2000 to 2004 Octavia vRS - thoughts?
Discussion
Had a scan through the Skoda pages but nothing specific and things like BriSkoda are a bit biased perhaps, so... early model (2000 to 2004) Skoda Octavia vRS 1.8T, thoughts on these chaps? My experience with them stops at the engine and a mate who took a 1.8T to 100k with minimal fuss - coolant temp sensor, coil packs and a split water hose and that was it so they seem pretty nuke proof but the cars in general, any scary issues and also to live with on a daily basis... quick enough, drive well, good cars?
My thinking is a vRS estate circa £1500... the theory being my current diesel Volvo is a) a bit dull and b) looks like a Beruit taxi but is a fabulous workhorse, returns good mpg and has coped with 40k of abuse/kids/dog/missus and my last 850R was great fun, bit quirky, fast (ish) but just far too thirsty for day in day out school run/Tesco/dog walking spec stuff, ie high teens was normal and mid 20's on a run.
So, thinking outside the box... a vRS estate could perhaps be the best of both worlds plus seems to offer quite alot for the money and economy wise, they seem to be capable of 30's to 40's most of the time.
Cheers
My thinking is a vRS estate circa £1500... the theory being my current diesel Volvo is a) a bit dull and b) looks like a Beruit taxi but is a fabulous workhorse, returns good mpg and has coped with 40k of abuse/kids/dog/missus and my last 850R was great fun, bit quirky, fast (ish) but just far too thirsty for day in day out school run/Tesco/dog walking spec stuff, ie high teens was normal and mid 20's on a run.
So, thinking outside the box... a vRS estate could perhaps be the best of both worlds plus seems to offer quite alot for the money and economy wise, they seem to be capable of 30's to 40's most of the time.
Cheers
Edited by Davie on Saturday 25th August 23:35
HeatonNorris said:
Engine is good. Interiors cheap and nasty.
Don't really understand why the mechanically similar Golf MkIV GTI is slated whilst the vRS has a cult following - of the two, unless I needed a massive boot, I'd have the Golf, purely because the cabin is just so much nicer.
Its the same dash!?Don't really understand why the mechanically similar Golf MkIV GTI is slated whilst the vRS has a cult following - of the two, unless I needed a massive boot, I'd have the Golf, purely because the cabin is just so much nicer.
SEAT Interiours are nasty, but Skoda ones are ok.
JB! said:
Its the same dash!?
SEAT Interiours are nasty, but Skoda ones are ok.
Wasn't it an Audi A3 moulding?SEAT Interiours are nasty, but Skoda ones are ok.
However, it doesn't matter if they used the same mould, the quality of the material was very different - MkI Octavias used bargain basement materials, even if the parts were visually similar to VW / Audi parts.
MkII Octavias are a different proposition, though.
Well, sadly my budget doesn't stretch to a MkII Octavia vRS so an early one will have to suffice for now, plus a basic/hard wearing/function over form interior is a good thing given the abuse it'll probably be subjected to. I figured they're cheap enough to be 'used', quick enough to be involving on a run, economical enough for daily duties, reliable and cheap enough when they do go wrong plus it's a little bit smaller than the sort of V70/Saab 9.5/BMW 5 series sort of thing and thus, there's an increased chance that she'll eb able to get it and multi-storey without removing paint from the doors/bumpers/roof.
I have one, white seats do get dirty but clean up VERY easily. Dash is fine, no idea what people who slate it are thinking, how often do you drive around stroking the dash? Engine is great, I've had mine for 20,000 miles now and aside from servicing have replaced two breather pipes at a cost of £40 and a coolant pipe recently split. That's it. Fuel economy is okay, not fantastic round town, In traffic it's low twentys at stop start pace, on the motorway I've averaged 40ish driving normally (70-80mph). Mines the hatch version and the boot is enormous even though the cabin is golf sized. I say drive one first but I would recommend one, it's a great car.
What are they like turbo wise? Is there a sort of mileage that certain things tend to fail or wear? I've seen a couple of 1.8T running the top end dry due to lack of oil changes and a blocked oil pick up pipe/failed oil pump but having had a read on t'internet, there doesn't seem to be any scary stories of significant components failing at set periods... unlike the Vauxhall 2.0T which seems to chew a turbo every 40k and mass air flow meters on a weekly basis.
HeatonNorris said:
Engine is good. Interiors cheap and nasty.
Don't really understand why the mechanically similar Golf MkIV GTI is slated whilst the vRS has a cult following - of the two, unless I needed a massive boot, I'd have the Golf, purely because the cabin is just so much nicer.
I'd be interested to hear this too, is it a sportier set up than the golf?Don't really understand why the mechanically similar Golf MkIV GTI is slated whilst the vRS has a cult following - of the two, unless I needed a massive boot, I'd have the Golf, purely because the cabin is just so much nicer.
R0B. said:
HeatonNorris said:
Engine is good. Interiors cheap and nasty.
Don't really understand why the mechanically similar Golf MkIV GTI is slated whilst the vRS has a cult following - of the two, unless I needed a massive boot, I'd have the Golf, purely because the cabin is just so much nicer.
I'd be interested to hear this too, is it a sportier set up than the golf?Don't really understand why the mechanically similar Golf MkIV GTI is slated whilst the vRS has a cult following - of the two, unless I needed a massive boot, I'd have the Golf, purely because the cabin is just so much nicer.
AndyT77 said:
I think the cult following thing stems from the fact that like for like, the same age Skoda will be a lot cheaper than a VW, thus many people rolling around in Skoda feel very smug with themselves that they got a real bargain VW, minus the badge.
They aren't cheaper now though.I too would probably rather have a Golf GTI Anniversary 180 over a vRS.
I've a feeling the anniversary will be more expensive still, if not expensive it'll have many many more miles. I was going to buy a golf Gti but proffered the octavia as it still seems to be overlooked by the local scrotes, as soon as I start seeing modified ones where I live I'll sell mine.
VRSAndy said:
I've a feeling the anniversary will be more expensive still, if not expensive it'll have many many more miles. I was going to buy a golf Gti but proffered the octavia as it still seems to be overlooked by the local scrotes, as soon as I start seeing modified ones where I live I'll sell mine.
They've started round near me. Couple of vRS (or lookalikes) with massive windscreen stickers, s
t lights, awful wheels, and driven by people who weren't even in the right queue when decorum was given out. ShampooEfficient said:
They've started round near me. Couple of vRS (or lookalikes) with massive windscreen stickers, st lights, awful wheels, and driven by people who weren't even in the right queue when decorum was given out.
Jesus, luckily the only one local to me is owned by a middle aged chap. I'm thinking of moving on at the minute I'm struggling to find anything to replace it with. t lights, awful wheels, and driven by people who weren't even in the right queue when decorum was given out. AndyT77 said:
I think the cult following thing stems from the fact that like for like, the same age Skoda will be a lot cheaper than a VW, thus many people rolling around in Skoda feel very smug with themselves that they got a real bargain VW, minus the badge.
I have a Skoda & I believe that being cheaper than other makes, your expectations are lower. May be a rubbish as the next car, but as its cheap you don't care..TameRacingDriver said:
AndyT77 said:
I think the cult following thing stems from the fact that like for like, the same age Skoda will be a lot cheaper than a VW, thus many people rolling around in Skoda feel very smug with themselves that they got a real bargain VW, minus the badge.
They aren't cheaper now though.I too would probably rather have a Golf GTI Anniversary 180 over a vRS.
There's plenty of standard MK4 Golf GTi's that are the same price though. Not sure what I'd get myself.
I've got a Mk1 VRS, one owner from new full history etc. Dont believe the crap about it being inferior to a Golf, the build is very good, paintwork quality and panel gaps up to VW standard, most of the mechanicals are the same, personally i prefer the dash and dials of the VRS, best of all its very easy to tweak and fun to drive AND very easy to get 35+mpg from which is more than i can say for my ST220. Find a decent one and enjoy.
Had our 05vrs for 6 years and 80k (now on 89k). Very reliable, cheap to run. In the time we've had it, just had a few known issues go wrong
1 coil pack
central locking issue due to water ingress in door
brake 'mooing' noise from rear pads
For the price, absolutely recommended. Great boot space for the size of car
1 coil pack
central locking issue due to water ingress in door
brake 'mooing' noise from rear pads
For the price, absolutely recommended. Great boot space for the size of car
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