Hi all

 

After deciding that the new Octavia was the car for me, the fun of speccing it began. Originally, I wasn't bothered by having the sat nav or Alcantara upholstery, so thought I'd be better off by speccing an SE to what I wanted. Turns out I was wrong. :think:  More of what I specced was in the Elegance trim than I realised, and some of the others were cheaper to add to that than the SE. Then I realised that the Elegance would have a higher GFV, reducing the monthly cost. So, by speccing the Elegance as I wanted I've got a "better car", worth £1000 more, for the same monthly price. 

 

So, the deed was done at the beginning of the week, and now the wait is on for an Elegance Race Blue estate* 2.0 TDI DSG with toys:

Bi-Xenon headlights with AFS and cornering front fog lights with black surrounds

Parking assistant (parallel, bay and manouvering out of a line of cars)

Crew Protection Assistant/Rear side airbags

17" 'Hawk' alloy wheels

3 spoke leather MFSW for radio and telephone with DSG paddles

Roof rails, silver

Sunset glass from B pillar back

Space saver spare wheel

Simply Clever pack for variable boot floor

 

Excited would seem to be an appropriate adjective!

 

 

 

*Will I get banned for saying that and not Combi?! 

Oh, and props to Garland Motors in Alder****e Aldershot for their good work so far. Including me completely re-speccing the car a couple of days after ordering... Yes, I did originally order the SE 

Welcome in, it'll be well worth the wait, I did the same sums with the SE and the Elegance before I ordered mine, had mine since 9th May, and loving it.

 

Mine is an Estate too

Hope the extras didn't cost too much because they add nothing to the GFV not even Met. paint.

 

Does "Simply Clever pack for variable boot floor" include boot nets ?

 

Enjoy her when she gets here, had my TSI since 01/03/14 nice drive and quick too

Hope the extras didn't cost too much because they add nothing to the GFV not even Met. paint.

 

True, but choosing the 'right' options can improve the value of the car when you come to sell.

 

I decided to go for what I wanted on the car rather than what gives the best value.

True, but choosing the 'right' options can improve the value of the car when you come to sell.

 

I decided to go for what I wanted on the car rather than what gives the best value.

 

I can't fault that logic.  I can't quite work out why folks add too many options though. They are meant to be unpretentious, good value (admittedly less so than ever) family cars. However, they are a pano roof and a xenon light system away from significantly better cars.

 

I do love mine but adding too many extras would have made the price tag less appealing and more difficult to justify against the opposition.

Hope the extras didn't cost too much because they add nothing to the GFV not even Met. paint.

 

Does "Simply Clever pack for variable boot floor" include boot nets ?

 

Enjoy her when she gets here, had my TSI since 01/03/14 nice drive and quick too

 

Well, when the list includes the xenons, park assist and the crew protection package, you're looking at £2k    I've heard/read too much about how much better xenons are, and of the other two, one's a SWMBO stipulation    (along with the sunset glass) and the other's safety related. 

 

The Simply Clever pack is rather oddly named - it's the media/phone holder and the door bin. I think if you don't have the variable boot floor you get a boot liner too.

 

The wheels can't really be described as a safety related item, I just think they look great! 

 

Thanks, I am rather looking forward to it. 

True, but choosing the 'right' options can improve the value of the car when you come to sell.

 

I decided to go for what I wanted on the car rather than what gives the best value.

 

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. Given I've had the CR-V for seven years (company cars before that) I don't appear to be the choppin-and-a-changin type, so I went for the spec I wanted, without going OTT.

I can't fault that logic.  I can't quite work out why folks add too many options though. They are meant to be unpretentious, good value (admittedly less so than ever) family cars. However, they are a pano roof and a xenon light system away from significantly better cars.

 

I do love mine but adding too many extras would have made the price tag less appealing and more difficult to justify against the opposition.

 

I can't argue that I didn't wish it was cheaper    but I'd rather have a Skoda than a VW. No, if we're talking even more premium, I'd ditch the VAG mob and go BMW...

 

 

Edit: Yes, I avoided the multi-quote option for the post count. Apparently something magical happens when you hit 20 posts...

I can't fault that logic. I can't quite work out why folks add too many options though. They are meant to be unpretentious, good value (admittedly less so than ever) family cars. However, they are a pano roof and a xenon light system away from significantly better cars.

I do love mine but adding too many extras would have made the price tag less appealing and more difficult to justify against the opposition.

Do agree with this. I guess though that Skoda are beginning to attract a new type of customer; people with a few quid who'd once upon a time had of thought nothing about dropping 30-40k on a car, a 30k Octavia will all the bells and whistles to these people probably seems like value compared to a bare-bones low range 30-odd K 3 series......can probably stomach an 20k+ loss over 3 years too.

At 23k I felt the car I bought was starting to get on the wrong side of good value but the 0% finance made up for it....I dont think i'd be prepared to pay alot more than that for any Octavia though; be looking at nearly new/new premium marques then personally.

I can agree with the SE/Elegance pricing.  I was originally going for an SE but when adding the options I was almost at Elegance price and I got even more for my money - so Elegance it was.

Pipsyp brings up an interesting point. Skoda have upped their game with the MK3 Octavia. 

 

I needed to replace my V6 Golf with a family wagon for my young family. I needed wanted a performance estate that lasted 10 years. The choice boiled down to a fully loaded VRS estate VS bare(ish) Passat estate or really bare bones A4 Avant for the same money. I chose the VRS.

 

Why? For me its better to have a fully loaded great car than a bare bones premium car due to my long term ownership. IMO, the MK3 Octavia VRS is 90% as good as an A4 Avant and 95% as good as a Passat Estate. The MK3 Octy is a much better car than its predecessors. Am I the new target demographic for Skoda? Probably not but this is the first time I've ever considered Skoda let alone purchase one.

 

Skoda are not a budget brand any more. They are just the more value brand of the VAG Group now. Cheap, they are not.

 

I'll admit that I still feel a little open to ridicule when I tell people what car I drive....but when I show it to them they are blown away. An A4 owning friend of mine is shocked how good it is. His S-line was 20K more than my VRS and he feels its not £20,000 better.

 

Bottom line, Skoda is changing (for the better IMO) and I think the Korean brands are taking its place in the budget end of the market. 

Edited 30 May, 201412 yr by Farsider

Hope the extras didn't cost too much because they add nothing to the GFV not even Met.

But he will be driving it so why not choose what you want on the car? I see the standard spec as a base from which to tailor your car to suit your own specific needs and/or tastes.

It's hard to judge resale values and who knows what peoples "must haves" will be in the next 3 years or more. I'd bet that most will be looking for things like Xenons to be a standard on cars manufactured from 2012(ish) onwards. Will soon be the same with DAB radios etc, a must have when the second hand buyer comes to have a look.

It's hard to judge resale values and who knows what peoples "must haves" will be in the next 3 years or more. I'd bet that most will be looking for things like Xenons to be a standard on cars manufactured from 2012(ish) onwards. Will soon be the same with DAB radios etc, a must have when the second hand buyer comes to have a look.

 

A very good point. Not one I thought of, but I like it nonetheless. I know DAB was just one of the ticks in favour of the Octavia when compared to the Superb.

 

If someone were to try and look down on me for choosing a Skoda, they would instantly lose credibility 

It's hard to judge resale values .

Really ? Black Book has been doing it for 50 years, list purchase price, depreciated by age and any additional milage applicable, not rocket science. Anybody paying more got mugged off, paying less got a deal, gotta have a specific option ? You're gonna get mugged off.

Its really not difficult

Really ? Black Book has been doing it for 50 years, list purchase price, depreciated by age and any additional milage applicable, not rocket science. Anybody paying more got mugged off, paying less got a deal, gotta have a specific option ? You're gonna get mugged off.

Its really not difficult

Black book tells you the resale value now, not what it will be in three years time... all sorts of things might have come into play in three years time that we can't predict right now? Changes in taxation scales, the re-introduction of a scrappage scheme, the relative difference in fuel costs between petrol and diesel, changes in taste re car colours to name but a few.... Unless you happen to have a crystal ball?

Skoda are not a budget brand anymore. That's sorta why I bought one. I'd say they are a good value brand who gets most of vags new tech. Sure some of the parts are vw/Audi parts bin. I personally can't believe I got so much NEW car for 21k. It's class leading in so many practical areas. The 2.0 is a superb blend of performance and economy.

I don't think you can define value purely on price. Hence why I am over the moon with the skoda.

I think Xenons and DAB are going to be desirable to the second hand car buyer soon. It wasn't until I read people raving about Xenons, plus knowing the ones retro-fitted to my wife's Cupra *are* brighter, that I decided to stump up. This knowledge will spread via word of mouth, and make a sale easier. I'm not claiming I'll get the money back, but I'll get the benefit of the Xenons, and an easier sale. #doublewin

Exactly. Easier sale and if you have these extras you are more likely to command a higher price.

I wouldn't have a car that didn't have heated leather seats and Xenons now - I'm sure there will be plenty of buyers out there with a 'must have' list when they come to purchase a car in 2 or 3 years.

Would you buy a car that didn't have electric windows now? Probably not.

Extras will make the care more desirable and more likely to command a higher price.

As for me getting mugged off? I very much doubt it. I'm not paying for the car in the first place....

Black book tells you the resale value now, not what it will be in three years time... all sorts of things might have come into play in three years time that we can't predict right now? Changes in taxation scales, the re-introduction of a scrappage scheme, the relative difference in fuel costs between petrol and diesel, changes in taste re car colours to name but a few.... Unless you happen to have a crystal ball?

So what in the last 50 years and all the advances in motoring done to vary the model of depreciation ?  seat belts, disc brakes, motorways, car tax, CO2, ABS, A/C or Airbags nope none of them, a 3 year old second hand motor is worth between 50-60% of what it was brought for as long as you dodged the Dacia et.al.  Now if we ran out of OIL you may just have a point but, in the next three years ...

 

Iain you've hit the nail on the head, not value but desirability maybe altered but, how much that'll affect value ie. what someone is willing to pay is a different thing there ain't no 0% PCP on 3 year old motors, you've gotta spend hard-earned and thats a whole different ball game.

50-60% of a near £30K motor is a big difference - (3K by my math)

If you've added 3K worth of extras (which is most of them!) you should expect to command 60% whereas if it's the standard version 50% - you've not really lost much AND got the exact car you wanted without worrying about the pennies you (might) save when you come to sell it.

I know which I'd prefer. It's me that's driving the thing for the next 3-4 years - I would hate to be thinking, every time I got into the car, "I wish I'd got that....."

It's worth noting that Skoda do no alter the GMV figure at all, even if you tick every one of the options and spend more than a 3 series, A4 or C class.

 

Sure, if people want to spec their cars up to the next price bracket, that's great but if they expect to recoup some of it from a px with a dealer, as most probably will, they may well be disappointed.

I reckon it's a numbers game. If your priority is pure cost and VFM, then I think Hyundai and Kia should probably be top of your list as the five and seven year warranties have a lot going for them. 

 

On the maths theme, I do 20,000 miles a year. If 40mph is a reasonable average, then that's 500 hours a year in that one seat. Making that an easy, pleasant, stress-free place to be seems worthwhile!

It's worth noting that Skoda do no alter the GMV figure at all, even if you tick every one of the options and spend more than a 3 series, A4 or C class.

 

Sure, if people want to spec their cars up to the next price bracket, that's great but if they expect to recoup some of it from a px with a dealer, as most probably will, they may well be disappointed.

 

No, but they do alter it based on the trim level, which is where I came in...  :p

No, but they do alter it based on the trim level, which is where I came in...  :p

 

Indeed they do!

 

A good point well made.