Morning

I'm looking at a 56 plate VRS.

The thing is it's covered 189,000 miles, with one owner from new, hence the low price of £3,500. Is there any things i'd have to look out for?

I was going to go for a older VRS, but because this price is a grand more than what I wanted to spend and obviously a newer car I thought i'd show an interest.

Any help would be great.

Thanks for your time

Petrol or Diesel?

At those miles there will defo be wear and tear items such as shocks, bushes etc etc. in my opinion it would still need to be cheaper and I'd keep a float of £1k in the bank for maintainence.

I've had plenty of high milers in my time and they always cost £££ to keep on the road. However, if they are cheap enough it can be worth it. If it were me 189k is too much. 100k is usually as high as I buy.

There is a known issue with all cars in the various VAG ranges from this kind of year with regards an ABS wheel sensor. If this sensor were to fail (I say if, but many say it's a WHEN situation) you'll be looking at around £200 for a repair. Not the end of the world, but something you should be aware of.

Check the history on the cam-belt. This should have had at least two new ones during it's lifetime. You want to see for certain it's had at least one and recently. If it hasn't then you'll be looking at £400 - £500 to sort that (which is really an essential).

Other than that, look for wear and tear. It's covered many miles but that alone whouldn't be a reason for it to be untidy. Mats may well be worn through, seats will be showing a little age etc.

Check sills for rust/bubbling just above the stone chip paint.

Water in the spare wheel well

Check the ESP light comes on when you switch it off. Same issue as mentioned above but some people have allegedly just removed the bulb.

check inner edges of rear tyres for wear. The factory alignment was duff on a lot of cars and they can wear excessively there making a droning noise and damaging the tyres.

Thanks guys.

This is the one in question. The garage seems genuine, and it comes with warranty.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201211164259388/sort/default/usedcars/model/octavia/make/skoda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/30/keywords/vrs/page/1/postcode/le84hb?logcode=p

If it was diesel I'd say it might be worth a shot. 189k is alot of mileage on a petrol.

Ok , so you think i'd be best to stay clear and get the older skoda?

The new ones just look very nice

That looks a tidy car for the miles,thats a lot of car for £3.5k,id go & have a look at it & a test drive & see what you think,ive had a mk 1 & mk2 octy vrs & id rather have that than a older mk1 (which could need money spending on it anyway).One owner & full history with 189k wow,was he ever not driving it? lol. Id try to get it down to 3k then its a bargain & gives you some money in the bank to fix any problems that may occur.

As above, I'd have a lot of confidence in the 'one owner from new' and 9 service stamps. He has clearly looked after the car.

The Parrot handsfree would suggest business use together with the high mileage, and it is also likely the mileage is mainly motorway too which is better for clutches, suspension etc.

The interior shots just miss out on the drivers seat bolster - a key area for wear even on lower mileage cars.

Some nice options, climate control, jumbo box, Maxidot, rear electric windows. He obviously decided against the 18" alloy upgrade.

I'd look to haggle another £500 off and I reckon you'll have a good'un there!

So if I can get it for £3,000 you'd say go for it?

£500, and ask them to extend their standard 3 month warranty to 12 months

Looking at the steering wheel and other plastics that you touch it does look very good for the miles, worst case is the engine goes bang and how much for another one £500 ish for a recon ? ..

For £3000 it might be worth a punt. Drive it, drive another with less miles if you can and compare the two

Is that all a engine would be?

Should be quite a few engines about, it's exactly the same as the Golf GTI and was used in Audi and Seat too.