Shed of the Week: Skoda Octavia(s)

A pair of worthy Skodas for Shed to mull over this week in his Christmas special

The boys tested a new Octavia vRS the other day. Stupidly, they mis-ordered a diesel from Skoda's press fleet, so while they're waiting for a real vRS to arrive, Shed is kindly putting things right with not one but two sporting Octavias, both running on the correct fuel and both in the sub-£1,000 bracket.

And if the L&K isn't your cup of tea...

The first one is as sober as the second one is, um, not. Laurin & Klement was once the biggest independent bike, motorbike and car maker in Austro-Hungary. Eh? Where? We're talking over a hundred years ago, a time long before XBox and the internet, so long ago in fact that the entire country doesn't exist anymore. If Laurin & Klement was still around today, it would have been one of the world's oldest car firms. Instead, Skoda came along in 1925 and bought the company, killing L&K's chance to get into the Guinness Book Of Records and adopting the L&K moniker to signify its most lavishly-equipped top o' the range models.

In the case of the Octavia, the L&K treatment feels a bit grafted on to the car rather than built into it. It's not quite mutton dressed as lamb, but the luxury feel is somehow less convincing here than it is in a 'proper' prestige marque like a BMW or Mercedes. Nonetheless, there's no arguing with the depth of the spec list. You want for nothing really.

Buyer needs to like tan leather!

Under the bonnet is the familiar Golf 150hp 1.8 turbo unit. 150,000 miles is just over a week's worth for a million happy Octavia minicab operators, so no need to worry about the mileage, especially when it's backed by a full service history like this one.

Our second car wears the same body as the L&K and the 180hp version of the same engine, as seen in SEATs, but that's where the similarities end. This not-so-mellow yellow fellow has been hopped up to a claimed 250bhp through the liberal application of various shiny bits like a Milltek exhaust and front mounted intercooler.

Judging by the amount of fiddling he's done, the vendor is clearly quite the electronics whiz. His workaround for the non-functioning leccy window is inspired: simply disconnect and then reconnect the loom under the footwell carpet. Easy! If you're caught behind it on a French toll road, Shed strongly recommends overtaking this car.

Well this section of the vRS looks alright

The wobbly nature of other electrically powered items, including the 'intentionally disabled' traction control, suggests more deep seated problems. Owners of VW Group car of this vintage know all about electrics under carpets. Blocked drainage holes in battery trays can cause an overflow that runs straight into the passenger footwell, bringing all manner of merry mayhem to the ECU that's cleverly located there. Corrosion does for the ECU, and if you can't find the exact one you want from a scrapper's you'll be looking at a substantial five-figure sum to sort it out.

Of course, there may not be any such problems with this car. At the very least, however, the news that the battery goes flat if the car isn't used every day suggests you'll be in for the cost of a new one pretty much straightaway. Last year's new gearbox is, as usual, both good and bad news: good news that it's been replaced, bad when you wonder what happened to it in the first place for it to need replacing. Again, it could be entirely innocent, but it's hard to ignore the possibility that the car might have been driven 'enthusiastically'. Modern cars don't mind being driven hard. Indeed, many positively relish it. But there's a difference between hard and abusive.

An ideal Christmas cab?

Tax and ticket are both disappointingly short and come up at the worst possible time of the year for the Shedman's hard-pressed pocket. All in all this Octavia matchup sounds like a shoe-in for the L&K, but there's something endearingly mad about this old yeller that Shed likes. You only live once, as James Bond nearly said.

Here are the ads:

Laurin & Klement

(L&K) Speakers, Cup Holders, Body Coloured Bumpers, V5 Registration Document, Full Service History, Safety Belts Rear, Safety Belts, Radio, Metallic Paint, Leather Seats, Engine Immobiliser, Electric Mirrors, Electric Heated Seats, Cruise Control, CD Multichanger, Cassette Player, Adjustable Steering, Auxiliary Heating, Side Impact Airbags, Passenger Airbag, Drivers Airbag, Sunroof, Power Assisted Steering, Electric Windows, Climate Control, Central Locking, CD Player, Alloy Wheels, Alarm, Air Conditioning, ABS
HPI CLEAR - WARRANTED MILES - INDEPENDENT INSPECTIONS WELCOME * CALL NOW * * FULL SERVICE HISTORY (BELT HAS BEEN CHANGED) * Full Leather Interior * Air - Con * Power Steering * Electric Windows * CD Player * Alloy Wheels * Remote Central Locking (2 Keys)

vRS

(RS) skoda octavia in yellow running 250bhp
frount mount intercooler
fully ajustable coilovers
full milltex exhurst system
audi rs4 18' wheels all with good tyres
viper induction kit relocated to the n/s frount of the car for better air flow
dump valve
the car is very fast with all the trimings for little mone the reason im selling the car is that i work away alot all week and if the car is not used every day the battery goes flat and it seems a shame for her to be sitting there all week so im after a chaep run about to just get used a the weekens to take the missis food shopping and what not. All the speakers have been up graded the frount are fly and the rears are vibes the is also a little 100w amp for the rear speaker sounds nice there is no head unit as this will be removed at the end of the action. the car is taxed and moted till the end of dec 13 with is why the car is cheap and also the n/s frount window and cental door lock does not work if you unplug the loom in the foot well and then reconect it the window works fine maybe a easy fix the traction control has been disabled it was like this when i brought the car. The car is mint inside and out as you can see in the pic i will take 1000 ono thanks for looking sorry there is also a receipt for a gear box from last year so you know that the gear box is all good the car is sitting just under 130.000.

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SmartVenom

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196 months