Interested in opinions. We bought our diesel vRS in Oct 2019 with the intention of covering around 22k per year in it. CoViD means we aren't hitting that mileage (around 24k in 21 months) and would prefer a return to petrol sooner or later, and so with the car approaching the expiry of its warranty and a £1k service bill, we are considering whether to keep or change it. It's a 66-plate model, bought for £13k at 45k miles, now at 69k miles and by virtue of the current used car market, probably worth not far from what we paid. Full Skoda service history. I think if we keep now the next logical point for considering a change will be when its 7yo/ approaching 100k (as if we keep then will want to get some value out of the cambelt change and other misc work shortly due). FWIW I think our next family wagon will be a Superb and we'd look for something 3yo again.

 

Grateful for views!

Has your current Octavia been reliable? Mine is due a cambelt change etc in September when the MOT is due and have no plans at getting rid of. Okay I spend plenty of time looking at the websites but no real intentions as of yet. Okay, you’ve got a hefty maintenance bill due soon, but in reality, that’s only probably 3 monthlies on a new car. I’d pay the bill, save the money in your accounts and stick with what you know. 

 

The Octavia Mk3 is a damn good car and I wouldnt touch a MkIV right now. I wouldn’t mind a Superb either but can’t justify the size! 

 

Thats is my opinion. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of others too. 

 

Edited 24 July, 20214 yr by threadbear

Personally if the car is reliable and hasn't caused you any issues I would keep it. 

The next service shouldn't cost 1k even with the timing belt and water pump change. You can still keep your warranty if you use a vag specialist who fits genuine Skoda parts and save a lot more money.

That being said have you looked at any other cars you like?

11 hours ago, BeattieBohemia said:

Interested in opinions. We bought our diesel vRS in Oct 2019 with the intention of covering around 22k per year in it. CoViD means we aren't hitting that mileage (around 24k in 21 months) and would prefer a return to petrol sooner or later, and so with the car approaching the expiry of its warranty and a £1k service bill, we are considering whether to keep or change it. It's a 66-plate model, bought for £13k at 45k miles, now at 69k miles and by virtue of the current used car market, probably worth not far from what we paid. Full Skoda service history. I think if we keep now the next logical point for considering a change will be when its 7yo/ approaching 100k (as if we keep then will want to get some value out of the cambelt change and other misc work shortly due). FWIW I think our next family wagon will be a Superb and we'd look for something 3yo again.

 

Grateful for views!

What a position to be in!

 

Let's reframe the issue: What is the problem you have, that the new car will solve? If the problem is "Avoiding a £1k bill", a new car isn't going to do that, as cost to change will be more than £1k.

A 5YO 69K mile Octavia has a lot of life left in it if it's been looked after well, as yours seems to have been, so biting the bullet and paying for that big service during a period of strong used car prices may turn out to be more of an investment than a loss.

 

That said, if you really want a new car (which I can relate to, as it was the reason I swapped my old car), at the current time I would tend to lean to a brand new/nearly new car, as used car prices are inflated.

If you're looking at 3YO cars, I think you could find yourself like someone taking advantage of selling their house during a housing boom, only to find their new house has an equally inflated price.

 

Good luck, whatever you decide.

Just out of interest, what is warranting a 1000ukp bill from the Skoda dealer? This sounds like a clutch or flywheel price to me and the mileage sounds about right for this to happen. But....I could be barking up the wrong tree on that one....let us know pls.

Thanks very much for the helpful replies. A few points in response to some of the comments:

 

• I'd say our current car has generally been reliable, if not perfect. It needed a DMF at 55k which was done under warranty, so I did the clutch at the same time. So only 14k on those. I suppose one of the reasons I'd consider a change is that the older the car gets, the more likely it is that other (significant) mechnaical items may need replacement. But I'm not sure whether there's an accepted 'cliff' that these mk3 Octavias go over, be it an amount of miles or age in years, where things tend to start going wrong. Put another way, does anyone have experience of the 70-100k or 5-7y ownership period for these cars?
• Warranty is due to expire in October, and I'll be happy to use an independent after that - why wouldn't I, really.
• It's a good point that cost to change would be more than the impending bill. For that, cambelt, water pump, and rear discs will all need doing and I will do the pads at the same time as the discs. I think that's over £800 of work (so £1k is an upward approximation) but it would be significant, and not the sort of spend to incur on a car I was about to change. The service itself will be free to me (goodwill). So I think it's a case of keeping at least until 7y/ 100k if I do get all the work done, to get value from that spend.
• If I was swapping, it'd likely be for a Superb. Would love a 270 but that's probably a little out of budget so likely a 190 or 220; I prefer the latter and a switch back to petrol. I'll be getting a smaller car, a toy for short trips and fun in the next six months, so our family car will no longer need that element in the same way, so I could even get a 150, but I know I'll wish I hadn't come overtake time! But in the way the vRS meets all of our needs currently, the next two cars will be more specialists for their main role.
• I'm not in a position to buy new, and can't stomach the depreciation anyway. One day maybe!
• And as it happens, we're in exactly that position with the houses! 

Cambelt and water pump at an indy would be ~£400 (that's what I paid, main dealer wanted an eye watering £650) Does it "need" to be done at the dealers by October?  knock £250 off their price for that work for starters after warranty expires 

 

Or is it that  you are "sticking" with dealer in Warranty for peace of mind (which is totally fair enough if you paid for extended warranty). 

 

Does it really need discs and pads now? if discs are changed its sort of mandatory to do pads at the same time, indy would save costs on that. Not really a "warranty" worth item discs and pads imo. Their a wear item. 

 

Sound car the Octavia and it's got plenty of life left in it at 69k.  I'd say there are 200 or more Octavia's in Brighton as taxis, don't think they're unreliable at higher miles if looked after and they aren't expensive to maintain at a good indy. 

 

Thanks for bringing us up to speed with the expense. 

 

@BeattieBohemia if you are in the UK, you can extend the Skoda Warranty of any vehicle up to 10 years old.  https://insurewithskoda.co.uk/extended-warranty

Getting the work done by Skoda dealer network gives you 2 years parts and labour warranty, so maybe spending the extra is worth it.

 

Apprechiate that you have to make a choice - invest in your current vehicle (we - here - in the MK3 Octavia section are somewhat biased to say KEEP THE CAR ) or go and join the motley crew in the Superb section here in Briskoda.

Edited 26 July, 20214 yr by varaderoguy

Another issue you are going to face is that right now Skoda dealers are increasing prices of many used cars virtually every week, so you might get a better price for your trade in but any replacement car could be setting you back thousands more than it would have been earlier this year. I was looking at the possibility of buying a late used Octavia 3 estate with a good spec or maybe even an Octavia 4 but couldn't find anything with the spec that I wanted at a sensible price. One car that I had noticed online had its price increased by a lot more than £2000 inside of a week!

Thanks again for the further replies.

 

Extended warranty cover for my car/ mileage is somewhere between £600 and £1.1k depending upon the excess and whether I opt for named or all component cover. Feels like quite a lot. Any views on the named vs. all component cover options? I'm inclined not to have a huge excess as will really grate to have to pay that as well as the premium, to avoid the bill.

 

Discs were recommended by a dealer at last point of contact although when I probed a little the emphasis was on 'braking efficiency' and 'prolonging the life of the pads' and other non-serious sounding comments rather than it being even close to a safety issue. So I took the view that it wasn't a job for that day. Next service is around 3k miles away so happy to take the 'vehicle health check' at that point and re-assess.

 

The car turns 5 in September, a month before the warranty runs out. Age is the basis on which I think it's soon to be cambelt time. Perhaps £600-700 total at an indy for the cambelt, water pump and discs/pads will be easier to stomach. I'm somewhat persuaded by the line of argument that this cost is materially less than the cost to change car.