Potential Octavia Vrs owner advice!

[mattdavidson81]

Hi all, been looking at these forums for a bit and theres a lot of knowledge floating about! I'm thinking of changing my current car (1.6 ford focus, with just about every mod available) for an Octavia Vrs. I have driven one and love the performance and the feel of the car, but is there anything I should be looking for in particular when test driving/looking at a potential purchase? Are there common faultsor major things that can go wrong? Just basically looking for some sound advice really!

I'm looking to spend about

[Goochie]

Your target vehicle seems about right for the money.

Not a lot to look fo rat that mileage to be honest, listen carefully when going through slow tight corners (swinging into a driveway etc.) as the anti-roll-bar bushes sometimes creak - these cause no major problems but it can be annoying.

I assume you've browsed the For Sale section here.

[Terry G]

Can't answer any questions specific to buying a used car, but...

I guess it goes without saying to try and find yourself a vRS that is spec'd up as much as possible, try not to compromise as you'll only regret it after.

I went from a 2.0 Focus with all the gadgets and as much as it was good fun to drive (especially around the corners) I needed a car that was practical (family stuff), economical, well built, reliable (oh and the dealer service is light years better than anything you'll ever see from Ford) and was (how can I put it) a little more spicy to drive.

The vRS ticks all of those boxes with a big fat marker pen!

I used this forum for my research and found out about servicing etc and advice I got was spot on. Make sure you do all your research on costs etc first as things like insurance and servicing (obviously) will cost more.

As I was advised..."Go for it, it'll put a big smile on your face". I did and it does.

Join the club..

[mattdavidson81]

I've done the insurance stuff. Will be cheaper to insure a standard vrs than my focus. And that incudes the misses on there aswell, with a claim and points against her! Only ever had a ford service once. never again. All the work since has been at Power Engineering in Uxbridge so not too worried about servicing costs. I've looked at the for sale section for the past few weeks, and I'm just trying to build a bit of knowledge about the car before jumping into buying one. Got a wedding to pay for in April so we're getting that out the way first! Am I right in thinking then that the vrs comes in different specs? I've seen a couple with xenons and parking sensors. What else is available?

Matt

[Terry G]

In fairness Matt, not alot...

Cruise control - Really useful if you like the motorways

Sunroof - Avoid if you are over 6' 2"!

Met paint - otherwise it'll be red

Sat nav - Not sure if it was on the options list, but have seen one with it fitted.

ESP - Handy if you like driving sideways round corners!

I think thats about it unless anyone else knows better?!

Amazed that the quote is cheaper than your Focus, was it Mod'd?

[mattdavidson81]

Oh yes it's modded! The mods quickly bumped the insurance up. Manifold, induction kit, exhaust, you name it. end result was 135bhp out of a 1.6, but its strange that I can insure a faster standard car for less than this!

I am 6'7", so i'll avoid the sunroof then. Thanks for that! I've seen a VRS fitted with the sat nav in a showroom, but think it was about £1000 extra. Got it on my PDA so no loss there. Black or siver is the ideal colour and never had cruise control on a car so its not important to me anyway!

Matt