Elegance 1.4 16v 5dr Hatchback

Pretty nippy shopping car

Bought this car second hand from a Skoda dealer near Gatwick in 2010 as replacement for an old leaky Rover 200vi.

On the whole I have been pleasantly surprised. It always starts first time, and has a sometimes surprising turn of speed for a 1.4 16v. It is well spec'd with heated seats, air-con, heated mirrors, outside temperature readout, economy meter, reversing sensors and 14" alloys. Not bad for the £5k paid 3 years ago. It must have been an ex motability car or something as it had only done 25k miles in 4 years.

Good points: seats comfortable and supportive, engine willing if you get it above 3k rpm. Gear box is good and positive, ride and handling good for this type of car. The ability to close the electric windows using the (VW group generic) key in the drivers door lock by turning the key is clever. Economy varies a bit, but 32mpg around town and up to 43mpg on a motorway is good. The onboard economy meter is a bit optimistic - I have seen readings of 50+mpg on the moptorway if doing 60-65mph using the standard cruise control. Standard FM radio/CD player is good but no faciilty for MP3 player or USB connection if you need it.

Bad points: small boot with high loading lip, some terrible blind spots around the windscreen pillars and rear window, mine has the (standard) rear door leaky seals which fill up the under carpet sound deadening behind the front seats with water. Also the throttle response when pulling away from junctions and roundabouts is sometimes a bit jerky - must be down to the ECU programming for Euro 5 emissions. Almost feels like someone has cut the throttle momentarily before getting back on the power. I have had a coil pack fail, causing the engine to run on 3 cylinders. This was sorted by a nice AA man after I had got home from work. They carry a stock on their vans these days!

Overall It has been a pretty good car and the dealers are eager to please. Most recently the car was washed and valeted after it's annual service by my local Skoda dealer Sparshatts of Botley.

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