Hi All,

So I'm tentatively looking now with the plan to be actually looking to purchase any time from the middle of September onwards.

I currently have a Mk2.5 vRS and with it now being over 7 years old, 103k miles on the clock and the occasional niggle it's time to look for something newer and I'm definitely looking at the Mk3.

 

My budget consists of my car (I'm hoping to get a trade-in of around £5k) and then £11k - £12k of my own funding, so an absolute top-end budget of around £17k

I'd like to get nothing older than 2016 - this new purchase will be a vehicle I expect to drive for 5+ years.

 

When I first bought my Mk2 I didn't come here first and I ended up buying a car that was prior to certain free upgrades and I regretted not asking the experts first!

So with all that in mind, with the budget I have in place - what should I be looking for on a vRS other than the usual (good condition, belonged to a non-smoker, as low mileage as possible, etc)?

Any particular features that became standard on later models? Any must-have options that most people went for, but some might not have?

Did even the base model come with some kind of sat-nav?

 

Thanks all - the Briskoda input is always appreciated,

Not sure if your after petrol or diesel, but they put smaller brakes on some 2016 diesels without warning.

Not sure when the Amundsen satnav became standard, It was standard when I bought mine

Edited 26 August, 20187 yr by SimonD316

Look out for ex-lease cars (there's plenty of them nowadays) that may not have been serviced properly, or show signs of higher mileage than is shown on the mile-ometer.

 

Not all ex-lease cars are bad (mine was treated as if it was my own), but not everyone that leases treats theirs with the same level of respect. 

 

2015 was around the time sat nav became standard on the vRS, all but the early Mk3's should have cruise control. Front parking sensors aren't standard, but rear ones are.

 

Take a test drive of cars with 19 inch wheels. They look great but the ride quality isn't for everyone. 

Appreciate the responses.

I'm probably going to go for petrol again - all 3 of my vRS' have been petrol. All 3 of them have also been manual, however I am told the DSG is fantastic and it doesn't scare me like "auto boxes" of the past.

I was going to look for 18" wheels as I too had heard the 19" look great, but make for a less than comfortable ride.

I'm really looking for 2016 models onwards, so fingers crossed that gets me sat-nav of some description as standard, like having it there when I need it.

 

The mistake I made on my second Octy, the Mk2, was not looking for 18" wheels, Jumbo Box and read electric windows which came as a standard pack a meer 6 months later. So just making sure I don't make a similar mistake with a Mk3.

2016 should have Amundsen Nav as Standard and MIB2 so better screen size and resolution.

 

You are correct the 19" look great, but the ride is slightly better on 18" but the gap is probably not as much as you'd think. The big one here is tyre cost, the 19" are significantly more expensive to replace.

 

Love my DSG petrol, definitely a good choice and I like it much better than my previous MK2 facelift manual.

 

I don't think there's a huge amount of "issues" to look for on a 2016 petrol beyond the more obvious stuff you'd check on any car. They are generally pretty reliable and I don't think the later ones have some of the issues early models had.

Try to get one with a spare wheel rather than a tub of sealant.  Winter pack is a nice feature - I do miss that nice warm bum feature on a cold winter's day.  Black pack never bothered me as I quite like coloured mirror caps.

 

Gaz