Evening all

I owned a Fabia Vrs a few years back and have been toying with the idea of going for an Octavia Vrs - petrol

I'd be buying from a dealers and have about 8k to spend so it will have about 50k on the clock

Anything I need to bear in mind ?

Thanks muchly

General car stuff really, plus uneven wear on inner edges of rear tyres which suggest possible camber issues. Full service history (cambelt at 4 years) would be a must on either fixed or variable intervals. Shouldn't squeak or rattle from anywhere when driven. I spent 18 months on a Skoda service desk and really saw very few issues at all with petrol or diesel VRSs... ah air-conditioning.. they do have a fondness for condensors, which if my memory serves me correctly is a £600 part. Any recall work should have been done, which I think was an ECU update and something else minor. I'm sure the better informed people on here can provide more stories, but I always thought them to be a very reliable car, though previous owners can put their own mark on any vehicle.

You can have mine for £6k if you like.. maybe

Edited 10 November, 201015 yr by Silverback

Anything I need to bear in mind ?

Only that your neighbors will stop talking to you out of envy

As has been said, FSH and recall work are the main points. A skoda history should mean all recall work has been carried out but tbh I would only look at cars on fixed servicing unless you have confidence in the timing of the variable services. a 2.0 turbo regardless of marque needs good quality oil maintained at the right levels and changed regularly. I personally wouldn't go near a car like this where the oil if the oil was changed every 18 months, 20k etc.

Many of the early models came fully loaded as a result of offers offered by the dealers, therefore try and go for a car with jumbo pack, climate control, rear electric windows and 18" wheel upgrade. You shouldn't need to pay any more for one of these, it's more of a case that the ones without aren't sold for any less.

You should be able to get a good example from the dealers for 8k, and also have the knowledge that it will have 12 months warranty

Regardless of mileage an 06 car should also have had its cambelt changed, so make sure of that. £3-400 job otherwise.

thanks folks - keep it coming

erm I have just read about the esp/abs problem on Octavias - presume this would include the VRS also ?

Don't ever remember seeing one on a Mk2 Octavia. I've given up trawling forums and the Internet looking for potential problems.

My car has 80k on the clock, just over 70k done in about 4 years by previous owner, largely motorway miles though.. car has always been reliable *touch wood*.

silverback - see post below entitled - ESP / ABS G201 Failure (Teves MK60) - List

Eeeek.. nooo. Ignorance is bliss.

Regardless of mileage an 06 car should also have had its cambelt changed, so make sure of that. £3-400 job otherwise.

If the car has FSH this will have been done

If the car has FSH this will have been done

Not necessarily, mine wasn't when I bought it*, and it's often listed as an addition to the standard service items in threads I've read on here.

*Bought mine when it was just over 4 yrs old, from a reputable main dealer, who carried out the 4-yr service as part of the deal before I collected the car, but they didn't include the cambelt. It wasn't until I was reading threads on here that I realised it should've been done. Luckily when I approached the dealer and pointed this out to them, after a few weeks of back and forth they were happy to take it in and carry out the work FoC for me.

Given the recommendation only came out a couple of years ago, it doesn't seem to have filtered through to every dealer!

Just double-check, that's all I'm saying.

That's shocking. Bought mine from a main dealer at 4 years old and they serviced the car and changed the cambelt when it went through their workshop as it was scheduled work that needed doing. Very suprised that all dealers do not do this.

Best to check if that is the case

That's shocking. Bought mine from a main dealer at 4 years old and they serviced the car and changed the cambelt when it went through their workshop as it was scheduled work that needed doing. Very suprised that all dealers do not do this.

Best to check if that is the case

Hummm just rang about an 06 plate at a dealer who said the cambelt doesn't need changing until 5 years or 80,000 miles !

Hummm just rang about an 06 plate at a dealer who said the cambelt doesn't need changing until 5 years or 80,000 miles !

Might be worth pointing out that even by their own schedule it'll need doing in 3-4months anyway, so anyone would have to be pretty daft to buy that car before then, and be presented with a large bill a couple of months later.

A competent dealer will sell a car with all the scheduled maintence due now or within the next 12 months completed as it is good customer service.

If you have found a car that you like I would just ensure that the cambelt change is factored in to whatever deal you come up with. As mentioned the car I was looking was already booked in to have the cambelt changed when it went through th worskhop. This was a 4 year old car with 43k on the clock. If you look at the service schedule a toothed belt (cambelt) is down for every 4 years

Issues with my 06 petrol vRS so far:

Rear washer hose keeps coming off and flooding inside the side rear of the car with washer fluid where you can't easlity get at it.

Boot seal leaks water into spare wheel well.

Both there taken together mean that this is an ideal car if you like to have an integral swimming pool!

Also had the Aircon compressor replaced after 28k miles.

Inner wear on both front and rear tyres (set of front tyres lasted less than 8k miles although all camber settings and tracking have been checked and verified as correct).

While the car drives well with good grip and handling the ride could be better. I have the 17" alloys and the ride is neither luxury exec nor sports, kinda falls in the gap between and feels a bit lumpy.

Clutch always has been a bit snatchy and taken wit h the powerful engine means that gear changing from 1-2 and 2-3 is difficult to achieve smoothly.

In summary this can be a nice car to drive and is not uncomfortable on smooth road surfaces but you need to pay attention to how you drive it. That said I only paid £14.5k new for it from Motorpoint so was a lot of car for the money. Would I buy one again? Probably not.

i bought my 06 last aug for 8.5k, only problem up to now was the pressure control valve had split( i was loosing boost pressure) £50 fix though so not to much heartache, ive had no bad tyre wear no , washer hose never come off( i have removed jet and cleaned it out though only a 2 min job), i think it has a very good ride and the clutch and gearbox are also very smooth. i love this car and would recommend one to anyone.

as for cambelt if it hasnt been done , i just paid £270 at a local vag specialist for mine inc water pump.

just get one , try to get one with maxidot though thats one thing i havent got, mine has 18s, elecy rear windows and jumbo box.

thanks furn - i test drove one and thought it was great - i also thought the ride was good

would have been interested but it was red - my least fave colour for the vrs...

oh and what is maxidot ?

A little display between the rev counter and the speedo, seems to be one of the most wanted retro fits, it has a lot of control functions, displays, trip computer type things, etc. Very handy.