Hi guys, first post here.

I'm looking to purchase a Skoda Octavia VRS Estate, mainly because I want the space and something reliable with a bit of poke. How reliable are these? I haven't gone to view any examples and the one's which I have seen range from £2k to 3k. The £3k one's have over a 100k miles and I've seen one for £2.4k which has done 98k on the clock, and is on Autotrader. I have read the buyers guide and it's been helpful for when I go to view some.

Anything else I should look out for. I do around 900 miles a month give or take.

Ive seen one on ebay with 278k on the clock on an 05 plate.

Of course, servicing proof, cambelt/waterpump changes, the usual checks youd do on any car. Brakes and disks are easily viewable to check the amount of life left.

Rusty tailgates?

Anything else? How would I know about the turbo being good or bad. Smoke at idle? Smoke when flooring it? Anything to look for underneath the car apart from oil leaks?

These cars are pretty bullet proof. The buyers guide and points mentioned are all good advise.

You should have no smoke at idle apart from water vapor(white smoke) if car cold, until car warms up or has been on a spin. Blue smoke is oil so avoid.

The car should look like it's history. i.e if history states 30,000 miles and the seats are worn and interior old and shabby then something not right.

Don't be put of be 100k miles as these cars are over 11 years old now for the early models. Mine is now 147k and still going strong.

Service history is a must. Regular oil changes are key to keeping these cars engine working as they should and avoiding running issues.

The cars turbo should hit boost are around 2,500 revs and keep pulling well to over the 5k rev range with a nice mid range of power. Don't be afraid to put foot down to test it.

These cars don't rust(well normally) so body work should be good. underneath should be simple to check for chassis straightness or bad repairs.

good luck in your search...

Bent sills - might show a less than caring owner (or just that it went to a monkey garage).

Standard electric checks - windows, doors, locks, heater mirrors, puddle lights, alarm LED, lights on reminder. rollup/down on key turn in the door - any failures can suggest water in the loom in the drivers door or failing microswitches in the lock assembly.

Does the A/C work, or has the middle of the electric clutch fallen off (must be warmer than 5 deg C)

I had time today so I went to have a look at one at a garage. It was a 2005 with 90k on the clock. 1 owner if I remember right and had full service history from Skoda/Skoda Independent. It was generally a very well looked after car, the leather seats looked practically new with little wear. Everything was great about the car.

However there was a noise on start-up, it seemed like a diesel like rattle that then went away. It seemed like there was also a noise coming from the cambelt area. Something which sounded like it was hitting something. I couldn't see anything but that also went away after a while.

No smoke was present on idle, and not present when revved, it pulled very very well. I've got my benchmark incase it sells, but they drive nice. Could make a decent handling car with some stiffening as bodyroll was present. The boot was nice and large and seats were very comfy. Seems like a great car!

It had it's cambelt changed at 79k in 2011, however missed its next due service at 87k. It had the door module changed also and there was a receipt to show the work done by Skoda. It does need a service, no history of the waterpump being changed either. I'm glad I went to view it to get a general idea of what I want. I however have to sell my current car to fund the purchase, so maybe in that time a better example will come my way.

Edited 17 April, 201313 yr by Vita