Advice on buying a mk3 vrs

[Phil Tomlin]

Hi all,

 

I'm actively looking to replace my mk1 octavia vrs with a mk3 vrs estate petrol manual & im asking what’s the best spec to go for I'm looking to spend around the £12k mark.

Ideally I want a car with DAB, Nav & heated seats but the cars I’ve seen for sale don’t have heated seats so has anybody retro fitted heated seat pads & if so what kit was used?

Also is there anything I should look at apart from the normal things to look for when viewing vehicles?

Any help or info would be greatly appreciated 

Cheers

Phil

[SC03OTT]

They all come with DAB and sat nav. Depending on year (post 2015 I think) they come with CarPlay/Android Auto as well. Heated seats were either a stand alone option or part of the winter pack. 
 

What to look out for. I guess servicing is the main thing. Nobody seems to have a clue what’s meant to be done and when (based on the threads I’ve seen on here). I’d personally be trying to find one on fixed time and distance servicing. Others may differ.  Other than that, I don’t seem to recall much else being an issue. But wait for further replies and advice. I’ll 100% have missed something. 

[SunsetZed]

Realistically I'm afraid right now you're not going to have many options at that budget, I'm guessing you'll be looking at a fairly high mileage 2013 or 2014 car so I'd be buying on condition and service history and not worrying so much around heated seats (which can be retrofitted I think).

 

As Sc03ott says they all have DAB and Sat Nav (although how good the Sat Nav is is questionable!).

[MATT0693]

I spent weeks looking for one with heated seats, in the end I purchased one without.
Just had a look on Autotrader and can only find one Petrol, Manual VRS estate under £12k, so it may be a case of compromising in places to get one at the right money.

[EnterName]

15 hours ago, Phil Tomlin said:

Hi all,

 

I'm actively looking to replace my mk1 octavia vrs with a mk3 vrs estate petrol manual & im asking what’s the best spec to go for I'm looking to spend around the £12k mark.

Ideally I want a car with DAB, Nav & heated seats but the cars I’ve seen for sale don’t have heated seats so has anybody retro fitted heated seat pads & if so what kit was used?

Also is there anything I should look at apart from the normal things to look for when viewing vehicles?

Any help or info would be greatly appreciated 

Cheers

Phil

It's been a couple of years since I bought my Octavia, but based on my experience, I'd say don't paint yourself into a corner with a strict wish-list of exactly what you want.

I know buying advice tells you to do the opposite, but I would look at as many cars as possible and get a feel for what a good Mk3 at the age/price you're aiming for looks like.

Eventually you'll spot "the" car, and even if it doesn't have the exact spec you need, you'll know it's the right buy for you.

I went out looking for a manual diesel vRS with the winter pack and ended up with a petrol automatic SE L without one.

[DC04R]

Mine had to be a TSi facelift with winter pack and not leather seats, in any colour but black or grey.

 

Preferred a blue or red but ended up with a white hatchback, from Glasgow with the winter pack and alcantara seats. The winter pack is well worth holding out for in my opinion.

 

Main things to look for, in my experience, even with a Skoda dealership - water pump/thermostat housing leaks, buckled wheels, noisy wheel bearings. The rest is cheap to sort and they're pretty solid and uncomplicated cars.

[hhcd80]

Recently ended up with a Mk3 VRS myself. I really wanted one with both front and rear parking sensors. Most of the ones I've seen on sale only had rear ones, which I found a bit annoying. I did toy with the idea of paying for an aftermarket kit but I really preferred something more OEM and wasn't able to find an OEM retrofit specialist in the Glasgow/Paisley/Inverclyde area. Maybe I was just spoiled having them being common on my previous car (Vauxhall Insignia 2016 facelift), but after having finding them useful manoeuvring in tight spaces, I wouldn't go for a car without them (Unless it was more compact than an Octavia). I was lucky to get this one and it had several toys fitted from the factory and the last owner took good care of it to boot. I nearly went for a blue one from a major used car dealer chain, but I really wasn't happy about the colour.

Advice wise, like with any used car, I would say if you can, take it for a test drive or at least an example with the spec as close to what you want. I can see why the Octy has been a staple for many minicab/taxi drivers. As a local mechanic said, they are "bulletproof" and so far it's been reliable. And if it sounds too good to be true, walk away. I nearly picked up a 60K mile example from the other end of the country in London, but the pushy sales staff and claims about high interest in the car had me suspicious, especially when the car remained on sale for some time after my initial enquiries and was dropped in price about twice before someone bought it.

[Phil Tomlin]

Thanks for getting back to me, I'm in no major rush to change it so I won’t be rushing into buying the first 1 I see, the 1 on the trader I’ve seen but as it’s just over 100 mile from where I live so it’s a bit far just to go & look. I have a trader looking for me as-well so hopefully I will find something a bit closer to home, if anybody heard of one for sale let me know please 👍🏻

[Noms]

My advice would be take your time, and keep your eyes open. I was searching for 11 months before I finally found what I was looking for: the exact car in the colour I wanted in the exact spec. No compromise. Be prepared to wait, but go for what you want, no regrets afterwards. Also, a friend that's a car dealer says prices are slowly coming down, so holding on a couple of months may work out better for you.

[Dooge]

Having recently bought my mk3 VRS wagon, I was picky on spec to a degree but finding a mechanically sound and decent mileage one was hard. As family cars they have been used more than similar cars like S3's and mk7 Golf GTi's.

 

I started with a budget of £12k, after a few months of searching I didn't really find anything within budget. I stretched to £14k and travelled 6 hours from Plymouth to Norwich to pick it up. 15 plate VRS DSG wagon in Race Blue, black pack, bigger infotainment screen, DAB, cruise control (surprised how many did not have this specced), heated seats, leather, front and rear parking sensors and 19" Xtreme alloys. 

 

I wouldn't be worried about the alloys or leather, heated seats is ace and cruise control is a must although both can be retrofitted with enough persuasion. Black pack is also nice aesthetically and doesn't age the car as much as silver does IMO. 

 

As for what to look for, regular servicing and if you go DSG having that serviced every 3 years/40k. Inlet manifolds can still go (just the linkage) which can bring up an engine warning light, waterpump leaking/weaping is common too. Interiors wear well. As for external alot of estates I looked at had damaged rear bumpers due to be so prominent. I did look at a 14 plate with just over 100k on the clock and it was rusty as!  As alot of cars in the VAG MQB platform go, poor alignment can cause weird tyre wear issues, especially on the rear. 

 

Ex police cars are popping up and can be a bargain if you know what you are looking at but you have to remember how often they are thrashed, left idling and potentially been bumped. Most of these will be diesel though.

 

As others have said, keep looking and they will start to pop up!

 

 

[ken-c]

Gonna throw my 2c in here too. 

 

I was recently in the same position as you - wanted an Octy VRS with manual/heated seats/sat nav/folding mirrors. I test drove one that didn't have the toys I wanted but it was a good indication of what the car was like and what to look out for (the one I looked at wasn't as new and had less toys and was similarly priced - it also had quite a bit of rust in certain places which was a bit concerning).

 

I too also had a £12k budget but I also had a part ex. of my old vehicle so all in was ~£15k. I struggled to find one for weeks until one popped up suddenly and it had all the toys I wanted + some more (auto-dim mirrors, very low mileage, 2017 registered) within my budget. It was a long drive away (9 hours round trip 😁) but checked it out and it was all in good nick with no issues.

 

Basically, my advice would be to keep checking, I was checking every day to see if any new ones appeared and it so happened the one I got came up one day and I was on the phone within minutes to book an appointment. 

 

There was one recently that would've fit your budget (£14k but seller was open to neg.) but looks like its been sold - located in Devon, manual, meteor grey, it had the heated seats and sat nav but also had keyless and front radar. 

 

 

 

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

My 2014 petrol vrs doesn't have satnav...but it does have heated seats, mirrors and screen...I believe this was an option called 'winter pack.'

 

So go figure on spec, who knows?!  I love it as it is though. I don't need nav, I'm pretty au fait with where I'm going, and if I DO need nav then I just fire up jolly old Google maps on the phone and bash it in a cradle.

 

HTH

 

[Phil Tomlin]

Hi, I’m looking most days, Auto trader, exchange & mart, eBay, a motors website also & piston heads but nothing is popping up at the mo, where did you see that car for sale? 
Also can anybody else recommend any other places to look?

[Ootohere]

BRISKODA 'Cars for sale',  & post a 'Wanted' advert on BRISKODA. 

[Kenai]

11 minutes ago, Phil Tomlin said:

Hi, I’m looking most days, Auto trader, exchange & mart, eBay, a motors website also & piston heads but nothing is popping up at the mo, where did you see that car for sale? 
Also can anybody else recommend any other places to look?

Part of the problem is that £12k isn't much of a budget for a Mk3 vRS TSI estate in the current market - no matter where you're looking or how often, you won't see cars come up at this sort of price very often. 

 

If £12k is a hard limit, then accept that your search will be long, drawn out and with cars appearing very sporadically. 

[Wet Kipper]

Look in the used car section of local main dealers *- the 3 garage dealership group nearest me doesn't put any of their used cars on Auto Trader 

 

 

*yes, yes I know they are likely to be overpriced but it does give you more ideas 

[ken-c]

10 hours ago, Phil Tomlin said:

Hi, I’m looking most days, Auto trader, exchange & mart, eBay, a motors website also & piston heads but nothing is popping up at the mo, where did you see that car for sale? 
Also can anybody else recommend any other places to look?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206136762372?radius=1500&make=SKODA&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used&year-from=2013&include-delivery-option=on&model=Octavia&year-to=2022&min-engine-power=200&sort=relevance&postcode=m263da&body-type=Estate&fuel-type=Petrol&price-to=15000&advertising-location=at_cars&page=1

 

Depends on how far you can stretch your budget. This one has KESSY too. 

[Dooge]

13 hours ago, Phil Tomlin said:

Hi, I’m looking most days, Auto trader, exchange & mart, eBay, a motors website also & piston heads but nothing is popping up at the mo, where did you see that car for sale? 
Also can anybody else recommend any other places to look?

 

Facebook market place. More and more smaller dealers and garages are using this way because its cheaper than Autotrader which is traditionally quite expensive.

[Nogrille]

Also look out for "surface rust" on major chassis components.  Mine is 4 years old but the underneath looks more like 15!

[Phil Tomlin]

Thanks for the continued advice 👍🏻.

I had noticed the new one pop up on Auto trader this morning, I think my budget will have to be north of £13,500 to get what I want really as there’s nothing about for less

[Dooge]

2 hours ago, Nogrille said:

Also look out for "surface rust" on major chassis components.  Mine is 4 years old but the underneath looks more like 15!

I looked at a 14 plate Race Blue estate with just over 100k on the clock. When he sent me close up pics and a video I was shocked. Both rear arches were blistered, one badly, front wings going on the lip and around where the front wing meets the frame. That area is bad on alot of VAG cars because they put a huge piece of sponge there which soaks up the moisture, but effectively also keeps the area underneath damp. I am planning to cut 5 inches off the sponge to try and stop this from happening.

[Nogrille]

14 hours ago, Dooge said:

I looked at a 14 plate Race Blue estate with just over 100k on the clock. When he sent me close up pics and a video I was shocked. Both rear arches were blistered, one badly, front wings going on the lip and around where the front wing meets the frame. That area is bad on alot of VAG cars because they put a huge piece of sponge there which soaks up the moisture, but effectively also keeps the area underneath damp. I am planning to cut 5 inches off the sponge to try and stop this from happening.

 

Yeah, I think my other car (MK4 Golf) is the only one in the country without rusty front wings!

[Dooge]

1 hour ago, Nogrille said:

 

Yeah, I think my other car (MK4 Golf) is the only one in the country without rusty front wings!

A friend of mine has a MK5 Golf GTi which has a new set of front wings. It has got close to 200k on though!

[Fuzzarr]

Hi there, good luck with your search. As others have said, prices are relatively firm at the moment. Not quite as bad as earlier in the year, but still pretty swollen compared to 2019/2020.

 

I was after a manual TSI in either hatch or estate towards the end of 2020. Finally got a car Feb 2021. I found mine on the approved used Skoda website, checked stock daily, it was listed without an image and not much info at all really but turned out to be the best one I could possibly have bought for my 13k budget.

 

Not sure what's going to happen with prices as the year goes on, I imagine they'll start coming down as people become more cost conscious.

 

I wasn't too fussed about spec, heated seats were desirable as were all round parking sensors, there weren't many cars with the front sensors on. The pre-facelift 230 has them included along with some other goodies, but these cost a bit more than a similar age 220, unless the seller doesn't know what it is.