[harditthind]

I have been looking for a replacement for my VW Vento Highline 2011 for a while, because she has started to look and feel her age now and has covered over 140k kms.

Plus I have never liked the idea of taking the massive hit in depreciation that a new car comes with. This ideology (for lack of a better word) has been reinforced by this forum. For the right price I always though the rewards should outweigh the risks.

Few days ago, going through the local ads I happen came across a used Skoda Superb L&T 2.0 TDi AT, 2016, Diesel for sale. I like it enough that I went ahead and took a test ride.

Things that I like about the car.
1. Single owner. (though its registered to a firm. more about that latter.)

2. Complete service record available. The car has always been serviced at the Skoda's dealership.). Though I haven't verified the records at the dealership yet

I actually have never done that before, and I am not sure what the correct way is. Should I just show up at the dealership? Though the original owner has not issued with me going through the records.

3. Still under extended warranty. The standard warranty expires this month, however the owner did purchase Skoda's extended warranty (150k km/6yrs) at the time of purchase.

4. Open and upfront owner. He has shared a lot of details about the cars history itself, including details of a minor accident repair done to the front left bumper which includes the replacement of front left headlamp.

5. Major service hurdles including change of timing belt has been crossed.

6. Body is largely scratch free and without dents (Par one see pics below).



7. All original fitments and accessories are with the car. Spare tyre shows no/minimal use.


Things I don't like or have concerns about.

1. High ODO. As it stands today after my test ride, it read 104k odd kms. Those are a lot of kms, for a 4 year old car. Having said that, my test ride was for a good 30 mins with a mix of city and highway driving. I don't feel any vibrations on the steering column, break/acc paddle or the gear column. I am really not sure how to 'read' the ODO reading. The car was reluctant to down shift between 3/4 at 40km/hr when one transitions between city to highway traffic. Other then that it responded well to accelerator inputs.

2. The left hand side steering wheel control is loose with a visible crack on the toggle wheel. (I dint notice this. The owner pointed it out to me mid way through the ride) Estimated repair bill 20k. Sorry about the pic quality.



3. Future cost of ownership. The car is intended for long distance/highway driving and will not see a lot of city use. And I intend to keep for 10 years if I can. Maybe a longterm Skoda owner can weigh in here on the costs involved. I would appreciate that.

4. RC in a firms name. This is not really a concern but more of a lack of knowledge/information. I am not sure about the paperwork involved with the change of owner in this particular case. Local RTO registered so that part is straight fwd.

5. Price? How do I arrive on a sensible residual value of this asset. I really am out of depth here.

So there it is. My first serious dive into the world of second hand cars. Though my heart says yes my head is not so sure. What do you think? Is this worth the trouble or should I keep looking?
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Researcher]

Originally Posted by harditthind

4. RC in a firms name. This is not really a concern but more of a lack of knowledge/information. I am not sure about the paperwork involved with the change of owner in this particular case. Local RTO registered so that part is straight fwd.

I can only share my experience for this specific point. I recently purchased such a car and my other car also was a similar company-registered one. Both were in different RTOs so I think the process I am about to say is going to be close.

Some one authorised from the company, with a proper delegation of authority (DOA), letter of sale from the Board of Directors (more than half of the board should have signed the letter), company PAN, stamp among a few other documents, has to sign the RTO forms. In that case, you will directly be the second owner after the company. Any agent can ideally get this done if you want to avoid the legwork or want to minimise exposure in these times, but you will probably have to visit the RTO at least once to sign the documents in front of the officer.

Though my heart says yes my head is not so sure. What do you think? Is this worth the trouble or should I keep looking?
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

Regarding this, I will suggest to keep looking unless you have time or money to spend on this car in case the worst happens. Although the car has high mileage for its age, one can assume that it must be mostly highways so the wear and tear till now must have been less compared to say a 50k run city runabout car. But, you intend to keep the car for 10 years. So if I were you, I would stick to Japanese ones.

[vishy76]

It all depends on your risk appetite and the sort of time and money you are willing to put in. 104K km for the 2.0 TDI isn't all that much, but I would be more worried about the electricals which are aplenty on these MQB platform cars and the general wear and tear such as the suspension and timing kit which can set you back good money. I will list down the points of failure on these cars:

- Water Pump is something which can give up on these TDIs. Though the failure rate on the EA288 series engines is a lot less than the EA189s, it still isn't bulletproof in terms of reliability

- If the suspension hasn't been touched, the control arm bushes, struts, link rods and subframe bushes might need looking into

- Another known issue on the Superbs and Octavias is the DRLs conking off. They eventually fade to a yellowish shade and then go bad completely. Check if this car has that issue. The entire headlamp needs replacing for this and it's around 1L+ for the pair.

- The odd niggles such as broken steering mounted controls (like you mentioned in this car), a bad start/stop button, broken ac vents are common. Keep an eye out for these on every example you see.

- You are also looking at a DSG fluid change around the 120K km mark. That will be around 8-10K

All in all, I would suggest you find an FNG if you are looking at lowering ownership costs. Dealerships are royal ripoffs for these cars post 80-90K km when it comes to servicing. Also, call the nearest dealer up and ask them to do a thorough once over on the car. They will charge you a fee of 2.5-3K but do a very good job of telling you what needs changing on this and what doesn't.

And coming to my personal opinion, try and find a car with a lower ODO. Maybe around the 60-70K km mark. That would be the max I would be comfortable with.

Cheers

[07CR]

Originally Posted by harditthind

Things I don't like or have concerns about.

1. High ODO. As it stands today after my test ride, it read 104k odd kms.

Attachment 2147885

3. Future cost of ownership. I intend to keep for 10 years if I can.

5. Price? How do I arrive on a sensible residual value of this asset. I really am out of depth here.

What do you think? Is this worth the trouble or should I keep looking?
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

It's a Skoda. It has a transmission which isn't synonymous with reputation. It's already done 1 Lakh+ Km. Finally you wish to maintain it for 10 years!

This looks like a bad decision whichever way you look at it. This is all considering you don't want stupendously high maintenance costs, and are prepared for any major/minor niggle once a year. I would suggested to go for it, if it was a Camry/Civic.

About the price. I would think you should look to close the deal at around 14-15L.

[vishy76]

Originally Posted by 07CR

It's a Skoda. It has a transmission which isn't synonymous with reputation. It's already done 1 Lakh+ Km. Finally you wish to maintain it for 10 years!

This looks like a bad decision whichever way you look at it. This is all considering you don't want stupendously high maintenance costs, and are prepared for any major/minor niggle once a year. I would suggested to go for it, if it was a Camry/Civic.

About the price. I would think you should look to close the deal at around 14-15L.

The transmission in the 2.0 TDI is the DQ250 wet clutch Gearbox. The worst that can happen if you adhere to fluid changes and don't abuse it is a flywheel failure. Otherwise, I know Jettas and Passats done 2L+ km on this gearbox on stock clutch plates and mechatronics units. Not a huge worry or deal breaker in my opinion.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by harditthind

What do you think? Is this worth the trouble or should I keep looking?

The only car that I would ever buy with more than a lakh km on odo would be a Toyota. With any other manufacturer, it’s a big gamble. And when the manufacturer is Skoda, you are practically playing Russian roulette.

My suggestion is - go for this car only if you really love it and are able to purchase it for 25-30% price of a new car. Otherwise keep looking.

[harditthind]

Originally Posted by vishy76

It all depends on your risk appetite and the sort of time and money you are willing to put in. 104K km for the 2.0 TDI isn't all that much, but I would be more worried about the electricals which are aplenty on these MQB platform cars and the general wear and tear such as the suspension and timing kit which can set you back good money. I will list down the points of failure on these cars:

Thank you very much. This all very useful information. I will check for all the above when I go through the service history. Suspension and its various parts was already on my radar given my (long) history with my Vento

Originally Posted by 07CR

About the price. I would think you should look to close the deal at around 14-15L.

Thank you for the input. It gives me a base line of sort.

Originally Posted by vishy76

The transmission in the 2.0 TDI is the DQ250 wet clutch Gearbox. The worst that can happen if you adhere to fluid changes and don't abuse it is a flywheel failure. Otherwise, I know Jettas and Passats done 2L+ km on this gearbox on stock clutch plates and mechatronics units. Not a huge worry or deal breaker in my opinion.

I tend to agree with you. DQ250 has done well in my humble opinion. Exactly the reason why I have stayed away from older VAG auto cars.

Originally Posted by warrioraks

My suggestion is - go for this car only if you really love it and are able to purchase it for 25-30% price of a new car. Otherwise keep looking.

Thank you. This is useful. Most cars (sedans) of this age are advertised at 40-60% of their original price. But I think because of a depressed sedan market there is enough room for negotiation.

MOD NOTE - Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

Thanks!

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by harditthind

Thank you. This is useful. Most cars (sedans) of this age are advetised at 40-60% of their original price. But I think because of a depressed sedan market there is enough room for negotiation.

Just last year, I bought a third gen Honda City - 8 years old, run 45 km in a good condition at 40% of the purchase price of the first owner. I did not negotiate hard since I and wife were pretty sure we wanted that car. So definitely there is room for negotiation.
You can also use multiple apps to get a fair value of the car you are looking at and then start negotiating from there.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by harditthind

3. Future cost of ownership. The car is intended for long distance/highway driving and will not see a lot of city use. And I intend to keep for 10 years if I can. Maybe a longterm Skoda owner can weigh in here on the costs involved. I would appreciate that.
.

10 years usage on someone else's 100,000 kms run Skoda , hmm. Are you sure?

You also need to think through if you really need a diesel as well in first place. Please do take some time and read through the Laura threads in the meantime.

[lamborghini]

Vishy76 has covered a lot of points that could go wrong.
Do check the service history in detail as this is a 2016 (first year of launch) and could have a few added points go wrong.
Look out for AC & Electronic failures along with the other points mentioned. If the car has been fairly reliable and has only needed routine maintenance items, I would expect it to stay that way - barring wear and tear items as the car ages.
Check battery details as well.

The process for checking service history is to approach the dealer : If you know someone / friend or family member know someone at any Skoda dealer, it would be easier; otherwise the owner would have to get involved.
In addition, do take the car there for a pre-purchase inspection concerning all your points.

While the car & owner sound great, the odo is a little bit concerning.
Generally engine shouldn't give much issues but the other parts could start giving issues over time due to wear and tear - rubber components are half way through their life, suspension, etc.
Some items : you can find some better looking options / better priced options online and a good garage can help you install them for a fraction of the labour cost - steering wheel for instance can be upgraded entirely for a little more rather than spending Rs. 20K for just the buttons, brake & discs, battery, etc.

Depending on your budget, I'd also advise waiting a few months and looking at a newer model lower run Octavia (used car prices should crash once new model is launched), Hyundai Elantra, etc.

[torquecurve]

This comes from a Superb TDi Owner - of course, an older generation.

The engine is reliable - will give you enough notice before something fails. Change the fluids regularly and follow the service schedule.
The Gearbox is not a 'dry' DSG and is pretty reliable. Oil change has to be done at the ASC and will cost 12-14K (taxes and stuff).
You will have to replace the suspension - check if it has been replaced before. The suspension starts giving way around 80K kms, OEM parts will set you back by about 1 Lakh.
Check all rubber parts (if they are covered by warranty great)
Check for the battery connection.
For this car, the best offer I would give is 12+ 1 (+1 is the negotiation).

[akshay4587]

What's your budget?
104K kms may not sound a lot, but for a 4 year old European in India, it sure is. People in Punjab drive their cars a fair bit.
Unless, you are sold on this particular car, I would request you to share your budget, then we can share other options for you too

[DeKay]

I own a Vento currently and a Superb is going to be at the top of my list when the time comes to replace it, so I get the allure.
That said, I'd skip this particular example - 1L+ km for a Superb especially if you want to keep it for 10 years is a lot, but that's me.

If I were you, I'd keep looking for Superbs that have done <50,000km, even if I had to pay more for them and seal the deal at a price both, the seller and I are unhappy with. I wouldn't look at Toyotas or any other Japanese cars for that matter; Once you go German you can never go back.

[JoshMachine]

104k in 4 years is bit on the higher side anyway. This translates to about 50-60% (maybe more) life consumption already.

As others have said, if you are planning to keep the car for another 10 years (additional 100k km?) you will need peace of mind not only in terms of the future maintenance costs but the car in general.
If not done already, please get the car evaluated from a Skoda service centre if possible, to get a more formal opinion.

If all’s done and you still want to go ahead, then a good starting price could be 35-40% of the original car price.

[GTO]

NEVER! As I have often said on the forum, I don't mind owning my own car past 200,000 km, but I would never buy someone else's 1-lakh km car. I simply don't know how its been driven or maintained, and 100,000 km is a lot of running for Indian roads. Merely 10% of BHPians would buy a used car with 1 lakh km - related poll (Used Cars: Your upper limit for the km / odometer reading).

Do understand that the Superb is a highly complex car, its parts are very expensive, Skoda's after-sales is shoddy and the cars reliability is average at best. It's a recipe for disaster.

Please avoid and look for other Superbs with lower running. Also include the VW Passat in your search which suffers from massive depreciation in the used market and is quite a buy!