My dad couldn't help but laugh when we got ourselves a Skoda Octavia, but it's many many years since their cars were silly and rubbish, and I just turned the joke around on him for being old ;)
It's very economical to begin with, and that's something we've always got a keen eye out for, especially these days. With that in mind, we were tempted by cars with smaller engines, but this one is a bit bigger and we haven't regretted that, because it still does about 60MPG or so and gives us that bit more power. Hubby sometimes gets us up to about 100mph! Of course that soon stops when I smack his leg! The insurance on the Octavia is just fine too, it's group 14, and D band road tax, we're currently paying £95 a year.
It has been very reliable for us as well, so far, although it is quite new and so we can't really expect any problems just yet. We were assured by the dealer though that all the parts are quite common - apparently it's got a lot of stuff inside from another car make, I think Volkswagen or Vauxhall. Another thing we found out about from the dealer was the safety record. It's got airbags and other safety features and it got four out of five stars, which is good really.
Comfort wise the Skoda Octavia is totally lush. The seats are lovely to sit in, always nice to relax into. My brother is very tall and he fits really well even in the back, which he says is a lot better than most other cars he's been in. The middle seat in the back is really quite big as well, and it's great that it has a proper seatbelt that goes across your shoulder. I'd always heard worrying things about what happens to people in a crash when they just have one of those lap belts, so that's not a worry with our car. We have one little girl at the moment, but if our flock grows then we'll be happy transporting them around in this. The back also have their own air vents which is great for them to control their temperature.
There are a couple of little things that are a bit of a drag about the car. Nothing that major. You sometimes get the feeling that there's quite a bit of space being wasted inside. Like around the gearbox it's all sort of glidey curves and you feel like there could instead be some useful cubby holes or something. The dash board as well is on a slant so if you want to put anything on there it'll soon just drop back into your lap, which is a bit daft. It's fine really though, just some little niggles. Having said that the doors have lovely big spaces in them for things, so that makes up for it in a way. Otherwise the inside of the car is lovely, and impressive too. It's even got a satnav right inside the dash! wooo!!
I suppose the car could be a bit quieter overall, but that's fine for us. Our little one doesn't seem to have any trouble sleeping in the back and that's all we're really bothered about. The stereo is dead fancy too, hooks up to your phone or portable stereo. It's just amazing value for what it is, overall really.
The Octavia is an absolute dream. Go and buy it right now!
What do you call a Skoda at the top of a hill? A miracle. We've all heard the gags, but I think everybody now knows that Skoda is now a brand to be respected. They've spent years re-branding and innovating and they now manufacture some of the best value family cars on the market. If you ask me the Skoda Octavia is the best thing to come out of the Czech Republic since Eva Herzigova (Google her).
Skoda have produced a car with a great list price here, and they haven't cut that many corners in doing so. The standard trim includes front and side airbags, a pretty decent mp3 stereo and air-conditioning. The interiors might seem a bit tacky to some, but personally I don't care enough to pay more. My Skoda Ocatavia is surprisingly powerful, and it handles beautifully, so there certainly hasn't been any cut-backs in this department.
The reliability and fuel-efficiency both make this car extremely cheap for me to run. But don't think that the price is all it has going for it: it's roomy, good-looking and a great car to drive. I can't praise my Skoda Octavia enough.
We purchased our Skoda as it has a lot of boot space to move our dogs around. As we're based in Andorra we need 4x4 for the winter months and the car has been very good.
We had a turbo failure about 4 months ago which may have been due to driving the car in sub zero conditions without warming the turbo up.
We've driven the car to Portugal and Holland with no problems and it's very comfortable to drive in.
There is a slight lack of passenger space in the back, probably due to the large boot area.
All in all it's a great car and we'd be happy to buy another one.