[Falkster]

Just looked at the configurator and the base price for a vRS hatch has increased. Gutted it is now out of the company car budget. IIRC this is £1000 more than launch and is a big jump from a vRS mk2 price from two and a half years ago. Oh well! Will have to go to plan B and go for 150 Elegance with a few toys. I wonder if the vRS has had so much success that Skoda feel it can command a higher price as the Elegance price does not seem to have increased by the same percentage?

[DanEds]

Let's hope it's reflected in the part ex price when I swap for another in September 2016!

[Orville]

VW Golf GT Estate asking price is only £850 more. I know that it is smaller but VW still have the perceieved better brand, better interior trim (no cheap plastic parts) and better resale values. VAG/SUK have pushed prices into the premium arena, possibly to cut waiting lists (and drive up profits)

[skovirg]

VW Golf GT Estate asking price is only £850 more. I know that it is smaller but VW still have the perceieved better brand, better interior trim (no cheap plastic parts) and better resale values. VAG/SUK have pushed prices into the premium arena, possibly to cut waiting lists (and drive up profits)

 

It's certainly true that they are approaching premium brand prices at a rapid rate of knots. Add a few extras like leather, pano roof, winter pack and decent cruise onto an Octavia, factor in the discounts available on premium brands and the difference looks very small indeed.

 

Given the price increase, change in package and hideous wait times, personally, I'd walk away.

[meta55b]

I'm with you skovirg, The price of the the new vrs is a joke. I've had my vrs from new June 2008 and have started looking at other makes now as skoda are asking way to much now.

[vrskeith]

Perhaps it's wait for the high spec demo sale from the dealers and save a few £s that way - provided you are not too fussy.

 

Give it another 12 months, the cycle of popularity will have come off it's peak and Skoda will have to introduce the inducement packages.

[gt40]

I look at it differently. I had a set of requirements and a figure in my head (£30k) for the car I needed. The Skoda over scored on the requirements and came in well under the top figure i wanted to pay. Nothing else came close.

Branding did not come into it. Maybe I look at it differently as this is my first Skoda, so I'm comparing it with the market, not with any previous Skodas.

It's quite amazing, however, how many of my friends and colleagues, who know my cars and preferences, have remarked on my choice of car - all positive.

It's time Skodas were defined by values other than money.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Auric Goldfinger]

Skoda's are getting a Tad expensive to be honest.    :yes:

[mannyo]

VW Golf GT Estate asking price is only £850 more. I know that it is smaller but VW still have the perceieved better brand, better interior trim (no cheap plastic parts) and better resale values. VAG/SUK have pushed prices into the premium arena, possibly to cut waiting lists (and drive up profits)

 

By the time you have added the extras onto the VW to make the spec roughly the same the Golf is considerably more, and as you say is a smaller car, not only that the GTD is less powerful as well, and the GTD with the longer gearing is slower. VW have yet to increase their prices, and when they do the gap will be even larger.

[jp0202]

They have a demo vrs diesel hatch in my local Arnold Clark that I went to see couple weeks ago, price was just below £24k and the salesman hinted I couldn't count on much discount on it (maybe £500). Mind it didn't have much in terms of options - amundsen and black pack.

Came back again yesterday to show the wife (brainwashing continues) and the price on the same car was £500 more! They actually increased the price of their MY14 demo when skoda increased theirs? With their generous £500 discount you would effectively be paying list price for the ex demo car with a couple thousand miles on the clock. What a joke! I suspect it will stay there for a while.

[mannyo]

Due to supply contstraints they can pretty much charge what they like at the moment, demand is far exceeding supply. Given the choice between having a demo next weekend or waiting 8 months for a new one of the same spec which will cost more than base price with extras, someone will buy the demo rather than wait.

 

Discounts are available, but the same situation applies due to supply/demand.

 

They have a demo vrs diesel hatch in my local Arnold Clark that I went to see couple weeks ago, price was just below £24k and the salesman hinted I couldn't count on much discount on it (maybe £500). Mind it didn't have much in terms of options - amundsen and black pack.

Came back again yesterday to show the wife (brainwashing continues) and the price on the same car was £500 more! They actually increased the price of their MY14 demo when skoda increased theirs? With their generous £500 discount you would effectively be paying list price for the ex demo car with a couple thousand miles on the clock. What a joke! I suspect it will stay there for a while.

[jp0202]

True, however having a quick look around you can get the same or better spec ex demo car for £2-3k less. Why would anyone pay more then?

[classic]

I didn't buy a vrs, merely an "s", but I did choose it against all the competition, brand didn't come into it.

For my needs it was the best car for the money.

It seems to me that if I'd wanted a VRS type car, there's less choice from other manufacturers. Skoda can charge proportionaly more for them. Having said that, I think the vrs is good value for what you get, and holds it value better than the rest of the range.

[pipsyp]

I think Skoda are just about winning the race in the UK due to their quite canny finance packages.

I think my base spec 2.0 Elegance estate @ over £23k was rather alot of money; particularly given the Blackline DSG estate I bouggt 12 months prior was only 20k.....but very few (and no other VAG stablemate as far as I know) were offering 0% finance and free servicing at the time.

Care of that deal (and that the new car has a slightly better 3.5 year residual value) my 3k more expensive car costs roughly the same per month and I had to put considerably less deposit in. If you buy on finance you are getting a nice few k discount up front by having no interest to pay on the loan, so less deposit required and reasonable monthly paymentd despite the full list price.

I see it as a bit of a compromise vehicle as personally id have rather had a reasonable spec 320d saloon/touring if my heart had led proceedings but the Octavia is absolutely huge for a Golf based car, well spec'd, goes well, v efficient on paper and in the end probably about the most car I could have bought new for my self imposed monthly spend budget and minimal deposit. I dont doubt a nice 320d would cost at least £100/month more than I pay now and would require a bigger deposit as at the end of the day its a 33k-ish K car being purchased on a less attractive marketing programme.

Now if Skoda get their marketing/financing wrong it would hurt their business as Id say the majority of people nowadays use finance; if you had to pay strong list price and take mediocre finance packages to pay for them other premium marques offerings would start to make alot more sense and they'd lose sales.

The demand for the vRS will die down in due course and I'm certain it'll end up back on 0% in order for SUK to keep the sales numbers up.

[skodanorman]

I bought mine because I really wanted one and the 0% closed the deal; however they are getting really quite expensive cars. I was looking on the configurator and the L&K is £28k and it seems you don't even get much to justify the increase in price. 

VW run the risk of saturating the market as they seem to be pricing Skoda far too closely to VW's own products. Certainly gone are the days when you could count on Skoda to build a no-thrills, back to basic, cheap runabout. 

[gt40]

Certainly gone are the days when you could count on Skoda to build a no-thrills, back to basic, cheap runabout. 

 

Like this?

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/models/citigo-3-door

 

(except there's probably thrills to be had! You'd need the Roomster for no thrills. If you meant no frills that's another story......)

[neil_f]

Agree that skoda are starting to price themselves out the market. The mk2 vrs was great value for money and massively undercut anything else on the market offering fantastic space, spec and perfomance. The fact that cruise control isnt standard seems a bit tight. Factor in that the standard wheels look rubbish so you need to upgrade those as well.

When I change my mk2 I might seriously consider the new leon cupra estate. By the time you spec up a vrs the leon probably won't be that much dearer...has far more performance.....will have the fancy diff from the golf pp and boot is almost the same size as the octavia estate. Yeah it's slighlty smaller inside but bet it drives better than the vrs.

[joela]

ordered a VRS TDI last Tuesday and got price locked just before price rise and spec increase, so waiting for a 2015 car at 2014 price, phew lucky timing

[Eddie-NL]

just had a play on the Skoda website and built my new fantasy car. VRS Estate with a few options nearly £32K

 

I think all makes are getting more expensive, and I bet the cars don't last that well once they are over 10 years old

[Yogi-Bear]

Yeah it's slighlty smaller inside

 

It's about half the size of the Octavia inside!  Seriously, the boot in the Octavia is so much bigger than anything else in the same price bracket.

[Zdenek Fibich]

Going back to Falkster's original post - is the (cheaper) petrol vRS still on your list?  It's not as economical as the diesel, for sure, but the 40 mpg on a long run that I get with mine (mark 3 estate) is pretty respectable.  Some non-VAG diesels struggle to do as well as that.

 

If you do need the diesel, you won't find the 150 bhp Elegance much slower in normal driving than the 184 bhp vRS.  And some equipment is standard on the Elegance which costs extra on the vRS.

[Yogi-Bear]

VRS Estate with a few options nearly £32K

 

You what now?  I've gone for a vRS estate with most options ticked, and it still comes out at under £29k.  So either you're doing something wrong, or your definition of "a few options" is actually "ticked every box".

 

In any case, I challenge you to find a car that has a similar (or better) engine, has at least the same load space, has the same equipment, and doesn't cost > £40k.

[Yogi-Bear]

Going back to Falkster's original post - is the (cheaper) petrol vRS still on your list?  It's not as economical as the diesel, for sure, but the 40 mpg on a long run that I get with mine (mark 3 estate) is pretty respectable.

 

The price difference between the petrol and diesel models is less than £300.  You'll make that up in lower fuel bills and RFL in the first 6 months (at most).  It's bonkers really - on other cars, the diesel is usually between £700 - £1,500 more than the equivalent petrol.

[Paul007]

I spec'd a Seat Leon Cupra and it wasn't short of £32k. Mad.

[Eddie-NL]

You what now?  I've gone for a vRS estate with most options ticked, and it still comes out at under £29k.  So either you're doing something wrong, or your definition of "a few options" is actually "ticked every box".

 

In any case, I challenge you to find a car that has a similar (or better) engine, has at least the same load space, has the same equipment, and doesn't cost > £40k.

Hardly every box ticked

 

VRS Estate TDI Manual

High Beam assist

Heated seats front and rear

Electric seats

Power Fold Mirrors

Leather

Silver Paint

Silver Roof rails

Park Assist

Heated Front screen

Columbus

Canton

Cornering Fogs

Sunroof

Extended Bluetooth