hello folks,

bought every single car in my life direct from fleet auction.

Weeks of looking, and barely any Octavia Ambiente/Elegance coming through. Meanwhile, lots of VW Golf's.

Obviously more expensive, so got to go for higher mileage car to stay in budget.

I'm presuming Octavia/Golf absolutely identical engine & drivetrain? So 100K Golf with full maintenance history not really a 'silly buy'.

I would consider the equivalent Ford/Vauxhall to be a 'silly' buy with that mileage given past experiences.

What say you !

I'm presuming Octavia/Golf absolutely identical engine & drivetrain?

Not necessarily. There are some Golfs with a 1.9 but it puts out 130bhp and has a 6 speed box. The Mk2 Octy never had this option as far as I know. The older Mk1's did but with a 5 speed I believe.

Even though the Octy is a derivative of the Golf, they are quite different in terms of available load space and handling to some extent due to the size difference. I'm sure a Golf with 100k would be just as good as an Octy with 100k given the same servicing regimes. Perhaps the interior of the Golf 'might' fare a little better in terms of longevity though.

Not necessarily. There are some Golfs with a 1.9 but it puts out 130bhp and has a 6 speed box. The Mk2 Octy never had this option as far as I know. The older Mk1's did but with a 5 speed I believe.

Even though the Octy is a derivative of the Golf, they are quite different in terms of available load space and handling to some extent due to the size difference. I'm sure a Golf with 100k would be just as good as an Octy with 100k given the same servicing regimes. Perhaps the interior of the Golf 'might' fare a little better in terms of longevity though.

Thanks. Yep, was thinking about the 5 speed 1.9 Golf specifically. I've owned a couple of Mk2 Octavia's and bought a Golf for previous girlfriend, so familiar with the handling, size difference etc.

So, 1.9 Octavia 07/08 likely to have older engine than 07/08 Golf right ?

So, 1.9 Octavia 07/08 likely to have older engine than 07/08 Golf right ?

The mechanics of it i.e the block and pistons will most likely be identical on the whole range with some minor differences to the heads. The 1.9 block has been around for yonks with very little change. I can't comment on the specs of the engine range though as you'd need someone with a spreadsheet with all the info. I'm not sure when VW introduced the CR engine to its Golfs, perhaps someone else will add to this info?

Thanks for your quick response again Golf-fiend.

Think I narrowed down my question !. I guess all I really care about is reliability. Quick research doesn't flag up any big problems for the 1.9 Golf.

That age of golf probably won't have a newer CR engine but it could either be a 1.9 or 2.0 PD TDI.

The 1.9 will most likely be PD 105.

The octiavia will have the same engines in them so I wouldn't worry about them being older in the octavia as they saw the same engines as above.

Phil

Cool. Thanks for your advice

Blimey, Autotrader reveals that 1.9 Tdi Match (medium spec Golf) costs about the same as Octavia Ambiente of similar age & mileage.

Quite a surprise. Thought the Golf would be more expensive, based on nothing but appearance and brand.

The two should have a very similar spec I think as they are both second from the bottom models. The Match replaced the SE spec with a few additions.

You're getting a bit more car for your money with the octavia for the expense of badge snobbery but this has always been the case.

Might also be worth checking that a DPF is also possible on some of these cars as it was fitted to some early MK5 golf/MK2 octavia 1.9's I believe.

Phil

Yep, the DPF on the Golf is the downside