Toledo v5 - is it any good?

[Baffled Spoon]

Hi all,

I'm thinking about changing cars and one of the cars I have my eye on is the mk2 toledo 2.3 v5. I've seen a few on autotrader and the like and it seems you can pick up a good one for between £1.5-£2.5k.

The cars seem temptingly cheap for the amount of stuff you get and they have that lovely sounding warbling 5 pot. My question is, why are they so cheap? Is there any specific issue with quality, reliability or the like or is it just an overlooked car?

Also can anyone enligthen me as to the running costs and servicing? Also is the 170bhp v5 really that much better than the 150 bhp version and is FSH really important to have on a car of this age/ mileage?

Thanks, Spoon

[JustDerv]

Don't know about the V5 engine, but I believe it's also used in VW Golf. If you can find a good VW independant specialist (like I have) they can sort your SEAT out too.

I think one of the reasons the Toledo is so much cheaper is that it is seen as not as desirable as the Leon, and prices reflect this. I compared the Leon and Toledo before I got mine, but I always liked the Toledo better - I'm probably biased though!

At the price you're looking at, whilst you may not get a FSH, it would be nice to see some recent receipts for work done to the car e.g. brakes, tyres, exhaust, cam belt (or is it a chain?), oil changes, just so you know it's been looked after and not ragged.

I went for the diesel because I use mine for commuting, but I was sorely tempted by the V5...

[CrazyHorse]

We've owned a 2001 V5 for 5 years now and on the whole has been an excellent car. When we bought it I was going to the dealer to buy a Golf GTI but my wife talked me into having a drive of the Toledo. As soon as I drove it I was sold - it was 2k cheaper, a year younger and was far more fun to drive.

Good Bits: The engine's fantastic - it sounds great and always has plenty of power. The interiors a nice place to be, with the Audi dash and the alicantra seats. Its got plenty of toys too - good sat-nav, electric seats...

Bad Bits: Its quite thirsty - around 30mpg with mostly around town usage. Ours has leaked a bit in the rear footwells (i'm still not sure i've fixed it). The coil packs go a bit too regularly. The ride is a bit crashy.

Overall its a good car, fairly reliable and not too expensive to maintain and ours done over 100k. It drives well apart from the slightly crashy ride.... for the money its a very good car.

[Baffled Spoon]

Thanks for the replies guys

When you say the coil packs go often though, how often is often and does it cost a lot to fix?

[CrazyHorse]

I'd say the coil packs go on average once a year and there not that expensive... maybe 150quid to sort out. The only big thing to go wrong is the clutch which went just before 100k other than that we service it every year and maybe have 1 other visit to the garage each year.

The water leaks are its biggest annoyance and are a very common feature - the internal seals of the doors are obviously made of cheaper rubber than the VW/Audi's and at some point will degrade and let water into the footwells. It's easily solved by replacing the seals but its quite expensive (can't remember how much exactly ... at least 100quid per door), the alternative is silicon sealant inside the internal trim.

[kevin_n]

In a word - yes. I owned one for around 18 months a couple of years back. Think i did around 20k miles in it and had no problems what so ever. The only thing i didn't like a bout it was the large amount of understeer. The engine is fantastic but rather heavy so it's not the best fun to chuck around, although the straight line speed is very good and it make a superb motorway cruiser.
I would definately recommend one. I only sold it as i was trying to save money to buy a house.