Hello All, this is my first post and it's quite important. I am about to pop my skoda cherry and buy an Octavia VRS 01-05 model.

I am looking to buy one with no more than 60k on it but need to know the tell tail signs of an abused life?

Are there any apsects of the car I need to know about before buying - in particular the services and what should have been changed by now?

I've been a vee dub club member for 7 yrs and the Octavia is the one for us as me have a bambino on the way (the 180BHP and practicality of the OctVRS suits very well). The MK2 has past away and the MK3 will need to be sold.

I just need a helping hand to get on the VRS ladder without picking one that will end up in extra expecnce cos of its high (one company onwer - rep mobile history) mileage.

Any advice will be muchly appreciated .

Thanks in advance - PS great website

welcome ... sure some octy owners will be along to help you out.

But look out for coil pack change if a certain age (possibly up to 2002?? - i dont know when though so can someone confirm please)

Wheel bushes i believe are a common problem of octy/golf so listen out for knocking and get them changed as part of the deal when buying if needed.

Welcome to Briskoda. Look for a car with a full service history and which has obviously been cared for.

Hi all, thanks for your support. Following 3 months of hard searching I am now the proud owner of a '03 Silver Octy vRS .

The car is better than I imagined (and better than the demo car at nearby Skoda dealer).

I got it private and I have the orginal service book showing the first service when purhased, can I use this as proof that its still in warranty - until June this year ? Or will I need something else ? :confused:

You see I want to get a pre-warranty expiry check done as descibed in other threads.

Also I've seen 3rd party arm-rests on ebay germany, has anyone bought and fitted one of these - seems cheap as chips at only

I think that an original armrest is around £106 and it will fit. I do know that some members have tried other armrests and not been happy either with the fit or quality. This thread turned up using Search:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/octavia/ebay-armrest-warning/39492/?highlight=Octavia+armrest