Hi all,

With a baby on the way, and with the wifes 306 falling apart I'll be donating the Fabia to her and investing in a nice Octy vRS CR TDi.

Visited the dealer the other day to just have a bit of a nosy - never really had much of a close up look at one to be honest and it won me over immediatly with the cavernous boot, excellent rear leg room and the quality of the engine - so much quieter than the PD in the Fabia. Did have a look at a new Leon FR an hour earlier but it felt a little claustrophobic to be in with the low A pillars and fat C pilars, and the boot was not as big by a mile. Plus the dashboard centre console is not to my liking at all.....ugh.

I'm hoping to get one with 17's as opposed to 18's, reason being I hate the ride quality in the Fabia and find that tyres that are too firm can result in poorer handling as the tyre doesn't absorb any of the bumps leaving the suspension to do all the work.

Does anyone have any picture comparisons of the 2 different tyre sizes? My searches didn't bring up much as you can't use words like '17"' or '18"' when searching.

I asked about Bluetooth but was told I'd need to fit a Parrot....shame. I asked about MP3 and was told they all now do this as standard. Finally, the chap in the showroom is insistant I try the DSG before making up my mind. Last auto I drove was a naff Merc C180K Kompressor and the box was rubbish - it just ignored my requests to kick down half the time. He assures me the DSG is quite responsive but I don't want the loss of control, power or mpg that an auto normally brings.

Otherwise, option wise is there anything I need to look out for Fabia has nack all - I had to retrofit the leather from Seat Surgeons and add a Bluetooth headset so I'm used to minimalist.

Finally, colour wise I'd like either red or blue......I love either, but the blue seems to look better when dirty to me. The red needs to be spotless, then it looks awesome.

Budgeting for a max of £17k and at its oldest a 58 plate, especially now we're in Sept 09 - hoping there'll be some decent deals around soon.

Can't wait. It's going to be such a nice upgrade.

Chris.

Hmmm....after some more searching on here it would seem that 18"s are standard on UK models and you can only get maxidot etc with the DSG. Is this so? If that's the case I might have to look at DSG's as they sound like they might offer more kit.

I would advise to drive the DSG with a diesel engine. I have DSG with the 140 in the Passat and while it's a brilliant gearbox if you want to pull away quickly, then you have to just wait for the turbo to spool up. Maybe the 170 is different. I'm sure someone will comment.

I upgraded from a 140 Octy Elegance to a 170 vRS, both with DSG. The difference is quite substantial. The vRS is so much quieter as it's the CR and pulls like a train from low revs. I'd definitely recommend trying one.

I've asked to test drive both on Saturday so I can have a bit of a taster.

Spec wise though, they don't really let on much at the dealers as to what the cars have. If I just say a hatch with 17's, in blue or red, either manual or DSG (I'll know after the test drive). I wonder what else to ask for. Maxidot? A Jumbo? (is that something to do with the audio?). For 17k I'm wondering what I can get. I don't mind it having a few k on the clock but anything over 5 or 6k seems unusual for a car of this age and price judging by what Skoda have on their website.

....and you can only get maxidot etc with the DSG. Is this so?

Rubbish! Tons of non-DSG VRs' with Maxidot out there. I had a quick look at the current brochure. You can only get a Multi Function Steering Wheel on a VRs if it is a DSG car - the moment you spec a MFSW, Maxi-dot is part of the package. But Maxidot without the MFSW is available for manual VRs'.

If you get a car with Maxidot (manual or otherwise) you can get the OEM bluetooth, if not from your supplying dealer, there are others out there (such as Simpsons in Preston) who will fit it. Myself and many others had the OEM bluetooth fitted long before it was officially available in the UK. If you plan to keep the car for a good few years it'll be well worth it.

It's pricey (I think I paid something around the £300-£350 mark off the top of my head) but the call quality is the best I've experienced and the fact it all runs off the stalk and appears on the Maxi-dot display easily beats having a Parrot or similar cluttering up the dashboard. Keeps it all nice and clean and to outside eyes theres no sign of a BT kit.

If you're looking to buy a car as new as you suggest then don't be afraid to look far from home in the UK if the price is right, it'll still have a good leg of warranty on it should the worst happen. But if you do your homework first, get the dealer to send you lots of pictures (including mileage, etc) you'll struggle to go wrong.

I got a great deal on my ex-demo Scout which was barely a year old at the time with only 3600 miles on the clock, no where near long enough for any horrors to have developed. Just had to drive all day to Kent to get it!! Was still worth it though.

Happy shopping!

Niall

dont get 17" wheels, it will only be less tempting to future buyers if/when you come to trade in and sell. I went from an L&K on 17" wheels to the 18" VRS and it actually felt better in the bumps.

Jumbo box has been standard for a while but its basically the box wheres your arm rests behind the handbrake. it adds rear vents and an AUX socket for the radio. Usually when you get the Jumbo box it will be part of the "jumbo pack" which gets you the box plus rear elec windows, auto climtate control and maybe a few others that I cant remember, a search should turn up the full list.

Re your max budget of £17000. Why arent you going for a new FL VRS? You should be able to spec a brand new one for maybe a little more with a bi of haggling, the car in my sig was £17800 brand new before christmas on a 58 and others on here have been reporting great deals with the VAT free at the moment. the only disadantage youll have is a factory wait unless theres a car already built thats available.

Re maxidot, get it if you can and as above its not exclusive to DSG.

Good hunting

Not much to add to what has already been said

But I'd agree on your search; either check DTD on the price of a new FL, or trim the budget a bit - your call

OEM Bluetooth - can be done, and yes - needs Maxidot to be fitted. Enough pros around the place to sort you out - not particularly cheap at the moment for the kits though, with the rather dismal € rate. Talk to Lummox or Shark_90 about fitting

Steve

Thanks for the advice guys. Not going for a new one - £17k was a stretch to be honest as I had to borrow enough to pay off the current loan too (£1900) and give the car to the missus. Plus the baby is due in a couple of months so this needs to happen fairly soon - I don't want to be car shopping after the nipper arrives.

So, ideally I'm looking for one with Maxidot and Jumbo. I've been looking and there are a few out there but the Skoda website doesn't detail all the options a car has. For example they only quite many as having elec front windows but look at the interior picture and it has 4 switches not 2.

Guess I'm going to have to make some phone calls.

Wheel size wize, this has probably been discussed to death but in terms of 18's over 17's I'd imagine there is some loss of ride quality for the sake of sharper turn in, but what's the cost difference for tyres? The Fabia ones are horrific considering they're only 16's due to the odd profile size. 17's on the Octy I spiders are cheaper. Crazy.

Re. buying new - go for it if you really can't find a spec that suits, otherwise haggle hard on a newly new and pocket the difference! Skoda dealers are a bit slack at putting full specs on the web, the phone is your friend!

As someone with a beautiful 6 month old daughter I can confirm you'll be glad of the extra cash when the wee one arrives!.........

Niall

P.S If it was me I'd be after rear parking sensors, Xenons and maxidot in addition to the near standard climate, rear electrics, 18s and jumbo box pack

I think they look a bit wrong on 17s personally

Either way, tyre costs are pretty reasonable as they're near standard sizes - 225/45/17 or 225/40/18.

£80-90 a corner for the reasonable stuff, before fitting in 18"

Steve

Buy my old one - there was nothing wrong with it - well loaded spec wise.

SKODA OCTAVIA 2000 cc TDi PD vRS- Auto Trader UK

If you really want the 17" wheels then simply get your car with the 18" and offer a swap here on the forums.

I can tell you now you'll have no problems finding somebody who will swap.

Chris, I'm looking at getting an L&K 1.8TSI Estate with sports suspension. DTD will do you a CR vRS new with maxidot for £15675

Budgeting for a max of £17k and at its oldest a 58 plate, especially now we're in Sept 09 - hoping there'll be some decent deals around soon.

You should check out the Pre FL Limited Edition, Brand new no milage:

Skoda Octavia Estate 2.0 TDI CR 170bhp VRS Limited Edition 09#

Plenty of posts in the forum about them. I know when I had a budget of £17K it was a great car to buy, there are plenty of good deals too around £17K. The interior is what is really special about the LE.

I've just bought a VRS 170 CR Black Magic MkII with Rear Electrics, Jumbo Box, Maxidot, Auto LIghts, Auto Wipers, TPM, ESP, Full Size Spare.......and.......17's

Motorpoint

Irish import, 59' reg, 2yr warranty

£14.750

If you're on a budget then its the best deal out there as long as you are totally clear about what you're getting. Motorpoint are not into personal service - no flowers for SWMBO on the back seat and 4 miles of fuel in the tank on pickup!!

Ok, after a bit of searching for common problems (the results are a bit scattered) I've come up with the following:

Wear in inside of rear tyres

Leaking front and rear door carriers (not this old chestnut again?)

DPF software update and updated exhaust temp sensor fitted

Maxidot (if it has one) displaying things correctly

All windows going up and down smoothly

Anything else I should be keeping an eye out for? I imagine it'll mostly be warranty stuff but if it's not right I'll be telling them so.

Wear in inside of rear tyres.

for second hand definately check for that although it doesnt come up as much on newer cars

Leaking front and rear door carriers (not this old chestnut again?)

not heard much of this one?

DPF software update and updated exhaust temp sensor fitted

this only affects the PD version of the 170. If youre getting 58 and up then in theory it should be Common Rail engine which isnt affected by this. Do check its a CR though as its possible some PD engines may have been registered at 58 if theyve been sat in a field for a while

Maxidot (if it has one) displaying things correctly

Nto heard of problems with maxidot.

All windows going up and down smoothly

yup, they can get a bit squeeky.

Anything else I should be keeping an eye out for? I imagine it'll mostly be warranty stuff but if it's not right I'll be telling them so

Check the clutch for any judder when starting or putting under load in low gears (DPF problems although should be covered by warranty)

Cant think of any others but im sure someone will point them out.