Skoda - From laughing stock to top dog

[Stoofa]

Sorry but I find the argument "Skoda owners expect less" to be a little insulting.
My Octy is now two years old and was bought new. I wouldn't have accepted anything less than perfection. I don't care how much (or little) I pay for a car I expect it to be 100% perfect - which the Skoda has been.
In the two years it has worked flawlessly. It's been back for a couple of services but other than needing to top up the oil once a year, the washer fluid and putting in petrol that is all I needed to do.
I'm not sure why anyone would assume that just because somebody had bought a Skoda they were easily satisfied and happy to overlook things wrong. Are you the same people that just immediately see the name Skoda and assume it's rubbish? The people still stuck in the early 1990's?

The Skoda name is now very well respected (expect by those who will not force them selves into the now and make posts along the lines of "easily satisfied"). Personally I'd never look at a VW because you are simply paying for than brand name over the Skoda which will be of similar specification, better reliability (according to nearly every reliability poll Skoda sits above VW) but for a lot less cash. Oh and in many cases a better looking car (The Mk2 Octy on release over the Golf equivalent).

Edited by Stoofa on Monday 29th April 11:53

[liner33]

Sir_Dave said:

Surely the Skoda owners expect less, so are more easily impressed with their purchase?

May well be the case with some owners but not for me as I said my previous car was a £38k E class which left me by the side of the road twice and had repeated visits to the dealer for warranty and goodwill repairs it was a total hassle although I really liked the car it was a pain, in comparison my Superb has been into limp home mode once which was repaired within 2 hours on my drive.

I wouldve been happy to pay more for the Mercs replacement and considered the Audi A6 but my local Audi dealer is poor and the Superb more spacious in the back and better equipped

Price is always a factor of course but we get a very generous car allowance and really don't notice the difference , the extra money that would've gone on car payments or savings seems to get swallowed up anyhow , truth be told I had expected the Skoda to need replacing after 4 years but I reckon it will last 6 and the residuals are pretty awesome as well, so its true the Skoda is really good value but thats not why I buy them and not why I would buy another

[Rich_W]

liner33 said:

[... considered the Audi A6 but my local Audi dealer is poor and the Superb more spacious in the back and better equipped...

Skoda Superb comes with
a) MMI and screen?
b) Multilink front suspension?
c) better residuals and image?

As for space. A6 is massive inside. Decent legroom and decent boot/load area. Superb is based on a Passat which is the next size down in the range.

Please don't be so silly. Nothing wrong with Skoda if you want one. But don't try and spin it that it's a better car than the one costing £10K more.

[liner33]

Rich_W said:

Skoda Superb comes with
a) MMI and screen?
b) Multilink front suspension?
c) better residuals and image?

As for space. A6 is massive inside. Decent legroom and decent boot/load area. Superb is based on a Passat which is the next size down in the range.

Please don't be so silly. Nothing wrong with Skoda if you want one. But don't try and spin it that it's a better car than the one costing £10K more.

Lets not forget I was looking back in 2009 and didnt I say the Superb was a better car it was my choice for a number of reasons a big one is the local dealer is crap but I really dont think spending another £10k wouldve bought me a better car

a)Dont think the MMI offered anything more than Columbus did, bigger hard drive perhaps but I havent filled mine
b)Mulitlink suspension WGAF , thats not important to me in the daily grind, is it really important in a car of this class?
c)Better residuals = irrelevant really I dont need to get anything back but if you want to bring it back to money the Skoda wins hands down , which will lose more over 4 years?? Image , well if you care about what others think you'd never buy a Skoda or an Audi you'd buy a Mercedes or BMW both around the same price as a well equipped A6 and better image after 4 years my car has lost what the Audi would in 2.5.

The things that sold me were the lights the Xenon AFS, the extensive legroom, park assist with its extra sensors*, Ipod connectivity/bluetooth/sat nav, leather seats with electrics and heaters, and the twindoor ie being able to get the dog in without driving an estate all year

• option but only £275 iirc

It matters little what the car is based on Passat or no Passat the Superb is roomier , lots of cars have decent legroom but few get close to the Superb , the boot is bigger on the Superb and the SALOON/HATCH Superb has a bigger capacity than the A6 AVANT/Estate with the seats folded down and has a bigger payload, so so much for the A6 being massive!!

[va1o]

^^ Its the Rapid which really makes a mockery of Audi boot sizes IMO, as I mentioned in my earlier post it offers 550 litres. To put that into perspective the A6 saloon has only 530 litres! Oh and tempted by that A8, well its even smaller with 510 litres

Obviously no one in their right mind would be comparing those 3 but its a fun fact anyway!

[Sir Fergie]

va1o said:

Sir Fergie said:

But WTF is going on with this new Rapid - utterly pointless car - should have kept down the road off making a very good car thats great value for what you are getting philosphy of the Mk 1 Octavia.

To be fair the Rapid isn't a bad car. The practicality is seriously impressive, the 550 litre boot is colossal and two 6-footers can comfortably sit behind each other inside. Yes there has been some cost cutting but you get a lot of car for your money, its a Golf class car for Polo prices. Makes sense if you want a no nonsense and no frills family car.

Its not pointless as it fills the gap left by the Octavia Mk2. The new Octavia is quite a bit bigger and more expensive than the old model so the Rapid sits neatly beneath. Some good pictures showing the two alongside each other here - http://www.auto.cz/skoda-octavia-a-rapid-na-prvni-...

I hear your point - and in fact in Ireland the Rapids entry level price is designed to compete with superminis such as Toyota Yarises and the like.

But then you go on to say that its designed to fill the gap left by Octavia 2 - yet the vibes im getting is that Octavia 2 was a better car then the Rapid. Hence theres still an argument to say that the Rapid is pointless. Simple alternative solution (imo) - give the Octavia 3 a different name - keep making Octavia 2 - at very competitive prices.

Im sure there is a flaw in my argument - so would welcome all thoughts.

Must look at Uk rapid pricing - but i thought there was a 2 grand difference between Fabia and Rapid???.

Sir Fergie

[Pablo68]

Sir_Dave said:

Surely the Skoda owners expect less, so are more easily impressed with their purchase?

Absolute condescending bks frankly.

[neil-c]

Have never owned a Skoda before but been in a few Superb taxis and have been impressed with the space and refinement. I also think there is something rather desirable about the Yeti too

Would go further and definitely consider the new Octavia as a replacement for our Evoque. The designs of the new Rapid and Octavia are IMO classier than the current Audi A4 and reminds me of the more cohesive design of the previous gen A4.

I would suggest that the Skoda brand image is now held in higher regard than citreon/peugeot/ford/vauxhall. I would also be interested to hear where VW group believe Seat fits into its brand structure.

[cslwannabe]

Bought our first Skoda back in 2007 - it replaced a 330Cd convertible as we needed a more practical car and owing to a small person about to enter into our lives! We bought it 9 months old (Octavia 2.0 TDi) with 13k miles on the clock and over the next 4 years added a further 60k miles and in this time apart from routine servicing and tyres I needed to add a bit of oil occasionally and had to replace one brake light bulb, that was it - it was even still on the original brake pads when we replaced it with another nearly new Octavia by which time it had done circa 74k miles. Meanwhile my wife had a brand new Jaguar XF which under similar driving conditions required 2 sets of rear brake pads, 1 set of front brake pads in 50k miles and around a dozen (I kid you not!) headlight bulbs. On top of that we had to call out Jaguar assist on several occasions and as the miles racked up more and more faults developed with the car.

2 years ago we replaced our Octavia with a 2010 2.0 TDi - I guess we could've kept the previous one but decided it was probably a sensible time to change if we were going to. We part exchanged it agains the replacement so obviously didn't get a fantastic price, but the depreciation worked out at £140 a month during our ownership which I thought was pretty amazing on a car we acquired at 9 months old and was utterly reliable. These days we have 3 cars between the 2 of us and friends often ask why we have a Skoda when our other 2 cars are a Porsche Boxster S and BMW 640d but I just laugh as I think they're fantastic cars and I can certainly see myself owning another in the future.

[liner33]

va1o said:

^^ Its the Rapid which really makes a mockery of Audi boot sizes IMO, as I mentioned in my earlier post it offers 550 litres. To put that into perspective the A6 saloon has only 530 litres! Oh and tempted by that A8, well its even smaller with 510 litres

Obviously no one in their right mind would be comparing those 3 but its a fun fact anyway!

Not had a chance to look around a Rapid yet nor the new Octy but I'm not in the market for a while.

Unfortunately our local dealer has gone, the dealership is being taken over by the same group who run the local VW and Audi dealerships and they offer very poor customer service , but I shall give them a chance

[Super Slo Mo]

Rich_W said:

As for space. A6 is massive inside. Decent legroom and decent boot/load area. Superb is based on a Passat which is the next size down in the range.

Superb is based on a Golf, not Passat. However, rear legroom is also massive. I'd like to compare one to an A6 actually, just to see what differences there are, in terms of interior space. It's hearsay, obviously, but people claim the Superb has rear legroom comparable to that of an A8.

Quality of the interior plastics isn't quite in the Audi league (although easily as good as an A1/A3), and the doors don't shut with quite the same solid sounding 'thunk' as a VW or Audi. However, compared to other cars in the class they're priced at, they hold their own quite easily.

[liner33]

I'm 6ft 1" and this is where my seat fits , I have a lanky teenager who enjoys the extra legroom for sure



Boot

[Super Slo Mo]

Virtually identical to mine, I've only got the half leather though. Mind you, I've only ever carried rear passengers twice in the 6 months I've had the car, so it's a bit wasted on me really.

[Stoofa]

Super Slo Mo said:

Superb is based on a Golf, not Passat. However, rear legroom is also massive. I'd like to compare one to an A6 actually, just to see what differences there are, in terms of interior space. It's hearsay, obviously, but people claim the Superb has rear legroom comparable to that of an A8.

Quality of the interior plastics isn't quite in the Audi league (although easily as good as an A1/A3), and the doors don't shut with quite the same solid sounding 'thunk' as a VW or Audi. However, compared to other cars in the class they're priced at, they hold their own quite easily.

The Superb is based on the Passat. It's the Octavia that is based on the Golf.

[Sir_Dave]

Pablo68 said:

Absolute condescending bks frankly.

Hardly, we all know the hierarchy within the VAG mainstream.

Audi > VW > Seat > Skoda

They are all essentially the same cars, but (& excuse the sweeping generalisation) the higher you go up the list, the more pretentious the owners get. With pretention comes greater expection.

You buy a Skoda as you arent so bothered about impressing your neighbours, but want a very good, hard wearing, reliable car for less money than the equivalent Audi or VW. If it does that, you are happy.

If a Skoda develops a slight interior rattle its probably not the end of the world, as its not a priority in the grand scheme of things. If Mrs Tarquin-Smythe-Foxtrots A3 develops a rattle its quite possibly the worst thing to happen this side of WW2, & the supplying dealer will very much know about it.

I wasnt being condescending, i drive a Golf as i couldnt be bothered to pay the premium for the 4 rings, & they didnt do an equivalent Skoda/Seat model.

[Super Slo Mo]

Stoofa said:

The Superb is based on the Passat. It's the Octavia that is based on the Golf.

I don't think it is you know, the old Superb was Passat based, the new is, as far as I was aware anyway, based on the Golf.

Having said that, the new Passat is a Golf derived platform anyway (again, IIRC), so it's probably a moot point.

ETA: Ok, a couple of minutes with Google and I have something of an answer: The Superb uses the PQ46 platform, which is an enlarged version of the PQ35 platform that the Golf/Octavia/A3 et al are based on. The PQ46 is also used by the Passat/Sharan/Alhambra.

So that makes us both right to some extent.

Edited by Super Slo Mo on Monday 29th April 12:05

[AJB]

Super Slo Mo said:

I don't think it is you know, the old Superb was Passat based, the new is, as far as I was aware anyway, based on the Golf.

Having said that, the new Passat is a Golf derived platform anyway (again, IIRC), so it's probably a moot point.

ETA: Ok, a couple of minutes with Google and I have something of an answer: The Superb uses the PQ46 platform, which is an enlarged version of the PQ35 platform that the Golf/Octavia/A3 et al are based on. The PQ46 is also used by the Passat/Sharan/Alhambra.

So that makes us both right to some extent.

Edited by Super Slo Mo on Monday 29th April 12:05

Yes. The old Superb was based on the old Passat, which was based on an old Audi A4 (all longitudinal engine).

The current Superb and the current Passat are based on the Mk5/Mk6 Golf platform (transverse engine), and have very little in common with Audi A4/A6 (still longitudinal engine).

[TimmyWimmyWoo]

I'm not sure it matters what they're based on - the suspension tweaks etc. make a massive difference.

I borrowed my boss' A6 Avant 3.0 TDI one weekend, then borrowed a colleague's Superb 4x4 170 TDI a couple of weeks later.

The Skoda was more entertaining to drive, and had a better ride than the Audi. I've been lucky enough to have driven most of VWG's current output and Skodas are always among the best riding and most entertaining to drive. The new Octavia is a pretty giant leap on compared to the old one (which I loved - I ran petrol and diesel vRSes for a couple of months).

I'm not saying they're the be-all and end-all of cars, but if you're buying a new family car with your own money, then you should really be trying some Skodas...

[SuperchargedVR6]

Rich_W said:

Sir_Dave said:

Surely the Skoda owners expect less, so are more easily impressed with their purchase?

Yep. Why do you think Audi, BMW and Merc dedicate massive budgets to customer care?

Because they are so unreliable.

Skoda are very decent cars now but badge snobbery is still incredibly prevelant in the UK. Hence why so many people buy Essex white A3 2.0 TDIs with gunmetal 18s. You'd be less of a lemming you bought a cheaper Skoda, and get a better car too.

[Fittster]

Sir_Dave said:

Hardly, we all know the hierarchy within the VAG mainstream.

Audi > VW > Seat > Skoda

They are all essentially the same cars

As more people catch on it will be interesting to see how VAG handle the situation. I can't see them allowing the cheaper (less profitable cars) to cannibalize the sales of the premium models. There would appear to be two options open to them, increase the price of the lower brands or reduce their quality.