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I have to spend £1500 on a new steering rack. At the same time, I'm rather attracted to the Simpson Skoda offers; Octavia VRS Hatch (you can get a bike in, right?) £199 monthly, VRS estate or a Scout £219. All 2yr deals.
Or a Yeti - £149 a month. I do cruise the motorways for work but don't exceed 8000m a year which is the deal.
So far, so good. BUT my wife hates Skoda's. I also have trepidation about putting bikes in and out of new/lease cars in cases of scratches / undue filth. We originally decided we wouldn't entertained new cars until a few other things were done (new kitchen, some decor).
Any pearls to marital and/or financial wisdom - aka spend on the banger, or trade/sell for a Skoda deposit and get a new motor?
You can get tail gate protectors for the estate. Think the boot liner on the estates is rubber one side, and carpet the other. Unless its an optional extra ??
No way , skoda wont go with your new shades .
Its better and easier to ask for forgiveness than permission
He needs our permission Junky.
You need to divorce your Mrs for not liking Skoda, then have a word with yourself for binning a good car for the price of leasing a new one for 7 months 😛
My wife hated Skoda's but I bought myself an Octavia VRS anyway.
After a drive in it, she now likes them a lot.
What car has a £1500 steering rack! Our old bora rack went, replaced by a local garage for just over £300.
I hate Skoda's too. Lots of other options out there that offer similar value. Could you not consider them instead to Keep your wife and me happy?
Seems odd to buy a car that you aren't happy to use for your hobbies. Why not spend half as much and get a car you can use for everything? A friend is pretty down on his yeti judging by the continuous Facebook posts relating to garage bills.
binning a good car
Well quite.
What car has a £1500 steering rack!
Well, its the theoretical max but also includes a few other jobs whilst those bits are apart, such as new lower wishbone bushings, re-aligngment, the new Powersteering motor, flushing the "wrong" fluid* and replacing. There is a very good chance the Specialist will argue some or all of the money from the extended warranty I've got, they have a history of saying "yes" to this.
*Most 159's had the wrong fluid from the factory, mine still does, extra viscosity cause the PS motor to burn out quicker, and certainly when replaced with the correct runnier fluid causes leaks.
I dunno, the thought of a more modern warrantied motor with all the toys, and going back to auto feels good. Or, I wait until 2 years goes by and fix up the house a bit, yet pay the bill, THEN buy the 330 Touring auto I will want 🙂
Why not spend half as much and get a car you can use for everything?
Well, this is where I am now, £5k on that very car. And tbh apart from the above being discovered has no faults
My mates wife hated Skoda's. To the point she publicly stated she would never get in one.
He had the balls to get an Octavia anyway. She loves it!
Women, eh!? 🙄
After a drive in it, she now likes them a lot.
My mates wife hated Skoda's. To the point she publicly stated she would never get in one.He had the balls to get an Octavia anyway. She loves it!
Women, eh!?
Pragmatism.
If you're going to have a new toy it may as well be one with zero Fanny Magnetism.
Skoda are ace - 100000 pretty much trouble free miles in our 51plate Octavia. Would have another like a shot - but might keep this one going as long possible as there is nothing seriously wrong with it!
What's the deposit like on those offers?
Ah well there's the catch. It's £300 quid more than if I had to pay for the work above in total myself. So yes, I've tried to justify a new car financially and failed miserably.
Why do people go for these deals where you pay £x00 per month for a new car?
Surely much better to buy a car outright and own it - bills for running the car will be less than the leasing costs.
Ok, you don't have a brand new car to drive, but still... No massive monthly outgoings!
Mrs Sox declared her dislike of Skodas too. Junior Sox and I test drove a Fabia Monte Carlo, were impressed with the little tinker and bought her one (and him on as other driver). She adores the little fella.
Now I'm about to replace the Mongdeo (2007 with 12 months MOT!! ) with another caravan towing estate.........but which one??
Diesel VRS?
Another Mondeo?
Mazda6 Touring?
I'm on my third Skoda...beginning to like them now 😉 seriously my first an Octavia was too long for a bloke who hadn't driven for 15 years (biker). So switched to a yeti, love them...OK styling may not set the world alight but the dealers are great and they are well built....now on my second yeti have yet to find a failing in the latest one.
JeZ
My wife doesn't see the point of a car that can do 0-60 in less than 12 seconds and hates estate cars. When I inherited her 1.6 diesel cmax she told everybody who would listen that I want allowed to change it because she liked it. I bought a Focus ST Estate as soon as I could make the maths work.
The only Skoda I would buy is a Yeti 4x4.
Modern Skodas are great, how can anyone hate them? Is it just that they remember back to when they were the subject of a load of jokes?
Tasha thought I was mad when I bought the Octavia, then lived with it/drove it. She rapidly changed her mind. We had a safebag in ours, kept it clean
The Simpsons pch deals are loss leaders, they don't even cover the depreciation.
As an owner of a Octy vrs mkiii, I'm biased, but they have a great deal to like and little to have.
£1500? www.ebay.co.uk or google VAG spares or breaking?
That offer? 2k upfront to hire a car for 2yrs on only 8,000miles a year? I do 8k in just 6months!!
So thats £3,400 a year for 8,000miles. Before 7p a mile over adds to 3.4k?
Plus you'd put a mountain bike in and out of it- those odd scratches come handback time...
Buy secondhand
Is this the Alfa we all said not to buy?
Awe really, the Alfas borked already ?
Eh ?
😯
The mark three vRS is pretty nice. I've just ordered an oil burner for my next company car...it was so much better than the 1 series or A3 that I could have had instead that it was hard not to really. Most of my friends are ripping the pee out of me, but I'm the one that had to live with it. I figured chucking bikes in it will be easy and it'll swallow all of our little one's junk too.
Our 330 is a great car but saloons are rubbish family cars (I should have held out for a touring). The new 330d autos are immense. We had obe as a courtesy car for a week and it was brill. I didn't really want to give it back....fast too.
Have you considered the Superb Saloon? The boot is huge and more discrete. Just an idea if you've already got a patio with very deep foundations.
We have had three, a Citigo which we no longer have, a Fabia Monte Carlo and have now got a Fabia VRS. We like them, they fit our needs well and despite not being the best handling things in their class have everything else like size, price, reliability and quality in their favour. We will keep our current two until they are scrap.
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Regardless, your man maths doesn't currently add up. Lease deals aren't great unless you want to be in a new car all the time or need a car with a warranty and don't have the capital to buy it. Unless you think your Alfa has a raft more bills coming up then I'd stick with it.
What do you drive? I drive a Superb!
It feels like it should have a exclamation mark
Has the powersteering failed outright and/or leaking? Or is it just making noises/stiffer when cold.
If the rack has totally failed then fair enough but if its just noisy/leaking from the reservoir then the Alfa forums suggest fitting the revised/improved reservoir for circa £40then a refill with the green fluid.
Personally if the car is good in every other respect than I'd be tempted to fix and keep.
Bushes and wot not wear out on any car especially with a heavy diesel up front that's just wear and tear not reason enough to move a car on IMO.
Personally if the car is good in every other respect than I'd be tempted to fix and keep.
This, yes.
The rack has a lot of play in it and is close to an MOT fail, and the jobs' big un, as the job to replace the PAS motor etc when its gone. Its groaning slightly hence whens its all apart you do the whole lot at one, as its cheaper.
Whilst its in, its also cheaper than an extra visit to replace the bushes. 159's are notorious for naff bushes which where the inner from tyres quickly. They get replaced with "power flex" bushes which prevent that for literally £15 more than the standard parts all in.
Vis a Vis, get it all done at once.
Please remember as I said earlier, although its unfortunate I've experienced this, I do have an aftermarket warranty which the Alfa specialist is confident will pay for some if to all of this work - they will be negotiating on my behalf increasing the chance of success.
Once done, the Alfa will be tip top, no more issues.
You need to divorce your Mrs for not liking Skoda
Most Skodas look pretty bad I reckon - the Octavia VRS estate seems to be one of the odd ones out.
Even the front of a Yeti looks dodgy, particularly in the wrong color.
And the Superb looks particularly gash.
I reckon they style the VW/Audi ranges to aid the perceived value of the different brands.
I'd fix the Alfa...
I've got a Superb.
It's comfy, plenty fast enough, has a massive boot, huge legroom and is economical to run.
I particularly like seeing the look on folks faces when I say I drive a Skoda 😆
I'd repair the Alfa 😀
[i]Once done, the Alfa will be tip top, no more issues.[/i]
Hmmm!
Another vote for fixing the Alfa here (from a petrol vrs estate owner).
Modern Skodas are great, how can anyone hate them?
They take their styling cues from the Seat designers wastepaper basket.
See the Skabia above.
My current Alfa is the oldest I have owned.
I bought it for 7K, at the first service there were some issues that were covered by its extended warranty (airbags) so I got them fixed and told them to scour the car for anything else that needs fixing.
Spent another 3.5k on it fixing everything that was iffy, and 800 of that was covered by the warranty.
But it is pretty solid now, going by comments from the independent who now services it.
Alfa depreciate a lot, why not take advantage of that, they spend the extra depreciation fixing it up and end up with a very solid car for the age?
Or you could spend more on something from the VAG group and then find out that they are not actually that well made after all...
I'd be fixing the 159 rather than leasing a new car (especially a Skoda)
this is not rocket science
get it fixed, then decide if you want to keep it or chop it in for a skoda
otherwise you'll lose a hell of a money on it
Once done, the Alfa will be tip top, no more issues.Hmmm!
Oi! It's true. anything else will be wear and tear for its age. It isn't losing oil, dpf is below 60% (reported by diagnostic), clutch and gearbox are good currently. It's been serviced, checked over, air con cleaned, disinfected and topped up, egr deleted and remapped, discs and pads currently good, interior is in very good nick.
It's not a great car for driving in traffic - much more hard work our kuga with a lighter clutch and less on/off turbo and more linear delivery, but when the traffic clears it's a blast. The Italian leather smell is to die for and the looks speak for themselves.
[i] Oi! It's true.[/i]
It may well be, but you can never really know despite all the checks.
[i]
The Italian leather smell is to die for and the looks speak for themselves.[/i]
You make it sound like a Maserati......its an Alfa 159 FFS! 😉
I'm a fan of keeping and fixing.
The Italian leather smell is to die for and the looks speak for themselves.
You must be lucky, my last Alfa with full Momo leather smelled like BO in hot weather, did smell nice when cold though.
Looks wise you're right though, you're not going look back a Skoda in the same way.
See the Skabia above.
That's a nice thing to say 😐