Hello all -

I am looking at buying a mk2 Octavia in the near future, and am wondering if there is any collective advice I can get before taking the plunge!

I am a Ford person mainly, having owned two Mondeos in the past and having access to a focus, so as such have no knowledge at all of how skodas would suit me. In summary,I am looking for a used diesel,ideally a vrs but most likely within my budget a 2.0.

Having browsed the autotrader etc there are an awful lot of 3 year old cars coming on the market with around 80-90k miles on them. I know diesels don't have a problem with doing high mileages but is this high for a car that is only just 3 years old or Is this fairly average for skodas, would this kind of mileage pose any problems?

Also I am aware of the 80k cambelt issue, but are there any other major mechanical issues, or rust problems etc I should look out for? Like I said I have no idea on the reliability of these cars. I'd also love to know how the drive is different compared to the fords I'm used to - unfortunately I'm not allowed to drive for another month yet...

Any advice will be well appreciated. :-)

3 year old 80-90k cars will be ex-fleet probably - so most likely will have FSH.

Hello all -

I am looking at buying a mk2 Octavia in the near future, and am wondering if there is any collective advice I can get before taking the plunge!

I am a Ford person mainly, having owned two Mondeos in the past and having access to a focus, so as such have no knowledge at all of how skodas would suit me. In summary,I am looking for a used diesel,ideally a vrs but most likely within my budget a 2.0.

Having browsed the autotrader etc there are an awful lot of 3 year old cars coming on the market with around 80-90k miles on them. I know diesels don't have a problem with doing high mileages but is this high for a car that is only just 3 years old or Is this fairly average for skodas, would this kind of mileage pose any problems?

Also I am aware of the 80k cambelt issue, but are there any other major mechanical issues, or rust problems etc I should look out for? Like I said I have no idea on the reliability of these cars. I'd also love to know how the drive is different compared to the fords I'm used to - unfortunately I'm not allowed to drive for another month yet...

Any advice will be well appreciated. :-)

Check the air con works correctly (my dad found this out the hard way) by ensuring it blows cold air when set to cold in climatronic

Take each car you look at for a test drive and make sure it is boosting correctly - if it overboosts and wont go over a certain speed it most like has a cracked pipe or a dirty/faulty EGR valve

When air con is running turn the radio off and listen for any strange noises - seems to be a known issue with them

make sure all wipers work and windows switches work correctly - known issue in '05/06 VAG cars

the Octavia is a solid car with very little road noise compared to a Ford mondeo, I was actually comparing a Mondeo ST and the Octavia before I bought one and the Octavia is an all round better car

check its had the ABS pump replaced, or that will cost in the region of £1800 to repair