Hi all,

 

I've been browsing this forum (and a few other places) trying to find some guidance, but couldn't find any direct parallels to my question.  Apologies if I've done a poor job and this is a oft-repeated query!

 

After a low-speed write-off, I need to replace my family's Kia Ce'ed, bought used in February.  Although the Ce'ed was a step up in size from our previous car (2001 Merc A-class), it didn't take long to realise that with a baby we could do with even more space for those long trips.  So after a bit of research, I'm fairly happy that the Octavia is a solid choice.

 

We went for a test drive of this on Saturday: http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201606255243578?onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&price-to=12000&radius=15&sort=sponsored&postcode=pe273fp&advertising-location=at_cars&model=OCTAVIA&price-from=10000&make=SKODA&page=1  and are pretty happy with the spec.  I'm just wondering on whether I'm going to regret not buying an estate?  In particular, the estate (with variable boot floor) is easier to load/unload, and has a bit more space when push comes to shove.

 

There's one here http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201609268145557?onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&price-to=12000&radius=25&sort=price-asc&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=pe273fp&body-type=Estate&model=OCTAVIA&year-from=2013&make=SKODA&page=1 with a similar spec to the hatchback (although no front collision avoidance, which would have helped with our bump!)  The price is a bit lower (10k rather than 11.5) but the mileage is significantly higher (80k miles rather than <25k).

 

What would you do?  Am I over-analysing with my worries about regretting the hatch, or am I really going to miss the easy loading?

 

Thanks in advance!

How often (if ever) do you load above the window line?

I have the estate and 2 kids, it's brilliant plenty of room in the boot. 80k to me is a little high, I would shop around for a lower milage estate.

How often (if ever) do you load above the window line?

 

On previous cars, two or three times a year.  But the Octavia's boot is ~ 50% bigger to start with.

From a Ceed to an Octavia if you have 1-2 children the hatch is more than adequate even if you have to carry all the baby gear. The more room you have, your better half will probably find something extra to stow in the luggage area and fill it up anyway.

I was in a similar situation, Oct tdi vrs estate in white, or ocy tsi vrs hath in Race blue, both had same accessory spec, leather seats, columvus etc.. the estate had 10k more miles, ended up going for hatch as loved the colour and look, and the boot is more than adequate! :-)

And loved the tsi vs tdi !

There is no warranty left on the estate to sort out any niggles you may find a week or so after you've brought it

On previous cars, two or three times a year.  But the Octavia's boot is ~ 50% bigger to start with.

That makes the extra volume of the estate look a bit unnecessary.

Can't follow the link for the estate to see what spec that it has but have to say even if it is a high spec mk 3 model, £10,000 is kind of high with that sort of mileage. My own car is three years old, just passed first MOT and just hit 25,000 miles, if I were to clear the remainder of the PCP and purchase that car right now I could buy it for a shade over £11,000, yet none of the dealers would even give me that if I were trading it in, which equals negative equity for me but still a good profit left for some dealership selling that or similar cars. There will be plenty of low mileage Octavia Estates coming onto the market over the next six months or so as people either try to sell privately or simply hand them back to the dealers at end or shortly before end of deal via V.T. 

 

I'm kind of in that situation myself, the car is in great condition but I'm nervous about buying it because of the very high initial depreciation, yet it will be a great secondhand buy for somebody, just a pity that I can't get any benefit from trading it in.

The boot on the hatch and the estate is the same size below the parcel shelf. I would be uncomfortable loading above the window line without a cage anyway, especially with kids in the back, so as much as I like the idea of an estate I don't think it carries a lot of practical value for the way I would use it (certainly not compared to something like a Golf where the estate really does have a much bigger boot than the hatch).

 

More importantly the 80k miles would put me off.

Low mileage hatch. You know it makes sense.

 

The boot is easily big enough for all the stuff that children need. And the stuff they don't need.

I've got 2 kids and couldn't manage without the estate boot. I think it looks better too. 80k too high but there must loads of lower milage estates out there. Mines on 37k and hasn't missed a beat, original tyres still on too. Not a vrs mind! I'll most likely replace mine with another estate or lease a superb estate...

Even if it's out of warranty budget an extra £1000 for extended warranty (from 3rd party if necessary) and that will open up more options.

Even if it's out of warranty budget an extra £1000 for extended warranty (from 3rd party if necessary) and that will open up more options.

 

£1000 for a piece of paper that only results in Skoda (or 3rd party) declaring stuff that goes during this period to be "wear and tear" and refusing to pay?!

 

Save up the £1000 each time you buy a car and call it a "warranty fund", then when it's too big to ever be needed use the money for something with value.

I've got 2 kids and couldn't manage without the estate boot.

 

Out of interest snowjoe, are you using the space above the cover very often? I like the way the estates look (especially the Superb) but I just didn't want to spend the extra cash as I couldn't see that I would make much use of extra space that was mostly not 'in' the boot from my point of view.

Although I have the mk11 estate may I put my tuppence worth in? I'd look for a better deal on the estate referred to if those two cars are the only option, location need to change quickly etc BUT if it were my choice I'd look for an estate with lower mileage even if that meant choosing an earlier mk11 ( which some reports on here imply has a better build quality ) there is very little to choose running cost wise on the odd occasion the extra load space is required it's a win win bonus and I think estates will always be sought after by ' new families with children ' as always when buying its history, history, spec, spec and price to change that dictates a ' good ' buy

Out of interest snowjoe, are you using the space above the cover very often? I like the way the estates look (especially the Superb) but I just didn't want to spend the extra cash as I couldn't see that I would make much use of extra space that was mostly not 'in' the boot from my point of view.

I like the superb as the kids feet are that bit further from the back of the seat in front!!

With regards to the boot question. I reckon I go over it regularly (esp every time I go to the tip!). Sometimes I go over and I probably could have avoided it by packing the boot more carefully but it's so much easier with kids to just lob the pushchair bike etc in and not have to worry about whether it will closes or not. I only have to worry about whether to pull back the retractable parcel shelf. My second child has only recently arrived and we are back using the buggy/pram combo which always seems to poke up too high. The children can be stressful enough I just want to chuck everything in the boot and get home/to the park/etc.

Hatch. I went from passat estate to hatch and I haven't once wanted for more space. As it happens, the boot floor in a B6 passat estate is the same size as the Octavia hatch. It's massive.

OK, the estate. But not this one with so many miles on it.

Thanks everyone for your input.  We potted for the hatch in the end, and it's working fantastically for us so far.  It is only very occasionally that we need heaps of space, and so with the extra space already there just by being an Octavia (i.e. bigger than your average hatch), it just made sense to go for that.

 

We'll see what I think after going away for Christmas to visit family... fingers crossed!

I've always found the hatch to be more than adequate on my mk 2. As a general rule I have always bought low mileage or relatively low mileage cars and it seems to have paid off

I've just bought leon cupra 290 estate and do miss the bootspace from my vrs hatch