hi

 

my wife is considering swapping her 10 reg Octy Elegance estate for something smaller and a bit newer, and is quite taken with the idea of a Roomster.

I've never paid much attention to them on here, so was wondering if there was a "sweet spot" to look out for, the ideal combination of engine, trim, age, DSG or no DSG ?

 

Similarly, is there anything to definitely avoid?

 

All recommendations gratefully received

Edited 4 June, 201610 yr by Wet Kipper

From my experience with 2007 Scout I would advise getting a later model with canbus 2.0, if you then fit an OEM satnav unit you will get better integration with the maxidot display. 

 

I have a 1.9tdi manual, performance is good, economy acceptable and compared to my Touran it handles like a kart.

Sweet spot for me is the 1.2TSI  with DSG, which work really well together.

40mpg around town and 50+ on a run.

I loved my 1.9TDI but it did seem agricultural compared to my 1.2TSI.

Later diesels have DPF and although not as agricultural as the 1.9TDI, they are still less refined than the petrol engines.

DSG not available on diesel engines..

 

Roomster SE has pano roof as standard (optional on all other models).

Roomster Scout has roof rails as standard (optional on all other models)

Roomster Scout has wide, low profile tyres that give a harsh and noisy ride.

 

TSI engines come with two outputs: 105bhp (DSG and 5 speed manual) or 86 bhp (5 speed manual only)

Finally, TSI engines from 2013 onwards should not have the timing chain issues associated with previous years.

 

HTH

Edited 4 June, 201610 yr by Robjon

1.9 PD TDi and the sweet spot for me is when the hybrid Garrett turbo comes on boost.......

Seriously though, the PD 1.9 is a solid engine.

Roof rails - get them

Panoramic roof - get one

That's about it from me.

Low profile 205/45/16 wheels are deeply uncomfortable ... unless you are 17 and wear a baseball cap back to front.

 

I have just swapped mine for 15's and the difference is amazing.

Low profile 205/45/16 wheels are deeply uncomfortable ... unless you are 17 and wear a baseball cap back to front.

I'm barely a toddler running 205/40/17 then.......

Can’t say that I’ve found the 16” wheels to be uncomfortable, but then my previous daily drive for over 10 years was an MG TF. The Roomster’s handling and general entertainment when driving was a revelation to me when I first test drove the car.

 

Trim wise there isn’t much of it so get the best spec that you can, the “poverty” spec Roomster’s are just too basic.  

 

Roof rails for me finish the car off even if you have no intention of ever using them and I would recommend the panoramic roof, again it does finish the car off.
 

Did similar thing few years ago, as wife wanted something easier to park than the mk2 Octavia estate (which was a 2.0 FSI auto L&K)

Ended up with a 2012 Roomster SE 1.2 tsi DSG.  

 

Surprising well spec'd, yes we lost some luxuries but nothing essential is missing.  

Love the panoramic roof.  Can carry lots, handy when we bought a new small chest freezer. 

 

One thing we did buy extra was the raised boot floor, dogs happier as can now see out of window

Seems to get reasonable mpg as well.

 

Anything we don't like :  middle seat in back is apparently not very comfortable (but is very rarely used),  in fact you can remove it and move the outer seats in, but we haven't as would leave gap for dogs to climb through.  

 

Would I buy another : Yes (except they are discontinued so has to be at least a year old)

Blackbird tell us where you got your 15" wheels,ie from a scrapyard "fabia wheels?" or new.

Apologies for going off thread,but the hard ride is the only drawback with the 1.9 scout.

Blackbird tell us where you got your 15" wheels,ie from a scrapyard "fabia wheels?" or new.

Apologies for going off thread,but the hard ride is the only drawback with the 1.9 scout.

 

Hi, new? Good God I'm way too tight to do that !

 

I found a breakers on ebay who was breaking a 5k 2015 Fabia for £350, I went to see him and knocked him down to £250 Which was almost theft!

 

Ride transformed, even my 5yr old daughter noticed

Thank you Blackbird that makes two of us at least ,as everyone else on the forum seems to be minted.Still I suppose you can be tight but still be minted!

Only the other day I was apologising to my new passengers for the bone shaking ride,so I might look out for some scrapyard bargains.

Researching on the internet it seems the low profile tyres give the hard ride ,and not alloy wheels as i had thought previously.

Alloy wheels give a better ride than steel,or so they say.

So I assume your wheel bargains were alloys with 185x60x14 tyres.

Mind you if it wasn,t for our terrible potholed roads ,there would be no problem.

Researching on the internet it seems the low profile tyres give the hard ride

 

Correct!  The difference in ride quality between my Scout (205/45 R16) and my SE (195/55 R15) has to be experienced to be believed.

Thank you Blackbird that makes two of us at least ,as everyone else on the forum seems to be minted.Still I suppose you can be tight but still be minted!

Only the other day I was apologising to my new passengers for the bone shaking ride,so I might look out for some scrapyard bargains.

Researching on the internet it seems the low profile tyres give the hard ride ,and not alloy wheels as i had thought previously.

Alloy wheels give a better ride than steel,or so they say.

So I assume your wheel bargains were alloys with 185x60x14 tyres.

Mind you if it wasn,t for our terrible potholed roads ,there would be no problem.

 

My wheels are Fabia/Rapid alloys, 195/55/15 - no change in the razor sharp handling, minimal effect on speedo

 

I chose this pattern as it is similar to the standard Scout 16's

   Make absolutely certain that the central locking and associated door-open detectors are working OK.   

   I had a fairly common issue with my Roomy that having unlocked the vehicle, it did not register that the drivers door had been opened, so it proceeded to re-lock itself assuming that the unlock button had been pressed in error.  'dealer ultimately replaced the drivers lock.

Thanks for all your help and comments

 

we ended up ordering a new Fabia instead