Is it a good buy?

[BuyanythingbutaVW]

Hello all,

My father in law wants to buy a large diesel car and we have had a look at a Skoda Superb 2.5 V6 TDI 160 Comfort 4dr. The car is a 2003 '03' plate and has 1 former owner and 47,000 miles on the clock.

The car spec seems good and amongst other things it lists climate control, electric sunroof, electric wing mirrors, alloys, cruise control and parking sensors. Not sure if all this is standard or options but seems good.

The car is up for £6900 and seems a good buy. The car has been chipped and goes like a rocket - I came out of the test drive laughing as it was so impressive.

The only issues are that the car was serviced at 17,000 miles and then again at 47,000miles. Seems an honest enough car, but is there anything he should look for and / or does this seem a good deal?

If anyone could advise on this then it would be most appreciated.

Also should the car have had anything major changed as it is over four years old?

Many thanks

Jamie

[sdk778]

Hi, may seem obvious but ask to look at the service book and have a read through the first few pages, this will show you what should had been changed etc.., if anything crops up and cannot be proved to have been changed then use this as bargaining power on the screen price.

Also ask if it has had a 'chip' job or a re-map, i have been told that the re-map is more reliable on the V6's. Should be good car and hopefully a good buy too.

[greg123]

It sounds fair enough. I would say, do you really need the V6, because it's a lot less economic and more of a pain to work on/costly than the 4-cylinder. A 130PD in my book is a much better bet and if you want the performance, a £300 remap gives better economy and around 180/190hp, so given it's lighter you'll be about the same performance as the one you test drove but a lot better economy and cheaper servicing.

sdk778, nice avatar.

Greg.

[johannapam1]

I would say it is a good buy. I have on 55 plate and it is not chipped - but my god does it go. The sound also is awsome. The engine is very smooth and quiet. I have mine service annually with an intermediate oil and filter change at 6 months. I also run it on Ultimate diesel.

Regards

john

[primey]

At that age, just check to make sure the Timing belt and Water pump has been done. Its recommended 60k, or 4 years which ever comes up first

[Porcorosso]

I currently run a 2003 03 130tdi classic. If the car is the same age as mine it really does need a new cambelt and water pump. heavy duty water pump is prefered as well if the car is going to be generally worked hard.

For reference in terms of fuel economy my car averages about 43mpg around town and a long motorway run will easily see the low 60s mpg if you cruise between 65 and 80mph.

On my car the front cv boots split on both sides. I was told this is a common fault on Passats so the Superb is likely to be the same. They aren't expensive though.

I think the price is a little strong at almost £7k. The trade price for mine (albeit a more lowly model) is about £2700 with 87k miles.