Hi all,

Im completely new to skoda's. I currently have a 306 cabriolet 1.8s and due to a recent spate of weekly faults occuring and recently finding out me and my fiance are expecting our first child, we have decided to look towards buying another car rather than continue with ever deepening money put that is the 306 cabriolet.

One particular skoda has caught my eye and its a 2003 53 plate skoda octavia 1.6 petrol ambiente in a bronze/red estate. Its on the autotrader in the oldham/lancashire area.

It has a long mot and appears pretty good in the photos too. Doesn't look like a car at 23 year old would drive but i guess its less likely to have been driven hard for that reason too i suppose.

Its 790 pound and states a genuine low mileage of 70k miles. I can't post a link at present however... i'm skeptical. Its a vw underneath and everything i have found out about so far says the octavia is bullet proof but.. a low mileage octavia with a years mot at 790 quid sounds too good to be true. Should i be put off or just go for it?.

What should i look for when buying and are there any common faults?. I have a very tight budget and will also be using my cab as a px so around the 700 mark is my limit.

Thanks

Rob

Sorry its an 02 plate 2002 not 53 2003 as previously posted

Anyone?

Hi all,

Im completely new to skoda's. I currently have a 306 cabriolet 1.8s and due to a recent spate of weekly faults occuring and recently finding out me and my fiance are expecting our first child, we have decided to look towards buying another car rather than continue with ever deepening money put that is the 306 cabriolet.

One particular skoda has caught my eye and its a 2003 53 plate skoda octavia 1.6 petrol ambiente in a bronze/red estate. Its on the autotrader in the oldham/lancashire area.

It has a long mot and appears pretty good in the photos too. Doesn't look like a car at 23 year old would drive but i guess its less likely to have been driven hard for that reason too i suppose.

Its 790 pound and states a genuine low mileage of 70k miles. I can't post a link at present however... i'm skeptical. Its a vw underneath and everything i have found out about so far says the octavia is bullet proof but.. a low mileage octavia with a years mot at 790 quid sounds too good to be true. Should i be put off or just go for it?.

What should i look for when buying and are there any common faults?. I have a very tight budget and will also be using my cab as a px so around the 700 mark is my limit.

Thanks

Rob

 

The MK I Octavia is a great car (I still have my 2001 1.4 16v - owned from new) . The 1.6 8v is a good long lived engine capable of high mileages .

Check the service history especially re cambelt - condition is all at this age. Double check the air-con works as well!

 

Make sure there are no engine management lights on - if there are walk away - don't believe oh we'll sort that! 

Edited 1 November, 201510 yr by bigjohn

Thanks fella!

Im really swayyed towards the skoda it alpears good in the pictures, it doesnt say anything about service history. If the cambelt hasn't been done, how much could i expect to pay to have that done?

Could it be too good to be true? 790 quid with 70k miles on the clock?.

Thanks

Rob

Thanks fella!

Im really swayyed towards the skoda it alpears good in the pictures, it doesnt say anything about service history. If the cambelt hasn't been done, how much could i expect to pay to have that done?

Could it be too good to be true? 790 quid with 70k miles on the clock?.

Thanks

Rob

 

Cambelt about £350. Car could be a bit cheaper as the car tax is over £200/year

 

Check MOT history to check mileage but could be OK as that's about 6k miles year as generally you didn't buy a 1.6 for high annual mileage.

 

Whatever the value of the car I always HPI them myself. Give it a good test drive to ensure all well, make sure you get up to speed on a motorway or dual A road. Give the brakes a good prod (when safe) to ensure all well with inc ABS

 

Condition is all and any warning lights - run...

Edited 1 November, 201510 yr by bigjohn

I've been keeping an eye on this one, looks to be a good one as far as I can see.

my sister-in-law has this engine in her Golf and its a proper solid little motor!

Good luck!