Bye bye G T I...

[Arnold_Lane]

They had a used fully loaded L&K estate at Pulman Skoda not that long back. Looked like someone had ticked every box they could 

I had nowt against the Skoda except the depreciation cost being marginally higher and the A4's interior is a big step up. Considered the Kodiaq too. Bottom spec Skoda vs bottom spec VW/Audi gap is significant, but once you go up the trim levels and the more expensive engines, adding Skoda's Quattro equivalent, there's about 10% in it which is eaten up by higher depreciation.

Higher depreciation on Skodas has always negated RRP savings vs VW/Audi for most models.

That fully loaded Skoda estate will lose someone a fortune if it's not a demo.

Who buys at RRP prices these days? Most Audi's, VW's & Skoda's, etc, have anywhere between 10 and 20% discounts new. As do most other manufacturers.

Relating depreciation to RRP is a pointless exercise and it almost never matches reality.

As for Skoda's, we've always done really well at resale time. In the case of a Yeti, it actually only depreciated 28% from what we paid new over three years and 36K miles. Another vRS Octivia estate lost 51% of its new cost after nearly 4½ years & 48K miles. I'd be surprised if many Audi's and BMW's, etc. would have done any better.

[jaceyboy]

Jaceboy - it's got a great driving position, you sit quite low but it feels nice and the seats are good. Not been any distance yet so not sure how that will be but lots of my driving is short trips etc and this is where the 330e makes a lot of sense.

Take some time to get used to it, when I used to jump from my 3 series to my wife's GTI it felt such a high position, and I didnt feel sat 'in' the car, more like on top

[Guzzle]

With a Skoda vs Audi or VW, you do get a bigger car though in most cases.

A Superb estate has a bigger boot than an A6 Avant. A Kodiaq is bigger than a Tiguan and my Octavia had loads more room in the back and in the boot than my GTD does. I get that the modern day Skoda' s aren't as much of a bargain as they used to be, but it's a bit unfair to boil it down just to numbers and posh plastics. If practicality is top priority the Skoda range is pretty hard to beat on a £ per dm3 basis.

How does the depreciation of the Superb estate compare to the depreciation of an A6 Avant?

[monkeyhanger]

They had a used fully loaded L&K estate at Pulman Skoda not that long back. Looked like someone had ticked every box they could 

I had nowt against the Skoda except the depreciation cost being marginally higher and the A4's interior is a big step up. Considered the Kodiaq too. Bottom spec Skoda vs bottom spec VW/Audi gap is significant, but once you go up the trim levels and the more expensive engines, adding Skoda's Quattro equivalent, there's about 10% in it which is eaten up by higher depreciation.

Higher depreciation on Skodas has always negated RRP savings vs VW/Audi for most models.

That fully loaded Skoda estate will lose someone a fortune if it's not a demo.

Who buys at RRP prices these days? Most Audi's, VW's & Skoda's, etc, have anywhere between 10 and 20% discounts new. As do most other manufacturers.

Relating depreciation to RRP is a pointless exercise and it almost never matches reality.

As for Skoda's, we've always done really well at resale time. In the case of a Yeti, it actually only depreciated 28% from what we paid new over three years and 36K miles. Another vRS Octivia estate lost 51% of its new cost after nearly 4½ years & 48K miles. I'd be surprised if many Audi's and BMW's, etc. would have done any better.

Relating depreciation to RRP isn't pointless - it adds context to the reason to buy new or not buy new. Buying a £40k RRP car new that'll be worth 60% of RRP after less than a year is nuts, unless you're getting a 30+% discount.

My last 11 cars have been bought brand new because they've been slow and steady depreciators, bought with 12-16% discount  and still worth more than half RRP at 3 years old.

Almost all big cars (including the Skoda Superb ad Audi A4) are bought new by fleet at big discounts, rather than with private money, and plummet in value initially.

My experience when viewing the alternatives to Golf GTD/GTI/R etc within the VAG umbrella has been that it's just not worth buying a new Skoda or Seat over the VW or Audi equivalent because the lower RRP has been countered with lower levels of discount and higher levels of expected depreciation.

If an Octavia VRS is similarly equipped to a Golf GTI, but RRP (or for used, current selling price at the same age) is £5k less, is it a cheaper car? Yes and no. If you can get £1k bigger discount on the Golf and it's worth £5k more 3 years down the line, you're better off with the Golf.

Same principle applies to the Superb vs the A4 when I was doing my research about what big cars to consider.

Right now, if I were to buy either car, we're pitching an A4 Avant 190TDI Quattro S-line S-Tronic against a Skoda Superb Estate Sportline Plus 190TDI 4x4 DSG.

The Skoda has an RRP of £40740, has a 4 year GFV of £11394, and if you shop around, you can get about £8k off a brand new one, or £10k off a pre-registered one with a few hundred miles. A 9-12 month old one is £24k.

The Audi has an RRP of £41300, has a 4 year GFV of £15780, and if you shop around, you can get about £8k off a brand new one, or £10k off a pre-registered one with a few hundred miles. A 9-12 month old one is £25.5k.

They have similar levels of tech/spec.

So you can see above, if you buy new or pre-reg, the initial hit is about the same for both cars. Buying a year old and keeping for 3 years, you're going to be a grand a year better off with the slightly dearer A4. The interior (not just talking about door card plastics here, but seats, dash etc.) is far nicer on the A4, but mechanically they're the same.

Unless you massively prefer the exterior looks of the Superb over the A4 (I think they both look ok,- hard to get excited about a barge of a car like these are - not a fan of the Skoda front grille shape), why would you buy the Superb in preference?

Cheapest car isn't necessarily the cheapest car if you think about what it costs you over the time you have it. I picked that A4 over the competition because it'll lose me £3k a year in depreciation and I liked it more than anything else in the same segment at price point. The Skoda would cost me more than that.

The Yeti does hold its value well - it's a niche car that's far more popular on the used market than the rest of the range. Most marques have a car that bucks the depreciation trend - for Ford it used to be the Puma, Fiat has the 500, I did very well out of my Sciroccos vs what the MK6 Golf was fetching.

If I could get the Skoda for a grand a year less depreciation than the A4, I might've picked the Skoda, but that's not the case.

[monkeyhanger]

With a Skoda vs Audi or VW, you do get a bigger car though in most cases.

A Superb estate has a bigger boot than an A6 Avant. A Kodiaq is bigger than a Tiguan and my Octavia had loads more room in the back and in the boot than my GTD does. I get that the modern day Skoda' s aren't as much of a bargain as they used to be, but it's a bit unfair to boil it down just to numbers and posh plastics. If practicality is top priority the Skoda range is pretty hard to beat on a £ per dm3 basis.

How does the depreciation of the Superb estate compare to the depreciation of an A6 Avant?

When you don't have a super strong preference for either car, and they're basically the same under the skin, you do play the numbers game. Putting the 2 next to each other at even the same cost to own, i'd pick the A4 because the seats and dash look miles better on the A4.

Skoda can play the "you're getting a bargain" card at the lower end of their car ranges, but when the Skoda is pennies cheaper to buy to start with (as is the case with Superb vs A4 on a like-for-like engine/trim) and loses more money, you've got to really want the Skoda to end up paying more for it overall. The superb has a bigger boot (I had a saloon one as a hire car once and I could've almost laid out in the back of the boot), but the A4's boot is big enough for my needs.

I did consider the Kodiaq and Tiguan, but wasn't really keen going down the SUV route.

[Guzzle]

With a Skoda vs Audi or VW, you do get a bigger car though in most cases.

A Superb estate has a bigger boot than an A6 Avant. A Kodiaq is bigger than a Tiguan and my Octavia had loads more room in the back and in the boot than my GTD does. I get that the modern day Skoda' s aren't as much of a bargain as they used to be, but it's a bit unfair to boil it down just to numbers and posh plastics. If practicality is top priority the Skoda range is pretty hard to beat on a £ per dm3 basis.

How does the depreciation of the Superb estate compare to the depreciation of an A6 Avant?

When you don't have a super strong preference for either car, and they're basically the same under the skin, you do play the numbers game. Putting the 2 next to each other at even the same cost to own, i'd pick the A4 because the seats and dash look miles better on the A4.

Skoda can play the "you're getting a bargain" card at the lower end of their car ranges, but when the Skoda is pennies cheaper to buy to start with (as is the case with Superb vs A4 on a like-for-like engine/trim) and loses more money, you've got to really want the Skoda to end up paying more for it overall. The superb has a bigger boot (I had a saloon one as a hire car once and I could've almost laid out in the back of the boot), but the A4's boot is big enough for my needs.

I did consider the Kodiaq and Tiguan, but wasn't really keen going down the SUV route.

I see what you're saying. My point though was that even though they may be based on the same chassis, the Skoda's are always half a size up from VW or Audi. So if you really needed the boot space of a Superb but wanted 4 rings on the bonnet, then an A4 isn't going to cut it. But if the space isn't so important, then why not at least consider an Octavia estate. Not much smaller than an A4 (the boot is actually bigger), but ££££ cheaper.

Then there are other factors too; the cost of options, the cost of servicing. Both more expensive with Audi.

[ar899]

No harm to Skoda, but I don't think I'd go into that much detail to justify choosing an A4 over a Superb (as good as it is).

[barrym381]

No harm to Skoda, but I don't think I'd go into that much detail to justify choosing an A4 over a Superb (as good as it is).

If you have teenage kids or a big dog the superb is what you need we have an A4 avant and it’s tiny compared to a mates superb that was only car suited for him as his kids are really tall

[ar899]

Yeah, I can see if you need the extra space that Superb might do the trick.

[monkeyhanger]

I see what you're saying. My point though was that even though they may be based on the same chassis, the Skoda's are always half a size up from VW or Audi. So if you really needed the boot space of a Superb but wanted 4 rings on the bonnet, then an A4 isn't going to cut it. But if the space isn't so important, then why not at least consider an Octavia estate. Not much smaller than an A4 (the boot is actually bigger), but ££££ cheaper.

Then there are other factors too; the cost of options, the cost of servicing. Both more expensive with Audi.

I'd considered size, the A4 is big enough for us, an extra 4 or 6" length on the boot won't matter to me. The wife probably won't touch it as it is (it was hard enough to get her to drive the Golf R, when she had her A1) because it's too big for her, a Superb wouldn't help that issue.

If i'd wanted bigger again, it could've been a toss up between the Superb and an A6, as the price difference between a nearly new A4 and A6 at same engine/trim level is tiny - the A6 has an even heavier initial depreciation, but they're a lot rarer on the used forecourt.

Buying nearly new (first time in a very long time), options aren't a consideration unless I wanted to retro-fit. I'm buying outright. I own the Polo outright and I've just about scraped together the other £10200 needed for the cost to change. However, the current Audi solutions used deal is that you get 2 free services, so I've gone for the finance and will withdraw for the finance deal next week and retain the free services. Out of warranty, there is a good VAG Indy nearby who i'd use for servicing.

The kids are 5 and 7, so they're not hugely tall, there's loads of rear legroom and headroom for them.

Just got reamed for insurance though. On the comparison websites, my current insurer "quotemehappy" comes in at around £440 vs £280 paid for the Polo to November. With that in mind, was thinking that i'd have to put in about £50. They have decided that annual policy would be £632, so they want £129 off me to Nov. No reason for the huge disparity and other insurers coming in at about £380 so i'll kick quotemehappy into touch at renewal time.