Not 8K

Correct me if I am wrong, but if you bought a 57 plate VRS for example but you liked the FL interior you could easily retrofit the more modern looking heater controls and stick in a Bolero or a Columbus and change the facia panel to fit them and that would be pretty much a FL interior wouldnt it?

Not 100% sure but was a 57 plate the age that it was advisable to look for ones that had an upgrade pack on them i.e. jumbo box, 18" alloys etc?

Hi OP, I also bought my petrol VRS as a family car. The interior space is GOOD and the boot is EXCELLENT. I'm 6ft and have long legs and ideally I like to sit low in my cars and with my legs out. Due to having a forward facing seat behind my chair I do have to have my chair slightly further forward than I would ideally like, however it is still comfortable. I would not be able to have a rear facing seat behind mine. On a side note the bolsters offer great support and the adjustable lumbar is superb and something that I could never do without on any car. Comments saying it is uncomfortable are ill founded.

It is worth noting that the Octavia is built on the golf platform (specifically mkv), not the Passat as many people new to Octavias often think. The superb is built on the Passat and as such has more cabin space and a larger boot.

Also I drive approximately 3 miles to and from work 5 days a week and once or twice a month I have to travel somewhere (anywhere) in the country to provide sales presentations. On this sort of mileage would you recommend the diesel or petrol? Suprisingly my existing automatic diesel toyota only achieves 26mpg to and from work and a maximum of 37mpg on a long distance run which is quite poor. Is the petrol engine cheap enough to run and maintain? The DPF issues worry me with only driving a short distance from work.

Your journey to work is similar to mine (4 miles) and a petrol vRS should get mpg close to your toyota on such short trips. 37 mpg on a long distance run is perfectly possible if your right foot is not too heavy and the petrol turbo has plenty of mid range torque so you don't need to plant the accelerator to use the performance. My long term average was 33 mpg.

Well i'm selling a more expensive car and hoping to spend less on the new one so my budget ideally is MAX £8000.

You should have plenty of choice of 07 and 57 cars within that budget. I have just sold my 07 petrol vRS with 53,000 miles privately for £6,500. On 07 cars check for the vRS pack upgrade (18" Zeniths, climate control, jumbo box, rear electric windows). This was a free upgrade on mine (factory order April 2007) but some cars of similar age don't have it.

Edited 3 March, 201214 yr by Mercurio

The only other thing that concerns me is the badge....I know Skoda's are very good cars and so do people who know a bit about cars but joe bloggs who doesn't know a thing will still giggle.

Are you really that bothered about joe bloggs who doesn't know a thing,the answer to what you're concerned about over the badge is in your question really.Exactly,they don't know a thing,so why be a tad bothered about what little knowledge they might have.And what car is your average joe bloggs driving btw when he may be laughing at you,a Mondeo,Peugeot,Citroen,Audi A3.BMW 320.OMG shock horror Maybe you could get a passenger to do this to them :moon: and then shout out the window to them, hey you've bought the wrong car.

I have just bought a vRS 57 reg and spent a number of weeks looking at prices first. You almost certainly shouldn't pay MORE than £8k for this, and £7k may be a better target (well that's what I paid for a 54k miles car!). If it is more than £8k at this age, then it is either overpriced, or it's because it is too low mileage and the seller is hoping buyers will think this is a good thing...

Only issue with mine is looking at other posts, I think it should have a cambelt change pretty soon (despite it having a full Skoda service history, last serviced just before it went to the dealer).

Right guys well here is the update.

Went to look at a few cars...namely a 09 plate Mondeo Titanium 2.2 Sport Esate which was very nice, has loads of space but has 100k motorway miles which is reflected in the cost as it's £8999 for a car which was 27k a couple of years ago, an 09 accord which I really like but just doesn't have the boot space required for kids stuff and 2 octavia Vrs', one was a 56 plate with 70k ish and the other was a 57 plate with similar mileage. The 06 is up for £6200 and the 07 for £7499. Both have the same spec and history, I didn't get the drive the 06 plate as the dealer was so busy and had loads of people waiting. I was put off this car as there was a rattle on startup that I didn't like the sound of (sounded like the exhaust towards the front of the car). Then went to see the 07 plate which was in excellent condition apart from one scrape on a wheel. They let me take the car for a drive and boy did I enjoy it. The most surpising thing apart from the speed was the smoothness over bumps which is actually much better than my avensis which tends to crash over bumps. It's true to say it was a great drive with no odd sounds or anything, infact it felt very new for an 07 plate. The dealer is only willing to come down to £7400 but will service it (only 4k away from next service) and will repair the damage to the wheel.

Now i've got a big decision. Do I go for the skoda which was brilliant fun...although I will have to put up with snide remarks (from poorly educated people) and if i'm homest it doesn't have the fancy interior of the Mondeo or the toys that come with the titanium x, it's also likely to cost more than the mondel in fuel.

Or do I need the mondeo from a family aspect which is a big cruiser and looks a newer car all round and is impressive in what it offers, and benefit from increased mpg from the diesel, although i only drive short distances to work and diesel mpg is not always that impressive as i've found with the avensis.

On the way home a guy in front on a superbike came off and spun across the road, had to rush out and check he was alright. Must admit with my boy in the car it made me lean towards the Mondeo from a big comfortable and safe cruiser aspect rather than worrying about speed etc.

However I just can't get the Skoda out of my mind. I need to make a decision by the morning to put a deposit on either one.

Cheers guys this is such a helpful forum. Pleas could someone advise with regards to how soon the cambelt should be done (car has 68,500 miles)

Mark

Sounds like you are like me maybe, you seem to have your heart set on an Octavia and anything else etc will not live up to what you place the Skoda at in yor head, so seems to me like your decision is made....?

I have not bought a used Skoda before so I cant comment on what you really need to be looking for etc, but if it just needs a service and a wheel tidying up then I would say try and negotiate the cam belt and water pump into the deal, do the tell him what you want and stand there with your hand out and see what he says!

I find the Octavia a comfortable place to be, I have a 7 year old and a 13 year old and I have no problem with travelling with them in the car, you cant be held accountable for other peoples driving, but the Skoda gives you that blend of great family car to do all that you need, plus the 'fun' factor when you want to put a smile on yoru face, overall, if you do go for it you wont regret it.

I have had all the jokes, comments etc, my brother is a total badge snob, and he ridiculed me terribly when I was waiting for my car to be delivered but once he saw it you could see in his face that he just knew I was the one saving money over his Audi that was nice but not twice the price nice!!!

I've just been reading a few points regarding the cambelt, thing I may struggle with is if the service book shows a change is not required until 100k + miles then how can I prove that VAG now recommend every 4 years and/or 60-70k?

I'd be willing to forget the service and the wheel repair in a swap for cambelt + waterpump.

If i'm honest I guess the only thing i'm not impressed with in the Octavia is the radio design and dashboard, doesn't seem very flash in comparison to the Mondeo etc Guess that is a sacrifice worth making for the performance though. If I can get some of the combined mpg's specified on this site with the Octavia i'd be quite happy.

Personally i wouldn't drive the mondeo if you gave it to me

I got my first Skoda back in 2003 and for the first few weeks, this (at the time) thirty something spent the first two weeks answering questions as to why I'd bought a Skoda and "where they better now than those other older ones". Four Octavia's later, nobody asks me anymore. I drove a Mundano Estate a year or so ago and whilst it was nice inside, it was very floaty to drive. Folks like Clarkson et al go on about them being a driver's car and the one to have, but I'd have another vRS as the Ford didn't feel that special to me. Can't tell you what to do, but the money seems right on the Octy, and it won't let you down. You'll be saving a fair bit against the Mundano and can spend that on upgrades or fuel. I know which I'd rather have, but I'm not you.

I test drove a Mondeo Titanium X 2.2 172BHP (roughly) It was nice and to be honest, you won't go wrong with it, it has high mileage but if it has been regularly serviced and not been thrashed then the engine cut off without letting the turbo cool then that shouldn't be a problem.

The reason i went for the Octavia ( I bought Mercurio's Octavia, see previous page) The columbus system looked brilliant in it, there is no reason that you cannot retro-fit this, and it won't cost the earth. Character, Skoda's have bags of it, I used to own a Fabia Vrs and it too was a joy to own.

Personally, I see a car like a T-shirt, i wouldn't wear a dirty one and I'd want it to reflect me and look decent. I like to be different and an underdog. There aren't many Family hatches that have the boot and the handling (But the mondeo is another!)

I have got 43 MPG on the way home over 55 miles on country roads. I averaged 39.94MPG over that week, the computer said 39.1 so it's pretty accurate.

Just go with your instinct, and try not to think about the vRS if you go for the Mondeo

Good luck

Neil

Neil

Thanks for that (any everyone else who has replied).

How did you find the performance of the 2.2 Mondeo, I know it's a completely different engine and has different delivery. Did it feel very heavy to drive?

The Vrs seems to have appealed to my days when I had fast cars, I guess that is my worry, that nowadays I should have moved on and concerntrate on safety for my family and plenty of space. Thing is, the Octavia seems to offer that too!!

It seems to be a case of do I get a grand tourer or go kart?

It's quick Mark. Everything you'd expect from a high performance Diesel. Plus it had a lot of toys and was a nice place to be. It has the bigger alloys to set it out from the thousands of mondeo's as well as a few other exterior styling bits.

The old mondeo's are boring inside and a bit naff. The newer ones are simply not the case, seats were good and Dash was nice. A well designed and thought out car!

The Octavia will be as safe, and overall isn't that much smaller, you will be very surprised at what you can fit in the boot of the octavia. It is very deep! Safety wise, size isn't everything, although curtain airbags wasn't standard in the vRS, but someone may tell you differently. That feature would be top on my priority list. I, too, have 2 young children, I have a big Volvo V70 for those long journeys on the motorways, the octavia is the daily runner for the wife with the kids.

When we had kids I went from a Mk3 MX5 to an Audi A3 3.2 V6, then we had our 2nd and I bought the volvo. I massively missed something with a bit of toe, so sold the wife's Mazda 6 and got the vRS. The vRS isn't just a go kart, it is a very capable Family car IMO. I love it and would obviously choose it out of the 2, but the Mondeo is a great car and shouldn't be discounted!

Have you driven the mondeo yet?

No i've not had a chance to drive the Mondeo yet, something that i'm trying to arrange today. I imagine it will be a totally different car to drive.

I'd keep your current car and walk/run/cycle/bus the 3 miles to work instead, that will offset the economy on your longer twice monthly trips.

Mondeo is slightly more refined (in 2.5T petrol guise anyway) than the Octavia VRS, but both are prone to tyre roar (seem to be not well insulated from the road). I've waterproof foam lined the back half of my front wheel arches and felt insulated the rear arches because of this. Can't wait to change to quieter tyres.

But, the VRS is a more interesting/exciting drive than the Mondeo. I thought that the Mondeo was just slightly somehow dull.

Have you checked values on the Mondeo - it seems a bit overpriced to me.

(Of the three badges mentioned, I'd be happy with the Ford or the Skoda, but embarrassed to drive the Toyota. )

I has a Mondeo 2.0 Tdci 09 plate Titanium X, on an 09 plate which I bought at 18months old, I remapped it and never was comfortable in it. The seat had a problem which meant you where leaning too the left, whch was incorrect fitting in the factory and was repaired under Fords warranty. I still always felt offset from the steering wheel. The kids said it made them feel sick and there was always a rumbling for the boot at 70 mph, and the wife never drove it as it wass too big. Even I found it a tad too big.

Anyway it had all the toys, very nice, but I was still not happy with it, so we decided to test drive an Octavia.

Fast forward 6 weeks and I am the pround owner of a 08 plate TDI VRS in race blue. What a car!

The new Ford Mondeos in my honest opinion are a lemon of a car. The older shape is better, my mate has one and its ok.,

I'd keep your current car and walk/run/cycle/bus the 3 miles to work instead, that will offset the economy on your longer twice monthly trips.

I was going to say that!

3 miles on an MTB with road tyres would be no more than 20mins, less on a road racer. Sure, swap out the Avensis to save cash, buy your Octy and then get a bike to ride to work. Save money and improve fitness, double win!

My work is 11 miles away and I use my car all day visiting clients so can't practice what I preach........

....but I would if I could.

Niall

07 VRS is the TFSI which means you should use super unleaded in it. So a little more money to think about each fill up.

I've an 07 and have had it from new. It's been basically faultless for nearly 5 years.

MPG you can expect 35mpg at a steady 70mph. I drive daily on 60mph roads and can quite easily get 37 with a careful right foot.

An 07 TFSI should have had the timing belt and a significant service done in the previous year. Water pump having been changed would be a bonus.

VRS seats are not the best but they're a long way from the worst.

Values are a bit odd right now. Dealers want a lot for them on the forecourt but trade in prices are really bad. If you're paying £7500 for an 07 expect to see £2500 of that fall off as a soon as you drive it away.

The seats in a Vrs are positively back cripplingly poor.

+ 1...I should know...my back is crippling me...

+ 1...I should know...my back is crippling me...

For some maybe, possibly more a problem with your back(s) than the seat. I've had no discomfort, that includes 2 return trips to the French Alps in a 'oner' (950 miles and 14 hours each way).

I can't comment on the fuel efficiency of a petrol Vrs as I have the diesel but I can honestly say you won't regret buying a Skoda. I bought my first one back in 2003. It was a brand new 130 elegance octavia. Did 48k faultless miles in it always getting 60+ mpg. Traded this for a 1.6 elegance estate. Again many faultless miles and about 45 mpg.

Unfortunately I then when for a brand new Insignia. Only had this 18 months as it was a load of c*#p. poor fuel economy and build quality. This got traded back in and I bought a brand new Kia Sportage. This felt like a great car but just didn't live up to the standard of Skoda. Hence the reason I'm now back in a Skoda. This time a Vrs, the model I have always wanted.

Yes you may get the odd joke about the badge but have a look under the bonnet and check out how many parts says Audi on them. Then have a laugh to yourself at how much extra peole will pay for a badge. Admittedly Skoda's arn't faultless but I have always found the dealers helpful and approachable. If you go for an Skida you won't regret it, I know I'll never buy anything else again. Hope you make the right decision and get the car you love driving. Drivings no longer fun so the more you like your car the better

One thing I did'nt mention about my diesel VRS, that is the big grin it keeps putting on my face. I am 40 and feel like a kid again!!!!!

A few quips about the badge, but then they have come form people who know nothing about cars, a couple of my firends have one statement to make about my new car and that is "I like this, i can't believe it's a a Skoda"

what else can you say.

Regarding the seat comments earlier, I find them very comfortable, far more so than my previous Golf 5 GTI.

Think your view on the seats will more than likely depend on your own shape!