SKODA OCTAVIA MK1 - 1.9TDI Elegance (110bhp) 2003

[JPW]

Hi, all.

 

Having recently succumbed to the charms of a gorgeous new (to me) Skoda Superb which I bought through these hallowed pages, my trusty steed is now in need of a new home after providing me with 5 years of faultless and very enjoyable motoring - I thought I'd give my fellow Briskodians "first dibs" before going out into the wider world.  Vital statistics are as follows:

 

Colour: Dark Blue Metallic

Trim level: Elegance

Engine: 1.9 TDI 110bhp - ASV

Interior: Bamboo

MOT: 12 months - June 2014

Tax: 12 months - July 2014

Fuel: Diesel

Current mileage: 238k - motorway miles only

Service history: Full Skoda SH up to 100k, independent VAG specialist and DIY since then

Number of previous owners: 1

 

All Elegance trim and accessories are present and correct, and the car has not been modified in any way.  It is in very good condition for its age, but has its share (as can be expected) of stone chips/supermarket trolley dings etc. The Superb was a bit of an impulse buy, so I had just had the following work done to the car (all within the last month or so) prior to buying the new one:

 

Cambelt replacement

FOS wheel bearing replacement

Auxiliary belt damper/alternator pulley replacement

Oil and filters change

Brake discs and pads replacement (front and rear)

New MOT

 

New tax disc

 

The mileage on the car, although high, is almost exclusively motorway mileage - I have used the car predominantly for my my daily commute to work (100 miles per day on the M3).  The engine still pulls like a train, and is in fine fettle.  It has been "fed" exclusively with Quantum Platinum bought through TPS, and Mann filters bought at GSF.

 

And now to the price...  I was going to leave it open to offers, but I realise that Briskoda Ts & Cs require me to put an indication of price on the ad.  Having seen a similar car with almost exactly the same mileage on Autotrader last week for around £950, I think this is a fair starting point for negotiations - this would just about cover the cost of all of the work above, plus the £125 tax disc that I have just renewed.  Hope this is fair, but I'm sure you'll all let me know if not ! Piccies attached - apologies for poor quality (I'm no David Bailey).  Over to you...

 

 

 

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[largeruk]

Hi

 

Perversely, I am actually looking for a Superb but I could potentially be interested in this as a stop-gap. Also you're probably not that far from me down the M3 from me (I'm up near the top). Is it just me but I can't see any pics in your OP...?! :think:

[JPW]

Hi.

 

Rest assured, it's not you !  I've just been on to the ad myself to check whether it went through okay, and the photos were conspicuous by their absence...  My PC had a bit of a "funny five minutes" when I posted the ad, and obviously didn't complete the uploading operation properly.  I will attempt to upload the piccies from home this evening.  In the meantime, feel free to ask me any other questions you might have.

 

For info, I'm in the Winchester area.

[icito]

pics will help.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Every time I see one of these for sale I wonder if it's my old car.

[dbg400]

Likewise!

 

The 110 Elegance is a great car - GLWTS

[JPW]

Thanks, Dbg.

 

You're right, they are truly great cars, and if it hadn't been for one late-night session on Briskoda where I was seduced hook, line and sinker by the gorgeous curves of my Superb, I would still be driving it on a daily basis.  I'm sure it will happily go on to 300k + miles without a hitch.

 

The Superb is an equally wonderful car, but in subtly different ways - suffice to say that wafting up and down the motorway in it over the last week or so has lifted my morale hugely !  Seeing the Octavia go to a good home would be the icing on the cake...

[largeruk]

Hi.

 

Rest assured, it's not you !  I've just been on to the ad myself to check whether it went through okay, and the photos were conspicuous by their absence...  My PC had a bit of a "funny five minutes" when I posted the ad, and obviously didn't complete the uploading operation properly.  I will attempt to upload the piccies from home this evening.  In the meantime, feel free to ask me any other questions you might have.

 

For info, I'm in the Winchester area.

Thought it was my 'puter that was having the 'funny 5 mins'! 

 

This may seem an odd question to ask of a car seller but I'd very much appreciate some unbiased advice. The basic question I have is: is this the right car? :think:

 

To explain a little - my daughter and I regularly have to make 400 mile round trips to/from a specialist hospital. We also have to carry quite a bit of medical equipment for her on each trip. We used to do this journey in an 03 Passat 1.9 130 until some idiot piled into the back of me at high speed on the M1 and wrote it off   . Thank god my daughter wasn't in the car at the time. A very kind friend has been lending us his Volvo V40 to make the trips but needs the car back soon.

 

So, I'm in need a car that's cheap to run (fuel/tax/insurance/maintenance), ultra reliable (given my daughter's health, this is a must), safe (ditto), smooth and quiet at motorway speeds (it's tiring travelling such distances!), had most of the major jobs done to it (unplanned expenditure is my nightmare!) and with a good sized load area. As a single parent, funds aren't exactly flush - even more so since my insurance gave me a pittance for the Passat - so my budget is err...not very large!

 

Given all that, I thought a Superb (basically a Passat clone) might suit our needs and budget. What do you think about your Octy? As a new Superb owner, what would say are the major differences between the two? Octy - smaller - inside and boot capacity, noisier,less refined, cheaper to insure/tax/service? Superb - larger - both inside and boot capacity, quieter, smoother, costs more to run? Is that too crude a summary and/or are there other factors I should think aboutt? I'd be truly grateful for your thoughts. Don't worry, I won't hold you to them...

 

Cheers 

[JPW]

Hi, Largeruk.

 

I'm home now, so I'll try and do the photo thing in a minute, but I thought I'd send you a quick response to your question above (I'm "old school" when it comes to computers, so it could take me a while to complete the photo task !).

 

The quick answer to your question about the Octavia (any diesel Octavia, not just mine !) being the right car for your needs is an emphatic "yes", at least as a medium-term solution.  My Octavia has been doing the 500-mile-a-week stint to work and back for the last 5 years effortlessly, reliably and economically - it has also taken in its stride a couple of long-distance trips over to the continent.  It hasn't let me down once, although I should point out that I have stuck to the service schedule religiously, doing the oil/filter changes myself, and entrusting the larger jobs (cambelt/water pump changes, wheel bearing replacement etc) to a highly competent independent VW specialist garage down the road from me, run by an ex-VAG technician.  I also switched from the QG1 (variable) schedule that the car was on to a fixed, 10,000 mile schedule from the word go.  I'm a firm believer in the benefits of preventative maintenance, rather than ad hoc repairs !

 

I think your comparative summary of the Octavia vs the Superb is spot-on, although the Octy is still a highly-competent load lugger, and with the rear seats down, is probably able to suck up more stuff than its larger sibling.  It has the advantage of having a straight-through load area for bulky items, whereas the Superb is somewhat restricted by its saloon shape - the Octy is also easier to load, with no sill to lift stuff over.

 

I've just remembered this was supposed to be a "quick" answer...  I'd better get on with the issue of the photos, but drop me a line back with any other queries.

[JPW]

Chaps (and chapesses),

 

I've just realised (following my last reply to Largeruk) that I omitted one vital word in the original post (well, it is Friday, and it's been a horrible week...) - my Octy is an Estate !  Of course, you'd know this if I'd managed to include photos.

 

I'm off to do this now - standby...

[Dr Zoidberg]

Ah, it's not mine then. If it had, I'd have bought it for old times sake.

[largeruk]

Chaps (and chapesses),

 

I've just realised (following my last reply to Largeruk) that I omitted one vital word in the original post (well, it is Friday, and it's been a horrible week...) - my Octy is an Estate !  Of course, you'd know this if I'd managed to include photos.

 

I'm off to do this now - standby...

Thanks very much for the useful feedback. The fact that your Octy is an estate is a positive for me as the amount of medical equipment we now have to carry means we need every bit of load space we can get. Would love to see some pics...!  :peek:

 

As a matter of interest ,apart from its seductive looks   , why did you move to a Superb? Was it mainly because it's a more relaxing, less noisy, more refined motorway mile muncher than the Octy or what other factors came into play?

[JPW]

Hi, everyone.

 

Piccies now uploaded to the original post - I hope they're viewable by everyone (I couldn't access them for some reason when I went back in to check).

 

A quick comment on the photographs: they were taken very early in the morning before setting off for work which explains the lack of light, and the "matt finish" on the roof is nothing more sinister than morning dew !

[JPW]

Hi, Largeruk.

 

Just coming back to you on your earlier question.

 

The decision to buy the Superb was purely and simply a matter of "heart overruling common sense" - I have always loved the MK1 Superb ever since I clapped eyes on it for the first time back in 2002, and I've wanted one ever since.  It's only because they have now come into my price range that I started keeping an eye out for one on the off-chance.

However, wonderful car that it is, I'm not looking forward to the increased running costs: £280 road tax as opposed to £125 for the Octy, 45 mpg max compared to the 55 mpg + that the Octavia returns consistently, more expensive tyres, hugely more expensive cam belt changes etc etc.  On the plus side, it's a hugely comfortable armchair to go to work in...

[largeruk]

Hi JPW

 

Well, you've certainly got one with all the bells and whistles...glad you're enjoying it! 

 

Could you please drop me a PM with your contact details so we can arrange for me to come view it. Hopefully very soon...! I'd be extremely grateful if you could give me first refusal on the car, subject to viewing. I am finding the whole business of trying to find the 'right' car extremely stressful and time consuming. As a full-time carer of my daughter, it's not easy to find the time to do what it takes. Your car seems to tick most of the boxes and sounds as if it may be 'the one' for us!

 

Cheers 

 

PS. If you sign up for an account with one of the many online image hosting sites eg tinypic, Photobucket et al, you can upload your pics to them and then link to the image url when you post - it's dead easy. Then people will able to see the photos in your thread rather than having to download a zip attachment to view them.

 

For example, I use Photobucket, you will need to create an account, easy enough and free. Just upload your pics to there then select each image you want to upload to here. Near the bottom right of the page of the image you have selected to upload you will see a box the same as shown in the image below, just click the image code, 4th selection down and it will copy it. All you need to do then is to paste that code into the reply message box in your thread/post and add text or whatever and then just post as normal. 

 

Just a thought...

Edited 6 July, 2013 by largeruk

[JPW]

Hi, largeruk.

 

Have just sent you a PM.

[JPW]

Hi, all.

 

Another attempt to attach some photos, without the need to unzip any files this time...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JPW]

And it seems to have worked.

 

Thanks to largeruk for his help and suggestions on how to do this - I am now officially a little closer to entering the 21st Century...