Hi folks,

Having sold the Fabia VRS in order to move into something more family friendly, i have been looking at the MK1 Octavia estate.

I have £3000 to spend and have been looking at 2000 - 2001 V,W,X and Y reg and am obviously trying to get as nice a car as i can with as low mileage as poss, with as many goodies etc etc....

So far i have looked at on the computer, a 01 Y 2.0 Elegance with 80K and a same age silver 1.8T elegance too.

All the tdi's seem to have to many miles and still command a fair old price and diesel isn't now that important as our mileage is away to take a steep dive and petrol here is at least 10p per litre cheaper.

The VRS is also outa the question too and in some ways i prefer the look of a well looked after elegance to the vrs estate anyway

What id like to know is -

What spec / engine combo do you think i should go for?

Whats a sensible mileage to be looking at with your suggested combo?

What kinda standard equipment should i expect to find?

And what tuning potential is there?

And lastly, what problem areas do i look out for?

Thanks for your help.

Before I went for the vRS I was considering other models so did a bit of reading up. Here is what I found.

Spec wise you really want an Elegance, not sure the L&K was around in 2000 but that is the best spec you can hope for. As for engines I'd avoid the 2.0. Its not the best of engines, quite low powered for its capacity, can use oil and can be a bit thirsty. The 1.8T is an excellent engine. In the non vRS models it still puts out a respectable 150BHP and won't cost the earth to feed with go go juice.

Mileage isn't as important as condition IMO. Bear it in mind and make sure that the price reflects the mileage but at the end of the day condition/service history is key.

Equipment wise- climate, cruise, alloys, leccy windows etc. L&K adds leather, Xenons

Tuning wise on the 1.8T you have the obvious remaps etc. Basically there is plenty of scope for getting more power. As for handling mods (which I would want to look at before adding too much more omph to the engine) I'm not too sure about.

Problem areas, I think there are problems with estate tailgates rusting. Not too sure on the details as I was looking at hatches. Try a search, I'm sure its been covered here. Other than that make sure the cambelt has been done (every 60k or 4 years) if it hasn't budget around £325 to get it done, if it has been done make sure the water pump was done at the same time.

Thanks for that! Anybody else got any other ideas?

What id like to know is -

What spec / engine combo do you think i should go for?

Whats a sensible mileage to be looking at with your suggested combo?

What kinda standard equipment should i expect to find?

And what tuning potential is there?

And lastly, what problem areas do i look out for?

Thanks for your help.

just brought my self an 02 skoda 1.8t 4x4 elegence model with 89k full skoda service history got ele windows all round, half leather seats, a/c, 6 disk changer, head light washers and loads of other gadets best of all i payed £2600 for it have a good look around as there are bargins you just have to find them

as for problems lisen for strange noises as with any car

depends on if you can live with out the equipment you would loose on the other models ie loosing 312 brakes in favor of 4x4.

Id personally get a nice 4x4 myself and get it remapped job done

As for engines I'd avoid the 2.0. Its not the best of engines, quite low powered for its capacity, can use oil and can be a bit thirsty.

Its looking increasingly likely that it will be a 2.0 elegance that i go for. Is this engine really as bad as all that? Can the oil consumption get very severe and lead to other things? Is the 2.0 115 bhp and if so is it 8 valve and therefor is it the same as i would find in an audi 80 sport i.e. ancient? - but if i remember, it was a good engine.

2.0 not that common either i dont think?

Other problem areas? I hear they like to throw up management lights - that true? easy to fix?

Thanks again:)

I can't comment on the 2L but there are a few 1.8t elegances on Autotrader at the moment. The 1.8t is a great engine, very flexible and quite economical

Alhough I love my vRS to bits, with hindsight I may also have gone for a 4x4 estate and then had it remapped and brakes upgraded etc.

I'd look for an Elegance 1.8t or TDi 110. You say "the mpg isn't that important", but the last time I did the sums the TDi saved me about £300 a year over 8_000 miles (I drive a diesel cos I like the effortless torque and low revving cruising as much as for the mpg).

Make sure all the electrics, including the Climatronic and the CD stacker (LH side of boot) work.