MK1 skoda Octavia VRS - £800 auction indulgence
Discussion
Hello fellow PH'ers. Haven't been on here for about 5 years but I'm back again.
So we have all done it. The auction bid that becomes a win and this car came from such a situation....only it was at a flesh and blood BCA auction.
So here it is £800 112,000 mile 2004 skoda Octavia vrs estate. I was surprised for the price it came with two keys and a full service history although the previous owner did 10,000 miles over 5 years and appears to have serviced it once in that time....*shudders*.
So the car itself had some issues at the start. Warning lights all over the place, lumpy running; starter motor sounding like metal being rubbed together and a front bumper worn down to the bare plastic due to these cars being a little low as standard.
I set about sorting this all out by doing the following.
- full service
- change of MAF
- change of starter motor
- cambelt and water pump change (not entirely sure it ever had one 'shudders again'
- respray of front bumper and rear tailgate suffering from well known rust issues.
- full shampoo of the interior - silly white seats and carpets
- replacement of all badges with the new black logo!
And here is how she stands! I use the car for moving a lot of 'stuff around' as I do a lot of reselling so the space is perfect. Can do 40mpg on long trips if you sit at 56mph which is possible...for...a while.
Now runs very well and I have to say the car is a lot of fun despite its size! I have it booked in to Surrey rolling road next week not so much to have the figures but more to get some feedback as to how it's running. Charlie there gives great feedback and I'm interested in that before I start modifying....
Apologies for naff photos, I'm on mobile!
So we have all done it. The auction bid that becomes a win and this car came from such a situation....only it was at a flesh and blood BCA auction.
So here it is £800 112,000 mile 2004 skoda Octavia vrs estate. I was surprised for the price it came with two keys and a full service history although the previous owner did 10,000 miles over 5 years and appears to have serviced it once in that time....*shudders*.
So the car itself had some issues at the start. Warning lights all over the place, lumpy running; starter motor sounding like metal being rubbed together and a front bumper worn down to the bare plastic due to these cars being a little low as standard.
I set about sorting this all out by doing the following.
- full service
- change of MAF
- change of starter motor
- cambelt and water pump change (not entirely sure it ever had one 'shudders again'
- respray of front bumper and rear tailgate suffering from well known rust issues.
- full shampoo of the interior - silly white seats and carpets
- replacement of all badges with the new black logo!
And here is how she stands! I use the car for moving a lot of 'stuff around' as I do a lot of reselling so the space is perfect. Can do 40mpg on long trips if you sit at 56mph which is possible...for...a while.
Now runs very well and I have to say the car is a lot of fun despite its size! I have it booked in to Surrey rolling road next week not so much to have the figures but more to get some feedback as to how it's running. Charlie there gives great feedback and I'm interested in that before I start modifying....
Apologies for naff photos, I'm on mobile!
Edited by Chrisjroe on Tuesday 2nd May 13:06
Jazoli said:
Tyre size looks odd to me, is it on 16 inch alloys? mine has 205/50/17 tyres, yours looks like they have a much bigger sidewall, they are good cars, mine is on 166k now and still going strong.
Hello. I'm not 100 percent sure but I think the estates came with the 16 inch spider alloy rather than the 17 or that's what I've seen elsewhere. I'd prefer the 17s but finding a set appears to be quite hard now 
Nice job, it's looking great after your attention. My wife's ancient Octavia 2.0L 8v has just blown it's head gasket and though it's worth almost nothing, it's been such a reliable and useful car that I've ordered all the bits to rebuild the top end. I did suggest she upgraded to a VRS but I suspect it would be destroyed in weeks with the state of the roads and quantity of speed bumps around here.
Chrisjroe said:
Jazoli said:
Tyre size looks odd to me, is it on 16 inch alloys? mine has 205/50/17 tyres, yours looks like they have a much bigger sidewall, they are good cars, mine is on 166k now and still going strong.
Hello. I'm not 100 percent sure but I think the estates came with the 16 inch spider alloy rather than the 17 or that's what I've seen elsewhere. I'd prefer the 17s but finding a set appears to be quite hard now 
Mr2Mike said:
Nice job, it's looking great after your attention. My wife's ancient Octavia 2.0L 8v has just blown it's head gasket and though it's worth almost nothing, it's been such a reliable and useful car that I've ordered all the bits to rebuild the top end. I did suggest she upgraded to a VRS but I suspect it would be destroyed in weeks with the state of the roads and quantity of speed bumps around here.
Totally worth the repair! I'm hoping with good maintenance the car will last through till 150k+ sure it isn't the best looking vehicle but I can't imagine anything putting a bigger smile on my face that the value of this vehicle would even cover the deposit for haha! I'm with you RE: speed bumps. Both ways out of where I live have them...I think the 16 inch smaller wheels make the Octavia sit lower to the ground as well as they commonly seem to get caught on kerbs and ground on bumps and car park ramps
Jazoli said:
Chrisjroe said:
Jazoli said:
Tyre size looks odd to me, is it on 16 inch alloys? mine has 205/50/17 tyres, yours looks like they have a much bigger sidewall, they are good cars, mine is on 166k now and still going strong.
Hello. I'm not 100 percent sure but I think the estates came with the 16 inch spider alloy rather than the 17 or that's what I've seen elsewhere. I'd prefer the 17s but finding a set appears to be quite hard now Thanks for the heads up!
Chrisjroe said:
Hello. I'm not 100 percent sure but I think the estates came with the 16 inch spider alloy rather than the 17 or that's what I've seen elsewhere. I'd prefer the 17s but finding a set appears to be quite hard now
I have a spare set of 4 with brand new Federal RSRs on in the garage.phazed said:
Chrisjroe said:
Hello. I'm not 100 percent sure but I think the estates came with the 16 inch spider alloy rather than the 17 or that's what I've seen elsewhere. I'd prefer the 17s but finding a set appears to be quite hard now
I have a spare set of 4 with brand new Federal RSRs on in the garage.
I absolutely love these things, very underrated IMO, I had one for 2 years which is a long time for me to keep a car being a serial changer. I've had some interesting cars since, MKV Golf R32, Civic Type R, JCW MINI cooper S, and the humble Octy is the one I miss the most.
I've been browsing auto trader and Ebay as I quite fancy an estate version but they're getting a bit long in the tooth now, but I could cope with that for a yellow estate!
Here's my old one looking shiny in the sun.
I've been browsing auto trader and Ebay as I quite fancy an estate version but they're getting a bit long in the tooth now, but I could cope with that for a yellow estate!
Here's my old one looking shiny in the sun.
JackThrust said:
I absolutely love these things, very underrated IMO, I had one for 2 years which is a long time for me to keep a car being a serial changer. I've had some interesting cars since, MKV Golf R32, Civic Type R, JCW MINI cooper S, and the humble Octy is the one I miss the most.
I've been browsing auto trader and Ebay as I quite fancy an estate version but they're getting a bit long in the tooth now, but I could cope with that for a yellow estate!
Here's my old one looking shiny in the sun.
Beautiful in red! Though I doubt many look that good now, a lot of questionably modified versions and dubious history. I've been browsing auto trader and Ebay as I quite fancy an estate version but they're getting a bit long in the tooth now, but I could cope with that for a yellow estate!
Here's my old one looking shiny in the sun.
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