Hi all, new here. For a while now i've had my mind all made up that i was buying VW Bora 180 sport...... Until last Saturday that is.......

Last Saturday i was at a garage taking a look round a Bora, but sat right next to it was an Mk 1 Octavia vRS! i was won over immediately and now the search is on for a tidy, standard vRS within my budget (5 - 5.5k)

Anyway, so as the title asks..... what will i get for around the £5000 - 5500 mark? i'm hoping to get something with less than 40k on the clock, fsh, 12mths MOT, maybe a 52/03/53 plate? sound a reasonable goal on my budget?

The one i sat in was a 55 plate and 10k - so way over budget....... :(

Cheers

Steve

Have a look at this one,

http://briskoda.net/forums/cars-sale/octavia-vrs-mk-1-a/102228/

or this one,

http://briskoda.net/forums/cars-sale/52-reg-octavia-vrs/111981/

Or the site owners,

http://briskoda.net/forums/cars-sale/sale-mki-white-vrs/111830/

I got mine reduced from 5995 to 5000 from a main dealer, it's a 52 plate and had 90k on the clock when I bought it. They threw in a 12 month warranty as well, and it had cruise control and parking sensors fitted as options. When I was looking around there were 53 reg ones with less mileage for about the same price but from private sellers.

Mine is registered 04 on a 53 plate cost 5200 from a private seller. it has 70k on the clock. There are a number of good bargins out there at the mommet. You will get a cracking car for that budget im sure. The one thing that is certain you wont regret getting a vrs. Its so funny looking at the faces of poeple when you leave them standing. That by the way is most standard cars!!

Plenty bargains to be had for that price range at the moment.

As already pointed out, a good few nice cars on this site for sale.

Plus point is, you know the history buying a car from a fellow forum member too.

With that budget you can get a right bargain

As above a few good ones in the for sale section!

With that budget you should look at buying a decent car:D I'v had nothing but grief with my car. These things are money pits from the start. Look at replacing EVERY bush on the chassis 2 or 3 hoses under the bonnet, and a squeak when you shut the drivers door could also mean the rad bushes have gone too. Plus look at drop links and wheel bearings. Apart from the faults and the crap cream interior there great. Oh the boot lid lets in atleast 3 litres of water when you lift the tailgate during light drizzle and you will probably never find a perfect driving position. They handle very poorly unless you can throw atleast 1k at it again and there not very fast untill there remapped. Apart from that, good choice:rofl: Look on Ebay as one sold earlier in the week for £2200. Higher mileage than what your after @117,000 and £2195 more than i would pay after owning this car for less than a year.

Darren

Little unfair as sounds like you have just had a bad one.

Bushes are a consumable part so will need replacing at some point in their life

Hoses - never had to touch one on mine so again id say you were unlucky

Interior - no arguing there but like anything else you can maintain it easily if your prepared to do so

Boot - again im not arguing with that one and its even worse once you have a WRC spoiler on there but i can live with it

Handling - you dont need to spend anything on it. mine goes round corners fine but i wanted to do it faster so i bough an arb at £130 that pretty much cured it

Speed - everything is subjective so if it wasnt that fast then why did you get it in the first place?

Agree with Matt.

Sounds like you bought a lemon ! :(

I however, think there are many a nice Mk1 to be had at that price if you look around.

Best of luck !

Big boot and relative comfort for a sporty hatch. Problem is i didnt expect to buy it again in spare parts. You love the octy like lots of other members on site. I personally think there a sack of shi+e after owning this one. The problems i'v listed are all VERY common faults. My problem is i had them all in 6 months. I'm just letting the OP know that everything is not always rosy with these cars. Obviously nobody will agree because it is natural as a current owner to be protective of the car that you own. I'm just being objective.

Darren

We get your point Darren.

I actually no longer run an Octy vRS, i swapped to a Fabia vRS a month or so back, so i'm in no way being "protective".

Just as you are making people aware of the possible downsides, we're just pointing out that they're not all like that.

Not trying to have a dig at you by the way.

Still not sold yours yet then

He could buy yours as you have fixed it all now

I had loads of problems on my S3 that's why I got rid of it!

You did not have much luck with the VRS but I'm sure you'll like the new one

Still not sold yours yet then

Not tried selling it yet mate, well apart from the for sale section here. I might just move it to the side of the house and let chickens sleep in it. Be worth more as a coop in the current market:rofl:

Darren

You cant hate it that much then or your loaded

On the plus side now Darren has sorted that lot its a good car to buy.

As a plus note you can buy a Golf GTi (or a Bora) pay more money and get all of the same problems and some more thrown in.

I'm going to really put a push on selling it next week. Like you have said, now that all the common issues have been resolved it SHOULD be a good buy. I'll have to get rid soon as it hasnt moved in 2 weeks. I'm too scared to go near it just in case something else goes wrong with it:rofl:

Darren

From recent experience i'd say you'd be looking at high mileage in general, low if you very lucky. I got a 55 plate 04 model with 45k for under 7k a few weeks back.

I've just brought this...

£4.5k, 54k miles, 1 owner, full service history, etc...

...must say that i did go and look at loads! :thumbdwn:

keep up the search!

Thanks for the link to my ad MDK1 :thumbup:.

Steve...sent you a pm.

£4.5k, 54k miles, 1 owner, full service history, etc...

...must say that i did go and look at loads! :thumbdwn:

Looks like a good buy

As a rule of thumb and once again from my limited experience i found that you were paying/gaining around 1k per 10k miles.

You could buy mine for a bit less than 5k.

Should get a nice one for 5k or just over..

Had mine for over 2 years now and its been the best car I have owned or probably driven.

Sounds like someone picked up a lemon indeed no issues so far with mine apart from it liking to eat tyres.

got mine 7 months ago... 03 plate with FSSH and 38k on the clock... paid £5650....and it is in mint condition besides a few scratches on the drivers leather seat... doh.

I've had a new temp sensor fitted, new brake pads and tyres all round and something you should budget for regardless of mileage is cambelt and waterpump (need doing at 5 years as they are both prone to failure)... cost about £550 for both in a non franchised garage...

Probably best car I've owned or driven too...When you put the pedal to the floor round some twistys it's just awesome....

Make sure it's got good rubber, they are pricey...

just traded my 02 48k full history with all receits octy into peoples ford edinburgh. My car was very clean with no dings or scratches in Yellow and never thrashed bashed or trashed, it had all new Koni suspension (this year), whiteline adjustable frt/rr bars castor/camber kit, miltek 3"cat supersprint rr/ bmc cda with forge pipe and revo, all new brakes at the beginning of the year aswell.

I traded for an ST-3 and love it but the way i had the suspension set on vrs means it tucked into a corner with less twitch but i think i just need to get used to it before i try high speed cornering.

If you or anybody else for that matter wants a perfectly balanced quick very clean car give them a call before they put it to the auction or another garage i am sure they would give a fair price since they robbed me. It may be a bit of a distance but iam sure they could transfer it more local:thumbup:

Thanks for all the replies - good and bad reports alike, it's good to hear both sides of the coin, and it's not put me off!

Ok, so i have found a 2004 for £5800, 12mth MOT, FSH (last 2 done by the owner) last service was just last month - here is what the guy had to say to a couple of questions i asked about it.........

it was a 40k service & brake fluid change. The timing belt and water pump are not due for change for another 2 years or 80k miles. Next service is due 2 years or when service light comes on, the car is also on longlife oil. The car has full manufacturer service history, the last two were carried out by myself

What do people think? sound like a goer? it's a fair trek away from me though (about 180 miles :eek: )

Steve