV! Given how clueless/dishonest car salesmen are about EVs, the opportunities for plausible deniability on outrageous lies about EVs are considerable. I think a lot of people will be fine, because they'll just go an buy a car they like and the chances are that they'll have little to no trouble with it. But I suspect that for a lot of grumpy old sods like me, who view things like GPFs & KESSY with a good deal of cynical suspicion, buying their first used EV is likely to be a troubling challenge.

Norton has red-flagged Dragy for some reason, so I'll look into that before installing it. But I agree that manufacturers figures for their cars can be some way off reality. This article caught my eye, it's quite an interesting read, from an EV fleet perspective. https://global.lockton.com/gb/en/news-insights/managing-the-risk-of-electric-fleets The author raises the issue of electrical safety tests & limited availability of repair shops for EVs leading to increased repair times and therefore increased repair costs. I think once the uncertainty dies down when more data is available, things will become clearer. That can't be too far off, with the big surge in EV sales over the last couple of years. They really are mainstream now, no more the novelty.

I guess the market will sort itself out eventually, though I do seem to recall Peugeots seeming to be under-grouped when it came to insurance in the 1990s. Not sure why that was, but they just seemed to be cheap cars to insure relative to equivalent vehicles from other marques. Maybe EVs will be favoured by insurance companies. That said, the accident avoidance tech and theft-resistance of EVs will probably pull prices down. But I do wonder what the 2nd-hand market will look like in a few years. IDK, but I'm guessing most EV owners have them on contract, then dump them after 3-5 years before the unknown and possibly big bills start creeping in. (Apart from Teslas, which from all the grumbling videos on YouTube seem to start going wrong from date of purchase. )

This article talks about charge cable theft, which is something else I hadn't thought about. https://www.leasefetcher.co.uk/guides/electric-cars/electric-car-charging-cable-theft I really know so little about EVs, and there's a load of stuff I don't know I don't know, too.

That seems really cheap for the Polestar. Makes me wonder how insurers will manage to reconcile that price with the high costs for ICE cars? I guess it comes back to the theft resistance of EVs.

Ooh! That What Car article has highlighted a point I'd thought about before but failed to consider in this post: Stealing an electric car without simply grabbing it onto a low-loader can be a tricky prospect. That said, stealing one for bits might be a very lucrative business. (God bless those poor Honda Jazz owners trying to hang onto their catalytic convertors.)

That seems reasonable.

EV owners: I know nothing about EV insurance, but I'm guessing that a complicated, fast accelerating car is likely to be expensive to insure. What's your experience?

I understand where you're coming from, I do the same with my 2.0TSI, and the DSG pulls away very slowly and gently without throttle. Worth driving another example if you can, to compare. I haven't driven a Scout, so have no experience of them. If I knew anything about the 4x4 system, I might be able to comment intelligently on whether a fault with the Haldex might cause this jerking, but I don't so I won't. Edit: Thinking about it, when I first drove my DSG, I had the opposite problem, I found it very difficult to stop perfectly smoothly, as I can no longer feather off the brake just as I come to a halt to avoid jerking, because the DSG re-engages the clutch. I just got used to it, but it still irks me a little that I can't stop perfectly smoothly. Maybe I need to master the technique.

I don't think the idle speed is a problem, it really does sound normal to me. I'd be a bit concerned at a car idling at under 600RPM, TBH. That said, I don't know about the lurching forward. I've only test-driven a DSG vRS TDI, and it was pretty civilised setting off, no lurching at all.

I thought it was a pretty good option for OP, but I suspect he has his heart set on a vRS and wants a bit of moral support.

It sounds normal to me. What sort of idle RPM were you expecting?

Ah! Well with that context, a vRS TDI seems perfect for you. The only downside is that used prices are pretty spicy at the moment. Another thought is that an Octavia Scout TDI 184 has the same engine as the vRS TDI, but is arguably a little more family-friendly than the vRS. Gives you 4x4 drive too.

Just a random thought, but if you have a KESSY car, could you have a fake KESSY key that could be used to fool thieves into thinking they had the key? Then they would start the car, drive off, only to find the car stops working after they get off the drive and away from the real key. Yes they could figure out what actually happened, it's a high stress situation, they think they already have the key, and the car of unknown provenance they've just nicked has conked out on them. Chances are, they'll just leg it. Even if they don't, it still gives you a couple of minutes to do something in response to what has happened. The flaw in the plan is that you'd essentially need to leave your car unlocked in advance. Hmm, a few bugs to iron out of my cunning plan, I think.

The OEM jack does the job, but I'd prefer a better option. That said, I haven't found one that is handy to keep in the car.

I was right, it is interesting. That's quite a jump!

This is such a great thread @weyland, it really got me to thinking I could do it myself. Kudos for blazing the trail that people like me have followed.

It was you sharing your experience that taught me this would be a good idea, so thanks for that. This is why I emphasised getting the connector securely pushed in and using the locking lever purely as a lock, not as a way of pulling the connector into place. (Mind you, there was a lot of temptation to do just that ! ) Yeah, you can see that's what I did in my pic. (I even labelled the curtain wire in the pic, in case anyone wondered what the white "cable" was. ) The glove box removal seems to have a lot of mystique surrounding it, but as you (and I) have found, after a few goes, it really is a piece of cake. That latch is slightly awkward, but it's no bother once you get the hang of it. That's a great tip about the bonnet latch, I did not know that.

Check with the seller which camera will fit your particular car. Good luck!

Hi Asmwyz This is my advice. Others will surely have differing views. My short answer to "Do I really need a Skoda Octavia vRS?" title, is no. A vRS is a very rewarding car to drive quickly and I find just getting into one is a small pleasure in itself. (Not that I have one. ) However, almost every cost associated with your car will be increased if you buy a vRS. Without being judgy, why are you looking at blowing up to £20K with a kid on the way? Especially when you seem to know very little about cars. Are you sure you need an estate? The hatch has pretty much the same size boot, though you don't get the very useful roof bars. A quick search of Autotrader turned up this. I think a car like this would be a better choice for you in your circumstances than a vRS. But an equivalent estate could probably found at around the same price, if you're set on having an estate. I suggest a vehicle like this car (not necessarily this particular example, just an Octavia like this) because:- The highly regarded and excellent 1.4 engine is great in the Octavia: Economic, powerful and arguably "better" than the 1.5 that replaced it. The automatic will be easy and rewarding to drive, and the recent VAG DSGs are excellent. Don't be put off by scare stories, the DSG is great. The SE ties in with the spec you are looking for. Talk it through with your wife. She may well be happy to go along with whatever you decide because she loves and trusts you, but she will undoubtedly have her own ideas about what she wants & needs from the family car. Good luck, and try not to over-think it. Trust your gut, and don't trust the salesman.

You'd think so, but now I'm worried about internal corrosion and looking ahead to swapping my G13 coolant for G12evo. But thanks for the encouragement mate, you tipped me over the edge from wishful thinking into just getting on with it.

I have. I had a car that made a blooming awful graunching noise when I opened and closed one of the passenger doors. A bit of heavy grease on the door arm sorted it nicely. Now it's normally done as part of the service, and I don't think anything of it. I wouldn't pay extra to have it done, mind.

I have the 190TSI engine in a MkIII Octavia, and the high compression engine does give reasonable all-round economy, but for me a solid advantage is port & direct injection, whereas the higher powered TSIs now just have direct injection, which results in issues with carbon build-up on inlet valves eventually. This won't be a problem if you don't plan to keep the car for many years, but it was a factor in my buying decision. (I actually thought the vRS TSI's had port injection but it turns out the later ones don't. Not sure about the MKIV Octavia)

I think the garage has given you good advice. Deleting the DPF is illegal, and if they can block the EGR and remap your car, that's an all in one solution. I think blanking the EGR is a good move, even without a remap.

Faulty shock absorbers are a really big deal, so do get them checked out. A short story: Some years ago, a guy at work inherited an old car after his father died. This guy was an odd combination of very smart, but also very tight-fisted and absolutely not interested in cars. A suspension spring broke on his car, and he simply had that one spring replaced, without getting the suspension checked out. Anyway, a short while after the repair he was obliged to change lane sharply on the motorway and it is suspected the combination of tired shocks and a very frisky new spring at one corner was why he found himself bounced off the road and into a field. Hilariously for his colleagues at work, he told us that when he called the AA to come and rescue him, after waiting ages for the AA man to arrive, the AA man took one look at his car in the field, then explained that he was roadside assistance, and could do nothing until his car was at the side of the road, and then left the scene, obliging the guy to get another tow company to tow him out of the field and to the roadside so the AA would take him home.