I'm out of here.......

[Hoverurb]

It looks like I'm leaving here after 8 years on this site and 11 years of Skoda.   A 2000 Octavia sold in 2009 with 165000 miles (saw it around a few months back), a 2006 Superb 130 Elegance sold in 2013 with 155000 miles (I hear its still running well)  and a 2010 Superb 170 Elegance now sold with 95000 miles.  None of them cost me much to run, no major problems. Biggest single cost was probably  timing belts followed by pads and discs. Ditched the 18" and using 50 profile 17's on the last car at least halved the cost of tyres. 

 I'd like to thank all the people on here who helped me over the years and hopefully I was able to help some too. 

[Superb170]

17 hours ago, Hoverurb said:

It looks like I'm leaving here after 8 years on this site and 11 years of Skoda.   A 2000 Octavia sold in 2009 with 165000 miles (saw it around a few months back), a 2006 Superb 130 Elegance sold in 2013 with 155000 miles (I hear its still running well)  and a 2010 Superb 170 Elegance now sold with 95000 miles.  None of them cost me much to run, no major problems. Biggest single cost was probably  timing belts followed by pads and discs. Ditched the 18" and using 50 profile 17's on the last car at least halved the cost of tyres. 

 I'd like to thank all the people on here who helped me over the years and hopefully I was able to help some too. 

All the best with your next set of wheels.  Are you going down the Audi route?

[gav_is_con]

Interested to hear why leaving the Skoda fold after a long time. 

I suspect there are many a good reason. Where to next ?

[Hoverurb]

21 hours ago, gav_is_con said:

Interested to hear why leaving the Skoda fold after a long time. 

I suspect there are many a good reason. Where to next ?

Good question, A few months back I started searching for a used good spec 190  Mk111 only to find out that they were priced very high.  All my previous Skodas were good value but things have changed over here and none of the dealers seemed interested in selling 150/190's. Then after a really bad experience at our local dealer when he wouldn't give me a car for a few hours even though I was paying him for a timing belt change I'd had enough and  decided to have a look around.  Audi A6. BMW 520 and Merc E class aren't making a whole lot more money over here,  2016 Skoda same price as 2015 Audi etc, so had a look at all of them but seemed to be paying for the badge and not getting the toys. Think the BMW guy got a bit insulted when I told him I wouldn't buy because the rear seats didn't fold down, the Merc guy when he said they don't sell many with a dark interior and the Audi guy when the door mirrors only had manual fold!

Not sure what happened next but true to my usual thing of not driving what everybody else is driving I've today bought a 2015....................................................Jaguar XF 2.2 200hp.

Hope I'm not going to miss my AFS lights, park assist, miserly fuel consumption and huge boot too much.  Rear seat space is of zero importance to me so that wont matter. I'm doing 1000km the week I get the car so it wont take long to find out if its any good.

I'll come back and let people know how I get on.

BTW my favorite Skoda was a 2006 gunmetal grey Superb 130, not as refined as the later ones but a good machine. I still think Mk1 had better seats than the Mk11.

[Superb170]

The Jag is a very nice machine and I think the ZF box is one of the best out there.  All the best with it.

[Hoverurb]

30 minutes ago, Superb170 said:

The Jag is a very nice machine and I think the ZF box is one of the best out there.  All the best with it.

Yes the ZF 8 speed is good  although  the DSGs I drove did really smooth gear shifts .  Wont have the car for a week or so but will report back.

[Superb170]

3 hours ago, Hoverurb said:

Yes the ZF 8 speed is good  although  the DSGs I drove did really smooth gear shifts .  Wont have the car for a week or so but will report back.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with it.  Is it the latest model that you’re getting?

[Hoverurb]

7 hours ago, Superb170 said:

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with it.  Is it the latest model that you’re getting?

Money only stretched as far as the last of the old. Drove both, a lot of lower spec of the newer version about as they seem to trying to attract a wider market with manual boxes, no nav etc. If this one is a success the plan is to move to the newer version in a year or two when they have the bugs ironed out. Flying to Dublin on the 16th to collect it, have to wait till towbar is fitted,  Easier to fit as no wiring  has to be brought to the front so should be done on time.

The guy that bought my Superb is driving a 2001 Corolla so hes in for a shock LOL.

[bigjohn]

14 hours ago, Hoverurb said:

I still think Mk1 had better seats than the Mk11.

 

I agree however the seats I really miss were the ones fitted to my Saab 9000cs

[Hoverurb]

3 hours ago, bigjohn said:

 

I agree however the seats I really miss were the ones fitted to my Saab 9000cs

Or the ones we had in a Renault Espace.

[Coops]

DSG doesn't get anywhere near the Jaguar 8 speed - almost agricultural in comparison. 

 

Swear mine thinks it's a toaster half the time, clunky and in the wrong gear the other half of the time! 

[Superb170]

I agree the DSG is nice (most of the time) but as Coops says not as smooth as the ZF especially at low speeds, where the DSG often lets itself down.

[lichfielddriver]

After 3 Skodas we are now an Audi A6 190bhp/E250 Merc family...

 

Though i dont reject the idea of a Superb Mk3 in a year or 2... would have to be with all the bells and whistles after my merc though

[Hoverurb]

3 hours ago, lichfielddriver said:

After 3 Skodas we are now an Audi A6 190bhp/E250 Merc family...

 

Though i dont reject the idea of a Superb Mk3 in a year or 2... would have to be with all the bells and whistles after my merc though

I had a good look at them too especially the A6 190 business spec with the bigger screen etc but nothing interesting was available just lots of poverty spec. Of course I saw a nice one today The Merc's just didn't appeal although there were a few about, huge depreciation over here was one of the reasons a two year old was interesting.  At the moment the market over here is distorted by the large amount of UK cars being imported including lots of polished up rubbish in among a few good deals. 

[lichfielddriver]

29 minutes ago, Hoverurb said:

I had a good look at them too especially the A6 190 business spec with the bigger screen etc but nothing interesting was available just lots of poverty spec. Of course I saw a nice one today The Merc's just didn't appeal although there were a few about, huge depreciation over here was one of the reasons a two year old was interesting.  At the moment the market over here is distorted by the large amount of UK cars being imported including lots of polished up rubbish in among a few good deals. 

 

Sons is a S-line version with many extras inc a pushbutton parking brake

[Hoverurb]

1 minute ago, lichfielddriver said:

 

Sons is a S-line version with many extras inc a pushbutton parking brake

The S Line comes pretty basic and need a few extras to bring them on, nice indicators though , Isn't the handbrake the same on all A6's?

[lichfielddriver]

Just now, Hoverurb said:

The S Line comes pretty basic and need a few extras to bring them on, nice indicators though , Isn't the handbrake the same on all A6's?

 

Not sure, didnt do any research...

 

 

[chimaera]

On 7/10/2017 at 19:51, Hoverurb said:

Good question, A few months back I started searching for a used good spec 190  Mk111 only to find out that they were priced very high.  All my previous Skodas were good value but things have changed over here and none of the dealers seemed interested in selling 150/190's. Then after a really bad experience at our local dealer when he wouldn't give me a car for a few hours even though I was paying him for a timing belt change I'd had enough and  decided to have a look around.  Audi A6. BMW 520 and Merc E class aren't making a whole lot more money over here,  2016 Skoda same price as 2015 Audi etc, so had a look at all of them but seemed to be paying for the badge and not getting the toys. Think the BMW guy got a bit insulted when I told him I wouldn't buy because the rear seats didn't fold down, the Merc guy when he said they don't sell many with a dark interior and the Audi guy when the door mirrors only had manual fold!

Not sure what happened next but true to my usual thing of not driving what everybody else is driving I've today bought a 2015....................................................Jaguar XF 2.2 200hp.

Hope I'm not going to miss my AFS lights, park assist, miserly fuel consumption and huge boot too much.  Rear seat space is of zero importance to me so that wont matter. I'm doing 1000km the week I get the car so it wont take long to find out if its any good.

I'll come back and let people know how I get on.

BTW my favorite Skoda was a 2006 gunmetal grey Superb 130, not as refined as the later ones but a good machine. I still think Mk1 had better seats than the Mk11.

 

That was pretty much experience of dealers and stock here. I ended up buying in the UK as the selection of cars is so much larger and the value is better even after paying VRT.

The biggest problem with the Irish market is people buying poverty spec cars with the smallest engine for the cheap tax. It's maddening for those of us who actually want to enjoy our car.

[Hoverurb]

4 hours ago, chimaera said:

 

That was pretty much experience of dealers and stock here. I ended up buying in the UK as the selection of cars is so much larger and the value is better even after paying VRT.

The biggest problem with the Irish market is people buying poverty spec cars with the smallest engine for the cheap tax. It's maddening for those of us who actually want to enjoy our car.

Yes that's my experience,  local VW dealer says all 1.6 Passats and Skoda just wanted to sell Fabias.  The Germans all were poverty spec to the extreme and the badge snobbery was too much for me.  I looked into the UK import thing as I have a son in Scotland who went to see a few cars but nothing suitable around at the time. Getting one home would not have been a problem as he would drive it back. I think the last trip to the dealer put me off, shame as I've been a Skoda fan for so long,  now I know why I never left them near my car before.