Hi there,

 

I'm looking to get a petrol superb and want to keep it for a long time, probably until it's 10-12 years old.

 

Am trying to decide between new SE tech, or up to two years old with higher spec.

 

Obviously a two year old L&K has lots of toys and would be an amazing car, but with a new one I can only pay for the extras that I want as well as having zero miles and full skoda warranty, I may pay for a longer warranty too.

 

Be grateful for your thoughts.  The car running for ten years is more important than the spec.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Mark

I would always buy nearly new if keeping. I bought mine 4months old. It was 47k new and with only a couple of thousand miles on it, it stands me something like 28.5k by the time I brought it over here and fitted a towbar. That’s to much of a saving to warrant buying brand new IMO. 

Edited 22 February, 20215 yr by UndertheRadar
Spelling

The only way to look at this is to estimate whole life costs

New you can specify the 5 year warranty, can service it annually, and expect it to last as you care for it fully.  If it is a simpler spec there is less to go wrong

 

Nearly new (especially if talking approaching 2 years old), is bit more of a lottery as to how much care first owner took.  You don’t really know if they thrashed or damaged or shortened the life of it.  If you aim to keep 12 years don’t want some seriously expensive part failing when 7-10 years old.  High spec cars can get expensive to fix as they have more motorised items, sensors, fancy electronics etc, and parts that are not cheap

 

But then it also comes down to prices, discounts etc.   The motor trade has some bonkers situations that either work against you, or sometimes work in your favour.  There can sometimes (usually about 8 or 9 weeks into a Quarter) be a sale or extra £x off which makes new a good deal.  Conversely I have seen pre-reg and low mileage that are listed only £2k less than discounted new, but at a much higher interest rate so end up costing £1k more over 3 years ..... doh ! end up paying more and get shorter remaining warranty.
 

Pre registered can be weird, I once nearly bought a BMW but dealer wouldn’t give me £2k off, it was unregistered and on site, I walked away, but following fortnight same car (identical options) was parked at front with a big sticker saying managers special pre reg £5k off.  A different salesman offered it as a bargain, but when I told him they could have sold it to me in previous month and made more profit his face was a picture.  Presumably they got a big volume bonus for selling it to themselves rather than selling to a customer in same month (which has always baffled me).

 

If it was me, I would try the new route, get what you want.  But when you have the lowest possible price (using carwow or a broker) compare it to what is available nearly new (don’t just use Skoda used cars on their website) try autotrader, motors, and car supermarket websites.  A few hours of internet searches could save you hundreds.

It appears you can get current 70reg SE tech spec under £20k, as per this example

https://www.lookers.co.uk/skoda/nearly-new-car/skoda/superb/1-5-tsi-se-technology-5dr/id/310414
 

Edited 22 February, 20215 yr by SurreyJohn

7 hours ago, mark674500 said:

Hi there,

 

I'm looking to get a petrol superb and want to keep it for a long time, probably until it's 10-12 years old.

 

Am trying to decide between new SE tech, or up to two years old with higher spec.

 

Obviously a two year old L&K has lots of toys and would be an amazing car, but with a new one I can only pay for the extras that I want as well as having zero miles and full skoda warranty, I may pay for a longer warranty too.

 

Be grateful for your thoughts.  The car running for ten years is more important than the spec.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Mark

Buy nearly new definitely, you will save a fortune. Look for a pre reg demo car with a few hundred miles on. They will be a good few thousand cheaper than brand new and as an added bonus if you look about a bit a lot of them are stacked with optional extras all ready fitted. I looked at a 70 Plate SEL last week with less than 500 miles on it. It was £7k cheaper than the new list price and also had nearly £4K worth of optional extras fitted to it. 

I always buy near new cars, in the other word, demo cars.

I got my fully loaded 206 sportline (top-trim in Australia) with one year old and 7000kms on the clock. It cost me 38k AUD. A new one with all the options cost more than 60k AUD (60k for the car plus 1700 sunroof and 1100 velvet red paint). My car came with 4 years remaining factory warranty, and two years national wide free service as well. 

If the car runs perfectly after it run out the warranty period, I might keep it for another few years. If not, I might simply rip it off and buy another demo car. 

10 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

.

It appears you can get current 70reg SE tech spec under £20k, as per this example

https://www.lookers.co.uk/skoda/nearly-new-car/skoda/superb/1-5-tsi-se-technology-5dr/id/310414
 

Thank you for the reply, I was wondering where you found this car, it doesn't seem to be on Autotrader?

30 minutes ago, mark674500 said:

Thank you for the reply, I was wondering where you found this car, it doesn't seem to be on Autotrader?

It was there yesterday evening on autotrader, still there

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?sort=price-asc&postcode=sn139rx&radius=1500&make=SKODA&model=SUPERB&year-from=2020&fuel-type=Hybrid – Petrol%2FElectric Plug-in&fuel-type=Petrol

 

But if you can live with slightly smaller car, I also spotted Skoda Slough seems to have some brand new Octavia hybrids at nearly £5.8k off

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?sort=price-asc&postcode=sn139rx&radius=1500&make=SKODA&model=OCTAVIA&year-from=2021&fuel-type=Hybrid – Petrol%2FElectric&fuel-type=Hybrid – Petrol%2FElectric Plug-in

 

Edited 23 February, 20215 yr by SurreyJohn

Thank you, I'm looking for an auto, hence why it didn't come up!

 

 

There has been a lovely 1.5 SEL FL Estate at motorpoint with a good amount of options on it for sale for £20,999 for a while and it’s fab, has the heated steering wheel too. I couldn’t make it work for me so I stuck to my guns with a Dragon Green estate but that’s a lovely car for a lot of money off. If keeping 10-12 years I can’t see the difference between a new car and one that’s 12-24 months old now. Mine will be 2 in April and I see no reason it wouldn’t be fine in 10 years. My Octy is 6 and half years old with 133k on it; been faultless.

Used for me. The savings are huge. The only snag with buying used is getting the right car with the right options & preferred colour. I bought my 16 reg L&K 280 estate at 2.5years old & 24k miles. It was less than half the price of a new model. The only options it didn't have that I would have liked were, variable boot floor, reversing camera & sun roof. On the other hand it has a few std fit options I could easily live without e.g. park assist. Mine is black & wouldn't have been my first choice as it's a pain to keep clean. That said it does look good when it is clean. If all goes to plan I will be keeping mine for at least 10 years. I kept my last S2 Superb Elegance TDi 170 for 8 years before I traded it in with 170k on the clock for the 280.

Buying used takes a lot more time & work to find the right car - especially if you are a bit picky about what options you want. However, the savings are worth it as someone else takes the 1st big depreciation hit.  

Retrofits are straightforward and readily available on these cars too. If you want a reverse camera they can be fitted. I have bought mine knowing it’s not got the spec I want but I’ll enjoy bringing it up to scratch lol

I have had 3 cars (2 Fabias and my present Octavia) directly from Skoda stock.  They were already registered and nearly new.  One of the Fabias was a 2015 DSG SEL with only 19 miles on the clock and 6 months old.  To me it was brand new but at least £4k less than list price.  I went into a North West dealer one day and asked them to search the Skoda database for what I wanted.  They said there was nothing.  I went into a different dealer the following day and they found exactly what I wanted.  In fact, they gave me a choice of 2 cars.  Could be worth asking your dealer to check what is available direct from Skoda but don't be put off if they say they can't find anything.  Try another dealer.

pre-reg cars with no miles can be good buys, usually heavily discounted and with the added bonus of being  available without having to wait 3 months or so for a factory build.

 

personally i would'nt touch a dealer demo car, i believe they have to keep them for 3 months min before they can sell them on,  by that time they usually have at least 6k miles and have been driven by every tom, d1ck and harry on test drives, plus the salesmen/women who take the car home every night and  dont give a $hit because the cars not there's and will be sold onto some unsuspecting fool who thinks he's got a good deal,  but in reality, he could have got a pre-reg with no miles or a new car discount from a broker even cheaper.

 

 

 

 

I think I'm right in saying if you buy a new car the dealer will be required to charge you 20% VAT. And it's my understanding that there's no VAT charged on a used car. That's not strictly true in that VAT on used cars is hidden from the buyer but is based on the difference between what the dealer pays for a car and what he sells it for. Makes sense therefore to buy used.

@310golfr  I just must have got lucky: I bought the sales manager's Sportline. Three months old, 1,700 miles on the clock. Fully speced. £10K off list. I ran it pretty hard during my test drive, as I imagine did previous drivers.

 

I've had four years faultless service from this car, and expect many more. Surprisingly, I don't feel foolish at all.

 

My only regret: I had to settle for Corrida red, instead of dragon green.

26 minutes ago, freelunch said:

@310golfr  I just must have got lucky: I bought the sales manager's Sportline. Three months old, 1,700 miles on the clock. Fully speced. £10K off list. I ran it pretty hard during my test drive, as I imagine did previous drivers.

 

I've had four years faultless service from this car, and expect many more. Surprisingly, I don't feel foolish at all.

 

My only regret: I had to settle for Corrida red, instead of dragon green.

 what i'm saying though, is there's no need to take a chance on a demo car, and you always take a chance when you buy a 2nd hand car.

you can get £10k of a new superb through a broker at the moment and you can choose any colour you want  

 

https://www.autoebid.com/new-cars/Skoda/Superb/SportLine-Plus-uk-deals

Edited 24 February, 20215 yr by 310golfr
missed a bit

I've not seen that autoebid site before. Thanks for the link. Next time I look at it will be after the council installs a lot more charging points in the neighbourhood. 

2 hours ago, freelunch said:

I've not seen that autoebid site before. Thanks for the link. Next time I look at it will be after the council installs a lot more charging points in the neighbourhood. 

bought my caddy van through them 2 years ago, got 6.5k off the list price , had to pick up from london but the  saving made it worthwhile.

they where good to deal with, no money paid to them at all,  paid a small deposit to dealer when ordering and payed  balance when collecting van.

i believe the prices they quote include free delivery but imo better to collect yourself 

Has anyone else used autoebid?  I'd not heard of them before, but really good prices.