Internal boot rack & general advice please!

[rob-s-]

Hello All,

I have decided to buy a Roomster. Im going to be looking for a second hand car. Im looking for a 1.9TD Roomster3 spec car. Does anyone have any general advice on any particular things i should keep in mind when looking at prospective purchases?

Also, i know this topic has probally been done to death but what real world MPG could i expect to see from a 1.9D? and how much does it cost to tax them?

Finally, i have noticed that skoda do a bike rack that seems to fit inside the Roomster boot and holds a couple of bikes (with front wheels removed). Does anyone have one of these? How do you find it?

Thanks in anticipation

Rob

[Salut]

rob-s- I have the 1.9 TD 2 spec. I think a quick troll through the various comments on this forum will highlight some of the issues others have experienced to date.

Have to say that mine has been fine. My only grumble is that the radio aerial is a pain and I must find a dry weekend to have a go at fixing it.

Fuel consumption has been a mixed bag. True figures for a run to and from Newcastle upon Tyne, four up, 55.3mpg. Run to Edinburgh and back, two up plus luggage, 51.8mpg. In the last 3948 miles I am averaging 52.8mpg.

We have three mountain bikes and I found that the Thule external fit unit is so much handier. When it rains I get the bikes cleaned for free and the car interior stays clean (except the spilled coffee/cake/sandwich crumbs, etc).

This web site http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/ has a car by car guide also a recently started thread that tries to establish true fuel consumption figures for different makes of car. Give it a go and rummage round what is there, nothing to lose.

I wish you good hunting,

Salut

[Jonny5ive]

Hi Rob,

Welcome to Briskoda. I have a 2008 Roomster Scout. Reallisticaly I see around 46-48MPG when driven locally and upto 54MPG on a decent run (motorways and A roads).

I have to factor in the 17" wheels which have been on the car from the factory and these are always slightly detremental to MPG and more recently the remap will be adversley affecting the MPG until the novelty wears off and the ECU settles down.

Tax: from memory £140 for 12months?

Bike rack wise, I haven't a clue. :(

Dependant on mileage, a cambelt and waterpump service should be carried out at 60k miles or 4 years.

Plenty of friendly folk on here should you need further advice.

Cheers

J5

[rob-s-]

thanks for the information guys

[The PM]

MPG on mine since new (now 40k) has been about 53, though I do drive for economy... On long high speed runs you can see the needle going down!

If possible get the 3 spec with the panoramic roof, it makes the interior much nicer.

No experience with the bike rack, I often wonder if this was just a gimmick as I've hardly ever heard of them in use!

[Jonny5ive]

If possible get the 3 spec with the panoramic roof, it makes the interior much nicer.

Seconded. They're Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat

[bohmer]

Recently bought 4 yr old one owner Roomster 3 1.9 tdi from a Skoda dealership, and love the car, especially the pull of the engine! That had the cambelt etc. changed under the 4 yr recommendation, as it was still on 30000 miles. One thing worth checking when you look at a car, does the air con work! On the first warm day I found mine didn't, and it appears no-one had picked this up, the previous owner had apparently not used it, and the system had dried up together with several seals. Luckily under the Skoda used car warranty it was all fixed, but would not have been cheap!

I came to the Roomster from a Yeti, thought I would be disappointed, but find it far more practical for our needs, and really impressed with it all round, getting mid-fifties mpg with our normal driving, and haven't regretted getting it at all, highly recommended!

[rob-s-]

thanks again for the input everyone.

i have just put a deposit down on a 1.9D '3' spec with the panoramic roof.

Looking forward to picking it up now.

Its interesting what bohmer mentioned with regards to the air con. While i test drove this car i thought it wasnt great (but it was working). It may be that im used to better systems or that it required a gas refill. My car will be covered by the 1 year warranty anyway so if i find its not great once im used to the car i will take it back.

[The PM]

I take it they will service it before passing it over, I'd tell them you weren't happy with the a/c's output (it is pretty good if working correctly btw!) and ask then to do a check and regas of it before you collect it.

[jimc101]

For the internal bike rack, would decribe it as OK, not perfect, carrying MTB's it's ok, but it doesn't work as well with lighter road bikes, there they can flop around more. I also found that the strapping supplied with the rack, which is designed to be connected to a thin seatpost isn't much good, if you have a seatpost of more than 27.2mm it seems to be a very tight fit, also Skoda wants you to strap it to the load restaints on both sides of the boot, I gave up on this, and use a single ratcheting load strap, going to one side of the boot.

Looking at it now, I think that a towbar mounted rack would be better, but living in a flat, means nowhere to put one when not in use, and as the internal mount can be left in permenantly, it is useful for that.