After 18 months of owning my Hyundai Coupe I've decided to swap it for a Skoda Octavia hatchback.
The lack of space for adult passengers did not go down well with other family members and the poor steering made it a less than pleasant experience. I'll miss that full leather interior and lovely shape though.
The Skoda was showroom available and is a 2l diesel in Elegance spec with sports suspension. I did not want the latter and preferred the new 1.6l diesel but the sums worked out and a final test drive convinced me the ride was OK.
A Golf Plus was the most impressive for interior space with a lot more rear legroom behind me. The ride in the rear was car sick inducing though. A Hyundai I30 was impossible to drive with the rear seats folded - my knees were hitting things.
Edited by Glaikit Wee Scunner {P} on 18/07/2009 at 14:44
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Good choice GWS....will it come with a proper spare wheel, jack and wheelbrace?
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Congratulations GWS. Excellent all rounder. After the Hyundai the space will be unbelievable, and you are going to really like that engine!
Well done for carefully testing the sport suspension to make sure that you can live with it. I always find sport suspension too firm compared to the standard equivalent, but if you are a keen driver then I guess the benefits of the better handling mean that the extra firmness of the ride are a price worth paying.
Please give us an update when you've had the car for a couple of months.
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Good choice - it may not look as good as a Hyundai coupe but it'll be much better to drive. The new common-rail diesel is excellent: like all diesel engines it takes a few thousand miles to loosen up.
Skoda have recently stopped including a spare wheel as standard: if you want one (and you probably do) it costs £50 but you may get the dealer to throw it in.
I E-mailed Skoda UK and said that this was a poor, short-termist decision and goes against the mantra of creating happy motorists: they may not act on it but at last someone from Skoda rang me up yesterday and promised that it would be considered by management. Others may like to E-mail them as well.
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My Octavia-owning friend is so happy with his that he has bought a diesel Octavia with over 90,000 miles on it to keep at his house abroad. I haven't seen the diesel but the other car, a 1.8T 4X4, is very nice indeed. I have had a couple of road drives in it and I like it a lot.
Yours will be even more refined probably with a non-turbo engine and no 4x4 stuff whirling around under the floor, while drinking a bit less perhaps and cruising just as quickly if you want it to. It ought to be a really nice car GWS.
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It's certainly got a full sized spare tyre on a steel rim. I presume it is a bi-directional tyre.
Not checked for a jack etc. yet. The engine is a turbo PD- Skoda have not got the 2 litre as CR yet- just the 1.6.
Looking forward to Wednesday.
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probably with a non-turbo engine
Sorry, hadn't taken in it was a diesel. Same applies though more or less.
With a bit of luck it won't have a dpf either.
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Just to add that the Octavia vRS has the CR diesel engine but other Octavias have the PD as before.
Skoda seem to have a rather piecemeal approach to facelifting: my vRS has the CR engine and the new dashboard - and a spare wheel - but not the rest of the facelift (mostly cosmetic). It'll be important for anyone who buys a used Octavia of this vintage in future to check what they're getting.
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As I've often pointed out before, the resort in which I live has a very large number of taxis - at the very least, 80 per cent of them are Octavias and the drivers love them.
The majority of drivers say they buy their Skodas in the Glasgow area from a company speciallising in such supplies.
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We looked at the new Octavia but the only model in budget via scrappage would have been the 1.4 poverty spec (and it really is) so we bought the Hyundai i30 - with the scrappage it was just under £8k and a bargain, considering the equipment, the warranty etc.
But I wouldnt say that the i30 and the Octavia are in the same class, the Octavia is half a class up really.
Can't wait, get the i30 on Mon 27th. Enjoy your new Skoda :)
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