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-   -   Buying a used Skoda Laura (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans/114089-buying-used-skoda-laura.html)

Hello Friends,

I have been a team-bhp member for a very long time now, but this is my first post here. I am seeking advise on purchase of a used Skoda Laura (Jan 2010) Ambience 1.9 TDI with automatic gearbox and approx 7000 kms on the odo. The car is in excellent condition, has Stanley leather seat covers and xenon headlights. The history of the vehicle is known ( an office colleague) but I am concerned regarding the maintenance and after sales service of Skoda. I am also given to understand the AC had some problem and the compressor is being replaced by Skoda under warranty (I understand from the forum this would normally cost about 75k)

Please advise a suitable price to pay for such a car and pitfalls in terms of long term reliability of Laura, as I intend to keep the car for 5 years.

Kindly also advise how laura's hold value in terms of resale after 5 years.

Thanks.

Till when is the warranty valid for this car?

cya
R

Resale value of Skoda cars is not very good, when i was looking to buy a car, briefly we ventured into looking at used cars as well. Lauras were much much cheaper as compared to Toyotas and Hondas.

On the rest, do look at some Laura's ownership thread and you would get an idea of total cost of ownership.

This particular car came with a 2 year warranty which expires in January 2012 end.

As per your post if the car is in excellent condition then do get the detailed service history, Insuranc claims and the warranty details before hand. Also ensure that the AC issues are sorted out before you make up your mind. BTW what price is the seller asking.

Regarding maintenance part I am sure Skoda does have a few good workshops in and around Mumbai (JMD Auto in Bhandup one for sure coz I have heard good things about them), so you should breathe easy. Your friend also should be able to guide since he has been using the vehicle for the past couple of years.

Are you going for an outright purchase or financing it? All the best.:thumbs up

If you consider just regular service and consumables - it is comparable to other cars (wee bit more but not a big deal)

OTH, parts and any repair related work will be expensive and service experience is inconsistent - you might be that unlucky customer!

Whether to buy:
- do you drive the car most of the time?
- do you use the highways often?
- are you ok to spend a bit more money and deal with "still waiting for parts from EU, sir" service - when you get unlucky with the car? Or do you want to have a strict control on what you spend on a car?
- do you have a thing for EU cars? (IMHO, Skoda still offers the lowest ownership cost for EU cars - but nearly EU cars are a pain if things go bad)

A 1.9tdi auto + xenon means it is the old Laura - the leather seat are standard.

The compressor will go but if you go to a specialist you might be able to avoid the higher prices.The engine is reliable but the gearbox mechatronic issues might surface. If you can negotiate a good price and budget a lakh towards any untoward issues. Worth a look

He's asking for 13 Lakhs

Was considering a loan against FD.

Thanks for the reply.

Are you sure its a Jan 2010? If its the older model and AC has been taken care of make sure its the new Valeo compressor and not the plagued Sanden. Since its an auto-box you might have to keep some funds for the day that goes kaput which is known to be at around 70-90k kms.

+
+
For what you're getting, it sounds quite pricey to me... (eg. there is a manual 2009 Mumbai TSI with <9,000 kms going for 8.5L in our classifieds. There is also a manual 2011 Mumbai TSI with ~7,000km going for 12.25 (asking))

Didn't the face-lift appear in May 2009?

1.9TDI + Jan 2010 isn't quite adding up (or did the facelifted Laura come with this engine at the start)?

Was the car manufactured in early 2009 and registered in Jan 2010?

cya
R

PS - Your posts need to be manually approved by a moderator before they show up. This will stop once you reach 25 posts.

Faraz, 7000kms used Skoda should be as good as new. Skoda resale value would not be very good. Being C+ segment car it will take a depreciation hit in its initial years. 2010 Laura 1.9TDI Ambiente AT for 13 Lakhs is expensive. I do not know about the market for Skoda cars in your place, but 10-11L seems to a more realistic price for the said vehicle. One of my friends sold his 2009 last Laura L&K 1.9TDI Manual for 11.5 L a few months back.

I used to have a Skoda Octavia and now the Laura 1.9TDI L&K. Skoda maintenance is expensive. Did not have major problems with my Octavia, but the Laura I have has already been to the service center for AC problem and multiple Turbo related problems. If the car is within the warranty period you should be fine, but otherwise it is a big headache. To be fair, my Laura has done over 90,000kms and all the trouble started after 60-70k kms.

Try and see if you can bring the price down. Do some research in the local market to find out the current market prices. Do also consider the Cruze or the Laura 2.0 CRDI AT.

Thanks

For a price of 13 lakhs you can possibly get new Chevy Cruze LT. Shall be much more peace of mind and better performance. I have always maintained a thumb rule while maintaining a skoda or some other complicated car. Always make sure that you have an alternative car in your garage because there will be days when the car will be lying ideal because of some issues or faults or unavailability of certain parts. Never have this as your sole car.

That being said also make sure that you are comfortable with its maintenance costs.

So this is face lifted Laura but with the Pump Deuss engine, IIRC (they facelifted the exterior in 2009 but upgraded from PD to CRDi in March 2010, I think).

Why buy a PD now?
If at all, go for a CRDi one.

It is "Pumpe Duse" actually.

But yes. The new TDi CR engines are more advanced than PD technology.
Though PD ten years ago when Skoda turned up here, was the best thing to hit the market. Fine, powerful and creamy engines and excellent fuel efficiency as well!
No harm in going for a well maintained PD actually.

After the facelift in '09 Laura came with PD engines for some time. Ambiente and Elegance had the 105 hp, 250nm version, while the L&K variant had the 140hp 320nm PD version shared with Passat and Superb.

Sometime in early 2010 the engines were changed to Common Rail, all the Manual versions got the 110hp 250nm CR engine and DSG variants got 140hp 320nm CR version of the same engine.

@faraz: My advise is to look for a CR engined 2010 Laura, it will be available for similar price. The CRDI engine is much more quieter, has no turbo lag and has better FE. Your chances of finding a car with Skoda Shield will also be higher.