With the recent VAT offer on the Octavia I have decided to look at buying a new FL Vrs as the offer is so good. I am undecided between a petrol and a diesel. I have only driven a diesel one before and the dealer seems to want to push me towards a diesel. In my current car I have only done 24,000 in three years so I wouldn't class this as high mileage. A lot of the mileage is done commuting at a current mpg of 31/32 in a fiesta 1.6 Zetec S petrol. Has anyone else been in this situation with a choie between the two. I realise there is a performance (0-60) difference.

After this decision has been made I then need to try and come to some agreement on the price, with the VAT free offer do you think my bargaining position is worse? Has anyone got a good deal even with the VAT offer?

Thanks in advance.

David

With that sort of mileage, I would go for the petrol.

In principle I agree - go for the petrol - but consider two more things:

(a) Try both and see if you strongly prefer one over the other to drive (you will probably like both as the petrol vRS engine is exceptionally torquey, as of course is trhe diesel)

( See what sort of deals are on offer from the dealer. At list price the diesel is about £900 more than the petrol, but you probably won't be paying list price!

A nice choice to be making. You're getting a Golf GTI / GTD for less money and lots mnore room, and also saving about £6,000 over an Audi with exactly the same oily bits.

Id have the petrol at that mileage but as above do try both out before deciding.

I do low mileage, approx 8k/pa, but just LOVE the torque of the diesel..also, fuel prices are the same now....

I've just put the deposit down on my first Skoda - a diesel vRS with DSG.

I too was undecided on petrol vs. diesel having always owned petrol cars and only doing low mileage, but after much thought I went with the diesel for several reasons.

1. Fuel economy, particuarly urban journeys.

2. Minimal price difference between petrol and diesel at the pumps.

3. Lower road tax and CO2 emmissions.

4. Resale value, as all dealers said diesels are more sought after second hand.

As for the deals available with the VAT free offer, be sure to shop around. My local dealer came up with a price of £20,900 with the previous 0% interest and 3 years servicing offer. When I came to order a week later this offer had been replaced with VAT free, and the price of the car had dropped to £20,500.

The first quote was based on a 10% discount (£2300) by the dealer, so I couldn't work out why there was only a £400 difference with the extra 5%. When I queried this I was told that Skoda pay 9% of the VAT and the dealer has to pay the other 6%, so they've got less margin to offer discounts with this offer.

Despite trying hard to get a better deal they wouldn't budge on the price. I knew from my research that I could get a better price from drivethedeal.com, so ended up buying from them instead...and the price an amazing £18,600 for the following car.

2.0TDI CR 170bhp vRS DSG

Front & rear parking sensors

Curtain airbags

Heated seats

Maxi-dot

Mobile device interface

Metallic paint

Xenon headlights

I'm going to be adding the full leather seats and full size spare wheel, but Skoda are telling drivethedeal.com that these are only available on the LE...:confused:

I think your main concern here is the DPF and how many short journeys you do.

I was on the verge of ordering the 1.6TDi, but as SWMBO would be using it on a short daily commute and the annual mileage would probably be less than 10k, I ordered the 1.4TSi.

After reading all the problems about having to run the car out frequently for about 20-30 miles to clear the DPF on the motorway or the car would "limp" home and would need to be taken to the garage, I decided this option was not for me. :thumbdwn:

A shame really, as the consumption, depreciation are both better than the petrol model and diesel prices are almost on a par with petrol these days, but because of the DPF, short journeys make it impractacle.:rotz:

That's another thing that put me off a diesel vRS, the DPF, I'm on around 5-6k miles pa and loads of 7mile trips to work & back for the majority of the year.

I try not to do any unnecessary trips at all, so having to go out to the nearest major road & give it a blast up & down it a few times just to do the DPF, would be a pain in the **** and to me a waste of fuel.

So it'll have to be a petrol one if I have a vRS.

To me it was purely down to the MPG I was achieving both around town and on the motorway, going from a 1.8T petrol to a 2.0 170 PS CR Diesel VRS has been a revelation in both MPG costs - I am achieving 1.5 to 2 times the milage - you instantly note the lack of money it costs you running the diesel, I got the old tax disc in for my Petrol - £215, compared to £150 for the CR 170. Insurance costs are less too. Performance wise I am very happy - does not seem like that much of a step down,

At the mileage you describe you'd be mad to buy diesel. If your into cars and I assume you are surely it has to be the petrol. Much more tuneable if you later want more power etc.. Also better performance straight out of the box.

Good luck whichever you chose.

I've just had a look at the tax levels for a 1,8 TSi Elegance DSG & 2,0 170 CR vRS DSG & both are now taxed at £150 pa.

Fuel Consumption for the 1,8 TSi Elegance DSG is:

Urban - 31,0 (9,1)

Extra Urban - 52,3 (5,4)

Combined - 42,8 (6,6)

CO² - 155

Fuel Consumption for the 2,0 170 CR vRS DSG is:

Urban - 35.8 (7.9)

Extra Urban - 57.6 (4.9)

Combined - 47.1 (6.0)

CO² - 159

There's little in it, the only downside really is the initial cost of the car & unless you really do the mileage (I believe >10k miles pa) then I don't think the extra initial cost is worthwhile. I don't know I maybe wrong (please correct me if so) on that.

Like I said I don't like the thought of having to go out especially just to decoke the DPF, it's a waste of fuel to me & I've got better things to do with my time & money running around aimlessly just to do it.

Also the Elegance trim has more stuff as standard & what options there are, are cheaper too for some reason.

I'm also thinking that whilst I love the look & power of the vRS, I think in the next 18-24 months, the next government will start to really crucify cars which chuck out large amounts of CO² by punitive taxation.

I agree with the last posting about the dpf. I myself have decided to change from a PD Vrs to a new facelift petrol model. I had the dpf completely fail on me and it had to be replaced. Luckily mine was covered under warranty otherwise £1000 plus labour!

I only do about 11k a year, so the slightly extra cost of the petrol pays for itself with the hassle free motoring (hopefully!).

Nobafett, which box do you have fitted on your vRS please?

Surely the CR does not suffer from the PD problems chaps?

I went for the 200bhp petrol Vrs estate because I do <10000 miles/yr. Conventional wisdom (the stealer I checked with) suggests that 10000 is the lowest milage before one should even consider a diesel.

I too went via drivethedeal and got a very satisfactory 18% off the list price plus 0% finance. It does seem strange though that one can't order the same options for the Vrs as the Elegance - in my case I wanted electric folding mirrors - but was told it's a different wiring loom for the Vrs, which limits the options available.

Maybe when Diesel used to cost a lot more than petrol that was the case ie you needed to do a lot more miles in a diesel to be competitive, but they are now neck and neck cost wise, on that 1=1 basis whatever you can save MPG wise via diesel (and I am saving a fair wedge compared to my old petrol vRS in running costs), is the town mileage the same as petrol? I cant believe that after running mine for a while now. Even better on longer journeys I find. I am finding it really startling TBH. No idea how economical the new 2.0 TFSI engines are but the old 1.8T was a guzzler.

Nobafett, which box do you have fitted on your vRS please?

I have the manual, if that's what you mean. With your mileage, it's a no brainer, get the petrol.

I reckon the dpf problems will persist regardless of whether you have the PD or CR. Self generating dpf's will be here shortly, so shouldn't be a problem doing mainly town miles. Until then!

I find this link to be helpful if you are undecided on which car to get, whether diesel or petrol. It works out how long it takes to recoup the cost difference on cars with the above engines fitted. Petrol vs Diesel | Running costs - Parker's

I have always had petrol never would go near a diesel in the past mainly because i like some others was a real petrol head and diesel was never an option+all my mates were petrol heads but times change,although we still like to go fast I was very sceptical when the dealer said take the diesel for a test drive,i thought it's a diesel and it's gonna go like a John Deere.was actually amazed how quick and responsive it is,would agree though unless your doing the mileage petrol may be best but that's not to say that a diesel would be wrong.Im currently not really doing that big on mileage and mainly go out and have a play on the weekends when the weather is good which it aint been to brilliant.Haven't had any of these dpf issues up till now,but only had the car since march and do both town and motorway/b road driving etc.

WOW! Thanks for the great response! Certainly plenty there to consider!

I think I'm currently favouring the petrol, this is based on mileage. I think the next step will be to drive the petrol then I can start talking some figures. I don't really think the figures are going to be a deciding factor but I could be wrong.

I'll keep you all posted!

David

I just prefer the way a petrol engine drives...its just the way I am and like to hang onto a gear every now and then just for the hell of it...dont think I would get the same experience in a diesel

I just prefer the way a petrol engine drives...its just the way I am and like to hang onto a gear every now and then just for the hell of it...dont think I would get the same experience in a diesel

I was the same though would never of considered a diesel before,it just wasn't the done thing amongst petrolheads.I don't feel any less confident driving a diesel now than i did in a petrol,infact i took it out for a little blast tonight and even raced a biker.it wasn't like a real race we just happened to pull along side each other at the lights leeding onto the motorway,i mean ok i know he could of blew me right off the type of bike he had,but i still went for it just like i would driving a petrol.....

I went for the 200bhp petrol Vrs estate because I do <10000 miles/yr. Conventional wisdom (the stealer I checked with) suggests that 10000 is the lowest milage before one should even consider a diesel.

I too went via drivethedeal and got a very satisfactory 18% off the list price plus 0% finance. It does seem strange though that one can't order the same options for the Vrs as the Elegance - in my case I wanted electric folding mirrors - but was told it's a different wiring loom for the Vrs, which limits the options available.

Hi, you question the ability to have folding mirrors!

http://new.skoda-auto.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Catalogue/NewOctavia/NewOctaviaRS_Catalogue_ENG.pdf

The vRS brochure clearly states and shows its available in some countries, obviously not UK!