SKODA OCTAVIA HATCHBACK REVIEW

My car

I have just purchased my fourth Skoda since 2003. Two Fabias and two Octavias. The latest being a 1.9 Elegence on a 59 plate with 17K on the clock. brilliant Car, however a couple of minor moans.. They have got rid of the electrically lockable fuel cap, they have changed the way that the heated wing mirrors work, they have over complicated the heating and ventilation system with a digitally controlled system, where the previous version on the silver line was perfect. also the the key is now a big chunky thing that has several locking routines...Too complicated Mr Skoda. besides that the car is Ace. The car returned nearly 60 mpg on a 300 mile run...Confirmed by measuring fuel and dividing miles on top up.

My car

This is the third Skoda I've now owned. Previously, I've had an Octavia Elegance, a Fabia Elegance, and now an Octavia VRS. I purchased the Octavia VRS as a replacement for my superb Fabia. The VRS fulfills all my requirements: -Great road handling -Excellent acceleration -Economy -Relatively low running costs

I purchased the VRS with dark grey metallic paint, full leather interior, IPOD integration, wiper, light and reverse sensors.

After having the car for 8 months and completing 16000 miles I am really pleased with the purchase. I am avg 53mpg and find as a general rule that if I drive like a normal person I am getting around 450 miles to a tank (This is without the fuel light coming on). I do a lot of motorway driving so find the car brilliant on long journeys. I have only occasionally taken the car onto country roads, where the handling comes alive.

When purchasing the car I looked at the BMW 320D and the Insignia. I concluded that the BMW was going to be very costly and would not come with the same kit level without spending 8k more than the Octavia. The Insignia looked good, but the Engine was lacking the grunt and the economy was poor.

Would highly recommend

My car

The 2nd Octavia I've had this being the latest generation version. Good stuff - equipment, build quality, drive, DSG gearbox. Can't really fault anything in the way the car's been put together - especially after my last car (Mazda 6), which it beats in all departments. Stereo (Columbus) is excellent and the SatNav bit of it works really well too. Climate control is fast, though a bit noisy initially. Useful stuff like shopping hooks in the boot remain too.

The only thing I've yet to get to grips with is the seating position - although there are lots of adjustments, I just can't find the sweet spot yet. I had no problems with the older (2005) version I had, so I guess I'll get there in the end.

My car

Had my race blue DSG petrol VRS for just over 1 year now. Previously had a new Audi A6 and prior to that a Jaguar. I had a nasty accident and as a result can't work any more and need an automatic car. I couldn't afford/ foil paying fancy prices anymore so did an unbelieable number of hours of research on what to buy next. I finally went for a test drive in an Octavia and can't tell you how much I loved it and had to have one. The car is equally as good as my previous cars, it is comfortable extremly smooth, the engine and gearbox are absolutely out of this world. the car is spacious, practical and soooo fast. I've never had a minutes trouble with it and just paid upfront £299 to cover two years servicing, my previous cars cost more than that for one year. YES I love this car. Only slight downside is 29 mpg around town but can get 44mpg on a run, but I knew that when I bought it, I only now do around 5000 miles per year so it doesn't matter that much. £265 fully comp. insurance.