Any expert advice.. thinking of buying this...

[monkeyboy44]

Hi,

Going to look at this car on saturday..

Octavia

Skoda Octavia

2.0 LAURIN & KLEMENT FSI

£5,995

* Doors 5

* Colour Grey

* Engine 1968cc

* Gearbox Manual

* Fuel Petrol

* Year 2005 (M) Reg

* Mileage 55,900 miles

* MPG 37.2

Just got off the phone to the garage and they said they will not budge on price as for the top flight model it's a good deal, but give...

6 months tax

New MOT

New service

3 months warranty at a garage of our chice and it covers the first £250

It has full service history but the 1st stamp is manchester skoda, 2nd & 3rd were an independant.

What do people think?

Anything special on this model to look out for, he said the tyres are Avon's? all round bar the rear driver whihc is a dunlop and they have loads of tread left.

Anything I can haggle on?

Cheers for any help!

[Guest Tim31]

.

Edited 18 May, 2012 by Tim31

[Andy_D]

It's not a bad price. The mileage is quite low compared to others of similar age, spec & price out there. He's obviously not going to drop his price based on a phone call. I'd be tempted to go down to the garage and try and haggle in person. If it's up for just under £6K I'd be looking to pay around £5400-5500. If you're paying cash (i.e. you're not getting finance), I'd go down there and offer him £5200. Tell him prices have dropped since the face-lift came out and there's loads of them out there (which is true, but a lot are ex-taxis with intergalactic mileage, but you don't tell him that! ).

[mannyo]

That retail price is just over what I got in part exchange for my old octavia PD140 Elegance with 100K miles on the clock, so I dont think that price is particularly bad.

I love the leather interior, it looks far better in the flesh than in those photos. You also get Maxidot and quiet a few extras since this is the top of the range model which original had a retail price in excess of £20K in 2005.

[andyvee]

Double check that both the wiper and indicator stalk are fully functional - ie cruise control works and the buttons for scrolling through the maxidot menus work - they have a habit of failing on this MY - both mine have been replaced with the newer versions from later models.

If you can get anyone with VAGCOM to do a scan on the car for trouble codes it will tell you a lot about the car and verify the mileage :S

[mannyo]

The stalks are an easy DIY fix anyway, even if they have failed. Did mine a couple of times whilst I owned the car, there is a step by step guide posted on here. You dont even need to remove any switchgear from the car.

[mikey vrs]

I like the interior! id check it has had its timing belt replaced (it should of had one in 2009,4 year change interval)

[eccleshill]

Certainly worth a look from those photos.

This model has ESP and may be subject to the ABS unit failing - search for Teves on this forum. When you test drive make sure that no ABS or skidding car warning lights stay on. Repair can be costly.

Haggling points?

If you go to Skoda.co.uk and search the used cars £4-6000. 5-6 yrs, petrol you will find a 2005 60k mile Elegance 2.0 FSi at £5495 in Cheshire. That is lower spec but is from a Skoda dealer so it will have 12 months full warranty. Should be able to match that price on an L&K with the minimal warranty he is offering.

It is here:

http://www.skoda.net.r66.co.uk/carview.aspx?id=601067790

Benefits of buying Skoda approved are here:

http://www.skoda.co.uk/usedcars/approvedskodabenefits.aspx

Edited 9 December, 2010 by eccleshill

[kevberlin]

Every garage will haggle on the price, as long as you are prepared to walk away. In this case it may well be top of the range, but its 2litre petrol and the demand for 2litre petrol cars is "limited" I suggest. There are also plenty of good Octy hatches around. Good luck.

Edited 9 December, 2010 by kevberlin

[andyvee]

The stalks are an easy DIY fix anyway, even if they have failed. Did mine a couple of times whilst I owned the car, there is a step by step guide posted on here. You dont even need to remove any switchgear from the car.

True - but £100 for the parts if both are dodgy.

I would try and get a VCDS scan done on it as not only will it flag up any trouble codes it will verify the mileage. All too easy to clock cars nowadays!

[andyvee]

Certainly worth a look from those photos.

This model has ESP and may be subject to the ABS unit failing - search for Teves on this forum. When you test drive make sure that no ABS or skidding car warning lights stay on. Repair can be costly.

Haggling points?

If you go to Skoda.co.uk and search the used cars £4-6000. 5-6 yrs, petrol you will find a 2005 60k mile Elegance 2.0 FSi at £5495 in Cheshire. That is lower spec but is from a Skoda dealer so it will have 12 months full warranty. Should be able to match that price on an L&K with the minimal warranty he is offering.

It is here:

http://www.skoda.net.r66.co.uk/carview.aspx?id=601067790

Benefits of buying Skoda approved are here:

http://www.skoda.co.uk/usedcars/approvedskodabenefits.aspx

Doesn't necessarily have ESP - mine is the same year (55) and a 2006MY 2.0DTI L&K Estate and it has ASR and the Teves MK70 controller. ESP wasn't standard until 2007MY unless I am wrong. It is listed in the ad as traction control, which his ASR. I paid the same price as this with similar warranty BUT from a main dealer and it is an Estate, Diesel and full main dealer Service History. I reckon that diesels fetch about £1k more, Estates a few hundred more, BUT mine had 100K on the clock so would negate all of that.

Even so, seems to be about a £5K motor to me. Plenty about in hatchback around that price bracket 3 months ago when I was looking, and they were diesel with 80K ish on the clock.

Also, December is one of the slackest months in the used car trade (I know, I worked at a main dealers for 5 years) as everyone is focussing on Christmas presents rather then spending money on cars.

Get haggling, if they don't drop the price be prepared to walk away and leave them a phone number. Ring them back on Monday and make them an offer!

[monkeyboy44]

Thanks for the replies everyone...

Havent bought a car in years so good to get some advice.

you talk about getting the car scanned, how would i go about getting this done?

seems mixed replies on the price, out of interest how much would a garage aim to make on a car like this (apart from as much as they can

[andyvee]

When a dealer takes a car in as a part ex they 'stand it in' on their books at below bottom book (Glass's Guide/CAP) figures.

So, if Glass's guide says that a car of that age and mileage in perfect condition is worth £5999 off of a forecourt, £5600 private sale and £5000 trade, they will but a 'stand in' value of £4500, assuming the car is in good condition. If it needs 4 tyres for example they will stand it at £4100 assuming £100 per tyre.

So, they have a car in stock that owes them £4500 but a screen price of £5999, so they have £1.5K margin. They will aim for £1K profit after valeting, servicing, remedial work etc. This is to cover advertising, cost of capital employed, salespersons commission, profit, receptionist, valeting, electricity bills etc. In reality they make a net profit of about £400 off of a £1000 gross.

If you turned up with a trade in, say a 15 year old banger, in the trade that is worth £50-£100 tops. But there is no way you would accept £100 as a trade in, so they can 'over allow' out of the £500 they have to play with. So, you turn up with your old banger and they say 'give you a £100 for it', you say 'you are taking the p££s' etc. and eventually you agree on £500 for the part ex. At this point your part ex stands on their books at £100, even though they have given you £500 for it, so when they pass it on they don't make a loss.

If you don't have a part-ex there should be £400-£500 to come off of the screen price.

The only other thing that muddies the water is finance. For some reason buyers seem to think dealers love cash. They dont. They love finance as they get a kickback on it. If you buy a car on finace at a 6% flat interest rate (not APR), then the dealer is getting that money from a finance company at 4%. So, they are making 2% on the amount borrowed per year in commision. On a 4 year finance deal on £5k borrowed that is another £400 profit. So, if you turn up wanting to pay cash they may not move much on price, as the next punter (sorry, customer) through the door may want the same car on finance and they stand to make another £400.

So, cash isn't king in the used car world, finance is.

Anyway, they should move at least £400, if they don't then walk away as no dealer advertises a car for the least they are willing to accept for it. If they have only just got the car in stock they may hold out for a bit as they may think it will sell for more in the coming weeks. Point out that it is December and nobody buys cars in December as they are all out Christmas shopping.

[monkeyboy44]

cheers 'again'.

that car has been with him i guess abotu 3 months, we'll be paying cash, well i say cash the money will be in the bank and we'll pay by card.

ive checked with a few other people in the trade and they reckon £5,500 is a sensible price to pay for it because of the kit and milage.

lets see what happens tomorrow....

[mdk1]

Doesn't look to bad a deal to me,

Can you find out which independant serviced it, then maybe phone them to get more info on the car.

Also noticed it has Pegasus Alloys, which means Sports suspension if you like a firmer ride.

[Wardy]

Not bad as it stands I reckon. I'd just go in, state what you're prepared to pay and if they don't bite first of all, leave your details and make your exit.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Good time of the year for buying really, mid-December

Best of luck,

Steve

[Stevoraith]

As a side note, I can't believe there's a dealer who still hasn't got his head around the 'new' registration system.

It's not a 2005 'M', it's a 2005 '55'. Muppet.

[Wardy]

It's often the automatic data systems that cause those issues, when the dealer enters the reg plate and the correct data should be outputted. I've seen it before on AutoTrader ads and the like.

Steve

[ramonford]

It's often the automatic data systems that cause those issues, when the dealer enters the reg plate and the correct data should be outputted. I've seen it before on AutoTrader ads and the like.

Steve

Just another one of those cases " Up your nose with a rubber hose" punter

Just take a look at the published vehicle length of the car on the listed site and you will see what I mean.