I have run a big estate car for four years, have to say the Octy hatch is so big I've not yet missed it.

it's a bit harder to fit my bike in, but easy with the seats down and you don't need to raise the bases which is handy.

Car giant have 4 estates in at the moment, one is a L&k which has everything!

All diesel though :(

What are the large car supermarkets like for buying a car (Car Giant, Motorpoint, AvailableCar etc)? I'd always given them some distance having heard horror stories of people finding issues with the cars and their complaints falling on deaf ears

Ive bought a car from carcraft before and had no issues what so ever, but my mum bought one from them and it had a whole list of problems. Once it was paid for they werent interested in any complaint and did not offer any aftersales help to rectify the problems.

My mate bought a car from Available Car and he had no problems.

I think it depends on the car as to what overall service you receive.

I did promise myself I wouldn't turn this thread into a "copy and paste" of each car I liked the look on on AutoTrader, it's not turning out that way!

I'll try and dress this slightly differently then:

2008/08 vRS - Estate - Petrol - 52k miles - £9000

Rear parking, Xenons, SatNav - MaxiDot - Black leather w/red detail - RS6 Alloys

http://www.nescotrade.co.uk/used-cars/skoda-octavia-2-0t-fsi-vrs-5dr-colne-201236484443154

What is the history of the black leather - was that a limited run special thing?

What do people think of the RS6 alloys - I realy like them

Parkers & Vauxhaul suggest it's ~£500 - 750 too dear. It's also a good 2 hours drive away :(

It looks nice, I like the wheels

I've never seen one with that leather before, maybe a custom trim? I would bet on it having been remapped though.

Leather is dealer fit option with the bonus of this one being heated too!, great spec car. I like the wheels look better than any other aftermarket ones i've seen - really suit the car, been lowered too but don't let that put you off it will probably be more comfortable if it has eibach springs on.

Offer them 8700 and that will give you many a year of fast spacious and gadget equipped motoring.

I think you will struggle to find one with a higher spec for that money, can't think of anything other than a sunroof (but they are so small almost pointless) that it doesn't have.

It a wonder someone on here doesn't know the car?

Edited 9 September, 201213 yr by vrs777

I thought the black leather was just a very recent dealer fit option. I ike the idea of them being heated!

I do like the car, but the dealer looks a tad dodgy , it's a shed in a yard on an estate. Not sure I'd risk it for a car 2 hours away, as nice as it is!

Trust me even the best blinged up main dealers can be very very dodgy.

Leather was always available as a dealer retro fit.

E-mailed the seller:

Full history not all Skoda

Cam belt has not been changed or there is nothing to tell me if it has.

Demo plus one owner.

Very high spec car as it was the managing directors car from the local dealer.

hmmm...

Well at least he's honest, £275 for cambelt change with 2 year warranty Here

Thanks for the link.

I've a friend of a friend who knows his cars, I'll send him the details and see what he thinks.

On a practical point of view, what is the ride like on 18" low profile tyres? My driving is probably 80% motorway and dual carriageway, but living in Derbyshire I'm never too far away from a naff A\B road with bad surfacing and pot holes

Mine is on 18's and I don't think the ride is bad at all, I live where there are 100's of speed bumps. The ride in general isn't brilliant on standard cars and many people report the eibach lowered cars are actually more comfortable and controlled in the suspension dept.

I always think mine feels under damped, so slightly wallowy, say compared to an Astra H which is both very smooth and surprisingly crisp to drive. The vrs rides about as well as a e90 se 3 series but better than an e90 m-sport.

2008/08 vRS - Estate - Petrol - 52k miles - £9000

Rear parking, Xenons, SatNav - MaxiDot - Black leather w/red detail - RS6 Alloys

http://www.nescotrad...201236484443154

Well I'm off to see it this weekend with my wife. Fingers crossed!

It is due a service (last one 12k/1 year ago) and a cambelt change (4yrs old and 51k miles without one). I've had a quote from a local guy for £460 - Service (oil + filter, air, pollen, plugs, inspection) + Cambelt (& aux). So that should give me a start point for bartering a price. See what I can do.

Anythings I should look out for specifically? I'm not mega-mechanicly minded. I should know a bad clunk from a good clunk, but won't know what it is.

I've found the following "guide" for a Golf, fingured it was similar for most VAG cars:

PAPERWORK and MISC etc

V5 (SA vin numbers not built as well?!)

MOT

Tax

History

Cambelt and waterpump receipts etc

When was it’s last service and what was changed?

HPI clear

Locking wheel nut key?

Spare car keys

What fuels it ran on?

Body checks:

All panels straight

Dents/scratches etc

Rust (should be none)

Door hinges (doors hanging low?)

Door locks not tampered with

Wheels and Tyres

Brake discs and pads

Glass damage

Interior and Electrical checks:

Carpets damp (rear footwells, front footwells, boot floor, tailgate, roof lining etc)

Seat, trim, steering wheel wear

Drivers door module (lights, alarm lights, lock/unlock ok, alarm arm)

Door seals not damaged

All electrics: windows, heated/electric mirrors

Wipers and washers (back one especially)

Lights including fogs

Interior lights

Brake light switch

Rear heated screen

Window regulators (judder and slow means faulty!)

Locks

Central locking and RCL

Alarm (sensors inside too)

Clocks and trip computer etc

Rear wiper and leaks!

Rear boot lock (alarm problems due to it)

Heaters hot, cold etc.

Climate control – Aircon. Turn aircon ON, ECON OFF, car idling, fans should run slow after idling for 2 mins onwards. Fast fans or on/off pulsing all the time means problems.

Engine/Mechanical checks:

Cold start and hot starts ok?

Engine temp ok, fan kicks in ok when hot?

Clutch master cylinder

Release bearing noises

Water pump and cambelt changed ((60k or 4 yrs MAXIMUM!)

Coolant bottle sensor

Coolant temp sensor

Engine temp sensor (right hand side of engine)

Front wishbones

Rear bushes (clonks from these two items on drive)

Brake hoses

MAF sensor (no boost, hesitance, crap after 5k, crap mpg etc)

Coilpacks

VAC pipes

Tie rods (inner and outer joints)

Springs

Top mounts (turn left to right when stationary listen for clonks)

Ticking noise from drivers side of engine is “ok and common”?

Suspension clonks bangs etc, is it soggy?

Bushes (rough ride, noisy, clonky)

Oil level

Coolant level

Clutch and brake level

Leaks

Sludge/Mayo and so on

Fuse box for melting/burns

After run on turbo (secondary water pump?)

Green top air temp sensor is best?

Smoke from exhaust, turbo etc.

Driving checks:

Super unleaded or normal?

Clonks

Noises

Gearbox crunching, feel smooth, defined etc?

Tracking

Turbo boosting ok

Clutch slip and bite

Pedals all feel ok

Brakes ok

Anything which feels weird

Clocks all work fine etc

Edited 14 September, 201213 yr by LankyPaddy

Went and saw it an was generally quite impressed!

Lots of toys, all of which worked. It even had some extra things not listed in the sale - variable boot floor and auto headlights (I didn't think that was included as standard with xenons?).

Nice surprise when I arrived was that it had been put through a full service at the local Skoda dealer (including cambelt). It had also had some work done on the rear brakes, but he didn't know what as the invoice hadn't been raised - the work had only been done on Friday and the car rushed back so I could see it.

I took it for a brief test drive and all seemed ok - didn't hear any clunks going along very bumpy back roads and a short stint on some NSL didn't raise any concerns.

Only negative points were:

- drivers seat side bolster was very worn, where people had caught their belt getting in and out. Dealer said he'd ask the valeters if there was anything they could put on it to improve it slightly (saying that another vRS they had looked much worse, and someone bought that while I was there)

- the alloys were pretty cheap in the flesh, the lacquer was pealing from all of them in at least 1 place, and they were all kerbed to some degree.

The dealer has an idea where the original alloys may be, so is going to make some calls and get back to me.

I told the dealer once he had an answer on the alloys I'd be interested in agreeing a price. Hopefully he'll get back to me soon.

-------------------------------------

I'd also been thinking about going to see this one: http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/skoda/octavia/skoda-octavia-vrs-estate-2-0-t-fsi-200-bhp/763945

FL, Dec 2009/09, 53k, £10k, privately owned since new, FDSH (new engine under warranty 8500 miles ago ). Does seem a little high on price, esp considering the lack of extras.

A full service and cambelt at a main Skoda dealer is a huge outlay for a second hand car dealer to throw at one of their cars!?

A service (minor) is £129 or £249 for a major, plus £299 for a cambelt or £369 with the waterpump.

Over £400 will be a big chunk of his margin!

http://www.skoda.co.uk/gbr/owners/national-pricing/pages/maintenance.aspx

Yeah - I'd been quoted ~£630 for the service, cambelt, plugs and filters from my local Skoda dealer. £460 from an indy. I checked the service book and the stamp was there along with all the boxes ticked.

He said they didn't pay the full labour rates, but as you said, it is still a significant outlay for them!