Second Hand - Octavia vRS Purchase?

[STALLED]

Hey Skoda people,

Bit of background - my 1997 Peugeot 406 with 220,000km has seen better days and I would like a more modern car.

Having seen the Octavia vRS forsale for around the 20k mark as a 4 year old proposition, I thought it would make a fairly suitable replacement as:

1. It drives well
2. Looks good
3. Not a Golf GTI

That said, is there much to look out for. I'd be looking for a 2nd gen car (pre-facelift), besdes the DMF (how much to replace) and camshaft followers (how much to replace)...

No DSG - 3 pedals are preferred.

What is insurance like on the car? Reasonable?

I'll probably think of some more questions as they come to mind!

Cheers,

[Jake02]

Hey Stalled, we have just that, a 4-year old Octavia RS, bought new, a petrol manual liftback. You won't be finding and DSG ones that age (they came a year later), and neither diesels too. Our comprehensive insurance is about $800 a year with a $1,400 excess (AAMI - for my parents a 59 yo male and 56 yo female with perfect driving records) which really pisses Dad off but meh, Skoda is a new-ish brand to market. Any other questions don't hesitate to as we do know the car backwards. Good luck with the purchase, I really think that is the best value car you could find for $20k!

[STALLED]

Jake,

Cheers for that - much appreciated!

Does anyone know the cost of replacing the clutch and dual mass flywheel?

Also, can the audio be upgraded to that of what is in the later cars - eg the Bolero or Sat Nav or does it use the older system like that in the MK5 Golf?

Cheers,

J.

[Antiplastix]

For a couple of thousand more, you could have a face lift version and get all the good gear standard. Why not throw the question out and ask if any members are about to update. That seems to be about the trade in price. You may get a good deal, and help someone else negotiate a better deal.

[woofy]

So weird, I replied yesterday but its not there. Anyway by about now the DSG and diesel started appearing in preFL outsides but with FL interiors, by 2009 they were completely swapped to the new outside and later on the Columbus was made standard. The Bolero appeared coming up to the 4 yr mark as well, but the first ones to show up now will be the demos, I bought mine in Nov 2008 and the new ones were scarce and still on the boats.

You can put a RNS510 in any Octavia, it was an option, but you will have to do something about the GPS antenna not built in. I know there was a lot of fuss in the UK in 2007 about the DMF, but as far as I am aware noone has had any issues with them nor really the clutch so most will have no idea of the cost.

[Lucas_R]

My brother is the manager at Newcastle Skoda and he was telling me about a 2nd hand silver Octavia RS wagon that was traded in a few days ago. Its 3 years old (lease car) but has travelled around 100,000km. I know its silver, but unsure of options or transmission style.

If your budget is around 20k, then this might be an option for you to consider. If your interested, then give him a buzz. Ask for Mitchell.

Phone: (02) 4962 2220
Email: sales@newcastleskoda.com.au

[Lucas_R]

And to answer some of your questions...

New camshaft followers can be purchased locally for $90-100 each, and for peace of mind you probably want to change these every 45,000-60,000km or so. I checked mine just last month at 10,000km and it still looked brand new, but ill be changing it every few years as piece of mind.

Clutch kits can be costly on these cars because of the dual mass flywheel. The flywheel needs to be replaced as part of the clutch kit - so expect $1000+ dollars for a clutch kit, and then you have installation costs on top of that.

The FSI engines (found in the 1st generation Octy vRS's and Mk5 GTI's and Golf R's) can also be known to chew a bit of oil. Depending on how the initial owner ran the engine in can affect this on different cars. Engines that were babied when new tend to chew more oil - but not always. My Golf R doesn't use a drop of oil, but my friends MK5 GTI with 90,000km uses about 400-500ml of oil every 1,200-1,500km or so.

Insurance is very reasonable. I pay about $800 on my Golf with NRMA and im 31 yrs old. My younger brother has a new Octy vRS and his insurance cost is very similar to mine (he is 25 yrs old). The high ANCAP safety rating, 400x airbags and all the traction control/stability control features help keep the insurance cost down.

That said, is there much to look out for. I'd be looking for a 2nd gen car (pre-facelift), besdes the DMF (how much to replace) and camshaft followers (how much to replace)...

No DSG - 3 pedals are preferred.

What is insurance like on the car? Reasonable?

I'll probably think of some more questions as they come to mind!

Cheers,

[Damo105]

I've just traded down from a MY11 RS manual TSI wagon, to a 2008 pre FL RS sedan because I wanted a cheaper car, and even though I've only had it a week so far so good.

The first thing I'll say is do your research on prices, because the motor trade isn't much interested in manual cars. Hence used values are not strong. There are a handful of pre FL RS being advertised for around $18-22. $22k is too much for a pre FL. I bought the car in Sydney, you may have seen it advertised, a yellow 08 sedan with 46kms originally advertised at $18,500 then dropped to $17,650, and I paid less than that. Happy to tell you what I paid if you PM me.

Used RS prices are all over the place. Some private sellers are asking top dollar, with dealers seeming more realistic. For low 20s I reckon you'd get into an 09 facelift.

And if you want a real bargain, I can give you a hot lead. I've just handed my MY11 wagon back to the lease company, and it went to Pickles auctions in Melbourne last week. So far it's not appearing on their website, but they told me it will be auctioned. Before handing it back I looked at all options including buying it off the lease company an on-selling, but at $28k buyout there was no margin in it, as $28 was about it's private sale value. It'll fetch maybe $30 at a dealership. A Skoda dealer offered me $18k on it, but didn't want it because it's manual!

Pickles told me the guiding range at auction will be $20-23, but a mate who's a car wholesaler and tried to get prices for me reckons the trade would probably only pay up to $19-20, as manuals sit in the yard for weeks so they want a big margin. In other words, you might pick it up at auction for $20-21k. It would be a steal at that money.

I'd consider buying it back at auction and turning a profit on it, but I'm off to China tomorrow night for 2 weeks, so probably won't be around for the auction. I'd rather see a forum member here get it that a dealer who'll make a killing on it. Incidentally you can bid online.

If you want any info on the car PM me. It's a genuine car with no issues, so you could buy with confidence.

As for the upgraded audio/satnav system, the different versions are pretty much interchangeable, but as someone else said the aerial is different for the Columbus with satnav. You can get genuine used Columbus systems on ebay out of Europe for about $800-1000, and there's a guy on this forum who sells a Chinese made (but apparently well made) exact replica with much the same functionality for around $600.

I can't help with the flywheel question, though I've not heard any horror stories on here.

The main thing to look for is a full service history, as with any euro car. I wouldn't touch a car that didn't have it. I don't think there are many known problems with the Octavia. They seem to get a few software glitches at times, which are usually solved by a dealer re-setting stuff. They can be hard on tyres, and road noise is an issue with certain tyres, especially Bridgestone RE050. So if you drive a car and the road noise is intrusive, it's probably the tyres. They need correct alignment and regular rotation to get good mileage.

A few comparison notes on the preFL versus MY11, and sedan vs wagon. They drive very similarly, though the MY11 is more refined. The later TSI engine has the chain driven cam rather than the belt driven cam of the earlier engine, hence maintenance is less and the later engine seems quiter and smoother. There's also a noticeable difference in handling. The 08 sedan I've got handles better than the MY11 wagon. The wagon handled well, but would understeer when pushed hard through a corner. There's a lot less understeer with the sedan. Not sure if this is a sedan/wagon thing, or if the preFL had a different setup. Suspect it's the extra weight of the wagon.

You'll find that some of the used cars have been re-mapped, it seems pretty common. The 08 I bought has been, and while I don't think it's a big issue, it has definitely changed the characteristics of the car compared to my standard MY11. My 08 is allegedly now 185kw from a stage1 tune, which I believe because it is seriously fast! But the power kicks in higher up the rev range. Where the standard 147kw has heaps of grunt kicking it at low revs and smooth power delivery all through the range, the tuned engine has less power down low in the rev range. Not much happens below 2500rpm. So there's a little bit of lag. But once the power kicks in at about 3500rpm, wow it just takes off! I think it would smoke a Subaru STI! After a week of ownership I actually think there's maybe too much power for the chassis, as in lower gears you can't be too heavy with the throttle or it'll break traction.

I agree with you that an Octy is a great replacement for your 406. You won't regret it. My 2011 wagon was by far the best car I've ever owned, and I've not yet come across an RS owner who isn't impressed with their car. For the money they are just brilliant.

And a disclaimer, these are all just my opinions, and others may have differing opinions!

[STALLED]

Thanks to all who have replied - much appreciated!

I'll keep my eyes peeled for the next couple of months!

As much as I love the 406 as a DIY proposition, I simply don't have the time anymore to do the work on the car. As a result, it is becomming a tad on the expensive side to run! That said, it is still a good car to drive (albeit slow)...

I've noticed some comments on oil consumption - those figures seem high?

[wombatoutofhell]

Oil consumption can be high-mine needs 2 top ups between services, roughly 7000 and 14000 km. not a major drama but worth bearing in mind. Other than that its a brilliant car. It's a 2007 RS manual wagon which I've had nearly 4 years and shows 120000 km in the clock and the build quality is so good it still has no rattles or squeaks.

[dArK5HaD0w]

pls b aware of the battery drain issues if installing a columbus into a pre-FL.
an upgrade CANBUS will fix the issue.

with regards to oil consumption - i check mine regularly. have never had the need to top it up between services.
i've done 38,000kms now.

insurance-wise - i'm paying approx $850 a yr, through allianz.

[meremale]

SWMBO has the Octavia MY12 103TDI, and we've only just paid the insurance which was $604 with QBE.
This came with the free unlimited glass repair from new.