Ok so I've seen a car Octavia VRS 2003 plate finally at a low price. Was listed at £3000 ONO. Having spoken to the guy I thought I would go and see it as it sounded ok. Part of me is suspicious and part of me isn't. But then, I'm probably overly suspicious with buying. What do you think?

Upon arriving the first thing he said was that he was gutted that the day before his wife was reversing and then scraped it down the side. It now has a minor not very deep scratch about 3 inches long low down along the door and onto the next panel as well just about. He also went on quite a bit about how he was moving house and hence his wife/gf had lost the V5 log book and various receipts/history, but that he had just had the brakes done front and rear (discs and pads) and that the service book was all stamped up etc.

I inspected the car and basically apart from the scratch and a bit where it was touched up the other side it is good condition. Everything works. It has a sunroof (no cruise, no parking sensors) usual VRS things. It seems to drive well. I asked him about remap and he basically said something like "well yeah the previous owner reckons hes had it chipped to 228 the highest you can get basically, but I've never told my insurance or anything so...." He booted it a couple of times on test and I have to say I couldn't tell if it had been mapped or not unfortunately. I come from a bike background and unfortunately cars all seem a bit slow and I'm a bit out of touch as to whether it was or not. I probably could have told better if I had driven but I didn't get insured. I don't think it was mapped to be honest. I've driven a cupra and a cupra R and would like to think I could tell the difference again.

Anyway...try to make this brief. I got him down to £2800 but check the cons in a sec

Pros:

- Good condition apart from mark

- Drives well

- Only this guy and his friend previously owned it and it seems well cared for

- Just had brakes done front and rear including discs

- Sunroof

- 66,000 miles

- It came back as HPI clear with a text check (not stolen, owed finance, total loss etc)

- taxed

- just had full MOT as agreement on £2800 price, passed fine

- I noticed that it had a miltek rear exhaust silencer. I asked about it and he said "yeah the previous owner got that done". I followed with asking if it was a full system or not and he straight away went (a little unconvincingly for me) "yep full system". Now for me, anyone in the know would have said whether it was cat back or turbo back when asked that, but maybe I'm being anal?

Cons:

- "Fresh" damage, unsure on cost to repair

- not sure if it's been on variable or fixed but has about 5 stamps. One of the stamps around 40,000 or 50000 is "missing". The supposed dealer has filled out the lines with info but not stamped it. I asked him to verify this and he says they won't confirm it as they wont go back "that far". Not that it was more than a couple of years ago I suspect.

- It is said to require it's next service at 66000 which is NOW. It has NOT had the cambelt and water pump done and requires a full service with this too. to me that says £500 ish.

- Engine bay for the low miles didn't seem that clean to me, but that might be me being ultra paranoid.

- It has absolutely no paper work at all other than the service stamp book being stamped

- No V5 which he assures me is lost temporarily in a box as he is moving, but has applied for new one and will forward on to me

Part of me keeps wanting to buy it as I've been looking for one local for months now. Literally months and the right one has never come along at the right price. This looks to be a nice car with low miles and who knows it might have a full remap and full exhaust system already. Sunroof I find is quite rare too. Hmm... I don't know what to do. Gamble and buy or walk and wait yet again.

Edited 22 April, 200917 yr by coursemyhorse

If you're buying privately you have to trust the seller. When you go to view it's as much an interview with the guy selling the car as it is a test drive. This guy sounds dodgy and the car is not so good and/or cheap that you can't afford to walk away.

I got a mint 53 plate with 33k on the clock and full skoda service history for £3900. Once you've had the damage sorted and the service/cam belt done you'll be looking at a similar figure plus the fact that it's been modded may not be a good thing since the guy doesn't seem to know by how much or by who.

Aside form all that, no V5 no sale. You're walking into a heap of trouble if he can't find it.

iep

I'd walk and find another one. There are plenty of good ones around, you just need to be in the right place at the right time. The fact you have come on here asking for advice suggests you are unsure and proberbly just need confirmation on your thoughts.

I just had a quote for the cambelt, waterpump and 66,000 mile service and it came to £730 discounted to £673 since I would be getting it all done at the same time. This was at a Skoda main approved dealer/service center. So I would say obviously that's main dealer expensive prices, but it still shows it's likely to be £500 odd plus any repairs required for the damage. I was going to make an even lower offer of say £2500 but I don't think that's even worth it now to be honest.

Walk away. From what you've said @ the begining IMHO I would.

Walk? I would be running......

Same as everyone else

Walk Away - you'll regret it if you don't (or spend a **** load of cash extra)

Carl:thumbup:

walk away!!!

Another vote for walk away. Without receipts and V5, and all the stories tied in with it, I wouldn't go near it. Like people say, there'll be another one up soon so better not to risk it

Get one of your mates to phone the seller, and see if he confesses to the gf "caused" damage, or if that only "happens" between the phonecall and going to see the car....

Might as well be worth asking if all paperwork, etc is in order on the phone. I tend to check all the paperwork one before going to look at a car. Plus is the bloke is moving house, then getting a replacement v5 might be harder?

Get one of your mates to phone the seller, and see if he confesses to the gf "caused" damage, or if that only "happens" between the phonecall and going to see the car....

Might as well be worth asking if all paperwork, etc is in order on the phone. I tend to check all the paperwork one before going to look at a car. Plus is the bloke is moving house, then getting a replacement v5 might be harder?

Thanks for the responses all. I did ask and he said it had full service history apart from the one due, so I thought I would go see it. Hey ho. Lesson learnt to be more direct on the phone.

Thanks for the responses all. I did ask and he said it had full service history apart from the one due, so I thought I would go see it. Hey ho. Lesson learnt to be more direct on the phone.

Good escape id say there, sounds to me like he probably picked it up from an auction, hence no V5 and scetchy story, could have been an insurance write off. HPI check is a must when buying any car.

Some cat D's can be ok if repaired properly but pay less for them as they are 'worth-less' when you come to sell. Very scetchy if the seller isnt honest about it though!

Good escape id say there, sounds to me like he probably picked it up from an auction, hence no V5 and scetchy story, could have been an insurance write off. HPI check is a must when buying any car.

Some cat D's can be ok if repaired properly but pay less for them as they are 'worth-less' when you come to sell. Very scetchy if the seller isnt honest about it though!

Dont forget, even if the car is HPI clear now, there is nothing to say that the insurance company have not recorded the fact with HPI yet and it maybe added later. The lack of V5 and other documents from the very start should have set alarm bells ringing.

Walk? RUN!

Without a V5 and as well as some of the details you have posted I wouldn't touch it. You can get a tidy one for a little bit more.

Walk? I would be running......

If an doubt at all, take to the road....just not in that car.

The moment anything goes wrong with it, no matter how minor, you'd be wishing you hadn't bought it.

I'm sure some folk here have been through a similar situation. I have - I once bought my only Ford (XR4x4) when about 20 when my gut instinct was telling me to walk away. I ended up selling it a few weeks later when several major drive chain issues came to light, and for a lot less than I paid for it.

As for no V5 paperwork - no money. I'vel service history booklets/manuals on ebay IIRC......

Trust your instincts and you will get the car that's meant for you.

Steve

I think if you have any doubts about the person selling, or their responses and knowledge about the car then walk. Cars are not unique, however tempting the low price is - Skoda VRS's may be a bit harder to find than others but in that case I'd be looking at travelling out of my immediate area to look at some. Sounds like there's enough cons about this one (or the seller anyway).

By the way, if you have fully comp insurance you will probably be able to drive another vehicle on third party with owners permission. I would insist on a personal test drive!

You need to Move on swiftly as stated have some paitients and the right car will come when you least expect!!! no v5 i would av left at that point!!!!!

Even with all the paperwork, if you have the slightest feeling that the seller is dodgy, don't buy the car. Without, don't buy even if it's the local vicar's car. As others have advised, add the cost of a full service, cambelt change and damage repair and you've got an extra grand to spend which might as well go towards the right car in the first place. Be lucky.

my opinion would be to walk away!! there are enough octy vrs on the market to shop around for the best car, i would always rather pay a bit more for the better car,if you buy a bad one it wont be the bargain it first seemed,i brought mine last year it was a 1 company owner,fssh,its a bit up on miles but its been spot on for me,its much better all round than my mates low mileage 05 vrs that was a "bargain" (his words) at 1k less than i paid for mine,how ever he has spent 2k in repairs on it in the last year!:eek:

Yup, I'd be walking too!

Without receipts etc you have no idea what mechanical problems it has had or may be having, not to mention you have no idea what modifications it has for insurance purposes.

As others have said, there are many more vRS's out there so just walk away if you're not 100% happy.

No V5 etc? Why are you even asking?