[sarfraz1997]

Originally Posted by heatednemz

I am planning to buy a Pre-Owned Automatic Diesel Sedan. Currently in my budget (around 5L stretchable to 6) I'm looking at
1. Chevrolet Cruze
2. Skoda Octavia/Laura

Obviously I have my reservations about both vehicles. Cruze, because Chevy's gone. However 2 of my friends who own the 2010 and 2011 model which they still drive, swear by it.

I'm not too keen on Skoda but if buying a Cruze is absolutely a terrible idea, then this is my backup.

My weekly running is about 350 kms - Mostly highway. What do you guys think? Does a 2013 Cruze with about 70k on the odo make sense?

If you are fine with scrapping the car or giving away the car for peanuts price after three years, cruze would be fine. However, Laura would be a better driver's car with better suspension and build quality.
And as Lamborghini previously mentioned, you might as well be able to find a 2011 facelifted Jetta around that price range. Jetta is a very good car. Best build quality, good engine with good mileage. Looks wise also it isn't very dated.

Originally Posted by simplysaj

Happened to check out a pretty well maintained Laura 2.0 TDI manual, around 70K run.
Any thoughts/inputs on considering this for buying? Thank you

Ask for the service history of the vehicle, Stay away if it isn't available.
Check the variant and compare prices from OLX. Elegance or L&K would be very good.
Check the tyres, battery and insurance. You can use these three points for bargaining.

[ronk]

Hi, I am in a bit of a similar dilemma now. Looking for a fun to drive sedan, for a short period of 1-2yrs. This will not be our primary car, but will be used by me for some city driving and weekend city duty. I need a responsive gearbox and hence dsg cars make sense. Budget of 7-10. Looking at the below:
1. Very well maintained '13 Jetta with 1.33L kms (full service history) -7.5 lakhs
2. '12 laura with 68k kms, well maintained. ambient - 6.5 lakhs
3. '13 passat highline with 45k kms - 11 lakhs
All cars are single owner vehicles. Jetta seemed the best kept even though the miles are how. Passat was the best of luxury, features, less used and drive.
Added pressure is that the car should be easily saleable in 1.5yrs with lesser dep, and that makes rhe passat a bad choice i guess.
3.
Please suggest which would be the best option?
Is the jetta run too much even if well maintained?

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by ronk

Hi, I am in a bit of a similar dilemma now. Looking for a fun to drive sedan, for a short period of 1-2yrs. This will not be our primary car, but will be used by me for some city driving and weekend city duty. I need a responsive gearbox and hence dsg cars make sense. Budget of 7-10. Looking at the below:
1. Very well maintained '13 Jetta with 1.33L kms (full service history) -7.5 lakhs
2. '12 laura with 68k kms, well maintained. ambient - 6.5 lakhs
3. '13 passat highline with 45k kms - 11 lakhs
All cars are single owner vehicles. Jetta seemed the best kept even though the miles are how. Passat was the best of luxury, features, less used and drive.
Added pressure is that the car should be easily saleable in 1.5yrs with lesser dep, and that makes rhe passat a bad choice i guess.
3.
Please suggest which would be the best option?
Is the jetta run too much even if well maintained?

I think the Jetta would be best suited to your use case, given the lower entry price and your requirements. But I wouldn't recommend the one you referenced, simply because it has run an insane amount of miles and has a ridiculously high price. I'd say it's priced at least 1-1.5 lakhs too high. Keep looking, you'll find a lower run example for the same ball park figure. And aim for a 2014 model year Highline. It has lots of little goodies you'd enjoy.

[Octy17]

Hey guys,
What's your opinion on a 2011 Skoda Laura TSI which has done about 95,000 kms. What are the things that I should watch out for? I have seen the car and it seems to be in a pristine condition.
The car ( if I pick up ) will be used predominantly for weekend runs and will do about 7,500 kms per year.

Please advice guys.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Octy17

Hey guys,
What's your opinion on a 2011 Skoda Laura TSI which has done about 95,000 kms. What are the things that I should watch out for? I have seen the car and it seems to be in a pristine condition.
The car ( if I pick up ) will be used predominantly for weekend runs and will do about 7,500 kms per year.

Please advice guys.

Whats the owner profile?

Go and get its service history off the Skoda Dealership or ask the owner to give it to you.

Where has it been maintained and serviced all these years? AUTHORISED centre or Independent Garage?

If it is 8 years old (as my Yeti was at the time I sold it 10 days ago) and in this case, this Laura appears to have done almost a lakh kms, then you must check and see if the timing tensioner, timing gear, the water pump and all those parts have been changed or not. Because the age of danger is the 8 year mark and/ or 1 lac kms run.

Next, the brakes - all the brake pads ought to have been changed atleast twice in these 8 years. The Discs - with such mileage done and age of the car, they would definitely be “stepped” and hence, it would be ideal if they were changed to new ones. Same with the battery - the car ought to be atleast on its third battery by now. Tyres, atleast once around the 4 year mark.

Other stuff - how is the LED display behind the instrument panel? Is it bright still or faded/ fading a bit? AC Blower and AC itself including the AC gas - how is the condition? Has any of these things been changed ever in these 8 years?

All the regulation Oil changes and Filter changes ought to have been carried out as per schedule.

If you’re satisfied with the answers and proofs that you receive basis the above inputs, then I think you can hit the BUY button. Because these cars are truly solid. And can go on and on and on. 2 lakh -3 lakh Kms are nothing for this brilliant vehicle.

And it holds up very well over the years, with nary a rattle or squeak!

I love the Skoda Cars.

Sadly their resale is terrible.

I’m guessing you’ll get this car for a sum around Rs 5.5 odd Lacs? If yes, it is certainly a good buy.

[swiftnfurious]

Checking on the Laura - has there any major reports in the forum / your known circle about any DSG failures on the Laura diesel? I keep reading about the failures is on the 7 speed DSG which is on the petrol and not with the 6 speed on the diesel. Could anyone confirm?

Whats the engine life on a 2.0 that can be expected for a car serviced on time?

What will be the upkeep cost of a used Laura over a 1L km mileage if serviced properly without cutting cost in a competent FNG?

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Checking on the Laura - has there any major reports in the forum / your known circle about any DSG failures on the Laura diesel? I keep reading about the failures is on the 7 speed DSG which is on the petrol and not with the 6 speed on the diesel. Could anyone confirm?

Whats the engine life on a 2.0 that can be expected for a car serviced on time?

What will be the upkeep cost of a used Laura over a 1L km mileage if serviced properly without cutting cost in a competent FNG?

The Laura petrol came with a 6 Speed Manual and didn't have an auto tranny. The facelifted Laura L&K Diesel which had the 2.0TDI engine had the DSG and there hasn't been any known cases of auto box failure. These cars can easily go upwards of 2L kms if serviced and maintained properly.

[rocksterraghu]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

The Laura petrol came with a 6 Speed Manual and didn't have an auto tranny. The facelifted Laura L&K Diesel which had the 2.0TDI engine had the DSG and there hasn't been any known cases of auto box failure. These cars can easily go upwards of 2L kms if serviced and maintained properly.

Correction - it did come with a DSG but very few cars were sold.
https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...ura-tsi-331799

It was the 7-Speed DSG, but the gearbox was unreliable. The manual 6-speed was bulletproof. The diesel came with 6-speed, so they are different gearboxes.

The vRS was always in 6-speed manual.

[sarfraz1997]

Originally Posted by Octy17

Hey guys,
What's your opinion on a 2011 Skoda Laura TSI which has done about 95,000 kms. What are the things that I should watch out for? I have seen the car and it seems to be in a pristine condition.
The car ( if I pick up ) will be used predominantly for weekend runs and will do about 7,500 kms per year.

Please advice guys.

I know I'm a bit too late, in case you haven't bought it yet, the problem with the 1.8TSI's of that generation is that they drink engine oil. So you might need to keep topping it up. It can be very severe, it can be very mild. Since it is difficult to know about this issue in the used market, I'd suggest you stay away from it unless you've known the owner and car from a while. Also, 2011 Laura's (not VRS) should be available for around not more than 3.5 lakhs in the market. I came across a good petrol Laura in Hyderabad back in 2019 Jan for 3.1 lakhs. I think it had around 80k on the odo.

Originally Posted by ronk

Hi, I am in a bit of a similar dilemma now. Looking for a fun to drive sedan, for a short period of 1-2yrs. This will not be our primary car, but will be used by me for some city driving and weekend city duty. I need a responsive gearbox and hence dsg cars make sense. Budget of 7-10. Looking at the below:
1. Very well maintained '13 Jetta with 1.33L kms (full service history) -7.5 lakhs
2. '12 laura with 68k kms, well maintained. ambient - 6.5 lakhs
3. '13 passat highline with 45k kms - 11 lakhs
All cars are single owner vehicles. Jetta seemed the best kept even though the miles are how. Passat was the best of luxury, features, less used and drive.
Added pressure is that the car should be easily saleable in 1.5yrs with lesser dep, and that makes rhe passat a bad choice i guess.
3.
Please suggest which would be the best option?
Is the jetta run too much even if well maintained?

If you haven't already bought your car, you might as well look for '13 or '14 Octavia. I think you might be able to get it under 10 lakhs now since it is almost 8 years old.
Also, the used market needs a little time and attention. You might be able to come across a car with lesser mileage but you need to get it checked soon and seal the deal before you miss it.

[ronk]

Originally Posted by sarfraz1997

If you haven't already bought your car, you might as well look for '13 or '14 Octavia. I think you might be able to get it under 10 lakhs now since it is almost 8 years old.
Also, the used market needs a little time and attention. You might be able to come across a car with lesser mileage but you need to get it checked soon and seal the deal before you miss it.

Thanks for your suggestions.
I did buy a used car. Since it was really short term, I went for super low budget and also decided to try something I wouldn't normally try.
Went for a 95k run 2008 civic AT for around 2.5 lakhs, more as an experiment. I am loving the car! While not really Skoda/VW quality, it still feels very nice and well built after 11 years. The steering is a charm, and power delivery quite ok! To top it, parts are cheap, and it seems quite reliable. Will definitely get back to the germans soon, but this is turning out to be a very nice change of taste.

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Came across a well maintained Laura Ambiente 2.0 CR TDI MT with service history.
Following are the details.
ODO @64k. 2013 model. 2nd owner.
A/C compressor has been replaced already @ authorised service centre.
Tyres changed recently.

Whats the fair price for this? Note this is in Bangalore. Current ask is 7L with scope for negotiation.

Heard from owner the timing kit replacement is above 1L and current clutch is good for another 15 to 20K as per ASS.
Test drove as well, didnt find anything odd in the clutch.

What else i need to check for and what all major replacement expected in the near future service?
My plan is to have this as second car for next 2 yrs, may run near 1L mark and sell off.

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

Whats the fair price for this? Note this is in Bangalore. Current ask is 7L with scope for negotiation.

I'm not sure of the price, I'd assume it to be a fair price if the car is kept well. Yes, the timing belt kit replacement is around the 1L mark. In my car the water pump gave way around the 62k kms mark and I chose to replace the timing belt kit as well as the water had seeped into the belt and I did not want to take changes.

You might want to check the suspension - the dampers, the mounts the usual stuff. Otherwise, this seems like a decent buy if everything else looks good.

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

In my car the water pump gave way around the 62k kms mark and I chose to replace the timing belt kit as well as the water had seeped into the belt and I did not want to take changes.

You might want to check the suspension - the dampers, the mounts the usual stuff. Otherwise, this seems like a decent buy if everything else looks good.

Thanks. Can you share the cost incurred for Timing belt kit and Water pump?
I took a small TD, except the thuds on larger crater/pothole, suspension feels rigid and composed.

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

Thanks. Can you share the cost incurred for Timing belt kit and Water pump?

Sorry, I don't quite remember the cost as it was more than a year back. I suspect it to be the range of 40-50k for the whole thing incl. labour.

[ritwikbhatt]

Hello guys,

I am looking to pick up a used 2011 Laura TSi. Have found an example that I'm interested in but it is located in Mumbai and I'm based in Pune. Due to the upcoming lockdowns, I have not been able to see it in person yet but I'm planning to do so asap.

The car has currently clocked about 55k on the odo and is owned by it's 2nd owner. Till 2017 the car was maintained at the authorised service center, after which the current owner bought the car and has maintained it at his local garage. I have been unable to get the service history yet.

My usage pattern:
Car will be mainly used to go to work (less than 10km daily) and occasional long trips like Pune to Bangalore, Pune to Ahmedabad etc. Expecting to run about 10k to 15k a year.


What I'm worried about:
1. Cost of maintenance
2. Odo tampering (maybe? I have yet to see the car in person)
3. Would changing the water pump assembly be reccomended due to age of the car?
4. I do not have a reliable known mechanic who I can take along to have the car evaluated (whenever the lockdown ends). Suggestions are very welcome.

The only reason for looking at the Laura TSi is that it has been a dream to own this car for a number of years. Only thing that has really prevented me from doing so till now is budget and misgivings about the car's maintenance costs.

Would appreciate all valuable inputs.

Thank you all!