Looking at MK1 Octavia 4x4 or VRS.

Since there were no changes to specs of the cars in their life, logic tells me that I should just get the lowest mileage one I can rather than the newest.

I.e. a 40,000 mile 2002 car is likely to be better than an 80,000 mile 2004 car and also cheaper.

Were there any spec changes I missed - is there any advantage at all to getting a late car, aside from the number on the plate?

You should be buying on both of those factors , plus condition , plus service history.

A car that's only done 40k in 6 years will probably have done plenty of short journeys and may not have as good a service history as something a bit newer that's done a few more miles , and whatever you go for make sure it's had the cam-belt done recently

Agreed, id take both into consideration however when i ended up buying my vrs i went with mileage over age, although bodywork was immacualte anyway

I brought mine because it was black and I liked it

It did have below average mileage for the year but I did mainly buy it because of the color and how it drove!

I bought mine on milage/FSH/Spec/condition

Mine was a resonably high milage car 86k at 3 years old, the meant I could get the elegance spec and the engine of my choice within my budget. the milage didn't worry me as it came with Full Service History and at the time I would only be doing about 5k per year so the milage would even out a bit, ha, i'm now doing about 20-25k per year but it will keep going for many years

Condition, history, spec, mileage.

i went for mine on condition, and mileage as it was only 28k when i bought it, however was a lot older than i was looking for.

Mileage, subject to the specification being right - get this wrong and you'll regret it for as long as you have the car.

My reason for mileage being important? A low mileage exposes a car to fewer visits to a dealer for "service". My experience has shown that in many cases, service = damage.

If you find a good low mileage example of whatever you want and get either an interested and intelligent Independent to look after it or better still, do it yourself, you should get reliable long-lasting transport.

rotodiesel.

I find often higher the mileage the better assuming it has full main dealer service history.

forget cosmetics like chips and scratches. mechanical condition is paramount, and cars serviced regularly with the main dealer are invariably better.

an chump can buy a touch up kit and make a car pretty - iirc there is a group buy on at the mo.... new engines/boxes cost a little more.

Mileage, subject to the specification being right - get this wrong and you'll regret it for as long as you have the car.

My reason for mileage being important? A low mileage exposes a car to fewer visits to a dealer for "service". My experience has shown that in many cases, service = damage.

If you find a good low mileage example of whatever you want and get either an interested and intelligent Independent to look after it or better still, do it yourself, you should get reliable long-lasting transport.

rotodiesel.

my car only had 4 trips to the dealers in 80k, Variable servicing. So high milage doesn't always mean a car's had lots of trips to the dealers.

My worry over a low mileage car is that there is a chance it is a traditional lemon that has spent a lot of its life at the service centre/off the road as opposed to being on the road. Its OK if you know the cars history, but if you don't....

Was looking at 2 almost identical Octy Mk1s a few weeks back - went for the 137k miles one with FSH every 10k on the dot and a few stone chips here and there, instead of the 90k one that was immaculate but came from a small independent (first one was from skoda dealer) and had only been serviced at 28k, 53k and 90k. I swear that driving them both, you could feel the difference.

i got mine new :orb_jacks loved it, never thought id get to get a new baby :orb_blow_ and still puts a grin on my face lol

lol the guy even hunted me down a reserved red one lol lol and stole it for me :orb_not_w

lol pointless post alert i know but im happy lol