Am thinking of buying an Octavia 4x4 diesel estate (not a Scout).

A local Skoda specialist garage has a 55 plate Octavia 4x4 with 90,000 on the clock, fully stamped service book but not actual bills.

Looks reasonable for age and mileage but he wants £6,250 for it which (according to Parker's) is about £1,000 over top book.

On the other hand, the garage apparently has a very good reputation for standing by its cars with 12-month, "fix anything" guarantee and he always sems to be able to sell his cars swiftly, despite pricing them high, especialy any 4x4s which are apparently not all that common.

Anyone got any particular advice when looking at / considering buying a 4x4 Octavia diesel estate, please?

Edited 24 April, 201313 yr by Stuarted

Check that the Haldex has had the filter/oil changes every 40k

Check that cam-belt/water pump has been done (4 years)

Check the seals around haldex/rear diff for leaks

Check air con is operable

The rest is standard Octy stuff.

Hi Stu,

I bought an 06 Plate 1.9TDI 4x4 last August for £6350 from a franchised citroen/suzuki dealer with 50k miles and FSH. I'd been looking for one for ages and it was the 1st one that came up which didn't either have allot of miles or a hefty price tag. I think demand far outstrips supply for these and they seem to sell even when considerably over book price.

I've put about 5k on it so far and the only problem has been the rear wiper has died, I plan to get it sorted before the warranty runs out in Aug. Otherwise no problems and I love it to bits.

When I got mine (a 2.0tdi) on the Skoda used car finder thing there were only 8 listed in the whole of the UK, including mine! 4x4s are a lot less popular than Scouts.

Marky: sounds like you got a good deal - younger than the one I'm looking at and almost half the mileage, for hardly any more money.

What kind of conditions have you used it in? How do you find the traction compared with a 2WD Octavia or a full-on 4x4 SUV?

"4x4s are a lot less popular than Scouts."

Just out of curiosity: does anyone happen to know, please, what the sales figures are for 4x4 Octavias and for Scouts - actual numbers and/or as a % of Octavia sales generally?

^{Look at http://www.howmanyle...a/skoda_octavia to find out.}

^{2233 4x4 are on the road versus 3603 Scouts, so a Scout / 4x4 ratio of approx 3 / 2.}

Edited 26 April, 201313 yr by Rab-k

^{Look at http://www.howmanyle...a/skoda_octavia to find out.}

^{2233 4x4 are on the road versus 3603 Scouts, so a Scout / 4x4 ratio of approx 3 / 2.}

Also factor into the number of scouts stated that a good number will not be privately owned as most ambulance services use scouts as response vehicles, so it may be even for privately owned

The used car finder on the Skoda website currently lists 10 4x4 and 70 scouts.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Also factor into the number of scouts stated that a good number will not be privately owned as most ambulance services use scouts as response vehicles, so it may be even for privately owned

Not just ambulance services either...

Sometimes Plod assumes 'stealth mode'...

Always thought Skoda missed a trick in not placing a "4x4" badge on the rear of the Scout - might sell/have sold a few more.

Hard to get a feel for the numbers of 4x4 Octys on the roads, given that you can only distinguish them by the badge on the rear.

Marky: sounds like you got a good deal - younger than the one I'm looking at and almost half the mileage, for hardly any more money.

What kind of conditions have you used it in? How do you find the traction compared with a 2WD Octavia or a full-on 4x4 SUV?

I bought the 4x4 as I tow an 18 foot RIB regularly and compared to the old MKI 1.9 TDI 2wd it is in a different league for this sort of thing. The very short 1st/2nd gears can be a hinderance in town driving but they come into their own when you pop a decent sized trailer on the back. I come up a 1:4 gradient out of the harbour which can be wet and covered in leaves at certain times of the year. This needed a good run up in 1st and a constant throttle in the old car and it would often spin up the wheels half way up but the 4x4 romps up without a hint of wheel spin even if deliberately provoked. Same pulling away up the slipway and I was even surprised how well it coped when I launched a friends boat of a shingle beach a while ago too. It is so much more stable on the open road towing too. I haven't really offroaded it so to speak but I think it would be surprisingly capable.

To be honest I think it was a good deal, I saw it on Autotrader just an hour or two after it was put on and travelled 160 miles to see it the following day.