Hello All,

 

I'm new to Skoda forum.  My husband is always talking about the forum, he uses it regularly.  

 

I have a dilemma at present and wonder what people think I should do. I don't know whether to sell or keep my current Roomster, SE TD1 80. (59 registration).  I paid £8,000 for it 18 months ago and have been offered £4,250 in a Skoda dealer exchange for a newer version. My car is 4.5 yeears old.  Has been serviced regularly by the main dealer.  It is in excellent condition and has been a great car.   Current milage 37,000.   In May it is due for a service, timebelt change and probaby needs some new tyres and change of brake disks and brake pads - all costed at £800. The car is currently on a regular service plan and has 1 more year of European and UK road assistance / recovery paid for. 

 

 

However, I have been offered £5,300 in exchange for my Roomster for  a Citroen C3 Picasso (13 registration) 1.6HDI DPF 90 VTR+ with less than 2,000 miles on the clock..  The car is less than 6 months old and a very good price at  just over £9,000 with 2.5 years Citroen warranty.

 

I travel long distrances in Europe 2-3 times per year and want a reliable car.  I'm worried that the Roomster is getting older and will become worth much less as times goes on.  My last car a Skoda Fabia was worth scrap (£500.00) due to electrical failure after 9 years.  What should I do? 

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Only you know how much you want to spend and what your driving pattern is like. If you do lots of short journeys watch out for problems with the DPFs on modern diesels. If you don't do too many miles it might be worth considering a petrol to avoid this problem.

There are plenty of 9K cars around at main dealers, if you are willing to go to 10K and can find one you could get a new Special Edition Roomster SE 1.2 tsi.

Having said that the Citroen looks a good deal, just check it hasn't been returned by a dissatisfied customer, or crashed and repaired...

Hi Gortgabhair and welcome to Briskoda.

 

I went the other way, from a Citroen Berlingo (bought new) to a Roomster (also bought new).  The difference between the two cars was chalk and cheese - as was the difference between dealers.  Although my Citroen never actually broke down, a number of components either broke, wore out or fell off during 40,000 miles of ownership.  Eventually, the electrics started to give problems and I was glad to get rid of it.  I felt my Citroen was built down to a price whereas my Roomster was built up to a standard.  I have owned my Roomster for four years now and nothing, absolutely nothing has failed.

 

At 37,000 miles, your Roomster is nicely run-in, it is reliable and it has been regularly serviced. Unlike the Citroen, it does not have a DPF with associated potential for problems.  And over the next few years, your Roomster will lose far less in depreciation than a newer Citroen.  As Keitht has said, only you can decide what is best for you - but if I were in your place, I would keep the Roomster.  Hope this helps.

Hunt down a NEW Roomster SE at a ridiculous price just under 10K and if you push a deal I reckon you will be  paying about the same as for the  Citroen.  Ring round the stealers and get the best deal you can against yours.  I held out for a really good price for my Monte carlo

 

Only come in petrol tsi, which is great, but a staggering £4K off.  

Hi Hortgabhair, I'm with Robjohn on this, I tend to buy solid, quality motors at 3 or 4 years old (having let someone else take the big depreciation "hit"), then look after them well, not stinting on top-quality oil, get servicing and repairs done at a small local garage where the proprietor does the work! And then keep them for up to 9 years

 

I'm nearly up to 6 months of 4-cyl 1.9tdi PD Roomster ownership, after about 4yrs of running a Mk 1 Fabia hatch with the same 1.4tdi PD 3-cyl engine you have (mine started out on 75bhp, had it re-mapped to 99bhp, awesome fuel economy but very vibratory if pressed hard). I've previously owned a Mk3 VW Golf TD, then a Ford Fiesta 1.4tdci; was glad to get back to solid VW build-quality with the Fabia, and now Roomster.

 

Do you find the 1.4tdi a bit sluggish? I imagine it will feel so in a Roomster; you can perk things up a little, make the most of what the engine is capable of, by getting and fitting a better-flowing long-life replacement panel air filter eg. Green Cotton (available online c £30), and using better engine oil and a fuel additive at fill-ups, my choice is Millers XFE PD and their Eco Power diesel fuel additive (Millers are at Brighouse, West Yorks); have been using their products in all my diesel cars since 1988! 

Be interested to hear what you decide

Dear all,

 

Thank you for all your help.   Your replies echo many of my own thoughts.   And it is useful to have them validated.

 

This was a tough decision.   I have bought a 6 month old C3 Picasso 1.6HDi 90 VTR+ for less than the new economy petrol Skoda Roomster SE.   I'm the sort of person who usually stays with what's familar to me.  However on this occasion I decided  to change for the following reasons:

 

 

• The C3 Picasso gets a good write up, though it doesn't have the amount of informal user support available that you get with Briskoda.  I think it's a Marmite car!   Like the Roomster - you either love them or hate them.
• The diesel engine is very economical  (more so than the Roomster) and with a bit more oomph.   
• I love the seating and the wrap around windscreen.
• I love the ride.
• The engine is much quieter and it feels more comfortable all around.
• It has all the perks that my Roomster SE had (except for the panoramic roof - but it does have cruise control)
• It has a 2.5 year warranty.
• It costs £30.00 per year to tax. £95.00 less than the Roomster.
• My husband has had 3 Citroen diesel cars over 10 years and I had a previous Citroen (6years).  We both loved them and had no problems with them.
• Insurance costs no more.
• I had a service plan and road recovery service with Skoda and had paid a lot for the Roomster.   I was very unhappy with the trade-in price they offered. Indeed, Skoda offered every other dealer in the locality much more for my car than they offered me - after 14 years loyalty!
• And, Skoda would only consider selling me a second hand Roomster from their local site.  This meant I was very confined in my choice of what was available.  There were cheaper Skoda Roomsters at other Skoda dealers. But I didn't have the time to visit them.
• I went back to Skoda again with all this information but they would not consider a reasonable trade-in price. Not the service I received previously.

I am sorry to see the Roomster go, but after my previous experiences with an older but very low mileage Fabia that had a sudden and terminal loom failure that would have cost more to repair than the car was worth (and would have meant a 6 month wait for the loom to be built), I decided to go for something else rather than keep the Roomster for longer.   

 

I may consider a Skoda in the future again, if I get a better deal.

On a positive note, I will get a refund on my cancelled service plan (£19.95 per month - 18 months left).  Thank you Skoda, 

Plus a  9 month rebate of my Skoda tax - due to expire November 2014.

 

Unfortunately, my Skoda used car warranty and  assistance  plan still has 18 months cover on it (worth about £120.00) but there will be no rebate from Skoda here.  However; I knew that to be the case when I took the plan out.

 

Thanks again for all your replies and the time you spent writing them.   Much appreciated.    I trust this comment might be useful to others in some unforseen way.

 

Best wishes,

Gortgabhair.