hi peeps, I'm looking at buying vrs. Looking at spending between 5-6k. A lot of cars have over 100k on the clock. Is this of any concern? I know this sort of mileage is nothing for the engine but how do other components such as suspension and bushes hold up?

Any advice please

You may have a few people tell you to go get a CR not a PD but I am no expert on diesel Octavia's....

With regards to suspensions and bushes, they will be warn and will be softer than one which has done hardly any miles. If its been motorway driven most of its life then they shouldn't be warn as much as one which has been ridden hard along our pot hole ridden British roads.....Its all about service history as well with the engine.....if you have had someone that has not cared much for the vehicle then it would be surprising if it went past 120000.....

Thanks for your reply, I bought a vectra about 3 years ago with 130k on. That had done mainly motorway work. In the 3 years I've owned I'be had to replaced all the shocks and spings front and rear suspension arms and a turbo.

So I'm bit uneasy now about high mileage cars

Shocks and springs are wear and tear items. Any car past 100,000 miles is likely to need these replacing sooner rather than later.

 

The turbo can also start to whistle as the miles increase. Fixed servicing (fresh oil every 10K / 12 months) often means a longer life for the turbo but then if it's spent all its life on the motorway (with variable servicing) then the turbo should have had an easier life.

 

If I was buying a car with over 100,000 miles then I'd be budgeting for at least £1,000 of potential repairs within the first 18 months.

Thanks for your reply, I bought a vectra about 3 years ago with 130k on. That had done mainly motorway work. In the 3 years I've owned I'be had to replaced all the shocks and spings front and rear suspension arms and a turbo.

So I'm bit uneasy now about high mileage cars

 

Have to agree about the vec. My vec C's shocks were ruined at 120000 but i must admit the turbo seemed ok. I also agree with silver1011 about making sure you have 1k spare....in the first 18 months, on high milers, you will need to change and replace a few larger components.... Another thing to look out for is the clutch dual mass flywheel. Anything over 100k is gonna be warn if ridden on....

What sort of price for a dmf and clutch?

Ball park figure....about 1200! Have a search on the forums and see what you come up with. 

DMF  = £1200?  From where? Harrods? 

I had one last month, £500ish.  Some places advertise even cheaper.

 

I bought my PD octavia with 60,000 miles.  I was shown the service history, from Lex.  Drove like a new car, everything properly tight.  Gear change too tight,  I had that greased and gearbox oil changed at the first service, along with the brake fluid changed and air con re gas.  These are all things you should be looking at.

Its now done 95,000.  Nothing has broken or dropped off.  Only things changed, other than DMF, are brakes, new pads on the rear and a front upgrade to 312mm, which came with new discs, pads and calipers, it also meant changing the front dampers, as the size was different. 

An uprated RARB made the whole vehicle feel better for me and my style of driving.  A 4 wheel alignment will also be a benefit.  It is so unlikely that everthing wheelwise is as it should be.  Getting it done properly will save you money and increase safety and driving pleasure.

My previous octavia, a mk1, started to look very shabby internally, worn seats and such.  Trim and other extraneous bits become inordinately expensive compared to the residual value of the car. 

 

The octavia's milage is principally holidays now I'm retired.  Blasts down to Frankfurt - 1000lms each way on the Autobahn.  Or pootling through France for a month or two, covering between 3000 and 5000 mlies.  The return leg nearly always means a heavy load of wine, on top of the camping stuff and the partners wardrobe. 

Sevicing is done very regularly - older vehicles need more tlc, not less - and issues addressed.  A hundred quid here might be several times that abroad/away from home and the places you know.

 

I always prefer a motorway pounder to a low miles town car by the time it has done the mileage we are talking about.  Brakes, suspension bushes and dampers are cheaper than engines, gearboxes and trim.

PD engined cars are great, a bit agricultural but lovely low end power delivery and on the whole quite reliable, the 1.9's particularly so.

My only advice would be to be cautious if looking for a 170PD. They all had DPFs and they can be quite problematic on that engine as it was somewhat retrofitted and not designed to work properly with PD tech. If you do lots or short runs in a PD car with DPF you are asking for trouble, no such issue with CRs.

Also the 170PD is renowned for injector problems causing the cars engine to stop dead at speed and can be v dangerous, that serious VOSA got involved and forced VAG to do a recall on all 170PD cars.

again if the injectors havent been replaced properly can cause even more problems.

I had an opportunity to buy a really low mileage Leon FR PD for my wife a while back and bailed on it as it hadnt yet had the injector recall....it'd also have worried me constantly that the DPF would die and it would pack in at speed with my wife and son on board. A real shame as it was on the whole a lovely car just potentially too much of a liability.

Edited 8 September, 201312 yr by pipsyp

Now i'm worried! Does this alter with what year the car is. I'm looking at buying this

http://bit.ly/17r0kZb

No that'd be a PD 170 with DPF.

Sadly without owning it for a while its impossible to say whether its a good or bad example.

I'd say if it has full service history, had had the injector recall done (there should be a sticker on the boot floor by the spare wheel stuck on by the dealer with the recall reference if it has been done) and drives OK without any DPF related warning lights is probably OK.

The DPF isnt the end of the world to be fair, approx £1000 to replace or £3-600 to have it deleted. A DPF is a wear and tear item just like a clutch but should last well into 100k miles, given the cars now done 90k you will be approaching thr far end of its useful life however if it hasnt been changed at some point or already removed.

Edited 8 September, 201312 yr by pipsyp

DMF  = £1200?  From where? Harrods? 

I had one last month, £500ish.  Some places advertise even cheaper.

 

 

No i think Harrods would send you outside into the streets of London if you had that kind of money only  :think: .... Also I am more talking about the clutch and dmf....its recommended to change both. If its just the dmf then you only need to pay 500 or so.  ...dependent on garages....

Took a £250 mile round trip look at that one. Total waste of time. Bloke said it's mint a part from usual stone chips on a car 90k. Didn't mention scratches on rear bumper the rip in the drivers door card and the osf tyre had two big chunks out of the side wall that he had glued back in!

Basically a total wreck........Im sure one or 2 of the guys on here will be either upgrading or selling to get the mkIII....