Hi

I have been looking at a skoda Octavia vrs, 06 plate, 49,000 miles, and I have taken it for a ride, the price seems ok, its just the number of previous owners that bothers me, any advice folks? It is from a reputable car supermarket.

Thanks.

My gut feeling is probably the same as yours, in that they have all had trouble of some sort (maybe all the same) and has put them off the car and been passed on.

If it is a real good deal then you could maybe ask the dealer for the previous owners details and see if you can get in touch with them.

Remember though, it is a buyers market and althoug the vRS is one of the rarer and more sought after models there are still plenty around on the forecourts.

Steve

it is up for £7999 and with my part ex, all i have to pay is £800 and that includes 12 months tax, and a number plate change

what do you think?

i took it for a test drive, and there was a whine coming from it when the air con was on, and they said they will get it fixed from the skoda garage under warranty, and it only has one key, but it does have sat nav and reversing sensors.

I've never been keen on these car supermarkets, I would want to know a bit more about it's history.

Run it through HPi, or ask them for an HPi report - just to make sure it's not a repaired Cat D or stolen recovered... and as above, ask to contact the previous owner... If there's nothing wrong with the car, they won't hide that information from you!

Looking at autotrader, there are 6 vrs's under 60k miles and £8000, couple have 40k on them, and all seem to be one owner....................

Im no expert but I would want to investigate the 4 owners more.

Dont be swayed by having Satnav (assuming its built in), TomToms are generally much much better and more easily updateable and customized, the built in ones just (IMO) look more pleasing to the eye.

Steve

hi

just ran it through RAC car checker, and it comes back as being OK, nothing outstanding, no crashes, or write offs etc, and it says 3 previous owners, other than current owner.

Phoned the dealer, and asked for previous owner details, and they say they cant give it due to data protection issues.

The previous owner has had it from 07-Feb-2008, until the 09-01-2009 (when the dealership got it).

The last owners name will be on the V5, so ask to see the V5. If the dealer is being cagey about you contacting the previous owner is he trying to hide something?

You should certainly get the car checked out, as this is a higher number of owners than expected, but i'm gonna cut through the doom and gloom and suggest that it might not all be bad news on the previous owners. I bought my VRS on less than 20K, with the dealership being owner one (pre-registered car), 'first real owner' being owner two, and me now being owner three. The dealer gave a very reasonable/plausible explanation for the previous owner changing from the TFSi after less than 20K miles, and my car (AFAIK) is not a lemon.

Let's say i start working further away from home in the next twelve months - i would probably change for a diesel and there would be a car with less than 30K and three previous owners. Hopefully it wont come to that and i will enjoy many miles of hassle free motoring in my Octavia but if not, then mine could easily become a car with many owners in a relatively short number of miles.

Having said all that, as others have pointed out, you probably have other options at the same price, but which wont include the sat nav obviously. This seems like a 'good' price if the spec is generally high, but if you're unsure then you wouldnt be losing a lot to go elsewhere.

hi

Phoned the dealer, and asked for previous owner details, and they say they cant give it due to data protection issues.

Utter crap! There is no reason whatoever why you can't see the V5; and under the Freedom of Information Act the garage are obliged to tell you who the previous owner was.

Try the V5 approach, and if no joy, walk away...

Bear in mind that getting another key for it (as it's only got one) is not going to be cheap!

I've seen some people paying out £150 or so for one.

It also begs the question as to where the other key is. I'd be getting that "unknown" key struck off the onboard computer by a professional to ensure that it doesn't reappear.

Too many questions for me, and in the market as it is now, if you have questions that go unanswered then follow your instincts and walk.

Yeah, too many unasnwered questions, decided to walk.

Will keep my eye open for others....

Thanks folks.

Happy hunting!!

Ask the how many times the supermarket have sold the same car, if more than once probably been sold and repoed by them,

i would walk if it only had one key," who's got the other"

Bear in mind that getting another key for it (as it's only got one) is not going to be cheap!

I've seen some people paying out £150 or so for one.

Surely there must be a lot of 'fat' in the dealers' margins for this? I can't believe that keys or the work required are so complex - they must just be ripping the **** out of charges for new keys.

Yeah, too many unasnwered questions, decided to walk.

Will keep my eye open for others....

Thanks folks.

You have done the right thing about joining the forum BEFORE you purchased it, if you see any others then ask again............

Steve