Cars - I am useless - make my mind up for me

[MrsBadger]

I need a new (bigger) car

a friend is selling a 10yo old high-mileage (70k I think) Octavia estate and is willing to let me have it for £1.2k. It has just had a full service and is rock solid, but it is old and the fuel consumption is poor.

or

I can go to a dealer, part ex my knackered Saxo and get a (eg) 6yo Vectra with lower mileage, which will look nicer (don't care much re this) and have better fuel economy but cost me £4.5k (which I have but would prefer not to spend cause I am tight).

As far as I can see the only downsides of the Octavia are
a)it is old so something expensive might go wrong with it and
b) even if nothing goes wrong it'll only last me two or three years

Upsides are
a) Price
b) not having to schlep round farking car dealerships

just tell me what to do^.

oh come on

else I shall have to disgrace the sisterhood by asking my male colleagues

where are you all?

Buying privately is always the better option cos dealers take the piss - they know people who come to them will pay for the lack of hassle.

But a 10 year old 70k Octavia for 1200 sounds a bit steep to be honest.

Don't forget the recent service doesn't affect the price of it at all - it is just for your peace of mind and for a selling point for the vendor.

If anyone tries to factor in a recent service/parts in the price of a car - tell them to poke it.

You tried a car auction? They are the best deal. You need to take someone in the know with you though so they give the desired short-list a quick once-over before the auction starts.

£1200 for a 10 year old car?? With 70,000 miles on the clock? They're pushing it a bit!! I wouldn't pay more than a grand for it.

I wouldn't buy an old car, regardless of whether it is regularly serviced or not. They tend to repeatedly go wrong, and the older the car gets the harder the parts are to find. They are less efficient and can be more expensive to insure as they get written off for less.

We bought our last car at an auction , got a bargain and the choice was fab. Lots of ex-demonstrators and ex hire cars. Much cheaper than a dealer and as long as you know what you are looking at you can't go far wrong.

personally i'd go for a newer car its worth checking the tax and insurance costs as well as the fuel economy, cos you'll be left with these cost once you have got the car!

ok well i am a car freak.
the octavia sounds a little pricey but without knowing what engine it has in it its difficult to say.
Diesel will always do better to the gallon than a petrol car ....generally but its not always true.

what size are you after? what is your budget?
what are you going to use the car for?

I will do my best to help you

and 70k on a 10 year old car is classed as low mileage btw.
the average is approx 10-12K a year so in reality it should have done 100-120K if its 10years old

THat said its 10 years old and on the crossover from when VW took it over from Skoda itself so dependant on the shape you could be getting a old skoda or an VW engineered skoda

it was 1.8 petrol so a bit underpowered, automatic, VW-engineered era

mostly it is for going to nursery/work and home again as dh has his own car (20 miles each way, crappy traffic) but also for weekends away hence need for estate.

I've got £5k but would rather spend less...

ok so estate is a good start.
Steer clear of the octavia its not a prudent buy.

You need to consider something like a Ford galaxy or vw sharan TDI. avoid the petrol models as they are as juicy as can be. The advantage of these two they are identical in shape, same engine etc is the space inside and the fact that they are as long as a normal car. they are dead easy to park too.

Estate wise you could also go for a late date octavia, vw passat, audi a4 estate or a volvo v40. All very very good cars and if you can snag the TDI model you are laughing.
one thing to note is that cam belts/drive belts are due on the diesel model at approx 70k and then again at about 110k, so look out for that in the service history. Also clutches will be due round about the 100k interval.

Full service history is imperative as otherwise you have no idea how its been looked after. Bear in mind also if a car is up for sale check when the last service was and which one it was. If it was just an oil and filter, be aware that the next on is much more expensive - will also give some leverage point on the asking price

HTH

I think the A4 would be out of budget but the V40 is a definite possibility

TDI v good idea - thanks for the help!

let us know what you get. look out in your local paper for peeps selling their car, that and ebay and autotrader

Octavia's are good cars mind you.

They are reliable and cheap to maintain.

I know you have mentioned the A4 as being expensive, but if you are going to buy second-hand - Audis are always a good bet.

They are solid and built well and keep more value.

Sold a high mileage one a few months ago for a damn good price - simply because it was a well maintaned Audi.

agree with ericl skodas are just as good as a vw as they are effectively a vw in disguise. you cant go wrong with a late date one