Hi all,

Following my car being recently stolen, I'm now in the market again and likely to need to buy relatively quickly.

 

Budget: hard limit of 20k, but would much prefer to spend closer to 14k or 15k.  Keeping some cash in hand helpful at the moment.

Use case: general family car stuff (runs to sports etc., shopping; holidays) plus some motorway heavy work-trips (mileage can vary, but sometimes can be a lot). Hatch fine, estate nice. Would like a good parking-pack if possible (for missus)

Philosophy: I prefer to buy and hold, so I want a reliable machine. I do maintenance/service by the book. Also like a comfortable cabin & seats, but don't crave endless "toys". Last car was an 2004 Audi A6 (1.9TDI, PD) that I retired with 200k miles, then got a Camry, which was stolen after just 4 months.

 

For my price-range, etc., I think it should be possible to get an SE L model somewhere in the 2019-2021 range with about 30k miles more or less.  I'm looking at a couple of models 2020, 28k, SEL, 1.5 TSI DSG, for £15,900 asking.  The main thing giving me pause for thought is the DSG box and reliability (DQ200 etc.,). I can find a 1.5 TSI manual, relatively nearby, but not with SE L trim (would be SE or SE Tech).  There's one 1.5 manual SEL estate down in Christchurch, but it's so far away (2.5 hrs drive) it'll be tricky to view/test.  (Could buy on spec? is that mad?)

 

But then I read that the 1.5 TSI is generally expensive to work on (pumps, belts), plus there's the possibiity of the "kangarooing" phenomenon. Which could push me towards 1.0 TSI. Though I hate to lose the power, the real killer is that those ones never have SE L.

Going the other way, I haven't done enough research to know if 2l TDI is russian roulette, and there are very few 2l petrols.

 

So, I guess my questions are:

• How much of a Russian roulette is 4 year old, 30k miles 1.5 TSI DSG?
• Is there another option/configuration I'm missing or should consider?

 

(btw, I started this search looking at Superbs, and prefer their cabin (seats in particular).  I went away from that partly because easier to keep to budget, partly due to size of parking space, but mostly to placate my wife)

Welcome. Kangerooing should not be an issue 2020/21 with a 1.5TSI ACT DSG (Nor the DQ200 DSG an issue.)

Cambelt change price neither for maybe another 8 years or more. No longer schedule, advice or guidance as being @ 5 years / 50,000 miles in the UK. 

 

You are only buy 1 car so how few there might be around does not matter if you can find 1 you want.

There will be 3 year old lease cars arriving at auction and into the used car trade as we get through the summer, so more 2021 cars available.

Thank you for the reply!

So with a 2020 1.5 TSI ACT DSG, there's no special DQ200 DSG issue?  Like, obviously there's never a guarantee that a car doesn't have a problem, but it's not a particular minefield?  In that case, the decision becomes pretty clear to me. There's one garage with two of those cars, almost the same. I go and look at both, see if I can differentiate them; and if I really can't split the difference decide on basis of colour.

 

You're right, absolutely, on the "just need 1 car" point.  And thanks for the pointer regarding more 2021s through the summer.

As it stands, I'll need to buy something by 11th August to keep my insurance policy valid (the stolen car wasn't recovered, so I have 30 days from when they paid out to put another car on the policy or else it gets cancelled). I don't want to lose the current policy as it was expensive, has 10.5 months left to run, and a new one will be only more expensive as I've now lost my no claims bonus.

Get a warranty,

and then when the time comes & it expires an extended warranty that covers the DSG.

Just now, Ootohere said:

Get a warranty,

and then when the time comes & it expires an extended warranty that covers the DSG.

I've a complication with that. I'm going to move the car to Republic of Ireland in September.

I checked back when I searched for cars in February, and Skoda approved-used warranty doesn't seem to transfer to Ireland. 

It might still be possible to bring the car up to a dealer in Northern Ireland (UK)  to make a warranty claim, if the issue was bad enough (like an engine or gearbox failure), but far from ideal.

 

This was part of what pushed me to Toyota the first time around.

The main-dealer Toyota approved-used  alsodidn't transfer, however I could activate a 10yr/100k "Relax" warranty in Ireland by getting a main dealer service.

This time around, I just don't see any value in Toyotas, plus I've a bad taste after the theft and reading more into Toyota security problems.

 

So my thinking is spend15/16k on car, have a couple of thousand in back pocket "just in case" I need a big repair.

(I've also just sent Skoda Customer Service in Ireland an email asking about buying warranty in Ireland for car in this type of scenario)

We’ve had a 2015 Polo with the DQ200 for seven years now, and it’s been faultless.

 

Gaz

What discourages you from getting another Camry?

RE another Camry... a couple of things put me off

They're very few and far between.  As noted here already, I only need to find one. But say on Autotrader within 50 miles of me there is a grand total of 13 Camrys under 10 years old. Of those, 2 are private sellers, 1 is Cat S, some are Japanese imports, some of the dealers have rotten reviews, etc.,  many are rather high mileage. I'll almost certainly have to visit multiple dealers to manage to buy one (I saw 3 last time), with a lot of travel... but I'm running against the clock (insurance) and my wife will flip if I start a big project for this while we're prepping to relocate.

 

Price is higher than Octavias (even Superbs) of similar level. This is probably my best Camry bet: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406120688873 it's £1500 cheaper than the car that was stolen, one year younger too, but double the mileage (would need to check did anyone change the CVT fluid at 40k miles... not mandated but strongly recommended). It's also lower trim level, and the dealer doesn't have a huge amount of track record that I can see. I can get Octavia same year, much lower mileage etc.,  from a main Skoda dealer, for asking £3,000 less again.

 

I also didn't exactly fall in love with the Camry after I bought it. The boot is big, but the way the hinges move they manage to compromise some of the space (even when just stacking shopping bags across the boot.  No android-auto/apple-carplay was a bit irritating. That said: very comfortable, very relaxing drive, but shifted if you put the foot down, economical, nice place to be. I'm sure would have been a reliable car if I'd managed to keep it and I was looking forward to taking it on long drive for holidays.

 

I'm also feeling that I'm asking for trouble putting the same make and model out on the street again where it got stolen before (no trace left).

I've been looking also at Corolla estates. Space is decent, and with a leather interior they're not bad (Excel trim). But they are so rare, and over-priced.  Meanwhile the fabric upholstered ones can get quite tired (having seen a couple last time I was searching), which can be hard to tell from the photos.

I've another reply that's held for approval, probably because I'm a new user. I think the fact I'd quoted Ootohere may have triggered that.  I was responding to the point on warranties:

 

I've a complication with that. I'm going to move the car to Republic of Ireland in September.

I checked back when I searched for cars in February, and Skoda approved-used warranty doesn't seem to transfer to Ireland. 

It might still be possible to bring the car up to a dealer in Northern Ireland (UK)  to make a warranty claim, if the issue was bad enough (like an engine or gearbox failure), but far from ideal.

 

This was part of what pushed me to Toyota the first time around.

The main-dealer Toyota approved-used  alsodidn't transfer, however I could activate a 10yr/100k "Relax" warranty in Ireland by getting a main dealer service.

This time around, I just don't see any value in Toyotas, plus I've a bad taste after the theft and reading more into Toyota security problems.

 

So my thinking is spend15/16k on car, have a couple of thousand in back pocket "just in case" I need a big repair.

(I've also just sent Skoda Customer Service in Ireland an email asking about buying warranty in Ireland for car in this type of scenario)

@michaelc - Well, FWIW Toyotas used to be common hereabouts, but have become rare over the last 30 years or so.

22 hours ago, michaelc said:

They're very few and far between.

You make a good point. I can't recall the last time I saw a Camry around by me.

Everyone seems determined to drive around in some flavour of SUV.

OK, well update from me:

 

I bought an Octavia earlier today.  Went to dealers where they had a dozen for sale. I looked at two 1.5TSi DSG SE L ones (both 2020, 28k miles). Couldn't quite settle myself on either, slight misgivings on the history/condition of both (one of them had had a "non-warranty repair on 3 separate occasions", and 4 different tyres; the other the coolant level was below minimum, which is not catastrophe, but not reassuring).  They'd both been serviced on the 20k intervals

 

Then I looked at another one, 1.5TSI, but 6 speed manual and only SE Tech trim, 2019 and 37k miles (and £4k cheaper). The service history on that stacked up a bit better for me: two matching Michelin Cross Climates on front (following MOT advisory), 2 matching Nexans on the back.  Last service in the dealer system was from 18k miles, but when I took a look through glove box on test-drive, there was a paperwork for a further Skoda dealer service, and another service at an independent garage (with the name of the owner on the top), and the mileages all add up.  Plus I have a bit more cash held back in case there's anything I need to deal with out of warranty eventually.

 

So I've put deposit down on the car and should pick it up Saturday week when I'm back in town.

Sincerely, thanks again for the help here. Even if I didn't go for the DSG, it wasn't because of unfounded fears of repairs, so the help  was very welcome and useful.  I'm now in (or shortly to be so) the Skoda family! (my 9 year old seems happy too, when I showed him picture of the car, he declared "oh, it has the bird!" (logo), I asked "is that good?" to which the response was "oh yes! It's like a crazy chicken!"... so there you go!)

 

Finally: on Camry scarcity. They stopped selling them altogether in UK in 2020 or maybe during 2021.  However Toyota kept selling them in Republic of Ireland, so it's probably the only make/model of car where there are more examples for sale in Ireland than in the UK... just checked and Autotrader has 40 in total, while in Ireland Done Deal has over 250. However I think there's  new revision coming, and it's been confirmed it won't launch in UK, and I don't think it will launch in Ireland either.  Some Japanese used imports might turn up over time; worldwide the Camry is a huge seller.

I'm glad you've found a car you're happy with. Great result! 👍