Hey peeps,

your opinions please.

I have the Skoda Octavia 1.8L SLXI 20V automatic approx 60K Miles 1999 model which I have spent a fortune on and now runs lovely. However i need more room and am considering going for the Estate diesel version, possible 1.9 ambiente. Don't have much to spend so looking for a swap or p/x deal with a small cash adjustment at a push. Most i have found are rather high mileage cars ranging from 130,000 and upwards. I have always been scared of high mileage cars, although i know the diesels go a whole lot higher than normal petrol but even so, it's always been a fear of mine.

what do you good folks say regarding this, i mean, in general how high can these go before staring to need major bucks spent on them?

Thanks in advance

As long as it has good service history, and if it's a PD engine has always used the proper oil, then it shouldn't be a problem. I've run two VAG diesels from ~60k to ~130k now and when I've sold them (due to getting bored after 4 years, not any kind of mechanical failure) they've been running perfectly. T381ROF is still on the road somewhere (I part-exed it in March 2007) according to askMID but obviously I don't know what may have been done to it in that time. Needed very little during my ownership, the only large quote I can remember getting for it was for a replacement anti-roll bar at around £300 (from a local VW dealer), the rest was just general wear and tear items such as brake consumables, tyres, etc.

Lots of people run stupid mileage on VAG diesels so i would only be echoing the above statements.

My parents thought i was crazy for buyinga car with 96k miles on it and saying it was fairly low mileage. I drove a mk3 astra petrol from a similar mileage and i can tell you the diesel feels like a much much lower mileage engine than it is. In fact the whole car feels fantastic, my only complaint is the front right suspension squeaks over low speed bumps whilst turning which isn't bad for 100k miles!

Just make sure its got good service history, cam belt done recently or thats £300 off the price. I would check the clutch also. According to my cars history it was done at about 80k miles...ex fleet car.

That's the problem with going from a petrol Octy to a diesel, they fetch such a high premium even 2nd hand that you can sell a great low mileage petrol and still not get a decent diesel for the equivalent money. I found just the same when I sold the VRS.

The engines on the diesels are bulletproof, as long as its had the cambelt done and regular oil changes it'll be fine. The things I would worry about are clutch and suspension.

Fair enough, thanks folks for your comments, much appreciated.