I've been looking at getting a MkIII Octavia vRS however I'm a little bit put off by the whole interior booming noise issue and the fact I'd be spending a lot of money on a diesel car that may suddenly depreciate/be taxed heavily in the coming months.

 

So i'm thinking of taking a look at the older MkII, specifically holding out for a Blackline with low mileage from a main dealer as I have a bit of time on my side and I'm happy to travel if the rite one comes up.

 

Has anybody gone from a MkII to a III and regretted it or vise versa?

 

What should I look for with these and what features should I look out for?

If you decide to by a petrol engine,avoid "TSI" versions fitted in O2 and grab the 03 TSI, where many issues are rectified.

As above go for mk3 if going for petrol as they use belts instead of chains.  Noisy mk3 issues seem to affect lower engines model with rear beam and you should be fine with vrs model as it will come with independent rear suspension.