Hi all

 

Im a newbie, currently driving a Civic Type R EP3.

 

Great car, love it, plenty of fun and surprisingly reasonable on fuel for the mostly town 8000-10000 miles a year i cover.

 

Just found out im going to be a dad for the first time. Very happy about the news.

 

So this led me to changing the car, now i love a bit of car shopping.

 

Requirements are 4/5 doors, good size boot, still fun to drive etc, so Octavia VRS fits the bills then

 

Question is, for my £3-£4 budget, am i best looking at a mint MKI with say 70K or a MKII with around 100-120k?

 

Advice and things to look out for please?!

 

 

At that money a cherished low mileage MK1 would probably be a better bet, there are a handful around. MK2 is in my opinion the better more modern car but for your budget finding a really good one would present a challenge i think.

Ive had a mk 1 & a mk 2 vrs & i think the mk2 is way better,however for your budget id avoid a mk2 diesel vrs,you could get (if you can fine one) a nice low mileage mk 1 vrs for the same money as a newer higher mileage mk2 vrs petrol. Id try both & see which you like,they are both good cars. If it was my money id buy a mk2 petrol vrs. 

The boot's are pretty much the same. So praticality wise there's no difference.

 

The mk2 is a more modern car as mentioned. The mk1 feels like and has the interior of a late 90's/early 2000's car but the mk2 is a much nicer place to be. This is my opinion obviously after being in a friends mk1 vrs.

 

Best thing is view both and see what you think.

I prefered my mk1 vrs although the mk2 is a far nicer car........would sell mine for £4750 with only 82k

Would consider a civic in part/ex too

Thanks for the responses all,

I think petrol is the choice over diesel, don't really the cover the mileage and mostly town which is not good for Diesel engines overall so I have been told etc.

As mentioned, size wise, not much between the two.

Reliability is a concern for me as I just won't have the same amount of time on my hands to tinker and sort issues out in the way I always with lots of spare time etc.

As far as I can see, running costs will be largely the same, tax, insurance, service etc.

I get the mk2 would be a nicer place to be etc, but I'm prob swaying to a low mile clean mk1, as after a couple of years it will prob be easier to sell and hold money a little better, then I may be in a position to step up to mk2 etc?

I'd say go for a clean mk1 rather than a tatty mk2 as the money will likely be the same. I know the mk2 is a nicer place to be but coming from an ep3 I'd guess luxury isn't a necessity? The 1.8t can be great fun and is pretty tunable aswell

Yeah good point, almost anything will be luxury moving out from an ep3 type r

Although before the type r I did have a mk4 golf tdi and bora pd tdi so interior / build wise I know what I'm expecting I think

Get another bora

Trevor

My bora 115bhp pd was not the best or most reliable I have ever owned! Ha ha.

Fancy something hatch or estate to be able to carry more too, bora annoyed my on many occasions with limited access through the boot / back seats etc

I know what you mean, you won't beat an octy boot

Yeah lots of people saying the estates are huge, but in all honesty I think a hatch boot would be plentiful

This one is dirty cheap http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/293249-2007-octavia-vrs-20-tfsi/

Yeah I did spot that one, not bad overall, I'm not to fussed with any marks on body work as they car be sorted over time.

Engine management light / fuel pressure fault is the worrying part for me?!

I haven't sat and researched the problem on here yet, but don't want it costing loads as soon as I buy it if you get me?

You should be able to source a cheap fuel pump and at that sort of money for the car, i would budget £200-300ish for repairs, it would still work out the cheapest mk2 VRS I've seen

As you say, still cheap for its money, even 2 rear Tyres on top of that @£200 ish would total the car around £3500 mark, but at that money there are other mk2's around or just above at dealers though in sure they would do a cash deal etc

If you can find a mk2 vrs with less miles than a 100k for 4 grand from the dealers, I would bite there arm off! I've had a quick look and even on ebay, they are still going for £3500 up with 135-150k on the clock.

True what you say VRserious, though there are a few at or just over 100k (106k) that I think could be had for that kinda money.

So do I need to worry about that kinda mileage on a mk2?

I have noticed the timing chain issue on later models but the first of mk2's were belt were they not?

2006-2009 2.0 TFSI (belt)

2009- Tsi engines (chain), different engines from 2009 onwards, and before anyone shoots me, this is from my understanding- more power from the newer engine but stronger in the older, they still use the 2.0 TFSI in the golf R etc.

 

The mileage on the these units is not a problem, just make sure all the running gear/drive train etc is good, plus they predict the turbo will need replacing @120k but you could get a lot more out of them.

2006-2009 2.0 TFSI (belt)

2009- Tsi engines (chain), different engines from 2009 onwards, and before anyone shoots me, this is from my understanding- more power from the newer engine but stronger in the older, they still use the 2.0 TFSI in the golf R etc.

 

The mileage on the these units is not a problem, just make sure all the running gear/drive train etc is good, plus they predict the turbo will need replacing @120k but you could get a lot more out of them.

Are the turbo's generally considered better / more reliable on the MK1 against the Mk2?