Having seen a VRS 230 advertised on its site at a special offer price of £23830, I asked a dealer for a PX quote on my Jan 15 VRS with 10k miles and specced to the same level as 230 barring diff/nav/electric seats and the vital Nurburgring lap timer. This spec as per my signature block below was approx £27K list price. I was flabbergasted, £16K now and £14 in 20 weeks time when the car would be built. Much as I wanted the Diff and extra 10 Bhp, I can't justify trading in at almost 50% off list price after 18 months.

I also thought that the advert is probably disingenuous as the deal had to be agreed to and would be 'honoured' with the Skoda Loyalty bonus already included in it, there is no mention of this on the website. It's either a special offer or it isn't.

I have always defended dealers on this forum and appreciate that you lose money on new cars and dealers need to make a living. I have seen lots of similar comments on depreciation from regular contributors like Pipsyreturns etc and thought the final value forecasts were a bit harsh but it appears they are spot on. I advise owners of good-condition MkII petrol and possibly TDI owners to stick with them unless they really need the extra toys and slightly more room, power/torque. The MkIII is a better car and is the one for you if you don't mind the current loss of value.

Thank you Redboy, ive banged on about it quite a bit because of my own experiences and a handful of the good folk on here as a consequence are probably sick of hearing it but have only been saying it with the best of intentions of my fellow Briskodians and those considering buying one.

Great car...woeful residuals and something to pay heed of if it is something that might affect you down the line (wish to trade in early/change in circumstances that can happen to any of us). If you aint financing it or looking to keep longer term then far less of an issue.

Wow that's making me glad I didn't go with petrol.

2013 "63" Tdi manual vRS estate with admundsen and heated windscreen/seats in race blue with 25k miles (about £25k new after any discount) and I was offered ~£13500 as a trade in against a XC60 or a Mazda 6. (Two different dealers within a couple of weeks of each other).

Edited 18 December, 201510 yr by gullyg

Too much money to change for a new one so I'm sticking with mine. Besides I've made my feelings known about some of the issues I came across when I looked at it/drove it and they would annoy me too much. It would really have to be a good price for me to swap.

12 months old is to early to avoid heavy depreciation, this is the time when the car value drops the most. from around 12 months on the curve flattens quiet dramatically although given the recent issues with VW group values are suffering as a result.

12 months old is to early to avoid heavy depreciation, this is the time when the car value drops the most. from around 12 months on the curve flattens quiet dramatically although given the recent issues with VW group values are suffering as a result.

I understand depreciation and that it loses £2-3K as soon as you drive it off the showroom floor, it's simply the 50% drop after only 18 months seems to be rather steep and even after flattening out, will it only lose another 10-15% over the next 15-18 months to be worth around 35-40% after 3 years. Don't misunderstand me, I am not complaining, many people would like to be in my position and have a a MkIII TSI. Luckily I don't have to swap cars and can keep it as long as I want. If it's as good as my MkII I will keep it for 4-6 years. I just didn't expect the cost to change to be so high and wanted to have the diff for the real world gain in traction, not the tiny 0-62 improvement or barely ever used 1Mph increase in top end.

12 months old is to early to avoid heavy depreciation, this is the time when the car value drops the most. from around 12 months on the curve flattens quiet dramatically although given the recent issues with VW group values are suffering as a result.

 

Based on base spec using Parker's guide:

 

2015 new 2.0TSI VRS £24100 on the road price.

 

Car worh minus VAT at 20% £2083, trade in value from Parkers £16415 a loss of £3668 - loss to owner £7685

 

2013 new 2.0TSI VRS £22990 on the road price.

 

Car worh minus VAT at 20% £19158, trade in value from Parkers £12290 a loss of £6868, Year 1 loss £7265 (VAT plus depreciation), year 2  £3434.

I understand depreciation and that it loses £2-3K as soon as you drive it off the showroom floor, it's simply the 50% drop after only 18 months seems to be rather steep and even after flattening out, will it only lose another 10-15% over the next 15-18 months to be worth around 35-40% after 3 years. Don't misunderstand me, I am not complaining, many people would like to be in my position and have a a MkIII TSI. Luckily I don't have to swap cars and can keep it as long as I want. If it's as good as my MkII I will keep it for 4-6 years. I just didn't expect the cost to change to be so high and wanted to have the diff for the real world gain in traction, not the tiny 0-62 improvement or barely ever used 1Mph increase in top end.

 

In terms of value for a trade in, you "lose" the 20% VAT, and the cost of any options immediately, and I think the latter is where a lot of people are losing out as people specced up their cars quite heavily.

 

If you've paid £24k for an Octavia that includes £2000 of options, and £4000 of VAT then it will be worth £18k as a trade in straight away.

 

Mine will have lost loads in the first 18 months but it was bought intending to be kept for six or seven years and over that period the annual depreciation will be much more bearable.

In terms of value for a trade in, you "lose" the 20% VAT, and the cost of any options immediately, and I think the latter is where a lot of people are losing out as people specced up their cars quite heavily.

If you've paid £24k for an Octavia that includes £2000 of options, and £4000 of VAT then it will be worth £18k as a trade in straight away.

Mine will have lost loads in the first 18 months but it was bought intending to be kept for six or seven years and over that period the annual depreciation will be much more bearable.

You don't 'lose the VAT' as such. Dealers are happy for customers to think this as it makes them look like they aren't making as much of a cut as they actually are. For trade-ins the dealer will start with what they think they can sell the car for and then knock off about 20-25% to cover their overheads and profit. VAT is only chargeable on second hand cars on the difference between the trade in price and the resale price. Example, if a dealer pays 18k for a car and then sells it on for 20k, then VAT is only due on the 2k difference not the full 20k.

I think it goes to show the list price of the VRS is too high, and if you spec it up you lose even more.

I think sometimes you have to step back and think....is an Octavia really worth £27k with options?

A standard new VRS discounted to about £19k is much more reasonable.

The mk3 doesn't hold it value as well as the mk2.

It will all be VWFS's problem come hand back time at the end of all these 0% PCP deals - the cars will be worth less than the GFV so unless they start doing a £2-3k p/ex allowance the best option will be to dump them all back on the finance company.

 

That is the beauty of PCP over HP - the finance company is carrying the risk on the GFV.

It will all be VWFS's problem come hand back time at the end of all these 0% PCP deals - the cars will be worth less than the GFV so unless they start doing a £2-3k p/ex allowance the best option will be to dump them all back on the finance company.

That is the beauty of PCP over HP - the finance company is carrying the risk on the GFV.

Exactly. You know up front what it will cost you.

My experience last year:

 

Octy Elegance wagon + Canton + Colombus. 6 months old with 4K miles. List price was £25K, bought for £20K, valuation at dealer £15K.... Ouch.

My experience last year:

 

Octy Elegance wagon + Canton + Colombus. 6 months old with 4K miles. List price was £25K, bought for £20K, valuation at dealer £15K.... Ouch.

And at a guess, the GFV for that on a 3 year 30k miles would be about £11-12k?

 

What are the chances of it only losing £3k over the next 2 and a half years????

And at a guess, the GFV for that on a 3 year 30k miles would be about £11-12k?

What are the chances of it only losing £3k over the next 2 and a half years????

With you 100% Andy....mine isnt quite 2 yet and recently valued at 12.5k best case.......GFV at 42 months is £10.3k haha

Are you going to VT or go full term before handing back - I guess there is less than 6 months difference?

Are you going to VT or go full term before handing back - I guess there is less than 6 months difference?

Cant VT until about 38/39 months as I put v little deposit in Andy.....I suspect I'll probably just keep it and hand back.

I make mine about 37 months as well. And then I'll have an excess mileage to pay. Could still be the cheapest way in to the next car though.

I make mine about 37 months as well. And then I'll have an excess mileage to pay. Could still be the cheapest way in to the next car though.

I think so mate, definitely wont be buying it thats for sure :-) if the process is easy and relatively quick I might VT just to get out and into something else a bit sooner....perhaps for the principle of rhe finance arrangements being so poor too. Kind of want to throw it on VWFS's doorstep ASAP haha

To be fair the three or four payments would be the deposit on something nice on a 3/23 or 3/35 lease term.

Edited 18 December, 201510 yr by pipsypreturns

...Nationwide Vehicle Contracts are doing Polo GTI 5 doors on 3/23 10k miles for sub £200 inc VAT.....probably not the ideal family car but a prime example of whats available if you look.

With 30k/year bundled in still cheaper than my Octavia per month haha

Depreciation with mass produced cars is always the biggest cost involved in running the car. You have to look  at how you can limit this, currently you can get massive discounts off list, when I bought mine there were not so big discounts as there were long lead times for the TDi's. I managed to find a pre registered car with just 50 miles on the clock. Got this for over £4500 off list price so my first year loss was only about £3000 IMO. When the time comes to swop my car I will sell it privately, I  expect it will be any easy sale as I keep my cars very clean and only do 10000 miles at most so expect mine to be one of the lower mileage TDI's out there. I struggle to believe I wont be able to get at least 11k for it at 3 years 30000 miles for a VRS estate TDI. Therefore less than 10k loss in 3 years. Think that compares to other mass produced makes. I could of bought a 30k Audi A6, would that be worth more than 20k after 3 years?? doubt it, dealers currently have these up at around 17k therefore approx 13k+ loss on audi against less than 10k hopefully on my VRS.     Not too bad after all!!!   

It is not just a mk3 thing depreciation hits all.

I managed to bag a top spec mk2 ex demonstrator vRS CR170 on a 12 plate at about 7 months old which originally had a full list close to £23k allegedly, for £15.5k including a full Kenwood upgrade.

All cars depreciate, my 9 week old Fiesta if I had paid list lost £4k!!! In 2,500 miles and 9 weeks, luckily I paid just over £2k below list and lost a lot less.

New cars are always a total loss and then add in interest to your PCP if you take it that way and we are literally throwing thousands away.

Best bet is buy a pre reg and save a few thousand or let some other poor sole take the biggest loss and buy second hand.

My Golf was list of nearly £32k got it as a demo with 280 miles for £27.9k and after nearly 7 months of owning was provisionally offered £26.5k last week by Honda so not too bad but if I had paid full list, it is a big loss :(

Edited 18 December, 201510 yr by Defenderben

It isn't the fact that they depreciate that is the issue, it is the fact that on 2 year old cars the trade in values seem to be not too far north from the GFV at 3 and half years.

It isn't the fact that they depreciate that is the issue, it is the fact that on 2 year old cars the trade in values seem to be not too far north from the GFV at 3 and half years.

Indeed, if anyone had told me a less than 2 year old 2.0 TDI 150 Elegance estate at £23k RRP was only going to be worth £12.5k trade now I wouldnt have bought one as Id have smelt the neg equity a mile off.

When I paid about £20k for my Mk2 Blackline and got well over £16k for it after 12 months its quite a big difference. In fact used a year older more miley Blackline still retails for similar money to a nearly new O3 SE/Elegance (around £14k).

Edited 19 December, 201510 yr by pipsypreturns

Correct me if I'm wrong (I've never done PCP)  but cant they set the GFMV a fair bit higher than the trade in value of the car and still make money?  Your balloon payment is the GFMV yes?  so they could set it as high as the main dealer used car sale price and not lose...if you don't pay the balloon then they sell it to someone else that pays it.  If that is so...it can depreciate a fair bit more yet before VWFS are  'losing'.