New car help!

ARION

ARION

ARION

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Joined
6 Feb 2012
Posts
219
Hi Guys,

I thought this would be a good place to come for some advice on a new car.

Backstory:

I have had £1000 bangers since passing my test and I am fed up swapping every year or two. I am currently driving an E46 330D touring which I have had for about 2 years now - it is an absolute shed. Rust all over the place and generally not a nice place to be.

I have always set my sites on something a bit sporty but have the practicality of having dogs and going on occasional trips to the Lake District and the very odd trip to France. My drive into work is around 7 miles each way so although a Diesel would be lovely for the long journeys, I think a Petrol would be most suited to my day-to-day driving.

**Drum roll**

So I have had my eye on a Skoda Octavia VRS 2.0TSI DSG Hatchback for a little while and have decided to get the ball rolling and get some quotes in.

So far I have had a couple of quotes including an Octavia VRS 230.

First quote back from Carwow from Skoda Morecambe for a Skoda VRS 230 2.0 TSI DSG = £25,970.

I am off out this afternoon on a test drive, diesel unfortunately.

What do you guys think of this price? What should I be hoping for? From my research I would say that is a pretty good price but then my motoring skills are not on par with some of you guys!
 
I did consider leasing but was a bit concerned about a couple of things:

1. Having nothing to show at the end of the two years.
2. I have 2 dogs and didn't know where I stand on having them in a leased car.
 
ARION said:
I did consider leasing but was a bit concerned about a couple of things:

1. Having nothing to show at the end of the two years.
Click to expand...

Think about it like this.

A 2014 Octavia vRS DSG with 20k miles on it has a trade value of around £14500.

So, you could buy this one £26,000. In 2 years time, it is worth £7500 less - so you've lost £7500 plus your cost of capital (finance costs, or lost interest costs if you pay cash).

If you did that deal instead, the cost of 2 years is £7227 with no cost of capital, as it's built into the lease.

So really what you've got to show in both cases after 2 years is a loss of about £7-8k.
 
Well if you spend 6k over two years on a car to lease it you'll loose 6k.

If you buy a brand new car for 26k, after two years it'll be worth 20ishk so you'll loose 6k. Exactly the same amount.

If you want to drive a brand new car for a couple of years leasing makes sense as long as you get a good deal.

While leasing you're pretty much paying the calculated depreciation costs and can jump in a new car after the period. The only thing you can get charged for is damage, dogs should be fine as long as you get some rubber boot liner and keep it clean inside.
 
If you've got the cash then why not get a nearly new one? Let someone else pay the VAT and a big chunk of the depreciation.
 
Sorry I should have made it clear, its not a cash purchase, I was thinking of putting 5/6k down and financing the rest.
 
ARION said:
So why in favour of leasing when you have the worry of meeting their strict handback rules?
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Do you smash your cars into walls and stuff? The handback rules are not exactly draconian and if you are that concerned you'll trash the thing inside 2 years perhaps you ought stick to that E46 :eek:

I'm in favour of the cheapest option of having the car you want, thats all. Most of the time this is by purchasing it. Sometimes it isn't.

How do you intend to fund the £26k purchase cost as this will also make a difference to the best option. If you are looking to pay cash and are not earning much on it anyway then it might tip the balance back in favour of purchase, but if you are going to have to finance it anyway why wouldn't you lease instead?
 
Either way, looks like 1-2 year old ones are between 16-18k. Finance the balance through a personal bank loan, will cost you a lot less! You'll still have the balance of the warranty and there are enough around to get the spec you want
 
[TW]Fox;29581383 said:
Do you smash your cars into walls and stuff? The handback rules are not exactly draconian and if you are that concerned you'll trash the thing inside 2 years perhaps you ought stick to that E46 :eek:

I'm in favour of the cheapest option of having the car you want, thats all. Most of the time this is by purchasing it. Sometimes it isn't.

How do you intend to fund the £26k purchase cost as this will also make a difference to the best option. If you are looking to pay cash and are not earning much on it anyway then it might tip the balance back in favour of purchase, but if you are going to have to finance it anyway why wouldn't you lease instead?
Click to expand...

Haha no, I just mean I don't want them billing me for dog hairs or something trivial. I am not against leasing, as I say I am more than happy to consider both. This is exactly the reason I posted as I am unsure on what is the best deal. I was hoping to get your thoughts on the VRS as well, are there better cars in the same price range at the moment?
 
Dog hair can be cleaned up before hand over. It's scratches, dents, curbed alloys etc that are on the list and even those have some leeway and count as "fair"

There was the Passat lease deal floating around which was great but not sure if it's still around.. you want a hatch or an estate?
 
If there is a good deal about I am flexible. Main points being it needs to be nippy, practical and have some toys.. and look nice!
 
Fox is absolutely right on this one, depreciation hasn't been kind on MK3 VRS owners, and I'd be surprised if you could own one from new for 2 years and lose less than the lease (after costs on capital if financed/ loss of interest if cash).

The 230 is nice and the extras over the 220 are lovely, but it's just a shame you can only have one in Red, White, Black or a flat Primer-like Grey. The 220 and TDI both have some lovely colour options including Race Blue and Rallye Green.

Also... Broadspeed reckon they can get you into a 230 DSG for £23,635 all in. So I think you can do better than that Carwow quote for discount.
 
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Great thanks Andy, just had another quote @ £24308 so not far off what you said - I could maybe try and haggle a bit more off too. Ah, I didn't know that, when submitting your specs it allows you to choose Race Blue and Rallye Green as options for the 230!
 
No worries. Not sure how much of a deal breaker the 230 and it's extra kit is, but there's a couple of brokers that can get you into a 220 for almost 20k dead. There may or may not be similar discounts on the 230 through these.

http://www.broker4cars.co.uk/Buy/Ne...=ExternalComparisonSite&utm_campaign=Cars2buy

http://www.buyanewcaronline.co.uk/skoda/octavia/octavia-hatchback/2.0-tsi-vrs-5dr-dsg/

I have never used either by the way, just found them from a quick search, but gives you an idea of the kind of discounts out there.
 
The 230 has some nice extras as standard compared with the 220... The main ones being the extra 10Bhp and the VAQ differential - effectively the same as the performance pack available for the Golf GTI but unlike the Golf you can't just spec it, so you have to buy the 230 if you want these. Other nice things include a more fruity exhaust, electrically adjustable & heated leather, black grille, Privacy glass, front parking sensors, auto dimming rear view mirror, and the Amundsen Nav system.

There are other additional features/changes which I couldn't really care for; the 19" black design wheels, black mirrors, black badges, black exhaust trim.

I haven't driven a 230 but I suspect the 19" may spoil the ride and I don't think they look great, I prefer the 18" Gemini alloys on the 220. I'd also want Blue or Green and this isn't possible on the 230, so instead you're limited to more boring colours - all subjective I guess.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to how much you can get a 230 for VS. a 220, and whether some of the additional bits on the 230 are either dealbreakers or things you'd spec on a 220. I'd want leather and Nav at least, which would quickly close the price gap.
 
Had a test drive of a diesel today and I must say I was impressed! My friend has a 220 so I kinda had my heart set on a 230, it can only be better right? It's very hard to test drive a 230 as they get snapped up as soon as they arrive in the UK. I enquired about one yesterday which was in UK port but has been snapped up within 12 hours of it arriving!

I have put a deposit down on a "standard" spec 230 in red. Managed to get a very good deal IMO- 2 years servicing, mats, 1st years tax and a full tank of petrol for £23,750. Very pleased with this deal.
 
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