Hi. This is my first message and I hope there will be many more if it all goes well with buying the car in the following link: https://bit.ly/3mP5XSG

 

Can I please ask you to check the link and share your thoughts? I have a really tight budget also a must for an automatic/petrol combination so I am really interested in this car.

Many thanks in advance for your time!

Welcome.

 

Hopefully someone will be along to help. 

Looks good to me. Obviously you'd need to take it for a drive and be happy with it.

I like the little ding in the rear O/S as it tends to knock some money of the purchase price without actually being any problem at all.

No rust, looks very nice for the price.

For some reason I was expecting a higher spec radio than the Bolero in a L&K, but from the pics and description, it looks like a great buy, if everything is working.

I particularly like the full Skoda service history.

@M3RT

Best if someone familiar with these cars could go with you, someone familiar not only with the engines but the DSG.

You need to be aware of potential issues with the Euro 5 1.8TSI engines.  Hopefully all is well. Maybe even work has been done on the engine, but evidence of that would be good.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/266114-18tsi-engine-failures

Also the DQ200 DSG. It possibly needed and got a oil change from Synthetic Oil to Mineral & Software Update sometime since 2014.

this is '34F7'.

Thank you for your replies. I have test driven the car an hour ago and it looks really in a very good condition.

 

I also took a mechanic with me (ex Audi and Porsche worker). He checked the chassis, this and that and then connected the car to the machine for any permanent error codes. He then also confirmed that the car is in a very good condition.

 

Thanks to you that you brought up TSI engine issues and dry clutch DSG issues.

 

1) How can I learn if the engine was touched for a fix?

2) How can I confirm that change from change from Synthetic Oil to Mineral & Software Update was already done?

 

Any suggestions is much appreciated.

 

If '34F7' was done since early 2014 on the DSG there is a sticker in the spare tyre well or there should be.

No matter if not done or if it was the DSG is still working 7 years on from the Service Campaign being called.

http://skoda-auto.com/services/recall-actions

 

 

If the mechanic never picked up on any noises or issues with the engine then you can just cross your fingers.

 

eg.

 

Edited 31 August, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

I will go and check the well tomorrow. It will be easy because the car doesn't have any spare tyre so the well is empty. Let's see.

 

I really liked the car. Hope no bad surprise comes up and ruins the joy.

4 hours ago, M3RT said:

https://bit.ly/3mP5XSG

Please don't use name compression sites. How do I know this link goes where you say it does? Oh and BTW it doesn't work anyway.

1 hour ago, KenONeill said:

Please don't use name compression sites. How do I know this link goes where you say it does? Oh and BTW it doesn't work anyway.

 

Fair enough. I was just trying to avoid pasting a very long link on the page for you and others' convenience. BTW the link works 😉

One of the big issues with some 1.8 tsi engines was burning oil. Obviously check oil level but I'd be looking for evidence of oil near the exhaust tail pipe - oil yellowing on bumper nearby or oil that shows when you wipe a tissue around the area at the back.

 

Anyway of taking on a long test drive?

 

I have a friend with a 1.8tsi Yeti (same engine I believe ) that has had no trouble

  

12 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Please don't use name compression sites. How do I know this link goes where you say it does? Oh and BTW it doesn't work anyway.

The link does work, just not with Firefox and possibly some other browsers.

Edited 1 September, 20214 yr by EnterName

I spoke to Skoda UK Customer Services. They confirmed that the gear oil was changed back in 2014. 

However when they wanted to search for the car via the reg number, they could not find the car. They then could find the car via the chassis number. Should I get suspicious that the car did not show up via the reg number? I asked the lady on the phone to tell me what reg number shows up on her screen. She said she cannot do that and I have to contact a Skoda retailer for this/more information.

 

I then asked them for the details of the full service history. She said that the was serviced only the first two years in their network. So it looks like it was then serviced in independent Skoda garages.

 

Any ideas? Should I get suspicious that the car did not show up via the reg number? Thanks.

Just an update. I spoke to a Skoda retailer and they said that the reason for the reg number to show up on the system should be because the car was used with a private reg before. It makes sense... 

4 hours ago, EnterName said:

The link does work, just not with Firefox and possibly some other browsers.

because of the link shortening issue, I installed a sacrificial copy of Firefox, which did work for me.

 

20 hours ago, EnterName said:

Looks good to me. Obviously you'd need to take it for a drive and be happy with it.

I like the little ding in the rear O/S as it tends to knock some money of the purchase price without actually being any problem at all.

No rust, looks very nice for the price.

For some reason I was expecting a higher spec radio than the Bolero in a L&K, but from the pics and description, it looks like a great buy, if everything is working.

I particularly like the full Skoda service history.

I noticed the interior was very like an elegance. The reason for this seems to be that it is an elegance.

 

Is that 10 owners? That looks high, even though the mileage isn't bad Spend some time with the service history and the MoT records to check that it all seems plausible.

 

My first thought was that the price was a touch high, but I'm not really sure how much extra estates go for.

56 minutes ago, Camlobe said:

noticed the interior was very like an elegance. The reason for this seems to be that it is an elegance.

Not so certain about the mk2, but on the mk1 the L&K was an Elegance + leather and different pattern wheels.

A 2011 L&K as advertised.

16 hours ago, Camlobe said:

because of the link shortening issue, I installed a sacrificial copy of Firefox, which did work for me.

The point is, the link works just fine. (Or rather did, as the advert is now gone, so I guess the car is sold.)

 

Maybe I have issues with Firefox because I have some add-ons installed.

AutoTrader (and one or two other) car sites don't work for me on Firefox, but they work fine with Brave.

 

Edited 2 September, 20214 yr by EnterName

20 hours ago, M3RT said:

I spoke to Skoda UK Customer Services. They confirmed that the gear oil was changed back in 2014. 

However when they wanted to search for the car via the reg number, they could not find the car. They then could find the car via the chassis number. Should I get suspicious that the car did not show up via the reg number? I asked the lady on the phone to tell me what reg number shows up on her screen. She said she cannot do that and I have to contact a Skoda retailer for this/more information.

 

I then asked them for the details of the full service history. She said that the was serviced only the first two years in their network. So it looks like it was then serviced in independent Skoda garages.

 

Any ideas? Should I get suspicious that the car did not show up via the reg number? Thanks.

Ah! So it's NOT a full Skoda dealership service history, as advertised?

Hmmm.

As others have mentioned the two big things that regularly catch people out on these is 1. the DSG used on that model (Arguably less reliable 7SP dry clutch dsg). Even if it has had the oil change and 2. oil usage issues from scraper rings clogging.  Both are hard to spot or anticipate before they rear their head.

 

In the oil case of engine oil usage, it often shows up after you've driven 1,000 miles and a month or two, engine oil light comes on and makes it hard to get traction with the used dealer due to time constraints and "further proof" being required.  Arguments and lots of time about the issue and the fix required ensues. In some cases to get any resolution requires independent engineer assessment and court action......

 

Not every single engine is affected and compression testing will not show the issue.  A borescope may give some indication as to the level of oil fouling in the cylinder / valves but the oil usage test is the only thing that skoda uses in the TPI for the issue to diagnose, assuming other checks for oil leaks prove negative.

 

 

On 01/09/2021 at 15:48, e-Roottoot said:

A 2011 L&K as advertised.

 

Thank you for sharing however I cannot afford it unfortunately.

So the car in question had two owners so far. I managed to talk to the latter. A very nice and helpful guy.

 

He said he owned the car until a month ago. He bought it when it was on 15000 miles in 2015. The car has since been serviced at the same garage (VAG Group Specialists) every year, the stamps are there as you know. He told me that it is a very well looked after car so I wouldn't hesitate to go for it.

 

When I asked about DSG whether he has had any issues, he said that when he first got it (2015 / 15K miles) it did do a 'shudder' at low revs in 1st/2nd. The garage replaced a part in it which helped this. He thinks though it does still do it but he thinks it's a lot better or he got used to it.

 

Given that, if I would like to get it checked, what type of garage I should look for? Any suggestions is much appreciated.

The car seems like a good buy, but as TheClient details, there are some known issues with that particular engine/gearbox combination.

It's an 11 year-old car. I think it looks like a good buy, but if it doesn't feel right, walk away.

I think that car is worth the £5k5 they're asking for it, but you might not, and it's your money.

Put simply: Would you rather have the £5499 in your bank account, or that car on your drive?

That's basically what your buying decision it boils down to.

 

I understand getting cold feet about buying a used car, as it took me 2 years to find one I was happy with.

Eventually I got to the stage where I literally could not find a good reason not to buy the particular vehicle I ended up buying.

If you've spoken to the previous owner, assuming he's being straight with you, the car should be okay.

But it might not be, and that's a risk we take with all car purchases.

Good luck!