Having failed to find time to do a 10,000-mile running report, here we are at 15,000 miles in 16 months. Not much to report, which is of course good news.
Reason for buying: my first Octavia vRS (a diesel manual) was the result of realising that this was £7,000 cheaper than an A4 Avant with the same engine, with negligible loss of build quality. I was intending to keep it for the full 3 years of the PCP, but after 2 years the excellent Jewsons of Oxford offered a deal on a new one for £80 a month less than I was paying. No-brainer - I changed to a petrol with DSG as my annual mileage at 12,000 is a bit less than before.
As with the first Octavia, nothing has (touch wood) gone wrong or fallen off, and I have (at the risk of someone calling me self-congratulatory) just what I wanted - a Golf GTI with an estate body for less money and a lower insurance premium, which is almost as good to drive as the GTi itself.
The 6-speed DSG is smooth and problem-free so far, and the ride / handling compromise is pretty good, perhaps slightly on the firm side. The seats, special to the vRS, are very supportive.
The only real downside is the fitting of 18" wheels with 225/40 tyres - unnecessarily sporty for this type of car and unlike any previous FWD car I've had, useless in snow, necessitating winter tyres (205/55/16) which make very little difference to the handling with a slightly better ride. If Skoda offered this engine with Elegance trim and 17" wheels, I'd prefer it.
After three years of this one, I should be retired: we'll have to see what the budget is, but anotrher Skoda of some sort will be on the short-list.
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"but anotrher Skoda of some sort will be on the short-list."
I think a new larger Octavia is out next year. The Rapid is available later this year and is more or less the same size as the current Octavia but seems a return to a more basic vehicle rather on the lines of the Mk I Octavia
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A neighbour of mine, German fella, is one of the senior test and development engineers at Bentley. As a company car he can have more or less anything from the VAG group. Not sure how the deal works but I imagine they can top up or trade down from a set point so to speak.
Anyway, he always has some kind of Skoda. Says there's sort of no point in doing otherwise. Everything else is just paying for a badge he reckons. He should know I suppose. I've no reason to doubt him. Mind you, I suppose if you spend all day driving new Bentleys it would take quite a special "normal" car to set the juices flowing on the way home.
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The Rapide is based on a lengthened Polo platform so the next Octavia will be based on the new MQB platform and likely to be bigger.
I seriously considered Skodas for my new car a year ago but due to higher emissions on the models looked at they cost more than the VWs I was looking at with Bluemotion.
Two years before I get my next new car if I stay working where I am. This October I'll have done less than 10000 miles when the car is a year old. That's petrol engine consideration normally but the 2.0T petrol cost significantly more both for lease costs and BIK.
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Rob, that's a good point for people considering diesel v petrol to consider: when this gets debated here and on HJ most assumptions are that diesels are more expensive to buy than the corresponding petrol.
Clearly the issues can be different with leasing and for those with company cars and BIK: also I think list prices no longer always follow the same pattern. It depends what you call a 'corresponding petrol' but for example, as far as I can make out, the new Volvo V40 diesels are much the same price as a petrol with similar capacity engine and model.
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My car was more expensive in 170PS GT trim than a 210PS petrol equivalent for list price. You can't compare 140PS and 210PS! But the monthly cost differences made the diesel cheaper by far. I'd say I prefer diesel but including petrol and diesel cars all of my cars have had turbos since 1999. And so a petrol turbo might be nice next time if the monthly costs are right.
I think Skoda got the styling of the revised mark 2 Octavia wrong. And the Superb (estate only for me as the hatch/saloon is horrible to look at) didn't get positive reviews by those that matter. And a lot of Skodas seem to have four spoke steering wheels and I prefer three spoke - a trivial matter but it matters to me.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 3 Sep 12 at 00:14
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>> And the
>> Superb (estate only for me as the hatch/saloon is horrible to look at) didn't get
>> positive reviews by those that matter.
Who's that?
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Things I've read elsewhere suggest there's been some intentional de-prettification - not of RTJ's wife but by VAG of the Skoda range, to prevent it from treading too heavily on the toes of VW and Audi. One cited an 'insider' as saying that release of the Superb was delayed while some interior materials were replaced with less attractive alternatives.
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It's the outside of the Octavia and Superb I don't particularly like. Inside they are pretty much on par with VW. Well they share a lot of the same components on view - unlike Audi.
Take the rear of the Superb hatch/saloon - that looks terrible in my opinion. The dual opening doesn't help granted but it's as if they are trying to make them ugly.
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>> Things I've read elsewhere suggest there's been some intentional de-prettification - not of RTJ's wife
>> but by VAG of the Skoda range, to prevent it from treading too heavily on
>> the toes of VW and Audi. One cited an 'insider' as saying that release of
>> the Superb was delayed while some interior materials were replaced with less attractive alternatives.
>>
I find your 'insider' totally believable.
VAG make some good cars, but their ruthless badge-engineering and squeezing every last penny from the punter puts me right off them.
"They all do it", you may say, but VAG have it off to a fine art. :-(
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As a potential replacement for my trusty and economical Pug 406 diesel estate, I would seriously consider the petrol Octo 1.4 TSi Estate.
Perhaps if a replacement is due next year there may be some 2nd hand bargains to be had.
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QUESTION FOR AVANT:
You seem impressed by the DSG gearbox, as many owners seem to be. May I ask a couple of questions?
What is it like when creeping during parking manoeuvres?
Does it run out of steam if reversing up a slight incline for example, or does it plough determinedly on, like a "real" automatic (torque converter) auto?
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These are such lovely cars, even the previous shape ones. I had a passenger ride in a friend's 2004 example which has the old 1.8T 20v engine under the bonnet. His has been remapped to 205 bhp, and it goes like stink, handles tidily, and has been near faultless over 100,000 miles.
One of these would be top of my list if I were after practical fun at sensible cost.
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Yes, I would like to know how you've got on with the DSG over 15,000 miles, too.
My S-Max has the Ford equivalent 'box and whilst it is fine for 99% of the time, ocassionally, just occasionally, I think I might prefer the action of a torque converter. Mainly in heavy traffic or when wanting to make a quick getaway after slowing for a round-about/junction, etc. My VW Transporter has a torque converter box and in idle times when I think about its eventual replacement I wonder how the DSG box compares to the Ford box.
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I'd like to "invent" a new gearbox. It would have a gear lever and a clutch pedal for when you want to take absolutely full control but it would also have a slushbox auto position for when you just want to amble along in heavy traffic or whatever. My Merc gets close with it's flappy paddle / tippy gearlever / sport / eco / manual setting system thingy but sometimes I want that mechanical connection to my left foot.
There.
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>> I'd like to "invent" a new gearbox. It would have a gear lever and a clutch pedal for when you want to take
>> absolutely full control but it would also have a slushbox auto position
Like Scania Opticruise?
upthear.se/opticruise
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What would the bik be on one of those?
:-)
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>> The only real downside is the fitting of 18" wheels with 225/40 tyres - unnecessarily
>> sporty for this type of car and unlike any previous FWD car I've had, useless
>> in snow, necessitating winter tyres (205/55/16) which make very little difference to the handling with
>> a slightly better ride. If Skoda offered this engine with Elegance trim and 17" wheels,
>> I'd prefer it.
But you don't mention the incredible tyre noise, which for me is a show-stopper for the Octavia despite how good it is to drive. Do you just turn the radio up extra loud to compensate and therefore introduce a potentially more irritating noise, or doesn't it worry you?
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Tyre noise has never been a huge problem: there's less noise with the winter tyres but even with the summer ones (Continentals) it isn't excessive. Another question for the experts - is tyre noise purely a matter of tyre make, type and size or is it something to do with the car itself?
Last edited by: Avant on Tue 4 Sep 12 at 20:42
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Skoda Octavia II - 15,000 miles with an Octavia estate - CGNorwich
