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Followed one for a while this morning. I don't remember seeing one before. I know PU's got one. Blue. I thought "What! A Corsa Estate?" before I read the letters. It does look like I imagine a C. Estate would look like!
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I saw my first Fabia estate the other day.
Looked strangely old-fashioned to me.
tinyurl.com/365gwxt
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>> I saw my first Fabia estate the other day.
>>
>> Looked strangely old-fashioned to me.
>
I agree Iffy, same as the old one! They have never really gone for "style" haven't Skoda, its much more about practicality... I remember comparing the old Fabia estate against its direct rival the 206SW and Focus estate and the Fabia was still the biggest and most practical of the three inside though the dullest from the outside... I've always been swayed by Practicality over Style, though... hence I've had both the Fabia and Roomie... I need the space on the inside and don't really care about its looks... which are "different" rather than ugly!
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>> They have never really gone for "style" haven't Skoda
You're off the christmas card list :'-(
I'm away to lick my wounds and tell my car it is a mean machine and not to listen to what the others say... ;-)
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I've owned a Skoda continuously since 2001, S... One thing they have never done in that time is go for "looks" like, say, Seat... however they have been ultra practical which suits me... Its not an insult, its a complement! Far too many designers have lost track of the fact that we have too live with these cars on the inside, and whilst they may look exotic from the outside that can make them pretty impractical inside...
My Roomie knows that... and is proud of it!!
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It was damned practical, comfortable and had a turn of speed...
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>> PU's got one.
Used to have one.
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Yep he used to have one... Though I still have!
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Good all round motor - things I'd change would be the gruff PDI motor. A car that looks ten times better with privacy glass - it was standard in the one I had. I half considered a Yeti this time round..
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There's something about that Yeti 4wd that is appealing in an odd sort of way.
John
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Am I raising my head above the parapet if I admit I think the Octavia is handsome-ish from the front?
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No you're not, they're nice looking cars - just different.
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It's not the nicest profile from rear on, unless it's in white. The darker colours don't seem to define the rear as flatteringly.
Face on, i like it. Side on i like mine, silver roof rails were a gimmick on the option sheet but they're worth it for the looks. I've even cracked a good combo of polish & lsp to bring out the best of the Race Blue colour, looks best in direct sunlight though not much of that about in Scotland :-)
Face on ->
www.pistonheads.com/pics/news/20606/tn_Octavia_5-L.jpg
Side on ->
www.pistonheads.com/pics/news/20606/tn_Octavia_6-L.jpg
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The looks of a car must be one of the most subjective of all subjective subjects.
Interesting their is some agreement the Fabia estate looks old-fashioned.
I can't think of any small estate that looks good, perhaps it's a hard class of car for the designers to make attractive.
One or two of the bigger estates look the part, two of my favourites are recent Mercs and, surprise, surprise, the Mondeo estate.
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"their is some agreement "
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE!!!!!! :-)
John
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>>just different.
That's what we were told to say about a butt ugly cousin of ours when we were kids. Rumour was she was adopted. She actually looked like an irritated moose. Still does actually but now she looks like an old irritated moose.
They may well be good cars but...well...."different" will have to do I suppose.
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>> They may well be good cars but...well...."different" will have to do I suppose.
No, come on, lets be honest on here, take your hands of your pockets and stop whistling.
Its paper bag ugly. The only reason PU thinks it looked good with privacy glass is because no-one could see him in it.
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In fairness the privacy glass only extends to the rear doors' windows. !
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...In fairness the privacy glass only extends to the rear doors' windows. !...
But you pushed the driver's seat back a long way.
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Only as I was taught due to the fact I have normally sized legs ! :-)
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Tomorrow we, with some sadness (and I an ex motor dealer!) are parting with our Fabia 1.9tdi, bought new by us in 2001.
It has been the longest we have ever owned a car and it has been an absolute delight.
Fuel consumption overall has been around 5.6 litres per 100KM.
We took her to Marbella today, on the AP7 toll road and I treated myself to a last burst of speed with over 160kph on the speedo, upon which "Hyacinth" in the passenger seat got very stroppy as the Guradia Civil Trafico have been very active lately - even using unmarked cars, such as an Alfa Romeo and an Opel Astra - so in deference to her I un-loudpedalled.
We have both reached an age where it is becoming more difficult to get out of a low-to-the- ground car, added to which we are soon returning to the UK permanently and we need not only a RHD car, but good load lugging capacity for the trip.
We ARE staying with the 1.9PD engine in a very clean 2001 SEAT Alhambra SE 1.9tdi, RHD, UK plate T & T, done in a private PX deal for the Skoda.
Interestingly the SEAT cost around £21K new in the UK, while our humble little Skoda was around £9000k equivalent in pesetas.
The difference to change now - 1750 €
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Serious question Landsker. Why are you coming back here? It doesn't currently have much to commend it in truth. Depending upon where you're going to hang your hats of course.
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Got to take issue with that Humph. I suspect that many people think the grass is greener etc. I happen to like Blighty and don't want to move!
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We'd like to leave in the next few years... saving up so to speak.
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Fair enough Woodster, someone ought to stay to keep things ticking over. I'd be off like a shot given the right set of circumstances. I've spent fair old chunks of my adult life not living here and certainly working elsewhere and for me anyway, there are preferable places. Horses for courses as they say, and indeed there are corners of the British Isles which are very attractive indeed. There are others parts I'd not miss.
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>> Got to take issue with that Humph. I suspect that many people think the grass
>> is greener etc. I happen to like Blighty and don't want to move!
>>
Here here.................Sorry.
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Don't apologise, laudable view. Not mine though.
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...I suspect that many people think the grass is greener etc. I happen to like Blighty and don't want to move!...
Same here.
If all these other places are so marvellous, how come so many people are so desperate to get into our country?
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We don't get many illegals from Monaco or the Cayman Islands though(just as an example off the top of my head !)
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Now I wonder why you immediately thought of two tax havens?
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I am 75 in 5 days time:SWMBO is 73: we have no family in Spain.
The prospect of one of us being left alone, inevitably, in a foreign country, dealing with unfamiliar laws and regulations, possibly not well, is not appealing.
Britain for all its faults, does have better social care for older people, than here where it is down to the family, by and large, to look after its old folk.
I want to be able to hear my own language in the streets and shops (this rules out parts of the U.K.!) and be comfortable with the way things are done in the land of my birth, in my old age.
We shall miss lots of things - the weather, of course, our circle of friends, the sensibly priced wine, the community swimming pool and being by the sea.
Eating out here is no longer cheap for us.
The cost of living in Spain is not too far different, for many things, than it is in the UK and the exchange rate has effectively cut our received income from 25 to 30% compared with not too many years ago.
We have had a good 11 years - it's just that now seems to be the right time - before the euro crumbles into a heap, I hope!
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That's a very fair explanation landsker and I can certainly understand your reasons, both for taking the chance of those 11 good years and for coming home now.
I love this country and I'm proud to be British.
Yes, there is a lot wrong with it just as there is any other country but underneath it all is a strong hard wearing backbone that we can all fall back on when we need it.
The NHS is something that is there, rumbling along with it's problems all the time but as soon as we need it, the stops are all pulled out and we're looked after.
Our social welfare system has many glaring flaws but it does what it says on the tin and looks after the needy with a basic level of money and care for everyone.
Our laws can be quoted as being ludicrous but we know where we stand with them, which is more than can be said for many dictatorial communities in some parts of the world.
In times of need we are a nation who cares for others, and we demonstrate that fully.
Not only that we have some of the most beautiful coastline in the world on this small island, available to those who get out of their cars and walk it.
I'll stay where my roots are but then again, my glass is always half full!
Pat
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Darned if I know what all this has to do with Skoda Roomsters but you can't beat Pat when she puts her grown-up hat on.
John
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Ah, the green eyed monster. And that's only the Skoda!
John
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It was topic drift by stealth....:-)
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...the time is right...
Landsker,
Welcome back - England's green and pleasant land does have something going for it.
What part are you coming back to?
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I echo that Landsker , I think you are making a correct decision. It is always good to keep a foothold in the UK if you can.
My sister and brother in law lived in Gib and faced similar problems and when she contracted cancer they returned to the UK to stay with us whilst she underwent treatment .
She did not make it and died 5 years ago at the age of 64 in the Royal Marsden .
Brother in law has remarried at the age of 71 to 50 year old Portuguese lady ( cradle snatcher!) after a couple of very miserable and lonely years and is now happy again but suffers seriously with the exchange rate problem affecting his pension.
So did you manage to sell your villa in Manilva?
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We wish! As SWMBO has become disabled very early in life (mid 40's) going abroad to live for a few years on retirement is not an option... we are just too reliant on the NHS... however moving to a county which provides better care for what she has IS an option... though that shouldn't have to be the case... The infamous "Postcode Lottery"... and yes it does exist...
I'll give you an example, we have some friends one of whom is disabled, they are quite well off, he has a very good pension when he was invalided out of one of the US forces... recently they had a stair lift installed paid for by the local County Council... Whereas our Council (next door counties) decided I earned too much (I am on less than the average wage, btw, and a lot less than him) and refused one for us. We ended up using J's savings to pay for it...
If there is one thing which needs sorted its the inequality between the various NHS Trusts... It should be the same regardless of where you live...
Its one thing we've noticed when in Germany, if you need the help/equipment when you are disabled you get it... J is a member of an international forum for her complaint and the Germans can't believe the trouble we have getting even the most basic of things... We even had to pay for our wheelchair ffs!!
Sorry, rant over...
(Motoring/Roomster connection? The Roomie is our Motability car... They did give us something, though that was the national gov, not the local one!!)
Last edited by: hobby on Wed 15 Dec 10 at 16:03
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A villa - I wish!
Just a modest apartment. Completion mid January, so back in UK by the end of January.
The East Midlands beckons - cheap houses there is the main reason.
We'd love rural Suffolk or the Chilterns, but what we are going to have to spend would hardly buy a garage there!
BTW we collected our SEAT Alhambra today - the one we did a deal on with a chap who blanched at the cost of registering it onto Spanish plates and really only needs a commuter car now, so he was happy to take the Fabia as part payment.
It's a nice bit of kit - the SE Spec. has loads of toys, including full climate control, cruise control, bluetooth and a fancy Alpine stereo system.
It drives nicely and is so easy to enter & exit.
Last edited by: landsker on Wed 15 Dec 10 at 17:14
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"England's green and pleasant land does have something going for it."
Councils using terrorist laws to spy on residents who leave their wheelie bins open by an inch before fining them 80 squids.
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...Councils using terrorist laws to spy on residents who leave their wheelie bins open by an inch before fining them 80 squids...
Fine, stop where you are then.
Surprising the number of chickens who come to roost eventually.
Usually because our much maligned health service is still 20 times better than anything to be found elsewhere.
Last edited by: Iffy on Wed 15 Dec 10 at 20:06
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To be fair BBD, at least there is a council supplied wheelie bin service :-)
Not knocking it, but where M originally comes from in .pl, they buried their own waste in a landfill the residents created out the back of the flats.
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I think they've been stopped from doing that. A little bit of the soviet has been rolled back.
John
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Rubbish is collected daily here, from underground bins.
Keeps the smell contained and they lift up hydraulically from the collection lorry's power system.
The downside is that you have to take your rubbish to the bin, which may not be near your house.
Luckily our basura bins are only 25 meters from the urbanisation's front gates!
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A Skoda Roomster. - Iffy
