Hi. Would anyone buy a Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI iV 13kWh vRS DSG, full service history, with just over 70k miles?

Really tempted, it's on a 21 plate but the high millage is a concern. Currently up for £15.5k

or

my other option is a 2.0 TDI vRS DSG on a 19 plate, just under 50k miles, currently up for £16.5, also has full service history.

I've just had to hand back my company car because i've changed jobs, which was a skoda enyaq, which I've loved, so want to stick with skoda, and the VRS looks mint.

Budget is about £15k to £16.5k so these cars are in my budget. I do about 12k miles a year, most motorway driving. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have a VRS phev, which I assume is what you’re looking at (I’m not au fait with all the acronyms!).

For me it shouldn’t really be called a VRS as it doesn’t drive as I would expect a proper VRS to drive. Perhaps it’s the way all hybrid vehicles drive but I find the relationship between the electric and petrol engines really disjointed (when driving in hybrid mode obviously). Sometimes it’s like even the car itself doesn’t know when to change gear / have the petrol and electric engines kicking in, so it feels clunky and almost like old school turbo lag. As for using the flappy paddles to properly “drive” the car then forget it, I’ve got absolutely no idea what gear it’s in / what revs it’s at. Also you can forget about accelerating even remotely hard when the road is slightly damp as it just wheelspins, no matter how gentle you try to be with the throttle.

So I guess the question is do you want a proper VRS or are you happy to have a car that has the badge and looks but doesn’t really drive like a VRS should. Are you interested in the hybrid for the electric aspect? As the range on electric only is crap tbh. I’ve not even mentioned the handling of the phev either, which again isn’t what I would expect from a “performance” model.

As you can tell I’m not a fan of the phev and would never in a million years spend my own money on one (I had no choice as mines a company car). But that’s just my opinion and others may disagree.

On 09/02/2026 at 20:44, GingerDicky said:

Hi. Would anyone buy a Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI iV 13kWh vRS DSG, full service history, with just over 70k miles?

Really tempted, it's on a 21 plate but the high millage is a concern. Currently up for £15.5k

or

my other option is a 2.0 TDI vRS DSG on a 19 plate, just under 50k miles, currently up for £16.5, also has full service history.

If most of your trips are motorway, I would suggest you go for the TDI; if I'm not mistaking the vRS TDI is also AWD... However, since you mentioned it's on a 19 plate - wouldn't that make it an Octavia 3 facelift? AFAIK Octavia 4 started with '20.
The mileage on the 1.4 TSI iV is quite high for a PHEV, you should pay special attention to the service history - those are prone to quite a few gearbox-related issues. The DQ400e is not the smartest/most reliable thing VAG has built.

10 hours ago, Dillers said:

Sometimes it’s like even the car itself doesn’t know when to change gear / have the petrol and electric engines kicking in, so it feels clunky and almost like old school turbo lag. As for using the flappy paddles to properly “drive” the car then forget it, I’ve got absolutely no idea what gear it’s in / what revs it’s at. Also you can forget about accelerating even remotely hard when the road is slightly damp as it just wheelspins, no matter how gentle you try to be with the throttle.

• indeed, if you tend to drive it like you stole it (alternating a lot between "pedal-to-the-metal" and "hard-braking") - yes, the gearbox will be jerky, noisy and sometimes seem to hesitate more than you would like...

• I found the flappy paddles on the VAG phev are only useful in two scenarios: you drive in EV and you want to force/increase regenerative braking, OR when you're in hybrid sport mode and want/need to have control over the gear change while driving spirited;

• when you really want to know what gear it’s in, simply put the DSG in S instead of D; to see the engine revs you have a few dashboard view options - at least one with a rev-meter;

• true, you get a lot of wheel spin with this PHEV configuration (on all VAG models that use it), since they poorly manage the electric motor torque when starting from a standstill, even on dry surfaces. The key is NOT to floor it when the wheel is completely stationary; first let the car move a bit and then you can "launch" it - you'll find this changes the car response dramatically. Also, having a grippy tire helps a lot! Mine was delivered with LRR tires and those were loosing grip quite often; I replaced them as soon as I could.

Edited 11 February11 Feb by SkOmk4

54 minutes ago, SkOmk4 said:

If most of your trips are motorway, I would suggest you go for the TDI; if I'm not mistaking the vRS TDI is also AWD... However, since you mentioned it's on a 19 plate - wouldn't that make it an Octavia 3 facelift? AFAIK Octavia 4 started with '20.
The mileage on the 1.4 TSI iV is quite high for a PHEV, you should pay special attention to the service history - those are prone to quite a few gearbox-related issues. The DQ400e is not the smartest/most reliable thing VAG has built.

• indeed, if you tend to drive it like you stole it (alternating a lot between "pedal-to-the-metal" and "hard-braking") - yes, the gearbox will be jerky, noisy and sometimes seem to hesitate more than you would like...

• I found the flappy paddles on the VAG phev are only useful in two scenarios: you drive in EV and you want to force/increase regenerative braking, OR when you're in hybrid sport mode and want/need to have control over the gear change while driving spirited;

• when you really want to know what gear it’s in, simply put the DSG in S instead of D; to see the engine revs you have a few dashboard view options - at least one with a rev-meter;

• true, you get a lot of wheel spin with this PHEV configuration (on all VAG models that use it), since they poorly manage the electric motor torque when starting from a standstill, even on dry surfaces. The key is NOT to floor it when the wheel is completely stationary; first let the car move a bit and then you can "launch" it - you'll find this changes the car response dramatically. Also, having a grippy tire helps a lot! Mine was delivered with LRR tires and those were loosing grip quite often; I replaced them as soon as I could.

Yeah I’m aware of all of your points, and just to make it clear I don’t drive it like I stole it or floor it out of junctions (not often anyway😉).

I think some of my gripes are just that I’m getting on a bit now and remember the days when the driver drove the car rather than the computers and gizmos.

But on topic, if you are after a VRS then the phev is not the one to go for imo. And agreed on the point that if you do a lot of motorway miles then the diesel is probably the better bet.

If it’s fun you’re after though then get the petrol with a manual gearbox!

Never driven one but the IV model doesn’t have the lowered sports suspension, the VAQ diff and is considerably heavier than the ICE RS. In addition the total peak power can only be delivered continuously for quite a short period. So yes it’s more a sport line than a true RS. I’d do petrol all the time but out of those two options I’d probably take the diesel although the impression I have is that while the hybrid seems to prone to all sorts of crazy electrical issues involving the 12v battery the diesel can have oil consumption and other issues so caveat emptor and all that.