USED Skoda Octavia Estate (04 - 13)

My car

Excellent value for money, quality and performance. Why pay more to buy a Golf?

My car

This car is conservately styled but well equipped, well built (almost the equal of a relative's A4 Avant), well priced and economical to run.

It drives and rides well (although it's hardly sporting) and the refinement is good considering the age of the engine.

The DSG gearbox is sublime and rarely caught out in normal driving, although occasionally hunts between gears when trying to maintain a steady speed uphill.

The interior plastics are of a good quality and the fit and finish is also good. The space front and rear is excellent, particularly in the rear, and bootspace is also good if slightly narrow.

One minor complaint is that the boot floor is stepped and, once a mat is in place, the stowage under the false floor (in the Elegance version) is not readily usable.

Overall four stars - it takes some beating for the price.

My car

The vehicle was fine for the first five days of owning it, but that is where it went wrong. From that point it sat on my driveway waiting for it to be towed to a local dealer. Finally five days later it was picked up and taken to a local dealer, still no courtesy car, and discovering that customer service is a foreign principle to Skoda head office. It took a further two days of urging the "Senior" customer service advisor and a threat of writing to the director of Skoda Auto UK to receive a car, whilst mine is fixed. So in conclusion the car was very nice to drive while it worked, but I would strongly advise anyone to avoid purchasing one like the plague, as if there are any problems with the car you will no doubt have the same horrid and stressful experience of having to try and educate their staff to the meaning of customer service. I am yet to see if the car will fixed to a satisfactory standard. Considering this is a company car, one would think that it might be in Skoda's interest to at least seem interested, seeing how they have now lost alot of potential customers.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Morton

My car

I am replacing my Audi A4 saloon company and need an estate. With my allowance I can afford the A4 Avant but more later.

I had a 2.0 TDI for a 24-hour test drive and covered 200 miles. First impressions lived up to expectation with build quality inside and out outstanding, and I am comparing this with an Audi I have had for three years.

Using cruise control, a 100-mile motorway run was effortless and the 20-mile cross country dash through narrow lanes showed the car to be very stable.

Only two things I thought could be improved and these are very minor 1) The door mirrors could be bigger 2) The interior door lock and cigarette lighter are by the handbrake. They don’t fit in with the rest of the quality cabin.

So I added it all up (standard and extra equipment) A4 Avant versus Skoda Octavia estate and my Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI L&K arrives in July, saving me £8,500 I would have to pay on a P11D value.