Questions about vRS Estate

[dunc69]

@MattJames

if you really need diesel, then snap this one up - great spec. Negotiate hard on price though. 

 

If you aren’t doing mega miles and have time on your side, a petrol vRS, whether 220 or 230, will be a LOT more fun and will give 35 mpg on average and over 40 on a run, and might just prevent you paying parking and other taxes over the next few years. 

[BigEjit]

For a sporty set up, the suspension is quite compliant so the ride on 19” is fine/ better than you would expect.  There is a bit more noise harshness from concrete road surfaces at speed than I have experienced on 18” and you certainly feel raised cats eyes if you hit them, but then any road imperfections will be transmitted more if you have less insulation present.

 

Space wise, I’m 6’4” and struggle to touch the pedals sufficiently with the drivers seat fully back in the combi. With the seat set right, my near 6’ tall 12yo daughter can easily sit behind me with space to spare.

 

Diesel DSG - great for everyday and long distance usage. Been in plenty of VW taxis in Germany with dsg and a gazillion  miles up so reliability is fine. There’s enough user selectable options to pick from to suit your mood or keep it interesting. In low speed, stop start traffic, it will try to drag 2nd gear all the time but selecting manual and 1st gives more direct throttle control more akin to a manual box but without the clutch pedal. In town traffic, it can hunt around different gears if you are plodding around with light throttle application, trying to pick highest gear all the time in Drive relative to light throttle input. Flick the throttle and it will drop a gear or use the paddles to wake her up momentarily. Having been through Snowdonia on the A5 a good few times, I don’t think I have enjoyed any other car as much as the VRS and DSG in manual mode. (Discounting the wife’s Fab VRS DSG twin-charger). And there’s always the launch control setting if you want a 0-60 blast.

 

I have been Petrol/manual driver since passing my test in the 90’s so it’s a significant change for me and I have not regretted it at all. 

 

[dunc69]

2 minutes ago, BigEjit said:

Having been through Snowdonia on the A5 a good few times, I don’t think I have enjoyed any other car as much as the VRS and DSG in manual mode. (Discounting the wife’s Fab VRS DSG twin-charger). And there’s always the launch control setting if you want a 0-60 blast.

 

I have been Petrol/manual driver since passing my test in the 90’s so it’s a significant change for me and I have not regretted it at all. 

 

Try an Octy 3 petrol vRS with DSG and you’ll enjoy it rather a lot more! 

 

I have tried both (petrol & diesel) and there is no comparison. 

[BigEjit]

I can imagine it’s ace if the Fab VRS is anything to go by in comparison to the diesel Octy. 

[MattJames]

Thanks both for the input.

@dunc69 Would definitely try and hammer down the price, another similarly spec'd one without Canton & extra 5k miles on it popped up for £1700 less. With current circumstances, annual mileage will be approx 23-25K. However, we have mulled over the option of moving in the second half of 2018, in which instance my annual mileage would drop by between 10-15K. At that point, petrol becomes very tempting, especially considering potential penalties for non EU6 diesels.

 

@BigEjit pleased to hear about the space! being a very similar height to you means there's only a few people that can slot into the passenger seat behind me at present! I'm feeling more and more convinced by DSG, the things you mention about the box trying to select higher gears i guess would become second nature after time spent with the car?

[vladRS]

It may not be a common problem, but I am having problems with the pano roof drainage. My car leaks badly every time it rains, filling up a large towel. I am booked in for warranty repairs but, given it was supposed to have been sorted before I bought the car, I am not optimistic. Water enters the cabin on the passenger side, running down the A pillar and bonnet release handle to the floor. Might be best you check for a damp carpet. If it is dry after the recent weather, I’m sure it will be fine. I’ve been rather underwhelmed with my MK3 with this leak pretty much helping me to make up my mind to dob it in for a Golf GTD estate.

[Fudgeasorus]

Similar spec to mine on a 16 plate. Though with the 19” Extremes look great but Kerbs Bite!

 

DSG is brill But with the Stop Start on, when you wake it up while at traffic lights etc it can be a bit rushed and “throws it into gear”  bring a bit jerky then it’s really smooth. Really takes a lot of effort out of driving allowing you to relax 

 

Fab car lots of space! Much nicer then my 62 plate 1.6T 182 focus in Titanium X spec. Though I do miss it’s covert quickness. As on paper it’s 0.2 sec faster to 60 then the diesel VRS. But the missus has it now and loves it, much better than the Nissan Note she had. Worth getting the newer stereo for the apple car play intergration. Other phones do exist honest. 

 

Swallows stuff with with ease and with the roof bars makes taking bike or roof bid easy. Near me is a place where up you can rent them which was handy for a bike carrier for the summer hols this year. I have go a plastic boot guard to save the paint on the boot lip. It’s been worth it weight in gold. Found it via a link on the forum.

 

im really please with my VRS and agree with the earlier comments. 

[MattJames]

That's a shame to hear as Pano roof is not essential to me, but would be a nice bonus! Out of interest, was it purchased from a Skoda dealer? Would be interesting to hear what the outcome is from your visit - hopefully properly repaired for your sake!

@Fudgeasorus i can well imagine the Extremes are like a magnet for kerbs! Funnily enough i test drove a focus with that engine a couple of years ago - agree that it's surprisingly swift. I've promised myself that whatever i get next is having PPF applied to the painted boot lip! is the guard you have a stick on one or does it fold out?

 

Edited 30 December, 2017 by MattJames

[Fudgeasorus]

17 minutes ago, MattJames said:

That's a shame to hear as Pano roof is not essential to me, but would be a nice bonus! Out of interest, was it purchased from a Skoda dealer? Would be interesting to hear what the outcome is from your visit - hopefully properly repaired for your sake!

@Fudgeasorus i can well imagine the Extremes are like a magnet for kerbs! Funnily enough i test drove a focus with that engine a couple of years ago - agree that it's surprisingly swift. I've promised myself that whatever i get next is having PPF applied to the painted boot lip! is the guard you have a stick on one or does it fold out?

 

 

Sticks on. With supplied foam sticky pads 

 

http://www.rearguards.co.uk/

 

have yet to cause it to dislodge despite my best efforts. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jaco2k]

7 hours ago, MattJames said:

@Fudgeasorusi can well imagine the Extremes are like a magnet for kerbs!

 

 

I baby my car and specially the Extremes, that I bought after I got the car...

....even so, 3 of them are now kerbed - 2 is minor, but one is reaaaaaally bad.

 

And this was being extra careful.

 

It is just that they are so exposes that they are really easy to scratch.

[Redboy]

2 hours ago, Jaco2k said:

 

I baby my car and specially the Extremes, that I bought after I got the car...

....even so, 3 of them are now kerbed - 2 is minor, but one is reaaaaaally bad.

 

And this was being extra careful.

 

It is just that they are so exposes that they are really easy to scratch.

 

Despite your efforts you obviously need to pay attention and be extra extra extra careful and ensure that it's just you driving. I wince sometimes watching people struggle to squeeze in and out of generous gaps, riding kerbs and smashing up the wheels. The funniest was a lady in an XC90 who gave up trying to reverse out and drove forwards over the kerbing and flower beds to reach the exit road. 

[Jaco2k]

16 minutes ago, Redboy said:

 

Despite your efforts you obviously need to pay attention and be extra extra extra careful and ensure that it's just you driving.

 

Out of the 3, I only take blame on one

 

#1: In Estonia in Summer there was a collapsed kerb - I was backing up along it and suddenly there was a kerb sticking out. Crunch! Too late. Lots of swearing.

 

#2: had a screw on a tire on my way to Norway. Stopped in Sweden to get it repaired. Asked the guy 3 times to be extra careful with the rims... Of course he wasn't.

Minor damage, but still damage. Could not be bothered to start a fight in another country.

 

#3: I effed up ...it was also the worse one.

[Exeterj]

On 29/12/2017 at 08:19, ahenners said:

 

Yeah they all have Bluetooth hands free and audio streaming right from the earliest versions with Bolero (no Nav).

 

That example you posted looks good from a spec point of view. Has plenty of extras; KESSY, front sensors, leather, DSG, canton sound, winter pack (assumed based on front heated seats + heated front screen), colour Maxidot, Amundsen, Sunset Glass, 19" Xtreme alloys. Best colour too (not biased!) 

 

The colour combination looks much better in person. That's the factory anthracite finish on the wheels and they look great. Really tempted to swap my 18" Geminis for a set of 19" Xtremes.

 

@MeteorOcty doesn't look like it has park assist. It's missing the sensors on the sides. Not that it's an issue, I've only ever used it once on mine.

 

 

MattJames - just watch out for the spec listed by this dealer, as its wrong. Ahenners pointed out it has Amundsen (smaller nav) as in the photos rather than columbus system they've listed, this may not be a deal breaker but always makes me wonder if they have listed other 'non-visable/checkable in photos' options correctly.

 

In terms of the car agree with the above points, my 64 plate black magic DSG diesel vRS estate has 93k miles on (i do 30k+ a year) and other than the water pump being replaced and a few speaker issues (it was ex-demo and i think the canton had been rather run-in), is a fantastic car for work and family (we have a 3 and 6 year old). Liked it so much my wife got a scout as our second car. My first 'auto' also having sworn as a 'driver' i'd always have a manual but i wouldn't go back from the DSG now.

 

The black car looks great and 'menacing' with black pack when clean, but really suffers from showing 'swirl' marks and breaks my heart after about 5 mins of driving having spent all day cleaning and polishing, so my tip would be go for the blue or white (in fact any other colour) if possible! lol

 

 

 

Edited 30 December, 2017 by Exeterj

[Jaco2k]

8 hours ago, Exeterj said:

 

The black car looks great and 'menacing' with black pack when clean, but really suffers from showing 'swirl' marks and breaks my heart after about 5 mins of driving having spent all day cleaning and polishing, so my tip would be go for the blue or white (in fact any other colour) if possible! lol

 

You obviously never owned a white car...

Someone on this forum put it best when he wrote "White cars get dirty just by looking at them"

 

Sometimes in winter I take mine to be washed and enjoy looking at it after all the dirt comes off. 5 minutes drive home and... Dirty again already

Of course this is in Finnish winter and elsewhere it may not be so bad.