Looking to buy silver 03 VRS estate as long term keeper with fsh and 88000 mls. Nice car but after serious haggling, bloke wont accept less than £4400. Still seems expensive to me or is that about right??

Sounds like a good deal to me.

Parkers guide, based on 50k miles so will be a touch lower.

Original Price £15,800

Franchised Dealer £7,945

Independent Dealer £7,050

Private Good £6,155

Private Poor £4,725

Part Exchange £5,200

I got a Vrs estate - black in January full Skoda service 80k miles, from a dealer with extended warranty for just over £5k so £4400 i think is a good deal. I thought mine was a good deal. What i would say is make sure the timing belt & water pump has been changed if not that's guna be your best bargaining tool i think. Either way I think its a good price

A bargain price that. I paid £6k a year ago for black magic 53 plate with 65k on the clock

Belt and pump not been done yet, thats why I thought it was pricey. That and a set of front tyres which are getting thin. They will be first jobs on the list and at least I will know they have been done!

Some VRS have 17" wheels. Where they an option or is that just down to a change in specs? Certainly look better, but what are the practical benefits in terms of tyres ride and handling?

16" wheels on the estate due to the lack of rear turret bracing on the estate.

Some places would value that car at £2k trade, £3k retail, £2.4k private good condition.

Think I would too. I kid you not.

I would say that you will struggle to find skodas for sale at the price some guides suggest though, even so IMO £4.4k is too much for a leggy old petrol skoda estate.

Walk away and find a better one.

Lummox, does that mean that 17" (or bigger ) wheels are not a good idea or can other mods be done to compensate for the lack of bracing?

As to the values, and being a tight yorkshireman I tend to side with the previous caller. but finding a cheap one to buy that doesnt have issues somewhere is another story. Its not exactly a common model either and when you start getting colour specific it gets even worse!!!

Are there any yellow ones out there??

Lummox, does that mean that 17" (or bigger ) wheels are not a good idea or can other mods be done to compensate for the lack of bracing?

Skoda don't think they are a good idea. However some members have replaced the standard 16" wheels with 17" ones and I can't recall any mention of problems arising from this.

Are there any yellow ones out there??

Extremely rare. I can only recall one member on here with a yellow Mk I Octy estate.

I considered one a few years ago, but eventually went for a red one instead. Still wish I had picked yellow just to be different.

Making up for it now with a yellow Fabia vRS!

I have a Silver '03' plate vRS Estate, i've had 17" alloys on for the last 30K miles with no problems.

As for values, i got offered £5000 for trade in on mine (50K Miles) a couple of months ago.

I've just done the belt and pump, 4 new Michelin Sport tyres and uprated front Tarox brakes, so i'm not selling it now!

The cambelt should have been changed 30K miles ago, I find it hard to believe that a car with FSH has not had it changed. I £4,400 is a good price even without the belt being changed, the belt change itself is not that expensive.

Extremely rare. I can only recall one member on here with a yellow Mk I Octy estate.

I considered one a few years ago, but eventually went for a red one instead. Still wish I had picked yellow just to be different.

Making up for it now with a yellow Fabia vRS!

I have one and there is another member with one near Coventry I think. I went for it just because is so different. But it has got me in trouble because it's so easy to spot :P

May have trouble if I ever sell it though, you either love it or hate it.

Some places would value that car at £2k trade, £3k retail, £2.4k private good condition.

Think I would too. I kid you not.

I would say that you will struggle to find skodas for sale at the price some guides suggest though, even so IMO £4.4k is too much for a leggy old petrol skoda estate.

Walk away and find a better one.

Hm, like to see some examples, 4.4k is a bargin imo.

£4400 is far from a bargain - the likes of (parkers especially) have not caught up with the current second hand car market.

The highest reliable mileage adjusted value I can find is £4195, the lowest as stated above.

PX values are irrelevant, as the true value is hidden in the deal.

The trade/auction price will scare you and the values are only headed one way.

The second hand car market is deteriorating very rapidly. This is a leggy skoda, and an old model version at that - people need to get realistic about what their cars are worth - obviously a forum such as this does not offer a balanced point of view, people tend to vastly overvalue their cars.

£4400 is far from a bargain - the likes of (parkers especially) have not caught up with the current second hand car market.

The highest reliable mileage adjusted value I can find is £4195, the lowest as stated above.

PX values are irrelevant, as the true value is hidden in the deal.

The trade/auction price will scare you and the values are only headed one way.

The second hand car market is deteriorating very rapidly. This is a leggy skoda, and an old model version at that - people need to get realistic about what their cars are worth - obviously a forum such as this does not offer a balanced point of view, people tend to vastly overvalue their cars.

Absolutely correct. I have just sold my Octavia hatch 04 vRS with 91k for £4200 and i now consider myself extremely lucky. Look on ebay, you can buy them week in week out for just over 2K.

Darren

Just found a silver 03 vRS estate on auto trader, 69K miles for £3995.