Hi

I own an Octavia mk 2 2.0TFSI vRS and it is a fantastic car and I love driving it. However in these credit crunching times I'm feeling cost of ownership I will soon have to fork out £615 for servicing, new cambelt and water pump as its done 70k now and at some point this year it will need new tyres. insurance 5-600 for me.

I was thinking of downsizing the new Festia 1.6 zetec s cheaper to run looks kind of cool. Have I gone mad?? Maybe faiba vRS is better option.

Tell me I've gone mad and shouldn't be thinking of downsizing!!

cos ownsizing to a fiesta is one of themost horrifying things i have ever heard of in my life. never down size always upsize.

i certainly wouldnt go to a non vag car again

Colleague at work bought a new Festia 1.6 Zetec S when the were first launched. Been disappointed with it in comparison to there previous model ST.

TP

Get a motorbike (if you have a full licence) the cheapest way to go

Wont the car be a bit rippled after being downsized?

How much would it be to use a crusher?

:wonder:

You will regret the swap,

youll miss the size

Why not get a diesel vRS?

Cheaper to run as a tank of diesel goes further, cheaper to insure & nearly as much fun.

If you really want to stay with the same brand then I suppose go for a Fabia, but I think you'll miss the load lugging capabilities of Octavia.

Hi

I own an Octavia mk 2 2.0TFSI vRS and it is a fantastic car and I love driving it. However in these credit crunching times I'm feeling cost of ownership I will soon have to fork out £615 for servicing, new cambelt and water pump as its done 70k now and at some point this year it will need new tyres. insurance 5-600 for me.

I was thinking of downsizing the new Festia 1.6 zetec s cheaper to run looks kind of cool. Have I gone mad?? Maybe faiba vRS is better option.

Tell me I've gone mad and shouldn't be thinking of downsizing!!

You've gone mad and shouldn't be thinking of downsizing!

The Octavia is already a small car, as is the Fiesta (according to What Car).:yes:

If you are looking to save money , do your sums carefully.

I own an Octavia mk 2 2.0TFSI vRS and it is a fantastic car

Excellent start

I love driving it

Still good

I was thinking of downsizing

Uh-oh, not sounding quite so good now, where's this going...? :S

new Festia 1.6 zetec s cheaper to run looks kind of cool

Houston, we have a problem. :no:

Have I gone mad??

:yes:

Tell me I've gone mad and shouldn't be thinking of downsizing!!

You've gone mad and shouldn't be thinking of downsizing.

On a more serious note, I guess it all hangs on how much space you really need in a car. +1 to Indiana's suggestion of considering a diesel vRS.

I can only speak from my experience - I have an Ibiza which can barely hold a gnat's fart in the boot, and (once I get the vRS) I couldn't imagine downsizing back down to something that small. But there's a load of options in between surely that would give a good amount of space as well as being kinder to the wallet? Maybe a Leon?

You could downsize to a 1.8 TSI octy perhaps.

This would reduce yor running costs, insurance and a few other bits too.

How much do you pay per month for your car, not including fuel, tax, insurance?

How much do you pay per month for your car, not including fuel, tax, insurance?

Hold on.

Apart from the fact that you are definitely mad to consider swapping your Skoda for a Fiesta, it may not make fincial sense either. Yoiu need to remember that you will be realising a loss by tradin in your VRS, then you will lose money money on paper (to be realised later) on major depreciation on the Fiesta in the first year, in particular. You then need to calculate the cost of running your VRS for the next say 3 years vs the Fiesta (which willl be lower since it is under warranty, has new tyers and brakes, cheaper to fuel etc). and then compare the difference to the losses. when I have done this for friends, it usually ends up as costing them much more to change than they save.

Then add in some value for the fun and utility factor of the VRS, and i don't think the Fiesta option will look good.

Of course, this all depends on whether you are willing to keep your Skoda for another few years. If not, then the Fiesta will be cheaper, so your decision.

i am self-employed. I use a simple spreadsheet to calculate comparative costs between keeping my current car and various new car options, adjusted for tax benefits etc. Makes interesting reading, and shows that at times it may be cheaper to trade than keep.

Good luck

powerd

Canberra, Australia

Realistically, going on the figures for AutoCar's long-termer, you won't save much on fuel!

Ford's are awful anyway, you don't want a Ford, not when you've had the experience of VW/Audi build quality.

Fords are a lot lot cheaper to service and a 1 year old fiesta will be very cheap to buy.

Ford's are awful anyway, you don't want a Ford, not when you've had the experience of VW/Audi build quality.

i love fords, great to drive cheap to run, just not as good inside thats the only difference for me.

cos ownsizing to a fiesta is one of themost horrifying things i have ever heard of in my life. never down size always upsize.

i certainly wouldnt go to a non vag car again

what he said lol

This is coming from me thats had 3 mk 1.5 focus' and a Focus ST 225 ST-2

If you really want to stay with the same brand then I suppose go for a Fabia, but I think you'll miss the load lugging capabilities of Octavia.

The fabia can lug a load when it needs to. Just depends how often rear passengers are in the car I suppose and what kind of loads are carried that necessated the purchase of an octy 2 in the first place.

If you're only after a big car for an occasional large load, then there is such a thing as van hire, which will work out cheaper for the few times you do it.

Have you paid off the Octy?

Will you be buying the Fiesta outright or financing?

If financing how many months of payments on the fiesta would it take to get back the £650 you'd spend on servicing? (could you get it done cheaper?)

After that time the Fiesta is costing more money relative to the Octy. Also you don't have as much depreciation on the Octy now.

How reliable has the Octy been? If it's been good then it'll probably stay good for a while yet. you're back to taking a chance on a new car it could be a Friday afternoon car or it could be perfect.

Will the Fiesta really be cheaper to run? <clickity click> Ok 47.9mpg, knock off 10% to get it back to reality 43.2mpg you'll save a bit on fuel.

Insurance is group 6 Vs 15 so you'll save something there but maybe not as much as you think and you'll save on VED.

It's also slower and smaller.

I downsized once, hated it and regretted the purchase very quickly even though I was saving on running costs.

Honestly, you will regret downsizing

I went from a 2.0 Petrol Octavia to a 1.9 TDI Ibiza. Though the Ibiza was much quicker and a hell of a lot more fun, I hated that it was so small.

Love my Octy 2 now! Want a vRS TDI

Thanks for all the replies some very amusing ones too.

I think I will keep my octy for now bought it outright second hand. I think what I'll do is trade for second hand diesel vRS in the summer. Car has been fine running with no problems. I don't think there is that much of a cost benefit downsizing at the moment. Not sure how much I'll save on fuel/insurance switching

Edited 12 January, 201016 yr by skodarob

There's one big reason you don't want to get rid of it...

You'd miss each other!