Kips

I don't think there's anything in this case to suggest that the car hasn't been looked after. It has a long and detailed service history, almost exclusively from main Skoda dealerships. The problem seems to be that the cambelt and water pump are only official service items at something like 140,000 miles. So the fact the previous owner(s) didn't change these before then, is understandable and justifiable. The view that a pre-emptive 4 years / 50k miles preventative change to these items seems to be an unofficial recommended position. The general view seems to be that Skoda should probably have done a recall to sort out whatever problem causes these issues, but it didn't.

The repair was carried out by a Skoda main dealership. I get the impression they 'did a deal' with the owner to compromise on a part exchange price, rather than the customer covering the full cost of the repair. I suspect there was a dispute as the car had a comprehensive service history - mostly main dealership. And the mileage was well below the 'manufacturer advised' 140,000 mile cam belt change. This arrangement allowed the main dealership to complete the work at cost price. It wasn't an insurance write-off or anything. Because the car is high mileage, they won't put it on the forecourt of the Skoda main dealership. They don't seem to sell anything with more than about 50k miles. They have an affiliate company that takes all the non-forecourt stock from the main dealership network and sells it under a different name. Because the main dealer did the work with VAG parts, the parts will be warrantied for a year (not sure about the workmanship). The car's being offered with a Platinum RAC approved warranty (not Skoda). It explicitly includes all mechanical parts and cam belt failure (provided the cam belt was not fouled with something like oil). The initial offering is 3 months, but it sounded like a possibility it could be extended to a year. If the car had done a couple of thousand miles since the repair, I'd take some reassurance that it had been fixed. But it hasn't been tested thoroughly since the repair. The car is appealing because it's rare at this price, has a good colour and spec, is in otherwise good condition, and it has an otherwise impeccable service history. I reckon front tyres and rear discs might need doing pretty soon though, so it's not perfect. The dealership currently have a policy not to negotiate on the asking price, because the Covid-affected second-hand car market is so strong. We'll see how long that lasts! Have others experienced that with the trade at the moment? I'd heard it was a bit silly, but zero scope for negotiation seems a bit much.

I'm contemplating the purchase of a relatively high mileage (approx 80k) Mk3 (2016) Octavia VRS Tdi. It recently suffered a cam belt failure which destroyed parts of the engine. It's had a Skoda main dealer engine rebuild, including new cam shaft and re-machined cylinder head but has basically not been driven since. How big a risk is this? It will have a 3 month warranty - with the potential to extend to a year. Should I think about this as a risk/liability or an opportunity to have a car with parts of the engine that are brand new VAG parts? Any idea if/how the engine might be affected by the machining to the head? Might it affect fuel economy, performance or reliability? Any advice or experience greatly received.