Newbie help

[biomulv]

Hi there , i am thinking of buying a 1.8 vRS of around the 2004/2005 vintage. just wondering if there is anything I should be aware of , any known problems etc.

Whats the best colour?...

Anyone bought one recently , what did you come from and what do you think of your new car?

ta in advance

bio

[andy_197]

Hi,

Do it!

Not much help on the technical side, just got a vRS (52 plate) as a replacement for an Audi A4. More than happy with it, slightly less sound damping and thuds over bums. Other than that it's great, thinking of a rear anti roll bar as I understand that'll reduce the tendancy to understeer . I've had it re-mapped and it's a whole different car without any loss of economy.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly with a list of things to look out for.

Andy

[vRSLen]

Look for a complete service history and buy a black one...

I had a Fabia before buying my Octy vRS and have been over the moon with both
cars. SWIMBO now has a Fabia vRS after having a 1400 Fabia and she loves it to
bits.

[biomulv]

Ta for that ...

just looking for some insight / experiences

gonna trade in my wifes 03 megane for one. The megane has been nothing but trouble since new. It is now out of warranty. There are a whole load of known problems with them and we'v had em all.

Plus need a slightly larger car now.

[All torque]

In my opinion, Octty Vrs`s are worth every penny!

[agentorange]

Great

[agentorange]

had my 04 octy vrs for a month now as a replacement for A4 1.9 tdi,and im luvvin it.only prob was front discs warped at 34k.was assured it was a one off and dealer(DM KEITH LEEDS) replaced them no questions asked. thinking of getting a remap but not sure of results for cash.i would deffo recommend test drive you wont be disapointed......AGENT ORANGE...

[vRSLen]

Look out for the rad mounts - the ones on my car make a noise when the door is shut.... Other than that it has just been the dog s...

[biomulv]

Sweet. Going to get a test drive in one at the weekend.

What sort of MPG figures are you guys seeing?

Whats the cost of a main dealer service? Intervals?


ta

[vRSLen]

BRISKOA meets 20s - normal driving about 35 MPG. Sevice? Depenend upon the mileage - should be cheap enough.....

[biomulv]

Originally Posted by vRSLen

BRISKOA meets 20s - normal driving about 35 MPG.

LOL, sounds about right.

Any meets up here over the wall....( edinburgh )

[MC Bodge]

They really are very good cars. Everyone who has a ride or drive in it is impressed.

Re-maps make them into very rapid, but still refined, motors.

Over 40mpg is possible if you take it steady. My average is 33mpg overall which includes a mixture of heavy footed driving, town and motorway cruising.

[biomulv]

Sounds good , will have to see after test drive.

The car is primarely for my wife n kid as i have a company car, she only does around 8-9k miles a year. the megane has only averaged 35mpg over the year anyhoo.

Still undecided about colour.

Whats the best optional extras to look out for?

Whats the standard sterio like?

[Terry G]

I began my thoughts around buying a vRS about this time last year and all the guys here on the forum gave me loads of advice (in particular around servicing costs, mpg etc). The best advice I recieved was.... "Buy it, It'll put a smile on your face"
Make sure you go into this with your eyes open, make sure you are happy with servicing costs and insurance as that can potentially be a shock for you unless you adjust your excess.
mpg is actually pretty good if you drive carefully.. about 35-38(if you switch off the climate control). If you drive a bit more 'urgently' then expect around 33. For the better drive, feed it high octane like optimax..
The in car hi-fi unit in my opion is just awful and there are some 'tweaks' that will help but the best option is new speakers and head unit
As for colour.... Don't start that one... You'll get fights over that

Oh and buy it... it'll put a big smile on your face!

[biomulv]

Cheers for the reply.

the more i think i about it the keener(sp?) I am.

What are the servicing costs you have came across?

Whats the interval?

Im 29 with 3points and am looking at around 380 with low excess for insurance. Not too bad.

[neelyp]

Originally Posted by andy_197

Hi,

slightly less sound damping and thuds over bums.

You must be driving like an ar$e

[bk1]

I used to have an Audi A3 1.8T sport and it was a pretty solid ride.
I traded it in when it got to 80k miles, for a 1.8T 2004 MkI Octavia Elegance Estate. Main differences I find are:

- suspension on skoda is much softer (A3 did have sport shocks though), and it's easy to get the skoda to slide the front out if powering out of roundabouts. I would expect better grip from the VRS though.

- seats not as comfortable - the A3 had leather sports seats

- steering wheel nasty - Audi had a nice thick leather one. The Elegance one is thin and nasty and plastic. Even a loaned Fabia I had had a much nicer wheel.

- boot is huge, although back seat legroom pretty limiting, so getting a baby seat on rear seats mean I have to tilt my seat back up quite high.

- skoda feels faster than the A3 did - but it's an engine, MAF and turbo with 65k less miles, so that's kind of to be expected.

- economy is about 33 to 35mpg, driving mainly a 14mile commute on A roads and motorway. Long motorway trips get me mid to high 30's

- sound system is poor. Replacing front speakers with some Pioneer components has helped (TS-1785 were the ones I bought), but still not stunning. I miss the sub that the A3 had in the side-boot space.

- couple of features like being able to use keyfob to close/open windows from a distance would have been nice on the skoda. You can put key in door to do this but it's not the same as being able to open your windows from the house on a hot day, 10 mins before you go outside and get in the car.

Overall, for the money, you get a lot more on a skoda than a lot of cars. Sure, you can buy a newer french car with more gadgets and less miles, but it will start going wrong and get expensive after 4 or 5 years. With the VAG (VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda) group cars, you get a very solid, tested product, and if you keep it maintained, you can get 100's of 1000's of miles out of it.

[TaviaRS]

Originally Posted by biomulv

Sweet. Going to get a test drive in one at the weekend.

What sort of MPG figures are you guys seeing?

Whats the cost of a main dealer service? Intervals?


ta

To quote from this thread:

Originally Posted by me

Had mine for 32 months, did 138k miles in it.

Fuel economy; motorways cuising at 80-85 indicated, I'd get about 38mpg, A roads about 35, brisk driving on A roads about 30-32, trackdays about 12 and the Ring about 8-10 mpg.

Servicing costs: You can either go variable servicing or fixed 10k servicing. I went 10k due to my mileage and needing to know when it would need a service. Costs were:

10k = £58
20k = £148
30k = £58
40k = £200
50k = £347 - I had a new clutch fitted as a precaution
60k = £372 - Had cambelt done, again a precaution as I reckon the recomended 120k interval for it is way too long
70k = £65
80k = £220
90k = £78
100k = £189
110k = £68
120k = £550 - had cambelt and clutch changed again
130k = £93

My car had a very hard life! Of the 138k on the clock when I sold it at 32 month old, nearly 12k were track miles

So, other than services listed above, what did I break?

2 x NSF wheel bearings
1 x NSF wishbone bush
1 x main cooling fan (led to overheating problems at the Ring as it had packed up)
1 x OSF wheel bearing
1 x engine @ 135k miles. The MAF had degraded, much like Scoob ones have been known to do

Tyres, even with track use lasted about 15 - 20k for a set. Insurance was about £500 per year, all mods declared, fully comp.

[mbames]

Originally Posted by bk1

- couple of features like being able to use keyfob to close/open windows from a distance would have been nice on the skoda. You can put key in door to do this but it's not the same as being able to open your windows from the house on a hot day, 10 mins before you go outside and get in the car.

You can get an Alitech Controller that wires into the loom that will give you this functionality....

[biomulv]

Sweet. Thanks for the replies guys.

I made a visit to Chathams of edinburgh today to have alook around. No vRS's in apart from the new demos. They are getting a silver one in on sat for me to have a look at and testdrive. 03 plate with 28k on it. Was perhaps looking for a later one to get a bit of warranty but this one is only £8k so might be interested.

Also depends on trade in price on the megane.

will let you know how we get on.