Should I bargain harder on a Skoda Octavia?

Hi guys - I'm thinking of putting in an offer on a 2010 Skoda Octavia Elegance (1.6 TDI), which has been imported from the North. The dealer will allow me about €2k (although in reality I suspect a lot less) on my own 02 Octavia.

Should I seek some reduction in the quoted price on the basis that a) the car has a speedometer in mph and it would cost me to change this and b) it's currently in use by one of the sales people with all the evidence of normal family use over several months and c) it's beyond it's due service. I don't know how much below the initial asking price I should start my offer. Thanks.

Elaine Edwards (Navan)

Jun 2011 Filed under: choosing used car

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Expert answer

Hi Elaine,

Well first things first, the speedometer issue really isn't their problem - there are lot of imports coming in and not all have their speedos changed. Is this garage a Skoda dealer or an independent? If it is a Skoda main dealer then perhaps I would ask them to change it over as part of the deal.

Secondly, sales staff always use the cars on the forecourt. This has been going on for decades. In larger dealerships the staff will usually have their own company cars so this won't happen. I would be a little concerned that the service intervals haven't been adhered to and under no circumstance should you purchase the car until they service it for you.

The advice we would always give is that if you already have some niggling doubts, which you appear to have, then don't buy this car. In terms of the value of your car, take if that if you are getting €2,000 then you are really getting about €1,200, as, if you were a cash buyer (with no trade-in) then you would be expecting to get up to €1,000 off the price of the car anyway.

Come back to us if you need anything else.

Complete Car Adviser