Hi there,

I am going to test drive an 04 Classic Octavia 1.9 TDi Estate tomorrow (Wednesday) at Bickerton Skoda in Sheffield. It's done 20,566 miles and is on for £7,995.

This sounds pricey to me - Parkers' price for a fanchised dealer is £6,525. No doubt a deal can be done, but I would welcome any comments on the price. I'll be trading in a 98 Audi A6 1.8T with leather - it's in poor condition so I'm hoping for £1K for it, anything else is a bonus.

I could do with advice on what questions to ask and things to look out for. I believe the main one is whether the cam belt has been done?

All help gratefully accepted - I don't know much about cars, but I think a diesel Octy estate should be more economic, easier to park and cheaper overall than the Audi!

Cheers

Paul

The car is too new with not enough miles on it for the belt to of been done (4 years, 60k ish? miles is the recommendation)

On a 04 plate the cambelt and filters would be due in the next 3 to 9 months, so at that price I'd be looking for those, brake fluid and coolant to be changed.

I'd also expect the car to be pretty much rock solid, and all the electrics (well maybe not if the OP means Classic as trim level rather than specifying an A4 rather than A5 car) to work properly.

Many thanks for the swift replies!

So if the cambelt and filters haven't been done, then I should try to get something off the price? I seem to remember that a cambelt / kit change w/ water pump is about £300-500...

Thanks again, very helpful for a know-nothing like myself...

Very much so. As I say, the brake fluid (every 2 years irrespective of mileage) is also due, and I don't personally believe VAG that long-life coolant corrosion inhibiters actually last forever.

I had a really good experience at Bickerton - very, very low pressure.

Good long test drive, out to Ladybower and back.

Car drove fine - much better handling than the Audi, though worse wind noise - but didn't fancy the Classic interior - pretty unpleasant.

Turned out they had 2002 / 70K Elegance in for 6K - it hadn't been valeted and previous owner had left it very untidy but looked fine. Having new air con compressor fitted, already had timing belt etc done.

I'm testing the Elegance on Friday. I think it'll be a pretty good deal.

Many thanks for the help provided on this thread - it was really useful. I'll report back on Friday.

Elegance is faster (higher power tune, bigger tyres and brakes) than the classic. Also, on 2002 well and truly specced up:-

4 electric windows, leccy sunroof, remote locking, 16" alloys, ASR traction control, Radio/cassette head, and 6 CD stacker in rear LH side of boot, Climatronic, trip computer, heated electric adjust mirrors.

they had 2002 / 70K Elegance in for 6K

6k !?!? :eek:

Im in the wrong game

Yeah, 02 Elegance seems to have lots of toys and interior is comfy. Liked it.

Is 6K a lot? It's pretty close to Parker's target price for a franchised dealer...

I think £6k seems about £500 too much, but for the peace of mind you get from buying from a Skoda dealer its probably worth it

Is it a 1.9 TDi (110) estate?

If so i would say its a good grand too dear.

I paid 5k for a 3 year old with 75k on the clock, yes i know that was a great price, but the warranty you will get on a 6 year old car will not be worth the paper its printed on, or the grand extra from buying from a dealer.

Just my 2p worth

An elegance is a much better car (more toys and a better engine) but that doesn't sound like a brilliant price unless you are getting a very good trade in

Trade in is 1K for a 98 Audi A6 1.8T in poor condition, which was bang on my expectation.

So 5K cash for an 02 1.9TDi estate is ok I think, not brilliant but OK. And the peace of mind of buying from a Skoda dealer is worth something to me - I'm rubbish at cars!

The elegance has the TDI 110 engine on an 02 plate.

I'd want to make sure the turbo has been serviced or at least make sure the warrenty covers this sticking. I'd also be looking for a new MAF or £65 off the price if it has never been changed and they tend to fail.

Also make sure the air con blows cold, ask them to do an A/C service and to check that the clutch is properly attached to the compressor. If that fails it's a 1k job to fix at a dealer and still a lot at an indy place.

If you get it change the air filter every 10-20k miles not every 40k as per the service schedule.

HTH

Price includes a service and MOT, I'll check the AC... they're changing the compressor anyway so I would hope it's connected properly! The previous owner brought it in to have the air con looked at and decided to buy a new one when he realised the compressor needed changing, so it really should be fixed...

Thanks for the info!

Whatcar prices for an 02 110 Elegance, TDi estate :

Dealer £4,545

Private £3,495

Part Ex £3,245

Cost New £14,720

Before you agree to anything look at what the warranty covers (more importantly what it excludes) as you may be surprised that very little is actually claimable.

Price includes a service and MOT, I'll check the AC... they're changing the compressor anyway so I would hope it's connected properly! The previous owner brought it in to have the air con looked at and decided to buy a new one when he realised the compressor needed changing, so it really should be fixed...

Thanks for the info!

Turbo fins are not part of a normal service and are known to stick if the car has been driven gently.

Definitely worth having that checked or specifically covered by warrenty as again that is a 1k dealer job

To expand on that. One of the differences between the Classic (and Ambiante) trims, and the Elegance (and Lauren & Klements [normally L&K]) is a higher tuned engine in the higher trimmed models.

Part of this higher tune is a variable geometry turbocharger nozzle, which consists of a number of movable vanes which change the angle that the exhaust gases hit the rotor at depending on engine speed. If the car is only ever driven gently, these vanes have a tendancy to stick, and cause an overboost when you do go onto high throttle, following which the car raises a fault and goes into a limp home mode, which is like driving a non-turbo version!

I've never experienced it, but it's worth understanding. Also, it's not necessarily a new turbo affair; they can be stripped and cleaned.