Good Morning

Please can i ask for advice on purchasing a used Diesel Octavia Estate, particularly which year/registration you'd recommend? We bought a 2021, 2l from an approved dealer back in April but the infotainment system kept crashing and we returned it. I've also had an older Octavia and Fabia which had awful squeaky noises every time they went over a bump. Now i'm wondering if i'd be better off getting a 2018/2019 model which has a little less mpg efficiency but possible less likely to have problems?. I have up £16k to spend and would like to get it from an approved dealer as we have no knowledge about cars and need to ensure as much as i can that i'll have support if something goes wrong. We want a diesel as it'll do approx 30k of motorway miles per year and is replacing our old passatt that did 290k miles before dying. Any advice much appreciated

General ŠKODA/VAG comments as I can’t offer specific Octavia advice. As you will be doing high mileage and likely keep your cars for a while. Avoid any car that has not had regular servicing, every 12 months or 10k miles which comes first, I.e. fixed and not variable servicing. DPF and EGR can cause problems when the diesel is only doing short journeys without the regular long runs to keep things clean. Squeaks and creaks are often dry suspension bushes easily fixed sometimes just by applying WD40. Good luck with your search.

Thanks you for taking the time to reply. I found a car which looked perfect (a 2020 reg with 51k) on the clock and asked the Skoda dealer to supply with me service history. I could see it had already failed it's MOT twice for tyres and had work carried out this year. The dealer confirmed it had had the following done

The work carried out in 2025 are Lambda Probe, Particulate Sensor, Injector and Rear Pads/Discs.

I feel a bit nervous about buying this car so was planning to say no to it as i feel the this is quite a few problem for the Diesel to have had at this stage. Am i being sensible or too overcautious? It would come with the skoda approved 1 year warranty..

12 minutes ago, gkly said:

Thanks you for taking the time to reply. I found a car which looked perfect (a 2020 reg with 51k) on the clock and asked the Skoda dealer to supply with me service history. I could see it had already failed it's MOT twice for tyres and had work carried out this year. The dealer confirmed it had had the following done

The work carried out in 2025 are Lambda Probe, Particulate Sensor, Injector and Rear Pads/Discs.

I feel a bit nervous about buying this car so was planning to say no to it as i feel the this is quite a few problem for the Diesel to have had at this stage. Am i being sensible or too overcautious? It would come with the skoda approved 1 year warranty..

Not being over cautious, a 5 year old car, with 2 MOT fails (and fails that should be blatantly obvious that it was silly putting car in that condition) suggests previous owner skimped on basic maintenance. Possibly why it is having problems with sensors. The fact that it is needing multiple parts to the engine suggests some underlying problem.

My gut feeling is previous owner has caused damage, and clogging by lots of short journeys, and then not done annual services, instead skimping servicing. So walk away.

Wouldn't worry about rear brake pads, as changing them by 50k miles (or 5 years) is fairly normal.

Edited 10 August, 202510 Aug by SurreyJohn

15 minutes ago, SurreyJohn said:

Not being over cautious, a 5 year old car, with 2 MOT fails (and fails that should be blatantly obvious that it was silly putting car in that condition) suggests previous owner skimped on basic maintenance. Possibly why it is having problems with sensors. The fact that it is needing multiple parts to the engine suggests some underlying problem.

My gut feeling is previous owner has caused damage, and clogging by lots of short journeys, and then not done annual services, instead skimping servicing. So walk away.

Wouldn't worry about rear brake pads, as changing them by 50k miles (or 5 years) is fairly normal.

One word springs to mind TAXI ,

I've have better 14 year old cars than 5 yer old cars , if the maintenance aint been done it won't be reliable

How many miles on the car as tyres dont wear out that quick unless they were kerbing them all the time

As said above run away quick

Thank you to everyone for your replies and help. I do have one more question please. I've been staying clear of Diesels that have done a very low mileage for their age as i believe this isn't good for the car, but at the same time am a bit nervous of buying a high mileage. Unfortunately i can see that most of the cars in my price range are 2018 reg with about 50k miles on the clock. As a general rule of thumb, is it sensible to look at diesels that have done around 15-20k miles per year or would a lower mileage be ok (assume service history and MOT is ok). I found another Octavia for just over £15k which is a 2L 150ps, 2021 reg with 85,000 on the clock but this mileage seems a little on the high side to me. Really not sure where the sweet spot is with age v mileage is. Thanks all.

With diesels the emissions requirements went up in series of temporary steps (hence euro6d temp etc). And the emissions equipment got more complicated and/or more sensitive over time to comply.

A car that has done 15k miles per year, would almost certainly have done regular journeys long enough to allow it to get hot enough to clean itself (doing a regen).

There is always a trade off, the engine might be better (providing it has been properly serviced), but other parts, suspension, brakes etc are likely to be closer to point they need changing. It's a case of getting down on knees and visually inspecting, and what full service history says has been done recently, and making a decision based on apparent condition.

Ultimately when looking at 4-7 year old cars, there is no specific sweet spot, it's how well serviced and maintained it has been. Be wary of any delayed servicing etc

Thank you so much, that's really helpful.. I'll keep looking until i find something with a good service history. I must admit I've been surprised at how many of the Skoda dealers seem to be selling cars with a poor history.

@gkly Are they selling ones which are not serviced to the Manufacturers Recommendations, guidelines, advice or specification foe servicing?

Variable Oil & Inspection services and the Pollen Filter and Brake fluid changes done.

Not very much is involved in servicing with Skoda UK approved workshops.

A history of ticks is one thing, but actual Servicing and Maintenance is another.

Skoda / VW Approved used cars are sold at a premium yet might only just have been looked at and had minimum Servicing that Fleet / Lease cars might get.

I've just seen a few now with either part history, lots of work needed or failed MOT's. I'm starting to wonder if i'd be better looking at other dealers, not just Skoda and finding one that has been well looked after. Will keep looking.

Enthusiasts Forums / Briskoda For Sale type places.

Approved Used Cars from VW Group might be no better than from Car Super Markets or Online buying, CINCH etc.

People often get rid of crap vehicles and they end up at the above places or just at traders / dealers anyplace.

It is a lottery.

Made easier since you are just looking to buy one car.

All the best searching.

22 hours ago, gkly said:

I've just seen a few now with either part history, lots of work needed or failed MOT's. I'm starting to wonder if i'd be better looking at other dealers, not just Skoda and finding one that has been well looked after. Will keep looking.

This is a good policy.

Keep looking and you will see the right car and you'll know it's the right car for you.

If in doubt, walk away.

OP - did you get yourself sorted?

I'm currently looking for a MK3 VRS oil burner...

Hello, Yes i did thank you. I managed to find a 2021 with clean MOT history and full service history so will now keep y fingers crossed that it's a good car.

Great - private or dealer?

I've found a 2019 estate, 60K miles. It's red and that's all I know so far. Dealer wants £17K for it

it was a used approved car. 2021, 48k but just a basic 2l diesel automatic.. cost 17k