Hi all,

I went down to my local Skoda dealer today and came away very impressed by the Octavia. I had a look at facelifted Estate and Hatchback models and test drove a pre facelift petrol VRs which left me with a big smile on my face.

My inclination is to go for a petrol variant since I don't really do many miles and I am quite keen to get a DSG model having driven the DSG box on my wife's Golf. I also like my gadgets and bells & whistles so would be looking to spec the car up a fair bit. So my dilemma is:

Do I buy an 08 VRs (would need to be a diesel to get a DSG box, but would benefit from some very keen pricing, lacks the nice new 09 interior facelift), an 09 VRs (less discount available, but available in a petrol DSG and interior has been facelifted) or play it safe and get a facelifted 09 L&K 1.8TSI DSG (would come with all the gadgets included and gas been facelifted inside and out)?

How does the 1.8 TSI perform next to a VRs? 0-60s look not a million miles apart, but I am aware that they do not tell the whole story.

Does anyone have an idea when the VRs is likely to get its exterior facelift?

Any thoughts really appreciated.

Horton Skoda have a brand new race blue CR diesel hatch in race blue with DSG £3350 off list at £16995 at the moment, but I'm sure if you try you could negotiate a better price than that

http://www.hortonskoda.co.uk/red-hot-web-deals

Thanks for the tip, but I was looking for an estate version. Race Blue looks great though!

Thanks for the tip, but I was looking for an estate version. Race Blue looks great though!

They did have a race blue estate with the new interior, but I think it was a manual, and I don't know if was petrol or diesel. Still had the white protective film on parts of it !

Thinking longer term the price of fuel is likely to go up a lot along with VED on higher emissions cars.

I think I'd be going for the vRS diesel or the 1.8TSi.

eeperman,

save yourself a packet on a car that is barely run in - have a look at the classified section of these forums and you will see my car for sale at a very competitive price.

It is a June 2007 Petrol VRS Estate in Red. It has covered 6,300 miles and is immaculate

Over standard spec It has:-

18" alloys

Jumbo Box

Rear Electric windows

Dual Zone Climate

Xenons

Maxidot

Sun protection glass

Rear Parking Sensors

Cruise Control

Light Assist

Rain Sensor

Auto dimming Rear view Mirror

Yours for £9850 or nearest offer - you can view it on Autotrader.

Thanks

New ones are available at decent rates (around the £16k mark) but can save a lot by buying "nearly new" if you don't mind not being the first name on the logbook.

Check some of the delers around the SE mids (Northants, Bedfordshire and that sort of area) for a lot of ex-Skoda management cars - HQ is in Milton Keynes.

I got mine from Progress Skoda in Bedford. 07 plate Octavia vRS diesel, in race blue. Registered owner was Skoda UK. 15 months old when I bought it, but had less than 6000 miles on it, 18" wheels, jumbo box, dual zone climate control, all round electrics, maxi-dot, sat-nav. Paid less than £12k for it, and it wasn't even run in!

I would look at either brycem' Octavia above or try and get an ex-Skoda UK vRS that has got a bit of spec on it. Unless you really fancy having a brand new car in which case I'd be on the hunt for a nice MY08 vRS.

Hi folks,

Just a quick update for y'all. I went ahead and purchased brycem's 07 vRS and am loving it. More boot space than I know what to do with and performance that means I barely miss my old BMW 330Ci.

Thanks for all the tips.

Hi folks,

Just a quick update for y'all. I went ahead and purchased brycem's 07 vRS and am loving it. More boot space than I know what to do with and performance that means I barely miss my old BMW 330Ci.

Thanks for all the tips.

How does it compare with the 330? Bit slower I guess?

I suspect that it is a bit slower, but oddly enough it feels faster. My wife has the Mk5 Golf GTI and I always found that, although I preferred the bimmer for my motorway cruise to work, the GTI was more likely to put a smile on my face down country roads.

The Octavia is the same, although it feels slightly more skittish than the Golf. I miss the six-cylinder grumble from the 330, but having packed a pushchair and suitcases into the Octavia I feel that I am getting the best of both worlds.