Craigy1D

So they are charging you more than the car was being sold for last year when it was £13,750, and then on top of that charging you 8.5% on the finance? Let me guess, Telford have tried to tell you that this is a "great" deal.

Didn't test drive it as I was horrified by what they were offering for mine so I paid for an independent valuation, and got a few other dealers to value it and Telford Skoda were about £1500 short. (they had the car up for £15,250 when I first saw it late last year). I approached them again when they dropped the price (as the reduction to £13,750 made up for the £1500 shortfall they were offering me on mine) but my car had magically depreciated by £1500 to compensate (in the space of a week) so I was no better off. Now they've put the price back up to £15,250 I wonder if that means my cars magically appreciated in value. If you go ahead with it I'd use the fact it was up for £13,750 late last year to negotiate, as if they were in a position to and could afford to sell it on for that price then, I don't really get what justifies the £15,250 price tag now, especially as they've had it for a while, it's depreciated in that time, probably some more wear and tear, short distance additional mileage on the clock while on test drives, etc.

If it's the one I'm thinking of (at Telford Skoda) I was sniffing around that at one point but they wanted to fleece me for trading in my Mazda 6 and came up with some very "interesting" deals. I confronted them with a couple of professional valuations of both my car and theirs and got numerous excuses. I know they are a business and in it to make money but they were just plain greedy and dishonest. They've had it for a while and even lowered it to £13,750 for a few weeks before Christmas but seem to have put the price up to £15,250 again. Thought it was a bit overpriced at £15,250 but suprised it didn't go when it was up for £13,750.

The Kufatec system looks interesting as it effectively replicates the functionality of the OEM Xenons. The only thing is I imagine its for the pre FL Octavia II, as the FL Octavia II uses AFL / Bi-Xenon headlight units.

Hi, Does anyone know if its possible to retrofit the FL Xenons, including headlight washers, auto levelling motors, etc for full OEM functionality and what kind of costs would be involved? Cheers, Craig

I specced out a vRS via Drive the Deal and the final figure was more expensive than after going through the Skoda configurator and subtracting 20% for the No VAT deal. Not sure if I'm doing anything wrong there as a lot of people say to use the Drive the Deal price to get it even lower.

How strange, when you add the Alcantara seats it forces you to have either "Leather gearshift & gaiter" or "Leather gearshift & gaiter (Bluetooth)" or lets you choose both. But then on the DSG model after choosing the above items (you have to have at least one of the above with the Alcantara seats) you can no longer pick the 3 spoke multi-function steering wheel with paddle shifters. Still no sign of the electric folding mirrors yet as featured on Skoda.de's configurator!

Sort of, was hoping someone would have a miracle way of me not losing money on the Mazda 6 or maybe even a remote chance someone would be interested in buying it. Neither is to be so a trip to Skoda on the weekend is needed to see what they can do for me.

Not sold on the green, but the interior looks good. The German car configurator also lets you spec motorised folding door mirrors, is that a UK option yet?

I've started exploring the option of ordering a brand new one with all the toys specced while the No VAT offer is on, and hopefully get a bit more off, or some better deal on the finance. (I'd love to get No VAT and 0% APR together but can't see it happening.) As per my other thread I figured if I can get them to guarantee my trade in price (even if it doesn't recoup the cost I've just paid) then due long build time, by the time I come to trade it in, it might not be such a bad deal and I'll have the car and spec I want, although sounds like some dealerships are reevaluating the trade in prices near to the end of the build, so I'd need to get the agreed value in the sales contract.

I know the answer will likely be don't buy one then, but that seems a bit unfair, that you need to sign a contract committing to buy a new car for a fixed value, but they'll give you a loose, none committal valuation for your old car that they don't need to honour.

So, if you can't get them to fix a trade in value, and then on the day of delivery you get offered significantly less for yours, can you legitimately walk away from the deal without incurring any cost or are you contractually obliged to ensure you can cover any shortfall?

Hypothetically, if you were to order a new car, how does the build time affect the trade in value? i.e. If you order today and your trade in is worth £15,000, is that value fixed, or does it decrease as by the time the new car is built, the trade in has done more miles, and is older, etc.

So is the new interior going to be an option on new UK orders fairly soon? Doesn't seem to be available on the online configurator yet.

So the dealer offered you No VAT and 0% APR on a vRS? I checked with my local dealer, but they wouldn't do the 0% as Skoda finance aren't offering it on the vRS trim. Which dealer did you buy from?

I've also thought about trading it in against a brand new vRS while the No VAT offer is on, as I imagine the dealer's have a more manouvering room on the trade in price. What would clinch it for me is if Skoda could match Mazda's current offer (No VAT and0% APR together on their Sport trim whereas Skoda will only do the No VAT on the vRS, and the 0% APR is reserved for lower trim levels.) @Chubbs, your car sounds nice, but I'm in the same situation of needing to sell mine privately before I can think about getting yours. A great idea is if someone buys this car I linked to in my original post we can do a straight swap and you'll end up with a newer, bigger car.

The current No VAT offer is good, but what would be even better is if they extended their current 0% APR offer to include the vRS. At the moment you can only get the No VAT and the 0% APR together on the lower specced trim levels. Mazda are currently allowing No VAT and 0% APR on the 6 Diesel Sport trim so maybe Skoda will decide to match it.

It was the diesel vRS I was looking at as I've currently got the 180 Diesel Mazda and do enough miles to warrant the economy. I think if you compare the two, the Octavia's got a slightly quicker 0 - 60 time as its lighter so gets off the line slightly quicker, despite it being 10 bhp down, but on a rolling start I think the Mazda would be quicker as it's got 400NM of torque compared to the Octavia's 350NM. So the Mazda is certainly fast and nimble enough to put a smile on my face. Like yourself Bluetooth was a factor in the choice of the Mazda, but the vRS DSG with the paddle shifters would instantly negate any feelings of an auto box making me feel old. The thing is, I've found the Mazda is a fantastic car, very comfortable and quick, and it does actually look quite sporty, but in a more executive way, so it's hard to convey, but it just feels too mature for me, and I guess I didn't notice that until the "new car" novelty had worn off. The vRS exterior and interior just looks more fun. The sensible thing to do is hang onto the 6 for a while though. I can't afford to take that much of a loss in such a short space of time, and although selling it privately might fetch a bit more and reduce the difference, I think people would stuggle to believe that the cars fantastic, but I'm selling it because it makes me feel too old so I'd struggle to sell it.

Don't get me wrong I think the facelift 6 in Sport trim is a fantastic car, and when on the open road it's like a nimble sporty fun to drive hatchback which is suprising for such a big car so it's not really anything to do with disliking the car itself that's drawing me to the Octavia. It just after a few weeks it makes me feel a bit old before my time I guess and when I look at the Octavia it doesn't. The Mazda's beginning to feel like something I'd be happy to be driving in 5 - 10 years time. I think the sensible thing to do is to test drive the Octavia like has been suggested, but also try and hang onto the 6 for at least a year as I may grow into it, or if not at least the depreciation of the 6 the current facelift vRS's on the road will mean if I still want to change it in a years time the cost of changing should be comparatively cheaper as both cars are worth less.

Due to my old car dying I bought a 2011 2.2d 180 Mazda 6 Sport about a month ago. I was in a rush as my old car had pretty much died, but I settled on the Mazda as it was sporty looking, practical, good value for money, had all the toys and drove nicely too. Since then I've seen a Facelift Octavia vRS Hatch in Race Blue and it caught my attention a lot more than my car. Not as many toys as Mazda's Sport trim as standard (unless its been specced up) but thought it was very nice, and as much as I love the Mazda as its is a stunning car, it just makes me feel a little too grown up and executive whereas the Octavia is slightly smaller being based on the Golf chassis and maintains a more raw sportier look, but without looking chavvy and has made me think maybe I'm not ready to grow up yet. I don't know why I discounted the Octavia before, think it was partly because I was desperate to find a new car and the Mazda was an early contender, and I'm ashamed to admit I listened too much to peers dismissing the Skoda badge, which I now regret doing as I discounted a fantastic car in the Octavia. I've found myself casually browsing Autotrader looking for a facelift vRS. The best contender so far is this one as it has a lot of the toys. Only problem is I'd have to take a £2249 loss on the cost I paid for mine only a month ago, as this garage can only offer me trade in value (as would most), which means I'd still end up owing them £1245 to swap with a car thats worth £1000 less than what I paid for mine. That would turn into an expensive regret / change of mind, so as much as I'd like the vRS I think the sensible thing to do is stick with the Mazda for a while ....

Any news on this and what the criteria is for replacement? i.e. do you need to wait for them to go, can you get it fixed as a pre-emptive measure, etc? I've put a £500 deposit down on a 2006 (56) 170 PD A3 with an independent dealer, and having just read all the horror stories about the injectors I'm thinking of walking away and sacrificing my deposit as I value my life more. Cheers, Craig