As you'll see I'm new here - so hello everyone.

This seems to be the place to "talk Skoda" so I hope you don't mind this thread - I just hope I don't waffle too much.

My current car is about to be mine, last payment very soon so I'm looking for something new.

I've owned my last two cars from brand new, however I've suffered the drop in value and we have decided that this time we are going to look at something new to us but not brand new.

We were looking at the Octavia and thought that the VRS was going to be out of our range - it would appear not.

The wife and I both like the car - we've seen it in the flesh, we've taken one for a drive and we're in the position where we maybe ready to take the plunge.

The model we looked at was the 2.0 Petrol.

Now I cover somewhere in the region of 15k - 17k miles a year so I don't think I'm in the range of a diesel saving me a lot of money.

There seems to be about a £1500 premium for taking a diesel over a petrol.

Now I'm currently driving a 307 (no comments required, I actually like it and it has been 100% reliable).

My 307 can cover 450+ miles on a full tank. I know the VRS will probably do less, but again I think if I'm sensible then my fuel bill shouldn't go through the roof.

Or should I seriously consider the diesel?

In the current financial climate are there deals to be had?

The Petrol VRS that I've seen are both 56 plates and have a window price of £12k.

My car (according to Parkers) in A1 condition is worth around £3200 trade-in (54 plate, 307s, 3 door).

What I am hoping for as a deal would be my car plus £7500.

Do you think I am going to get laughed at or do you think this is a deal I maybe able to haggle?

I guess finally - is there anything I should be looking out for on the VRS?

We have justified the VRS as a purchase - we wanted something 5 door so relatives can get in and out easier.

Plus we will soon be having a baby, so easy to get to the back seats.

It's an understated vehicle (in my opinion), kind of like a wolf in sheeps clothing.

Also it was a car with performance that doesn't require you to be "thin as a rake" (so many "sporty" cars assume you are anorexic if you want something with a little performance).

I hope I haven't waffled on too much and honestly, there are a few questions above for people to answer oh and some statements I'm sure I've made that will be wrong

Edited 5 August, 200817 yr by Stoofa

The model we looked at was the 2.0 Petrol.

Now I cover somewhere in the region of 15k - 17k miles a year so I don't think I'm in the range of a diesel saving me a lot of money.

There seems to be about a £1500 premium for taking a diesel over a petrol.

Now I'm currently driving a 307 (no comments required, I actually like it and it has been 100% reliable).

My 307 can cover 450+ miles on a full tank. I know the VRS will probably do less, but again I think if I'm sensible then my fuel bill shouldn't go through the roof.

Or should I seriously consider the diesel?

I can get about 410 miles to the tank driving with some care. Less careful and 80mph motorway work you could drop that down to 350 quite quickly. The VRS can be very economical for the type of car it is or very thirsty depending on how you drive it. I can get about 38mpg on my commute with mixed driving A-B roads but little urban driving. Much lower in winter.

In the current financial climate are there deals to be had?

The Petrol VRS that I've seen are both 56 plates and have a window price of £12k.

My car (according to Parkers) in A1 condition is worth around £3200 trade-in (54 plate, 307s, 3 door).

What I am hoping for as a deal would be my car plus £7500.

Do you think I am going to get laughed at or do you think this is a deal I maybe able to haggle?

Not too sure. I bought new and got quite a good deal I think. Motorpoint occasionally gets VRSs in for about £14k new.

I guess finally - is there anything I should be looking out for on the VRS?

We have justified the VRS as a purchase - we wanted something 5 door so relatives can get in and out easier.

Plus we will soon be having a baby, so easy to get to the back seats.

It's an understated vehicle (in my opinion), kind of like a wolf in sheeps clothing.

Also it was a car with performance that doesn't require you to be "thin as a rake" (so many "sporty" cars assume you are anorexic if you want something with a little performance).

I hope I haven't waffled on too much and honestly, there are a few questions above for people to answer oh and some statements I'm sure I've made that will be wrong

It's a fast family car rather than a 'hot hatch' and it is quite big on the inside. Extras to look out for are 18" wheels, dual zone climate and the jumbo box armrest. These were free upgrades last year and your car might look a bit bare without them.

Other extras are cruise control but you can get that retro fitted and Maxidot which is an upgraded display. I didn't get the latter but I wish I did. Other things like Xenons, parking sensors I don't miss.

I've had mine for a year and have done about 11k miles and so far (touch wood) it's been faultless. Remember when you are working out your running costs that the VRS really does need super unleaded.

I think aspman covered most of it. Other things to look out for are electric windows in the back (part of the jumbo box upgrade / option on some cars). Cruise control is nice if you do a lot of motorway miles, Maxidot computer is also a nice toy to have but isn't essential, its similar to the display you get on golfs and Ford Focus's, Mondeo's etc... in the middle of the dash.

Also worth noting is that isofix mounts on the rear seats for child seats are standard.

Finally when thinking about the price of fuel you need to factor in that the 2.0TFSI runs on performance 98RON fuel rather than standard 95 RON unleaded so factor the extra pence per litre for Super into you costings as well.

You've all said the petrol needs 98ron, does the rs diesel need the equivalent?

I have two children under 2 years, have had my car chipped and only use Shell V power, the car has done around 4k since I got it new last December and I couldnt recommend a better car for me.

Billy

I would have thought a change over price of £7500 would be a little optimistic as you are basically asking for a £1300 saving (also the parkers guide is normally on the optimistic side anyway as far as trade in value- The glasses guide is usually far better and you can get a free estimate by following the link in the vauxhall website). But then again you never know and you will not get if you do not ask.

The motorpoint cars are all imports and hence the low price but you can get some good deals on UK spec cars (a year or so ago I got quoted £16k for a new petrol VRS from a dealer).

I would echo the points above as far as checking the spec. I would see the dual zone climate as an absolute must. I have also found the rear parking sensors invaluable.

I actually bought a diesel vrs in the end as I prefered the way it drove to the petrol. I would suggest that you test drive both and make your own mind up. I recently calculated the cost differential between the diesel and petrol (in a thread on here somewhere) and found that over 3 years (based on new list prices) the diesel paid for itself if you do £11k a year. However, I did not take any acount of the higher resale value of a diesel and I also took the price of normal unleaded petrol and not super unleaded. Hence you would probably make significant savings on far less miles per year. I easily get 440 miles from a tank with a mixture of motorway/A and B roads (have 1 10mile drive each way to work). However, on a long run I will get 550 to 600 miles from a tank. On the trip computer this equates to around 45-48mpg on my trips too and from work and 55mpg on a long run.

Hope all this helps

Thanks for all of the replies.

The Petrol Vs Diesel thing is something we are going to maybe have to look at closer.

We had set ourselves a budget and we also didn't want to go for anything older than 2yrs old.

Initially we were looking at a "standard" Octavia with plenty of toys, I think we are willing to sacrifice some of these toys to go for the vRS.

As this is a 2yr old car we are looking at, I gather the following items would have been optional rather than standard - however vRS owners would consider these upgrades to have:

Cruise Control - How much would I be looking at to have this retro fitted?

Maxidot - Again, approx. cost of retro fitting.

Dual Zone Climate Control - No retro fitting on that I'm guessing. Is the standard Air Con still up to the job?

Jumbo Box Armrest - Can this be retro fitted? Approx. cost?

If anyone is interested, we are going to see a dealer in Lincoln.

On searching the Used Car section on the Skoda website (upto 20k, 2yr old vSR) we found a dealer with 3 listed (Red, Silver, Black).

I guess it is a matter of getting the full specification on all three of these cars.

Re the options:

Cruise control, so far have only used it once, on the Interstate in California in a Dodge, when I hadnt seen another car for about 5 minutes and I had 600 miles to cover, guess I can live without it!

Maxidot, havent got it, don't need it, .....

Dual climate should be standard, unless anyone here says to the contrary

Jumbo arm rest, keeps on getting covered in sun block from my elbow, I keep a vRS pen in mine, can keep it very cool thanks to the aircon slide, but thats about it!

Jumbo box also has a 3.5mm Aux socket for your mp3 player. Rather a large surround for such a small plug ;-) but a little more use than a cold pen.

Thanks again for the replies - I really do appreciate it.

I have spoken to the dealer again with regards any "extras" that may have been fitted to either of the two cars we like the look of.

He tells me that they are both "Standard Specification with no extras".

So it is whatever would have been standard in a 56 vRS.

However the black one has "Cloth/Leather Interior" listed in its specification whereas the Silver just says "Cloth".

I thought it was either cloth or leather - not a combination of the two, should I seek clarification on this?

I've found out that I can get Cruise Control retro fitted for around £160, so that wouldn't be a bank breaker.

Not sure about the Maxidot - it looks nice and all that, I'll have to see the cost of retro fitting that to see if it is worth while.

The dual-zone climate control being standard is great to know.

The Jumbo box sounds like one of those things I can live without.

The two cars which I'm going to look at are:

Skoda Octavia 2.0 T FSI vRS - Dennis Horton Dennis Horton - Dennis Horton - Black

Skoda Octavia 2.0 T FSI vRS - Dennis Horton Dennis Horton - Dennis Horton - Silver

He also has one in red as well - but I'm not so keen on the solid colours:

Skoda Octavia 2.0 T FSI vRS - Dennis Horton Dennis Horton - Dennis Horton

Does anyone else have any thoughts on the price etc?

I know I'd be a fool not to try and get some money off.

However is getting around £1000 off the screen price and the very top price for my car as a trade-in going to be a pipe dream?

Cheers once more.

All Octy vRS have cloth centres & leather sides on the seats. unless it has the leather upgrade which will be a rare find. All leather upgrade can be had for around £1200 iirc retro fit from your dealer.

Knocking £1000 off the screen price does seem optimistic. All depends how desperate they are to shift used stock. I normally find I get a good trade in price or money off the screen of the new car, not both. Give it a go, you never know your luck.

You could always try and get your first service thrown in to make the deal a bit sweeter.

You don't sound like you're in a hurry so take your time and shop around even if it means traveling a bit further out to find the car/deal you want.

Good luck:thumbup:

The dual-zone climate control being standard is great to know.

The Jumbo box sounds like one of those things I can live without.

The two cars which I'm going to look at are:

Skoda Octavia 2.0 T FSI vRS - Dennis Horton Dennis Horton - Dennis Horton - Black

Skoda Octavia 2.0 T FSI vRS - Dennis Horton Dennis Horton - Dennis Horton - Silver

just to let you know the dual climate control isnt standard on the VRS. It comes as a pack with Jumbo box/rear elec windows/dual climate. This has been offered as free with the 18" wheels for a while but its not always guaranteed as it depends on when the car was built.

Ive just looked at the two top links you have and they both dont have dual climate which also means no elec rear windows/jumbo as well.

The standard climatic? is good by all accounts though as its still aircon, just not fully automatic.

Two cars look nice by the way

Jumbo box also has a 3.5mm Aux socket for your mp3 player. Rather a large surround for such a small plug ;-) but a little more use than a cold pen.

My phone holds all my mp3s, not flash enough to own one of those too!!!

To be honest, I'd prefer it with just the seats and an engine, etc, lighter the better....

Knew someone would be able to say if it came with dual as standard...

I hope people don't mind me adding to this thread each time - saves starting a new one each time.

We're currently planning our weekend so we can look at as many vRS as possible.

Would people here be put off by a high mileage vRS?

Whilst looking for potential vehicles we spotted a vRS in Race Blue on a 07 plate (actually newer than the 56 we were looking at).

However the vehicle has done...wait for it...39,169 miles.

This sounds quite high for a March 2007 vehicle.

If it had a full Skoda Service History - would people still be put off by this?

Ta

Mine runs fine on std 95 RON and have seen no difference using 'Super' (97 RON). I usually get 350 miles from a tank (mainly 40 - 50 MPH limits).

I haven't tried 98 RON or above (none near me), so can't comment on that.

It's a personal thing, but I prefer the estate to the hatch - this carries a circa £850 premium over the hatch when new, but don't know what the diffrerence is used.

Whatever you buy, I'm sure it will make you smile (a lot)!

Stoofa, having come out of a 307SW XSE (Diesel) into a Skoda I can tell you you are going to make the best move ever.

I have the diesel VRS and it's every bit as good as the petrol (if just a shade slower).

Yes you will pay a premium for the diesel on the forecourt, but you will benefit from more MPG (I average about 42 mpg and that's hard driving all the time (it's 50/50 motorway and London driving) so it's not at all bad. (the pug averaged 34 on the same sort of trips)

The other advantage is that (as the username suggests) I'm not the smallest of fellas and it's more than comfortable for me.

Don't be put off by the high mileage, at 30K (Sept 07 model) the diesel engine is just about run in now and these engines seem to just get better with time (especially if looked after by those nice people at skoda).

Remember most of those high miles will have been done on the motorway and how many VRS's do you usually see in the outside lane flat out, the whole point is it's an understated car in (usually) bright colours, and we know what we can do, how fast it will go, but don't need to do it all the time...(well most of the time is not all of the time is it officer???)

As the previous people have said, look out for the jumbo box, 18" wheels, climate etc... they were free upgrades so don't expect to pay extra for them on the front.

I have a '57 Diesel Vrs. Without doubt, the best vehicle I've ever owned - only 'niggle' is it doesn't like a lot of pottering around town / lots of stop start driving which causes the DPF warning light to come on & then it needs a blast of 10 -15 miles on the motorway.

I hope people don't mind me adding to this thread each time - saves starting a new one each time.

We're currently planning our weekend so we can look at as many vRS as possible.

Would people here be put off by a high mileage vRS?

Whilst looking for potential vehicles we spotted a vRS in Race Blue on a 07 plate (actually newer than the 56 we were looking at).

However the vehicle has done...wait for it...39,169 miles.

This sounds quite high for a March 2007 vehicle.

If it had a full Skoda Service History - would people still be put off by this?

Ta

I would be put off. I wouldn't want that sort of mileage for that sort of money.

Just took a look on the Skoda used site. I'm sure you would have seen it too.

March 2006 vRS Octy

13000 Miles.

Race Blue

Parking sensors.

Criuse control.

18" Alloys.

Dual zone / Arm rest / Lecy window pack.

£12495

Fish Brothers in Swindon

That's what I would be looking for with your budget & would travel anywhere in order to get the spec. You don't change cars often so if it means a train ride or a long drive to get the best then I would do it.

HTH.

Hi Stoofa.

You're not too far away from Croyland car megastore (quite near me).

Keep seeing VRS' there so had a look at their website in case these are of interest:

2006 Skoda Octavia 2.0 T FSi VRS Blue 5 Dr Petrol 51489 10695

2006 Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDi Laurin + Klement Red Estate Diesel 37160 10995

2005 Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDi PD Elegance Grey Estate Diesel 43979 8999

2006 Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDi VRS blue 5 Dr Petrol 14195 12950

2005 Skoda Octavia 1.8 RS Silver 5 Dr Petrol 52000 7999

For high milers, means they have been used as co cars so will have had every service on the button (to keep warranty), and will have had to have done mostly motorways - which is great for engines, as doesnt strain them like town driving.

As we discussed with someone needing brakes due to corrosion on an '06 20k motor, low mileage isnt great for cars.

Thanks again people - this thread really is being useful.

I hadn't seen the one in Swindon - does look nice for its price.

I'm sure some of you other married ones out there have had similar chats with their other half.

My last two cars have been brand new and the wife just doesn't seem to like the idea of going "too old" with regards our next vehicle.

Now I could put my foot down, but at the end of the day it has to be a joint decision.

She has decided we shouldn't go older than a 56 plate - yer I know, an 06 may have been built after a 56, but that is just her way of thinking.

With everything that has been said, we're off to take a proper look and take a test drive on:

Skoda Octavia 2.0 T FSI vRS - Dennis Horton Dennis Horton - Dennis Horton

I know it doesn't have any of the extras.

However we're in no major rush to buy (with the exception if an ever devaluating trade-in vehicle), so if we really don't like for whatever reason we'll wait until the one we do turns up.

Stoofa, in my opinion:

I went for the petrol vRS from a diesel Vauxhall Signum 1.9CDTI and do not regret it one bit.

Mine came with dual climate (nice to have gimmick - standard aircon would be good enough though), jumbo box (great arm rest for long motorway drives and a handy place to keep my satnav lead and cradle), rear leccy windows (rarely have rear passengers) and 18"v wheels (much better looking than the 17s, no real ride compromise and oddly cheaper for tyres?!).

Since having cruise control retro fitted (£201 at a skoda dealer - couldn't live without it but I spend so much time in the car up and down the M1 / A1M regularly with work) I am returning 41mpg if I just sit at 74mph.

Goes down to 37ish on combined in-town and daily commute and to 33 at the weekend under spirited driving.

I initially used 95 ron but changed to super unleaded and foud that I got an extra 2-3 mpg, which over a tank gives you almost a gallons worth of extra mileage - the price differential (7p / litre) to regular is worth it overall. Have found that best economy is from Shell optimax (99ron) as most 'supers' are only 97 and the TFSI engine is 'tuned' for 98.

I bought mine privately this March (06 plate with 4.5k miles) for £11.5k, but the guy had been banned from driving and was desperate for a sale. Although at the time there was an exact same spec one at a place in Leeds for £12.5k, which could have been bargained on and dealers are gagging to make sales at the moment due to slow market demand thanks to the credit crunch.

Hope that helps in your choice.

JD

I'd just like to say a big thank you to all who contributed to my little thread.

Earlier today we drove down to Lincoln and took a much closer look and test drive of the black vRS I've linked to a couple of times.

Unfortunately my plans for "loadsa money" for my old 307 and money off the screen price didn't go according to plan.

My 307 was worth less to the dealership than I'd have liked and there was already some money off the screen price.

So we went away for some lunch and returned to the dealership afterwards.

Thanks to people I have now paid a deposit on a Black vRS Petrol on a 56 plate with me going back next Saturday to collect it.

She is just the vRS "un-optioned" but it is still all I was seeking from a vehicle.

Although I have ended up paying more for the vehicle than I had planned I am now soooooo looking forward to next Saturday :-)

Edited 9 August, 200817 yr by Stoofa

Nice:thumbup: Now all you have to do is enjoy it:D

Have fun keeping that Black Magic clean:rofl:

i am looking for mk11 VRs too I love my mk1...

The skoda dealer ar Ruilip middx has a number of 07 cars at £11290.00 wth less than 10K on clock.

They are the cheapest ive found.

I believe they are Skoda uk cars!

Have a look!