been round a few garages today, and looking on autotrader, but i lack a bit of knowledge on whats the best things to look for.

ive found a 55 plate low mileage (in the 30's) but £7000! seems a bit excessive for a 7 yr old car. or theres newer ones with around 60,000 miles but cheaper. all seem to have FSH and not much else to seperate them, so in your opinions, what should i put top of my list when choosing?

also, how much sway would you put on the trim, such as elegance, lauren and klement etc?

thanks

Edited 22 February, 201214 yr by sadexpunk

Newer.... IMHO

Car Giant are great!

They have a VRS 170 CR TDI 2010 plate DSG in red with all extras

Granted it might have 80K on the clock but I have seen it sat inside and it looks brand new... for 10 grand thats half price!

thanks for the heads up, just had a look on there and theres only 1 hatch under 10,000. nice looking car but goes back to my original question. £7000 for 55 plate, 40,000 miles against car 2 yrs newer but 75,000 on clock but £500 cheaper.

and another consideration for me is distance to travel. a mates just reminded me that he bought from a dealer 40 miles away. covered by warranty obviously but he had to keep travelling there and back to get stuff done and for some things thought he may as well do it local and pay out rather than keep driving out there.

thanks a lot. i must say i was expecting you to say the opposite, that low mileage was more attractive than higher on a newer car.

cheers

I recently paid 5600 for a 57 plate 1.9TDI Elegance estate with 103k on the clock. It might be a lot of miles, but most of these ex-fleet cars will be cruising the motorways (easy life for engine, gearbox and brakes) and serviced/maintained on the button. Mine drives like a new car - engine, breaks, box, steering - all feel fine - and the usual tell-tale signs of wear on the seats, trim and pedals suggest that car has not had a hard life. If you're careful buying, high mileage should not be a problem....

....before the Octy, my previous 2 cars (classic Saab 900s) both had over 170k on the clock when I bought them and they never let me down

dont apologise mate, im grateful for your opinion :-)

am i right in thinking tho that if i buy from any skoda dealer in the uk, then if i need warranty work doing, then i can get it done at home dealer?

thanks

am i right in thinking tho that if i buy from any skoda dealer in the uk, then if i need warranty work doing, then i can get it done at home dealer?

I would check before you buy. IIRC, Skoda warranties on used car are only offered on cars less than six years old. The car you mentioned was seven. It might have a warranty tied to the dealer, or it might be an after market warranty that wouldn't be tied to any dealer. But it wouldn't be a Skoda warranty and it might have a lot more restrictions and limits.

As to your first question: Ambient trim is fine (it lacks front fog lamps and a few non-essential toys whilst having AC, Alloys, and electric windows and mirrors). After that, it's just something else to go wrong.

High mileage/low mileage isn't as important as age. In my experience, the older a car, the faster it will become a money pit.

In addition, I would not pay more for low mileage older car - they break just as fast. I would, however, ask for a discount where the mileage is excessive for the age. Purely on the basis that you can.

Good luck with the search.

Edited 22 February, 201214 yr by FriendlyFire

Well people ramble on about the engine.... but what about everything else???

chassis suspension, gearbox, brakes, switches, seats lights all get used

The engine is designed to run like this and if oil is changed will last forever?

In a year how often are some of these used?

My friend got a BMW 330D with 140,000 on the clock , amassed in 1year .... he saved 12 grand, it is like a new car apart from the speedo say 141,000 miles!

Newest with highest mileage for me every time

Mileage is a number, how many people look and say " ohh look at that its a 2010 plate with 80K"

Nope they see 2010 plate car!

Edited 22 February, 201214 yr by PC1212

Check this high mileage skoda

Newer high mileage for me, older low mileage usually equates to a car used for short shopping runs with all the stress that causes on the engine. My current car has 175,000 miles on the clock and runs perfectly, uses no oil and just wafts along. My sister has a 2005 Renault Megane with 25,000 on the clock and is having one or two issues with constant stalling and the issue seems to be caused by lack of use.

Newer high mileage for me, older low mileage usually equates to a car used for short shopping runs with all the stress that causes on the engine.

+1

A really low mileage car has either sat around most of it's life gathering dust and going rusty (brakes etc) or hardly ever got warm, which is when most the wear is done to an engine.

Providing it has a FSH then mileage is not an issue IMO.

thanks :-) ill definitely consider higher mileage then. theres a fair few round about the 60,000/ 70,000 mileage. in this case i think one of the first jobs id do is get the cambelt done. how much would this be likely to cost, and do you reckon dealers can be knocked down to cover this at all? or if youre part exing, are they pretty strict on price?

also i see the odd automatic popping up. something at the back of my mind says autos arent as economic as manuals. am i right? it wouldnt stop me buying one, just wondered how different the mpg would be.

ta

Look at the car, dont look at the clock. General condition & a decent inspection if you are unsure is the way to go. There is still clocking in the industry, especially before the first MOT. Manufacturers are happy to supply new service books & these can be stamped as required. If you are suspicious ask who the previous owner was & contact them to see what mileage it was sold at. Their details will be on the log book so the seller cant hide from giving you that.

The number of Skodas being used as Taxis, some with intergalactic miles on them prooves what a good car they are. As for spec, the better the spec the nicer the place it is to be on a journey, probably more so if you do longer runs.

If you arent sure on specs , Auto / Manual, engins size etc keep researching & drive a few to get a feel

thanks :-) ill definitely consider higher mileage then. theres a fair few round about the 60,000/ 70,000 mileage. in this case i think one of the first jobs id do is get the cambelt done. how much would this be likely to cost, and do you reckon dealers can be knocked down to cover this at all? or if youre part exing, are they pretty strict on price?

also i see the odd automatic popping up. something at the back of my mind says autos arent as economic as manuals. am i right? it wouldnt stop me buying one, just wondered how different the mpg would be.

ta

I have been looking for quite some time now(my banger keeps going).

When I change it will be probably be a newer high miles, but we are doing 5k-10k so will bring the average down.

On specs,

If you want memory seats then they are hardly ever added as an option so that leaves just L&K's to look at and not a lot of those around. add in sat nav and even fewer.

Elegance have most of the good stuff and apart from the electric seats other opions do get speced often enough to give some choice.

There were spec changes in 07 so post 07 cars have more included as standard.

Hughes Farnham common have a petrol hatch L&K 08 42k on for £7.5k.

http://www.skoda.net.r66.co.uk/carview.aspx?id=602385870

They have had this for ages(I think from around april last year), started out much more expensive.

I saw this when looking at different one last year and it looked quite clean

Also the slightly newer versions as well as improved specs sometimes are slightly more efficient and sometimes squeeze a tax bracket.

With the higher miles < 4 years, look for the cambelt change, then, brakes pads/discs and tyres could be new or all on the way out, loads I have seen have mismatch or cheaper brands.

edit to add info

DSG autos don't seemto be worse on fuel but do add upto £1kish, also hatch to estate can add upto £1k.

Iwas keen on estate but the hatch has simial boot space and looks like you can get a false floor like the estate which makes it almost as practical for les money.

Edited 23 February, 201214 yr by P&N

I went for the higher mileage/newer when i got mine. So ended up getting an 07 with 80K on the clock and its like new. Only had a problem with the exhaust pressure sensor and that its lovely car to drive its been well looked after and drives great.

I've always gone for newer and more miles with most of my cars and never regretted it. Always tend to keep my cars for 3-5 years anyway so the mileage never really bothers me on a car.

You will always tend to get a better bargain/deal with something with a few miles on it.

I went older with less miles with my Fabia VRs and it was a dog. Now have a 10 plate with 50k and it is sweet as a nut. Moral of the story, newer everytime for me from now on.

just had a chat with the local dealer. dont know if im being daft or not, but i asked whether there was any way he would drop the £7000 for price of the 55 plate. i thought id try a grand off. he said yes but only give me £1500 for mine instead of 2000. so i said well thats the same as only 500 off isnt it? "no, its now a grand less".

am i missing something?????? :-D

I have just bought a 59 plate Octy 1.4TSI estate with 70000miles and FSSH privately. Although I have only owned it now for a couple of weeks, I am really impressed with it.

Originally I was looking for a sub £7000 petrol VRS estate which would probably mean an 06-07 model with about 50-60K and had never considered a much smaller engined model however: when I saw this one advertised privately on Autotrader for £6495 I jumped at the chance and don't forget that this was a newer FL model with a newly intoduced engine.It also has a chain driven cam and so worrying about cambelt servicing was no longer a problem. Although the vehicle was 250miles away, I did a service history check with my local dealer to ensure that what was advertised was accurate and did an HPI check as well before making the journey to view.

The car looks and drives like a new car and the only issues I have detected so far have been that the front tyres were very worn on the inside but full tread on the outside. This confimed to me that the Skoda Issue of "sawtoothing" had not been addressed by the previous owner although he had swapped the front and rear wheels (£240 for a 4 wheel alignment and two replacement tyres). I had knocked £250 off the purchase price so this bill was covered. The second issue is that I am experiencing a very slow time (3-4minutes) to read the SD card on my Bolero. This should cost about £45 to fix with a full VCDS diagnostic check and firmware update form my local Skoda dealer.

Overall I am delighted with the car and so sowuld recommend going down the newer route rather than lower mileage.

If happy with a hatch and budget will stretch the high mileage 3y Superb Hatches are coming on line at under £10k in Elegance spec.

didnt know there was such a beast, thanks for the heads up. just done a quick autotrader, and as expected, bit over of my budget really.

thanks tho

I'm sure you've had enough advice, but just to re-iterate the mileage, I bought a mazda 6 at 5 and a half years old with 34k on the clock, it's had 4 new brake calipers, disks and pads all round, costing me well in excess of a grand. Don't fall into that trap. a well maintained car that has done higher than average mileage is the safest bet! Good luck in your search buddy, I went private and picked up an 07 plate with 53k on the clock with FSH and met the owner and could see he was a decent bloke who had cared for his car, sold my mazda privately. IMO if you want the best deal it's the way to go. I paid £6500.

Neil

just been considering a L+K octavia for £6,500, 07 plate, 80,000 miles. wouldnt move on price tho and pay extra for warranty. reasonable you reckon?

i know we're all biased on here :-), but has anyone considered mazda 6? saw one on my travels and it looked nice. anyone got any comparisons with octavia for reliability, mpg and cost of parts?

EDIT: must have been typing this as you posted mate, spooky on the mazda 6 :-)

thanks for the advice.

Edited 23 February, 201214 yr by sadexpunk

They have a really reliable engine mate, and a well maintained one will be a great buy! Don't discount them on what I said, mine had obviously been stood a good while and damaged the calipers. There was rust under the rear wheel arches too, so worth a check under there! They are bigger than the octavia inside too, and a decent spec one will have a bose sound system and all the usual extra's. Have a look into them, most reliable manufacturer on the road a few years ago in a magazine I read (probably Auto express), less breakdowns than any other!

Edited 23 February, 201214 yr by Hunty278

nice heads up ta mate, got my eye on an 07 plate TS2 with a bose sound system, bout £6000. without turning this into a mazda forum :-), anyone got any knowledge of mpg, reliability and price of parts, repairs?

thanks

good news, good news, im still a member of the skoda forum!! :-)

57 plate lauren and klement :-) had a drive in the mazda but was seriously underwhelmed. tried the octavia and it seemed a world of difference.

thanks for all your advice in helping me choose.