Skoda Octavia with 275k on the lock? To buy or not to buy?

Seen an 04 Skoda Octavia with an asking price of £995, due to the very high mileage of 275760. I can only guess that this is an ex minicab as these are very popular with them.

Link here

Is this car worth it? I'm only looking for a car for about a year as a runaround to work and college. I'd be doing around 50 miles a week, so not much.

After a year I'd get something better, but it's just to build up no claims, as they are very cheap to insure.

The VAG 1.9 TDI has very good reviews everywhere so that's another positive, plus taxis are usually maintained well to last longer.

What do you think?

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Reply 1

wenger16

no mileage is way too high notworth it.

Reply 2

JO53PHS

Original post by MrWhosane

I can only guess that this is an ex minicab as these are very popular with them.

Certainly is - check out the four holes drilled into the rear bumper.

Reply 3

Walter Ego

With anything VAG be prepared for constant minor faults and repairs, each costing you £100-300.

Reply 4

KasanDude

Way too high mileage. I think that's pretty close to the limit before the engine gives out and you need to rebuild it. Walk away.

Reply 5

Elwyn

Diesels are meant to last a lot longer than petrol engines, but that's way too high. Best spending a little more on something with less than 150k.

Reply 6

JC.

Mileage doesn't matter so long as it's been looked after.

I used to have a Jag with 330k on the clock. The body was knackered but mechanically it was spot on.

Reply 7

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper

Id walk away.
Its good that the car has managed to do that sort of mileage, as it shows they are good cars and last well, but i wouldnt buy a car with that sort of mileage in the first place.

Reply 8

sellick

I'm 90% certain none of the people commenting have any experience with VAG tdi's. If it's the pd130, they are a great engine. Taxi's usually get maintained very well, because if it breaks down, they are out of a job until it's fixed. A weak spot with the pd130 is the head gasket, but mine has 130k on the clock and drives like new. Check the timing belt has been done recently because that's a £300 job. Otherwise, I know these engines can easily go to 500k miles; it's the suspension etc. that will be worn by now. If you can beat him down on price enough to be able to pay to maintain it, it might be worth it? Surely you could get one with 100000 miles for £1800 or less though? Also, consider resale value! And if you're doing that few miles, you can't really justify a diesel! They offer poor economy on short journeys, and with the price difference, you would be better off with petrol (I know this may be diffiecult with insurance etc.)

Reply 9

CurlyBen

Personally I'd be a bit wary of buying an ex-taxi, and while I'd normally agree with JC that mileage isn't everything the kind of journeys a taxi does, and the way I've seen taxi drivers treat their cars, means there's likely to be significant wear in all kinds of places. I don't know what the normal asking price for the car would be, but unless it's so low you can sink as least as much again into repairs and not be out of pocket I'd steer clear.

Reply 10

Herr

It is a 1.9TDI 90PS, this is a bullet proof engine and generally will be good for 500k if well taken care off.

Most taxi-fleets are very well looked after and usually they are serviced far more regularly than a privately owned vehicle as it would normally have to follow a special servicing routine.

Most taxis also tend to have very little cold-startups as the engine is almost constantly running.... I must say the interior looks rather clean for something with that many miles.

As for whether to buy it or not, I don't think it is necessarily a bad car, just give it a through inspection which runs around £70 or so and make sure it could pass an MOT.

Reply 11

F1's Finest

Original post by MrWhosane

275k on the clock is extremely high. Don't go for it. You can get a much better car for 995 quid that can meet your requirements.

Reply 12

NewFolder

I'm amazed that's done 275k, the interior and exterior are in great condition.

However, for that sort of price, even though Skodas are great cars and it appears to be in good condition, there are better cars you can buy. I'd advise you to look around a bit. You may be able to find a lower mileage Octavia for that sort of price.

Reply 13

JO53PHS

Original post by NewFolder

You can tell next to nothing about the true condition of the vehicle from photographs - you can only tell how well it has been cleaned. Wobbly paintwork, scuffs, and scratches become invisible in the low resolution autotrader photos. :wink:

Reply 14

Daniel_R

Really depends on how its obtained these miles. If its just 5th gear 1000rpm motorway miles then it might be worth it.

Reply 15

Manitude

Fun fact: That car has averaged ~3.9mph in its lifetime. (Assuming I haven't miscalculated something)
Impressive

Reply 16

Daniel_R

Original post by Manitude

Fun fact: That car has averaged ~3.9mph in its lifetime. (Assuming I haven't miscalculated something)
Impressive

So leaving the handbrake off miles, impressive.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-I9300

Reply 17

MrWhosane

I'm just thinking of staying cheap and cheerful and picking up one of these:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201228478204196/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/1000/model/avensis/make/toyota/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/quicksearch/true/page/1/postcode/b913tg/radius/40?logcode=p

Does the job exactly how it must, and I doubt it'd break down ever!

Tax is more expensive, and the fuel would probably break even with the expense of say a VW Bora which are around £1000, plus they require more maintenance etc.

I don't care about 'street cred'. Just want a car to go to college and work.

Reply 18

tufc

That's an utterly absurd price for a car with 275k miles on the clock. Even with an FSH, I wouldn't go near it. Just looking at Autotrader now, there are Octavias with 85k miles for £800!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 19

Taxi driver

I have a Skoda superb 1.9 tdi with 341,438 on the clock and dosnt miss a beat it's a 2009 taxi and well taking care of, iv been reading throu the form here and does anyone really have a clue what there talking about look afster your Skoda and you more or less get in excess 500 miles out of it.