Fun and practical - help!

NP - just a left field answer :)

It might not be of any concern as well, but they are cheaper to insure then anything else on here aswell.

The SAAB seem's to be the one that tick's everything for you (Thats not a daft mpv thingy lol) Like you said you'll also get a newer car, with lower milage for less money then anything else.

Does a MG ZT-T 260 fit your budget and spec? Not sure haven't seen many for sale for a while
 
Insurance isn't a concern at my age, even something like an Impreza WRX is £220 a year. The Saab I like but it's an executive rocket rather than a more focussed drivers car. As much as I like them, I think the Skoda is a better match for what I'm looking for.

The MG......meh. Also it's a V8, so probably well into the "silly mpg" region!
 
iaind said:
The MG......meh. Also it's a V8, so probably well into the "silly mpg" region!
Click to expand...

At 8000 Miles a year, then the difference between silly mpg (say 20mpg) and a more reasonable mpg (say 30mpg for some of the others mentioned) is around £600/year.

You mention the sound of a V6 Mondeo, but for £11/week in fuel, I wouldn't be ruling out the sound of a V8.
 
Be aware that sometime during 2007 they changed the octavias so that most of them come with climate control, jumbobox (the central armrest with cooling) and 18" alloys instead of 17". Cruise control + maxidot isn't exactly rare to find either. The "rear spoiler is peeling a bit" means it will look like mine in pretty much no time at all, so factor in a respray to the price:

20150505_141402.jpg


One upside of owning a skoda is that briskoda is a pretty good community with people who know quite a lot about the cars and are willing to help. The downside is just how often you'll probably need their help because these cars are horrible.
 
To be honest I'd prefer 17s - I think they look fine and tyres are a lot cheaper at that size.

There are a couple within budget that have some more options but very few with xenons and I haven't found another which has such a positive history - most are through dealers who'll say "yeah, its fine mate".

I'd fit an OEM armrest, cruise is an easy retrofit too - although I so rarely use it in cars which have it. Maxidot would be nice but its a cosmetic thing and is retrofittable.

Why do you say they're horrible? :/
 
iaind said:
To be honest I'd prefer 17s - I think they look fine and tyres are a lot cheaper at that size.

There are a couple within budget that have some more options but very few with xenons and I haven't found another which has such a positive history - most are through dealers who'll say "yeah, its fine mate".

I'd fit an OEM armrest, cruise is an easy retrofit too - although I so rarely use it in cars which have it. Maxidot would be nice but its a cosmetic thing and is retrofittable.

Why do you say they're horrible? :/
Click to expand...

My whole ownership experience has been: car has a problem, fix problem, fine for 1 month, car has another problem, repeat. Once I can fix the problems it currently has it will be getting sold. Not sure how easy it is to retrofit the aux port and cooling vent inside of jumbobox? If you just want the armrest I'd imagine that's not very difficult.
 
Armrest and storage will be fine for me - wont be using aux as I'll be fitting an aftermarket head unit anyway.

It sounds like you've been unlucky with yours, understandable that you'd be put off them but I think a lot of people are very happy with theirs
 
Alright just got home from meeting the seller. Car was exactly as described. He's obviously a car geek and has spent a lot of money and clearly enjoyed making his car mechanically perfect. It drove superbly and it's rare to find a car being sold by an owner that enthusiastic about their car. With the map it's estimated at about 250bhp although it's not been on a dyno to confirm and is PLENTY fast enough - haven't driven an unmapped one for comparison but it was extremely responsive, very little turbo lag.

It's exactly what I was after so have left a deposit and pick it up on Friday :)
 
Interesting thread, I'm in a similar situation at the moment and can't get past e46 325/330, e39 525/530 and Golf GTI. Hard to find any of them in good condition though! Hadn't really considered an Octavia, they don't really do it for me in the looks department, but having a look now they are considerably cheaper than the Golf.
 
Yeah golfs at this money were all shafted. This Octavia was a corker. The lower value and the type of people buying them seems to make them a safer bet.

Looks... Well, it's never been something I've been too bothered about in a car. I think in race blue or black they look pretty decent, although they don't do much to shout about things. I quite like that though.
 
Go for the Saab 9-5. I absolutely love mine to bits, wish I had got one sooner. Mine has had the front sub frame poly bushed by the previous owner and the rear end sorted as well. The previous owner also did the right thing and put Goodyear F1's all around. It is by no means a Lotus Elise but for it's size it can hustle down a B-Road no problem and mine is an estate. The engine is a peach with lots of power all over while still maintaining decent miles to the gallon. I can imagine with a decent Bilstein setup with some abbot anti roll bars and you will have a corker of a car for not much outlay.

I'm planning to get mine Noobtuned in the coming months for even more power :D.

My only negative of the car is the gearshift. Being used to bolt action gear changes of Japanese cars leaves a lot to be desired. It is not that it is bad but the throw is like the grand canyon! Luckily there is a superb short shift available although as mine is a daily I have to try and refrain from the mods as I spend enough on the other car!

Maybe consider the original 9-3 Viggen if you can find one. A little smaller than the 9-5 but still with that thumping 2.3!
 
Last edited:
So that vRS is now parked outside... Drove to Taunton to the pug dealer who bought mine back (kudos to Howards Peugeot for being a pleasure to deal with and giving me a good deal at both purchase and sale), train to reading and a drive down the m4/m5 during Friday rush hour... Long day!

Car behaved brilliantly and did 40mpg on the way home. Only a few things to sort out - could do with new wiper blades (meh), the rear wiper motor needs replacing (very common) and there's some wind noise from the rear door - another common problem with a simple fix. Will be taking it to the body shop next week for a quote on sorting out the few bits of paintwork. The guy I bought it from said he was considering having the spoiler vinyl wrapped in carbon fibre effect... Actually quite tempted by that idea as it would look quite subtle on a black car.

As for the performance... It's a bit of a departure from what I'm used to. The only other 2.0 turbo I've had was a 9-3 aero which is quite a quiet engine with a progressive turbo surge. I expected this to be similar, but it's a whole different ball game. Played it it a bit joining motorways etc but didn't properly open the taps until I was nearly home - with a very tight bend on a dual carriageway (30mph suggested max speed) opening up onto a long straight section. Planting the throttle in third revealed a completely different behaviour to what I was expecting - no noticeable turbo lag, just immediate linear power delivery with a pretty aggressive shove all the way to the redline. Didn't stop giggling for some time. This is clearly a well sorted machine and I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun with it.

Apart from sorting the minor things above, the long term plans involve retrofitting some OEM options (jumbo box/armrest, maxi dot computer and cruise control), an apple CarPlay head unit and possibly a milltek exhaust.

Really quit chuffed, will get some proper pictures when I give it the ritual cleaning on Sunday.
 
I really like these and look forward to seeing how you get on with it, I'm looking for a new car in a few weeks time, my only concern with these when I read up on them is cam chain issues but I do get concerned about these things far too easily

Whats the boot like, is it a full size hatch back with decent sized opening?
 
Glad you like it, get some photos up! :)

I've become rather fond of turbocharged engines since getting mine! With a little 2.0 engine giving that much shove, it almost feels like cheating :D
 
Yeah it's a proper hatchback - it's like a longer golf. The boot is pretty decent actually. The TFSI has a belt, it's the TSI (facelift) ones which have the problematic chains.

Just been out in it again, it's a great laugh. Hopefully weather will hold out tomorrow and I'll get some decent photos
 
Really? I thought it was the other way around, I need to do more reading, pre facelifts are well within budget and I thought I needed to save more for a facelift but really not fussed over what it looks like
 
Nope the TSI engine is the cam chain one - it appeared in the limited edition pre facelift first, then all face lifts. If it's a prefacelift non limited edition then it's a TFSI. Mine has a receipt for cambelt and water pump replacement so I hope its a belt lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom