I'm a big skoda fan after having two 1.9 Fabian's and a Fabia vrs. Unfortunately two years ago the vrs had to go as family arrived and we bought a 1.6 Leon which I hate and won't drive due to the awful hill hold function which makes me stall it all the time any way I digress. Oh has said we can finally look at a different car as he's fed up of doing all the driving and could do with a bigger boot.

So we have found a 59 plate 2010 2.0 110bhp se model with 112k on the clock for £5900 two questions are this seems a little steep I think £5500 top end what you think? And what should I be looking out for on test drive as common faults (can't see many posts about infamous roll bar is this not a problem on the yeti). Also would any of you buy a car that had done 110k (on the surface it looks in good nick and hadn't been valet rd when we test drove it)

I'd haggle for an extended warranty to cover the EGR valve and DPF which, to me, represent the main risk with VW diesel engines of that age and mileage.

I'm not even sure though if extended warranties can be trusted, so read the fine print.

I wonder if someone here has claimed successfully for EGR and DPF or if they are considered 'wear' items and thus, like brake pads etc, not covered.

EGR and DPF are large payout items WHEN they inevitably need replacing.

To me, if they (both) haven't been replaced,then id be expecting it soon, based on 6 years and that mileage and at a guess, £2K might cover it.

If it's DSG transmission and Haldex equipped the extended warranty is essential........if the warranty can be trusted.

I'm old fashioned and conservative when it come to the very expensive and sophisticated 4WD DSG diesel VAGs particularly if you have a limited budget.

Look at it from the 'sellers' perspective.......he might be relieved that he sold it before it gave him trouble and that's the way I would be thinking at a potential buyer of that particular vehicle.

I assume this is a manual. Have you done a test drive because some Yeti's also have a hill hold function! Is it a private or used car dealer sale? (Assume it isn't a Skoda dealer car).

A dealer will give you a degree of protection against buying a duff (provided they are still in business the next day and reputable), but it's still no guarantee. You should also be wary of the 'small print' in any non franchise warranty. A good private buy can prove a bargain, but you take the risk.

If you can, get an independent inspection done - you could easily be buying someone else's trouble. Do the normal stuff - check the service history, belt changes, how does it drive, any warning lights, rust (see other threads). Bottom line, the older the car and higher the mileage the greater the risk. Also, be aware that if you decide to buy an insured warranty, they normally have a no claim in the first month condition on them.

A little trick I use when assessing older cars - look at the tyres - 4 matching premium brand tyres suggest a contentious former owner who hasn't skimped on running his car. At the other end of the scale, a random collection of economy tyres in varying states of wear suggests a car that's been run on a shoestring and should ring alarm bells.

Edited 31 July, 20169 yr by Falmouthboy

It's a manual and whilst not from a skoda franchise it is from a multi franchise garage (tbh they have most of the franchises round here apart from Vauxhall Honda and skoda) they have agreed to do cambelt as they can't see evidence of when it was last done.

Can you give me more info on when you need to replace dpf? The car has averaged 20k a year so from where we live it would be logical to assume it had been commuting to Exeter daily to get that kind of mileage which is dual carriage way whole way so it should have had regular regens. The garage does say their is a full service history and all work is receipted and on checking. Not history th car has never had any advisories. Oh and it's the 2wd version not the 4wd

Is the roll bar still an issue with th yetis as it was with the Fabia?

A little trick I use when assessing older cars - look at the tyres - 4 matching premium brand tyres suggest a contentious former owner who hasn't skimped on running his car. At the other end of the scale, a random collection of economy tyres in varying states of wear suggests a car that's been run on a shoestring and should ring alarm bells.

 

Good tip mate 

I guess you're down to the state of the clutch lining and the life left in the DPF and EGR valve ......if one fails I'd consider doing both due to the labour involved in simply accessing them......even better if the clutch needed doing at the same time.

Common sense would suggest financial commitment once you have decided to go ahead, so I'd haggle with them about these potential issues.

Clearly with any car of that mileage, some parts will be near end of their life. A lot will depend on how it was used, was there a lot of start stop city use, or open roads etc

Assuming it doesn't have a tow bar (if it does assume harder life) then life expectancy of all mechanical parts, brake disc, brake pads, clutch, need to be assessed. Budget for some replacements at some stage.

On a 6-7 year old car would expect a few dings and scratches on paint and in cabin, but check for obvious lack of care, or trim that seems loose etc.

If they are doing cam belt should be ok. Use some premium fuel to ensure turbo feed pipes don't get more clogged. But as others have said, if certain parts fail, could have expensive repairs.

A little trick I use when assessing older cars - look at the tyres - 4 matching premium brand tyres suggest a contentious former owner who hasn't skimped on running his car. At the other end of the scale, a random collection of economy tyres in varying states of wear suggests a car that's been run on a shoestring and should ring alarm bells.

I do that too

Dosn't sound too bad but I don't think the boot is much bigger than the Leon. Would you be better off looking at an Octavia estate, plenty of room in there for you all and the paraphenalia associated with parenthood.

Ian

If you liked the Fabia so much, that you have had 3, why didn't you simply buy an estate version when you needed more space.

You haven't specified your mileage, or if your journeys are mainly short. I would have looked at one with the TSI engine

Another indication of a trend it seems

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105524_u-k-businesses-slowly-moving-away-from-diesel-cars-survey