Hey,

 

I went and looked at an Octavia l&k today (2007 07 with 60k on the clock) and liked the way it drove and the toys included. I was and am however concerned about some of the bodywork which I hope you can help me with :

 

The panel gaps look consistent, the paintwork is consistent with age with a few unfortunate stone chips on the front end, but the boot has me worried. Hopefully I can attach some photos but the top of the opening of the hatch appears to have split sealer on one side, and sloppy sealer on the other. Can anyone advise me if this is normal please?

 

Thanks

I would say that doesnt look like something to stress over too much,

 

Do you have pics of the rest of the car?

 

How much is it up for?

I would say that doesnt look like something to stress over too much,

 

Do you have pics of the rest of the car?

 

How much is it up for?

Its up for 6k, don't have any pictures of the rest of it unfortunately! I only took those on second viewing as I spotted it then! It drives ok, but has wheel bearing or tyre issues as it makes some odd wub wub noises which they said they would fix.

 

I've never walked away with a bad feeling buying a car before, and always regretted it afterwards and this car gives me 'that' feeling.

To give yourself some peace of mind get an AA vehicle check first, I don't know how much they cost or of alternatives but at least you'll have some assurance from an experienced eye.

To give yourself some peace of mind get an AA vehicle check first, I don't know how much they cost or of alternatives but at least you'll have some assurance from an experienced eye.

 

I'm going to look at another one this week, which I'll use to compare the rear ends! However, this next one has white leather which I really don't want. Am pondering looking into getting it dyed.

you'll have to get some comparison photos up when you do view this other one!

you'll have to get some comparison photos up when you do view this other one!

 

 

Will do mate, problem is the other one has full white leather and I really don't want that with mucky kids!

Ive got a mucky father-in-law and his cream leather hasn't stood up too badly! If you want to swap for some standard dark cloth ill swap seats

Agreed I've got a mate with two footy mad sons and that cream leather interior, and it stands up well to the Sunday morning travelling to and from games - it is really nice (in a blue car in his case) and generally leather isn't so hard to keep clean...

Agreed I've got a mate with two footy mad sons and that cream leather interior, and it stands up well to the Sunday morning travelling to and from games - it is really nice (in a blue car in his case) and generally leather isn't so hard to keep clean...

 

The one with the white leather is also the same blue colour as the one I looked at first. I'll definitely take a look if you think it goes well with the blue.

Well its personal taste obviously but I certainly like it.  I prefer it to the grey leather in mine if I am honest.

Well its personal taste obviously but I certainly like it.  I prefer it to the grey leather in mine if I am honest.

 

Thanks for the time you took to reply - its appreciated

 

The blue one with white leather has done 65k, but doesn't have a spoiler on it that shouldn't be there either! The one I looked at appears to have had a vrs spoiler added to it at the rear at some point in its life.

 

I'll go try the one with white leather, if it doesn't make odd noises on the test drive and looks straight perhaps I'll go for that. The one this thread is regarding makes odd noises which the garage said they'd sort before it was sold and collected but I'd have thought they would have fixed it before people come to test drive it.

Can't hurt looking at it for sure if it's not too far away.  Sounds like that first one hasn't got your confidence anyway, and I agree if those noises were a simple fix, they would have done it!!

Can't hurt looking at it for sure if it's not too far away.  Sounds like that first one hasn't got your confidence anyway, and I agree if those noises were a simple fix, they would have done it!!

 

Genuinely I prefer the half leather/half alcantara combo of the first one I looked at. The salesman was adamant that the tyres need replacing and that's all that the noise is. The brakes were terrible but the disks were rusty so I assume its been sat a while. The car sprung to life straight away though, and seemed to pull very well. If it weren't for the funny noises I probably would have agreed to take the car there and then, but the noise worried me and then this split has me more concerned.

 

I've been offered a free look at it by a local mechanic friend if I can get it out on a test drive again, so may well take him up on that. The other one however, is an 08 plate, with only a few thousand more miles on the clock but is £500 cheaper at screen price.

 

Can you tell I'm rubbish with decisions?

It is a big decision to be fair but newer and cheaper has to be factor to consider if also good condition. It could be the tyres making the noise on the first one, but if it is, then it probably needs full laser based 4 wheel realignment too.

My Octavia is blue with cream leather and I think it looks pretty nice.  The leather seems very durable and doesn't seem to get dirty even with kids.  Leather seats would probably be more attractive when coming to sell on as well.

For what its worth, those areas of sealant look OK to me. My 2007 Octavia had some suspect sealant too. I think the processes in the factory weren't great.

Edited 1 December, 201411 yr by silver1011

Thanks all for your replies. I had a trusted friend look over it today and he said the seam joint isn't right and that the car has dry paint in that area so I'm going to leave it well alone.

 

I'll be going to look at the white leather one this weekend if its still there. My only concern with that one is that according to the car check I did on it, it was sold in 29th March 2014. I'm always dubious about cars that have sat unsold for a very long time as I wonder if its sat there for a reason! Would it concern you guys?

Mine was unsold for six months before I bought (largely because it was advertised badly which was good for me) but its been a great car.  Once I looked at it and drove it I didn't worry about that.

My Octavia was on the forecourt for about 9 months, it was even used occasionally by the MD's wife. I waited until it came down in price until I was happy and then bought it.

Ian