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I am thinking of buying a 2006 Skoda Octavia with a diesel engine and have two questions;

1. I understand that Skoda's have a good reputation for being reliable - how expensive are they to service in NZ?

2. The car I am thinking of buying has around 120-130km's on the clock. I understand it has been used mostly on open road by a business traveller. Should I be concerned about the high kms? Do diesels have a better life in terms of km's than petrol?

Mike

From the "Ask Jack" archives - 6 November 2009

Unfortunately the Skoda brand in general still carries some baggage in NZ from years gone by.

This can have an effect on resale values but as time moves on that reputation is starting to fade.

The reality is the product is very good reliability wise and provided it has a good past service history the Octavia is as good as any other diesel of a similar age and mileage.

A large amount of depreciation would already have been suffered on this vehicle also so the price should be very attractive.

The only thing that would worry me is the high mileage the car has travelled in such a short time. Not for any reliability issues, more the resale value the car may have if you decide to move it on within a year or so.

Remember with diesels you pay Road User Charges (approx $36 per 1,000kms and an approx admin charge of $10.00 per transaction). Add to that $100 more registration costs and you have to be travelling reasonable distances per year to gain an advantage over a comparable petrol vehicle.

Service costs may be more at times than a petrol but no more than another comparable diesel vehicle travelled a similar distance.

The distance travelled is not a problem for a diesel provided the car has had regular past servicing.

The life span of a diesel in comparison to a diesel once again comes down to servicing. The one big difference however is if the engine was to require a major repair. In this case the diesel is likely to be a lot more expensive to repair than the petrol.