Hi, my son-in-law is needing a bigger car to hump about all the paraphernalia of a toddler .... he is quite smitten with the Superb 2016-on, but looking in the West of Scotland area they seem to be eye wateringly expensive ... certainly via Uncle Arnold, so I'd like some helpful views on the following please ...

 

Most of the pre owned cars seem to fall into the following two brackets for a 2018/19 registered cars ...

 

a/ 10-30k miles and just shy of £24k retail (full main dealer service stamps) and akin to rocking horse droppings to find.

b/ 70-85k miles and in the ballpark of £20k retail (patchy or fleet service stamps) and forecourts are full of them, esp the estate.

 

My take on this is they are all over priced and the a/ cars are either privately owned and just finished their PCP deals, or low milage company leases.

The b/ cars are either motorway warriors just finished their company lease or Taxi's at the end of their leases.

 

Question, am I correct in my thinking re the b/ cars and does anyone actually know if the majority of these cars are actually used as taxi's/private hire or not ... (my guessing due to the number with poor bodywork and approx 80k miles at 3-4 years old,) and actual privately owned cars which are fairly hard to find at sensible prices, or just hard to find at all.

 

Cheers for any input , thoughts etc guys (or lassies.)

 

 

Hi so I bought my 2015 with 69k on the clock for £17k about 2.5 years ago. I failed to notice  the bodywork mainly the front bumper was far from perfect. However the interior was immaculate. 

I would try to find a one from a private seller tbh. Also there are a few bits that you need to look out for. 

Any thing particular on your mind Awesam? I am aware of the 1.5 TSI issues that impact most of the VAG world, and unless that has 

been fixed under the care of the previous owner, I'd rather he give that particular engine a miss.

Edited 24 September, 20223 yr by TruckbusUK

Highly likely you'll never know exactly who owned a car before, but you can tell how it's been looked after by the overall condition inside & outside plus the service history regardless of whether it's a private or company car.

I have had company cars for several years and I look after them as if its my own, and whenever it is due for a service I just tell them to do whatever needs doing so they are all an excellent buy for their next owner. Don't be put off by higher mileages, mine spends most of its life on the motorway so very little gets worn or stressed, for example my front brake pads lasted for 130k miles from new, very little suspension and related wear as a result of the easy life so I would go by overall condition and service history. I would be much happier buying a higher mileage car that's had an easy life than a lower mileage car that has been used for mainly shorter trips.

Also bear in mind a diesel may not be suitable for lower mileage usage or too much city driving due to the DPF, and I wouldn't discount the 1.5TSI - test drive one to see if it suits you, and there have been reports on this forum of pretty high petrol consumption on some of the more powerful petrols, it really depends where and how its driven.

Thanks, high mileage doesn't really bother me, its more how it was done and in what scenario, I have personally taken several Volvos to over 300k without issues, a motorway warrior car doesn't bother me, but a taxi /private hire does ... I've seen some awful maintained cars in that world that are ground down with no or little maintenance, knackered suspension, shot brakes engine oil like tar, but interiors looking not too bad because they smartly used seat covers etc, the are then given a mop to make the surface look good at a glance when dumped.

Yup I'm long enough in the tooth to know what to look for, just trying to get a grip on what the lie of the land in the high milers (many of which seem to have originated from "taxi/cab centres." 

Edited 24 September, 20223 yr by TruckbusUK
typo

The main issues with the engine is the waterpump and thermostat housing leaking. 

If the car has DDC shocks leaking. 

Thanks to those replies, anyone else with some views?

 

 

 

If you have the registration of both car put them through Car Vertical to see if they have been in an accident. 

Also check out any warnings from the last MOT

On 24/09/2022 at 20:14, Awesam said:

The main issues with the engine is the waterpump and thermostat housing leaking. 

If the car has DDC shocks leaking. 

Ahem - Misting🙈🙉🙊

On 24/09/2022 at 17:15, TruckbusUK said:

b/ 70-85k miles and in the ballpark of £20k retail (patchy or fleet service stamps) and forecourts are full of them, esp the estate.

I bought my 2016 1.6Tdi Estate just over 2 years ago for £9500 retail. 80k miles. That was roughly the going rate back then. Has now done 135k miles.  Service history similar to your description. So far have had to change the following:

 

• Cambelt & Water Pump. Knew this was due when I bought it and got £500 off the original asking price. ( Plan to do this at 80k intervals, Skoda say every 40k but sod them. )
• Battery - 2 weeks ago. Stop-Start function now working again.
• Rear Wiper Blade.
• 4 new tyres.
• Front headlight bulb ( super easy 2 minute job unlike Audi A4 and others )

Currently needs 2 new rear shocks, rear discs & pads.

DSG even-to-odd changes can be a bit slippy. When I get more confident I'll attempt a reset with my VCDS

 

Good comfortable car, achieves average 60mpg ( lots of relaxed motorway use ) and the boot space is humungous.

 

Previous car was a new '65 plate Mercedes C200 Estate.  Quality-wise the Skoda is just as good.

I'm in a similar vein to Gammy above, bought my 2016 2.0tdi in Sep 2019 for £9k with 103k on the clock. VWFS car from new which had 1 owner/driver and had been used by a photocopier company from Kent. Condition was pretty much spot on other a few stone chips and the odd mark. 

 

Water pump failed in June 2020 on it's 4th birthday - new cambelt and pump

 

Electric boot struts packed up in March 2021 and I've not changed them yet - will probably swap them for some cheaper Chinese copies at some point

 

Battery replaced this week £250!!! At the least the stop/start works again now

 

Other than that, just a pair of front tyres and rear brake pads and oil/filters etc.

 

Current mileage 137k

Bought our one owner 2016 280 in March ‘20, with 19k miles and it’s now on 37k. I knew the original owner as they were a member here. You’re correct that prices have gone completely insane; last week I was offered £2k more for the car than we’d paid for it. 
Yep, it is thirsty around town - I get around 23-24 mpg, but it’s a ridiculously short drive to/from work, including a couple of not insubstantial hills in there too. The best I’ve got is low 40’s on some long trips which I’m delighted with, given this is a 335bhp car and mile munching is what this car is amazing at doing.
In terms of reliability, other than a failed steering wheel thumb wheel replaced under warranty (which I now understand can actually be dismantled and cleaned 🙄) and the bonnet release which the dealer broke when I was waiting to have the thumb wheel replaced…. and I then had to pay to be fixed as apparently that wasn’t covered by warranty (seriously…. and they wonder why so many customers decide to dump them in favour of specialists) and finally a failed rear wheel sensor, the car has been completely reliable. It is expensive to run; a full service and all fluid and filter change was nearly a grand and tyres, which I’ll need soon, will be similar I’m guessing. Absolutely love the car; its superbly comfortable, fantastically well spec’d and lovely to look at. Oh and it is very, VERY fast! 

Edited 1 October, 20223 yr by numskull

I've pmd you mate

I've done 35k kms in my 2.0TDI 4x4 110kW estate this year alone. It was on 116k at 3.5 years old. It had been serviced at Skoda and was a company car (previous owner had "Fleet" in the company name, making it pretty clear). Had an MoT fail at 3 years due to a broken front spring. Next failure is the rear passenger door lock, but aside from that I can't fault it. Now 4.5 years old, next MoT / katsastus in spring. Needs another oil change and Haldex. It's a great milemuncher, I tend to do 500 miles in a day to the office and back. 

 

Trying to buy a replacement: I would get a similar price to what I paid; looking for a lower mileage with similar kit says €7k more (25k€ vs 32k€). But they are incredibly expensive in Germany right now (even more so than here!). I got a great deal on the trade-in, so I'm not too bothered.

Consumption is around 5.6l/100 under optimal conditions and the long term average is in my sig. Bear in mind I really do do 250 miles at a throw and it's relatively low speed (mostly 50-60mph limits) with minimal traffic or town work, so I figure this is pretty much as good as it's going to get without slowing down some more, increasing tyre pressures and deliberately driving for consumption. 

 

What surprised me when I looked is that there really aren't that many rock chips on the front of the car; obviously it wasn't motorways. There are some huge gouges out elsewhere but the paint is surprisingly good for a Skoda, minimal swirls and scratches. Interior scratches easier than I would like (one of the deco strips on the rear door has a black stripe somehow) and the kind-of-OK Xenon high beam has been supplemented with a Lazer Linear 18 Elite, meaning it really is a pleasure to drive at night now. 

What would I upgrade now? To leather / alcantara - with memory would be nice, so my offspring could drive with their own settings - and a rear camera. The audio I've handled, and aside from Android Auto needing a cable and having a different audio signature, it's pretty darned usable. The only reason I know about the prices was to find out if it makes sense to swap the car or upgrade and the answer is "probably the latter". Not bothered about more power or DSG, both of which would be likely.. the clutch isn't too heavy for my liking and there's enough power when dropping to fourth for a quick blast past slower stuff.

And I can fit 15 Ikea Dundergubben moving boxes if necessary

 

.Bret

Prices were crazy, but seem to have started coming down.

 

Bought our 2016 280 L&K from Arnold Clark in March 2020 for £17,995 with 40,000 miles. Similar mileage / condition cars were £25k a few months ago. A few minor bits have needed doing, but as a family load lugger it is excellent. I couldn't recommend it more for family abuse - the leg room in the back is epic as it means the children struggle to reach the seat in front to kick you 😉

 

The massive boot on the estate version is also handy too.

 

More details on my project build thread.

Edited 7 October, 20223 yr by ChrisCh