Our cars: Skoda Octavia, Renault Captur and Hyundai Santa Fe

* Octavia makes motorway miles melt away * We discover the mute function in the Captur * Santa Fe’s windscreen finally gets replaced...

Our cars: Skoda Octavia, Renault Captur and Hyundai Santa Fe

Every day, we take a look at a few of the cars that we are living with. Today, it's the turn of the Skoda Octavia, Renault Captur and Hyundai Santa Fe.

Skoda Octavia

Talk about a full-on day. Last Friday, the Octavia was tasked with taking my mum, my sister and I from Surrey to a funeral on the south coast and back, which it did suitably smoothly, quietly and discreetly.

Once we’d got back at about 7pm, I then dashed across south London to my flat to pick up my girlfriend, load the boot with a weekend’s luggage and drive to her parents’ house in Devon.

I expected the journey southwest to feel like an arduous one, but the Octavia is great at covering long distances, so I hardly noticed the miles slipping away. This also meant I didn’t feel too tired – and therefore grumpy – on the way, much to my girlfriend’s relief!

We got to Devon after midnight, and having driven 300 miles in a day, I got out of the Octavia thankful for its ability to make long journeys feel like much shorter ones.

When you’ve got a lot to do in a day, a 2.0-litre diesel Octavia is right up there with the best £20k cars for the job.

By Barnaby Jones
Barnaby.Jones@whatcar.com

Read all of our updates on life with our Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI.

In the car park

Deputy content editor Ed Callow discovers the Renault Captur’s audio mute function - by accident.

The Hyundai Santa Fe’s cracked windscreen finally gets replaced, and photographer Will Williams is mighty glad that he didn’t have to pay for it.

Read more about our long-term fleet.