I think the standard of the dealers is part of the discrepancy in reliability ratings. If a Skoda does go wrong the dealer is more likely to put it right first time...
Hmmm - not if our experience in Warwickshire is anything to go by. We've found a good Skoda shop in Coventry but not before we endured a lot of frustration with one named after a borough of New York!
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Had a look at the new fabia in Germany over Christmas very nice has look of Suzuki about it but then again there is a new Polo due so I suppose its swings and roundabouts.
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Looks like a Fiat something or other (I tried to look at the Fiat website to check the model, but it's down :haha:).
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I don't know anything about the standards of customer care in Skoda and VW garages, but could the diffrence in satisfaction be something to do with image. I have heard that Skodas are cheaper than the equivilant VW and was surprised by the O.P's question. Wouldn't the equivilant 1.4 Fabia be cheaper than the equivilant 1.4 Polo?
The reason both cars continue to sell is sometimes put down to badge snobbery. VWs are seen as having germanic build quality and thus can comand a premuim over Skodas, even when they are really the same cars. This image of germanic build quality may explain the satisfaction ratings. If you buy something since you value reliablity above all else, many people would go for the VW brand. These same people however will more than likely feel more disapointed when something goes with their VW, than if they had bought a Skoda. People expect VW to be more reliable than Skoda, making any faults with a VW car more disappointing.
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Torque means nothing without RPM
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I'm sure that when I did a price comparison on Whatcar's website I found the Polo to be only marginally dearer. Having said that, I compared the 1.4 Skoda Fabia Ambiente 5dr hatch with a 1.4 Polo 'S' model, the latter only developing 75PS compared with the Fabia's 100 PS.
However I'll go back and do the comparisn again.
Where I live in Bromley, S. London it is very obvious in the differences between the Skoda and VW main dealers, the former looking little more than your typical local garage with fairly limited showroom space whereas the VW dealership is your typical metal and glass palace with lots of desks and people in corporate uniform walking around.
It does not take much to work out which has the greater overheads and might, possibly, give a more personal service. However, looks could be deceiving?
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A further more detailed comparison has also revealed that the Fabia Ambiente has a far better specification/standard equipment than the comparative Polo and so although at first the Polo was only about £500 dearer quite a few extras have to be added to match the Ambiente standards.
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If it's value that you're after then have a look at Seat Ibiza.
We compared that to the previous Polo (just over 2 yrs ago) and the Polo spec then was ridiculous - even the £10K+ SE didn't have remote locking. And a CD player was a big price extra. Hopefully all that's been addressed now.
I'm not a fan of the 3 cyl 1.2 engine in our Ibiza, but I did 60 miles on twisty A roads in 1.4 Sport (Sport only means different wheels & seats) and I was very impressed. And it did 50MPG (our 1.2 struggles to do 40).
Is is true (as arnold2 suggests further up) that Polo & Ibiza are both made in the Seat factory in Spain?
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Yes
I think 'yes' is too simple an answer - VAG cars are intermixed all over the place. Some Ibiza's and Polo's (and Golf's) were made in the Skoda factory in Bratislava, but it probably all changes on a fairly regular basis.
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