Which car should I hire? Skoda Octavia or Ford Mondeo?
Discussion
Exciting choice! I'm coming back to England at Christmas for the first time in two years, flights are booked, so the next job is to book the hire car. Now I know to most well-balanced individuals, this really doesn't matter but I'm a PHer, so it kind of does!
I know neither of these is the PH choice and I should just rent a 3-Series and enjoy a dab of oppo but I did actually look into the premium option, which was about twice as expensive and was, erm, a Vauxhall Insignia! I'll be travelling with my wife and two kids (both under 3) and need space for 3 suitcases and a small pushchair. I specifically wanted a large hatch or estate. Technically, we could probably get away with a car size smaller, as we're driving to the airport this end in our Toyota Corolla but to be honest, I don't really like it much, as it feels a bit cramped and insubstantial, so a bit more space and comfort would be a nice treat!
Although in my experience, hire car companies hardly ever supply you with the vehicle you ask for, National and Hertz have each assured me over the phone that they can and will supply me with a Skoda Octavia or Ford Mondeo hatch respectively (I assume diesel but didn't actually ask) for three weeks with the two car seats that I require. The price is just a few pounds in favour of the Skoda.
I have no real experience of either car but assume they are both fairly economical and big in the boot area? I'm looking forward to driving a car with a manual gearbox again on roads with corners, albeit in a diesel repmobile. We'll do a fair few miles visiting family and there are some decent roads in the South West where my family live (although neither of these cars will be a patch on the WRX I owned when I was last in England)! I asked my wife's opinion and she doesn't really have one, other than that her father has an irrational hatred of Fords and Skodas, so she probably wouldn't have either. It's true, last time he went to England they tried to give him a Skoda Octavia and he rejected it and made them rent him a BMW for the same price (because that's the only alternative they had, although he would have been perfectly happy with a Vauxhall or Toyota)! I'm not paying 100 pounds more for an Astra Estate though!
Interestingly, if we ever moved back to England, which is a distinct possibility, I would consider an Octavia (but probably a vRS as the family car) and would actually consider a Ford Fusion (North American equivalent to the Mondeo), as my next car here in Canada.
Popular opinion and my own limited experience of driving modern Fords would suggest that the Mondeo will be the more fun drive but I haven't always been a fan of Ford's interiors and seats in terms of comfort. If it's good enough for Bond though! I sold VWs in the mid-2000s and drove and liked many VW TDIs very much (Golf, Bora, Jetta, Passat etc) but have never driven an Octavia.
Tough decision then and in the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn't matter but it's for 3 weeks and it's my money, so I might as well have something I will like driving. Which would you choose?
I know neither of these is the PH choice and I should just rent a 3-Series and enjoy a dab of oppo but I did actually look into the premium option, which was about twice as expensive and was, erm, a Vauxhall Insignia! I'll be travelling with my wife and two kids (both under 3) and need space for 3 suitcases and a small pushchair. I specifically wanted a large hatch or estate. Technically, we could probably get away with a car size smaller, as we're driving to the airport this end in our Toyota Corolla but to be honest, I don't really like it much, as it feels a bit cramped and insubstantial, so a bit more space and comfort would be a nice treat!
Although in my experience, hire car companies hardly ever supply you with the vehicle you ask for, National and Hertz have each assured me over the phone that they can and will supply me with a Skoda Octavia or Ford Mondeo hatch respectively (I assume diesel but didn't actually ask) for three weeks with the two car seats that I require. The price is just a few pounds in favour of the Skoda.
I have no real experience of either car but assume they are both fairly economical and big in the boot area? I'm looking forward to driving a car with a manual gearbox again on roads with corners, albeit in a diesel repmobile. We'll do a fair few miles visiting family and there are some decent roads in the South West where my family live (although neither of these cars will be a patch on the WRX I owned when I was last in England)! I asked my wife's opinion and she doesn't really have one, other than that her father has an irrational hatred of Fords and Skodas, so she probably wouldn't have either. It's true, last time he went to England they tried to give him a Skoda Octavia and he rejected it and made them rent him a BMW for the same price (because that's the only alternative they had, although he would have been perfectly happy with a Vauxhall or Toyota)! I'm not paying 100 pounds more for an Astra Estate though!
Interestingly, if we ever moved back to England, which is a distinct possibility, I would consider an Octavia (but probably a vRS as the family car) and would actually consider a Ford Fusion (North American equivalent to the Mondeo), as my next car here in Canada.
Popular opinion and my own limited experience of driving modern Fords would suggest that the Mondeo will be the more fun drive but I haven't always been a fan of Ford's interiors and seats in terms of comfort. If it's good enough for Bond though! I sold VWs in the mid-2000s and drove and liked many VW TDIs very much (Golf, Bora, Jetta, Passat etc) but have never driven an Octavia.
Tough decision then and in the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn't matter but it's for 3 weeks and it's my money, so I might as well have something I will like driving. Which would you choose?
Edited by white_goodman on Wednesday 24th September 20:06
Edited by white_goodman on Wednesday 24th September 20:08
Edited by white_goodman on Wednesday 24th September 20:10
The Octavia will drive rather like anything else from the VW stable, although they all seem to have had the handling sharpened up in recent years. Boot is utterly massive, unbelievably so in fact.
The Mondeo's ok, probably drives a little better as Fords generally do, but has the usual cheap and nasty Ford build quality and interior, although they're not as poor as they used to be. For a hire car it doesn't matter though, as said by the poster above, either will do you just fine.
The Mondeo's ok, probably drives a little better as Fords generally do, but has the usual cheap and nasty Ford build quality and interior, although they're not as poor as they used to be. For a hire car it doesn't matter though, as said by the poster above, either will do you just fine.
Both will be equally budget versions and dull in TDI form.
Both are much of a muchness, I'd suggest the Octavia for luggage capacity and acceleration as while I've not driven one if parkers is to be believed it's slightly smaller with more boot space and quite a bit lower weight.
Alternatively I'd suggest the Mondeo for the interior space with 2 young children. It is a very nice drive but a bit sluggish in anything other than the upper end engines and while the handling may be very good I'm not 100% sure it'll be made up for in the lack of go and lugging that extra 100kg or so round everywhere.
Both are much of a muchness, I'd suggest the Octavia for luggage capacity and acceleration as while I've not driven one if parkers is to be believed it's slightly smaller with more boot space and quite a bit lower weight.
Alternatively I'd suggest the Mondeo for the interior space with 2 young children. It is a very nice drive but a bit sluggish in anything other than the upper end engines and while the handling may be very good I'm not 100% sure it'll be made up for in the lack of go and lugging that extra 100kg or so round everywhere.
delmatt said:
Bear in mind most hire companies just use specific car models as examples of what you might get....Most often you will be offered what they have available in the relevant group. It is normally a Vauxhall!
What other large hatches are there though (bearing in mind a Vauxhall Insignia would be perfectly acceptable but is their "premium" alternative)? National tell me they only run Octavias not Mondeos and Hertz tell me they don't run Octavias but run Mondeos. I'll be pretty pissed if I book an Octavia/Mondeo and end up with a Corsa, as I specifically want something with a huge boot. I will never use a certain well-known car hire company again in Canada, as they had the audacity to fob me off with a Toyota Yaris when I had booked a "Ford Focus or equivalent". Our suitcases didn't fit in the boot, so we had to drive around for two weeks with them on the back seat. Not ideal!Edited by white_goodman on Wednesday 24th September 21:47
I regularly do 350 mile trips, sometimes non-stop, in a 2013 Octavia 2.0 TDi 150 (Elegance). Totalled over 27,000 miles in less than a year with no complaints. It's a great, effortless motorway car, and handles better than I ever expected it to do. The hire fleet, what engines are they? The 1.6 TDi is not so quick, but likely fine on a long motorway trip.
As for the Mondidio, , last one I drove ( 2.0L TDCI ) had little acceleration at 70 on the motorway, the throttle pedal more like a stop go switch in 6th than anything else. . I'd go as far as to say my little Fabia 1.4tdi has more poke at 70 than a Dullindio. i'VE JUST NOTICED THAT oCTAVIA DOES COME IN 1.6tdi 105 BHP format, but my furby says 75 on the box, but feels more like 105, so be prepared for surprises if it;s only 1.6, and if 1.9 even better. None of the firms round my way hire Octavias, but Enterprise do a decent rate and line in Insignias ( only diesel) at a decent rate if booked on line. Only problem is the cost of the waiver for the excess reduction from £600 to £100 . Something they don't mention on line.
[quote=Who me ?] As for the Mondidio, , last one I drove ( 2.0L TDCI ) had little acceleration at 70 on the motorway, the throttle pedal more like a stop go switch in 6th than anything else. . I'd go as far as to say my little Fabia 1.4tdi has more poke at 70 than a Dullindio. i'VE JUST NOTICED THAT oCTAVIA DOES COME IN 1.6tdi 105 BHP format, but my furby says 75 on the box, but feels more like 105, so be prepared for surprises if it;s only 1.6, and if 1.9 even better. None of the firms round my way hire Octavias, but Enterprise do a decent rate and line in Insignias ( only diesel) at a decent rate if booked on line. Only problem is the cost of the waiver for the excess reduction from £600 to £100 . Something they don't mention on line.
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eh?
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eh?
I am Hertz President's Circle (>20 rentals per year) and regularly take cars from Heathrow.
I've had a couple of Mondeos and an Octavia.
Group 'D' is a funny beast - my last two have been a Qashqai and an Octavia, but it's not that difficult to get an upgrade to a Group X, which is mainly Mondeo, Mazda6 or Audi A4.
To be honest an Octavia should be adequate but you might also get a Volvo V40, which is very nice, but smaller, or something quite unexpected but apparently in a higher group, e.g., a Mitsubishi ASX or a Mazda CX5.
I've had a couple of Mondeos and an Octavia.
Group 'D' is a funny beast - my last two have been a Qashqai and an Octavia, but it's not that difficult to get an upgrade to a Group X, which is mainly Mondeo, Mazda6 or Audi A4.
To be honest an Octavia should be adequate but you might also get a Volvo V40, which is very nice, but smaller, or something quite unexpected but apparently in a higher group, e.g., a Mitsubishi ASX or a Mazda CX5.
kambites said:
The Skoda is quite a lot smaller - modern Mondeos are enormous.
Sorry but not so since the 'new' mk3 Octavia came out. The new Octavia is practically as large as the older Superb (within 5 litres of difference). Skoda had to do that to make room for the new Rapid (which is about the size of the old Octavia).There's virtually the same room for passengers in a new Octavia as a Mondeo (especially greater leg room in the rear), and the Octavia also has the bigger boot at 590 litres, versus the Mondeo's 540 litres. Considering the Octavia is a class below that's not bad going. With the Octavia having more in gear grunt than an equivalent Mondeo (subjective, and I prefer the TSI anyway) I'd definitely go Octavia in this instance.
The interior build quality is far better in the Octavia, with a nice big touch screen across trim levels, and well built controls and soft touch everywhere compared to the Ford hard plastic blandness. It's only for three weeks but as a family run around I know what I'd be using.
Edited by DervHead on Wednesday 24th September 23:29
I posted this about the Octavia in another thread a while ago:
Really serious point here, although not glamorous: Try to get one on a loan and do a 3-4 hour drive in it if you can. We have a Skoda Octavia as a pool car in work and nobody ever wants to use it as the seats are absolutely crippling after a couple of hours. I am only 33, have never had any back or neck problems and regularly drive 5 hours in a 1995 MX5 and yet it took me a couple of days to get rid of the pain from driving that car. I am not alone in finding this as many of my colleagues have had the same feedback. It certainly isn't the effortless experience of a long drive in a 5 series!
Seems odd considering so many minicabbers live in the things, but it could make you despise the car if you're stuck with it for 3 years.
Really serious point here, although not glamorous: Try to get one on a loan and do a 3-4 hour drive in it if you can. We have a Skoda Octavia as a pool car in work and nobody ever wants to use it as the seats are absolutely crippling after a couple of hours. I am only 33, have never had any back or neck problems and regularly drive 5 hours in a 1995 MX5 and yet it took me a couple of days to get rid of the pain from driving that car. I am not alone in finding this as many of my colleagues have had the same feedback. It certainly isn't the effortless experience of a long drive in a 5 series!
Seems odd considering so many minicabbers live in the things, but it could make you despise the car if you're stuck with it for 3 years.
DervHead said:
kambites said:
The Skoda is quite a lot smaller - modern Mondeos are enormous.
Sorry but not so since the 'new' mk3 Octavia came out. The new Octavia is practically as large as the older Superb (within 5 litres of difference). Skoda had to do that to make room for the new Rapid (which is about the size of the old Octavia).There's virtually the same room for passengers in a new Octavia as a Mondeo (especially greater leg room in the rear), and the Octavia also has the bigger boot at 590 litres, versus the Mondeo's 540 litres. Considering the Octavia is a class below that's not bad going. With the Octavia having more in gear grunt than an equivalent Mondeo (subjective, and I prefer the TSI anyway) I'd definitely go Octavia in this instance.
The interior build quality is far better in the Octavia, with a nice big touch screen across trim levels, and well built controls and soft touch everywhere compared to the Ford hard plastic blandness. It's only for three weeks but as a family run around I know what I'd be using.
Edited by DervHead on Wednesday 24th September 23:29
Super Slo Mo said:
Yes, Skoda seem to have designed their range to compete, in size terms at least, with the class above, the current Superb has more rear legroom than anything this side of a long wheel base 7 series, and comfortably more than the A8 my mate used to have. Obviously there's more to it than simply size, but as family cars, it's a massive bonus.
I see, I was thinking of the Octavia as an equivalent to the Mondeo but technically it would be classed as an equivalent to a Ford Focus or BMW 1-Series, it's just that it happens to have a massive Mondeo-sized boot? I guess they advertise it as a Skoda Octavia or equivalent, as 99% of people wouldn't be disappointed if they got something else and would be stoked if they got a 1-Series instead for instance. They should advertise it as a BMW 1-Series or similar, as the 1-Series probably has a smaller boot and cabin than anything else in its class but then 99% of people would be disappointed if they didn't get a BMW! I'm of the 1% though, where I specifically want the big boot of the Skoda, so if I turned up and it was a 1-Series instead, I would be saying, where's the Skoda I asked for? I guess in that case, I would be safer going for the Mondeo or equivalent in terms of size (although I think I would actually prefer an Octavia)! I have an Octavia Vrs and there is a distinct lack of soundproofing. Great car but noisy on the motorway .
As you're thinking of buying one I'd hire and treat it as an extended roadtest to see what you think..
I agree with earlier post regarding seat comfort. On a long journey I put my roadmap in small of my back to make it bearable!
As you're thinking of buying one I'd hire and treat it as an extended roadtest to see what you think..
I agree with earlier post regarding seat comfort. On a long journey I put my roadmap in small of my back to make it bearable!
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 25th September 16:50
Super Slo Mo said:
Yes, Skoda seem to have designed their range to compete, in size terms at least, with the class above, the current Superb has more rear legroom than anything this side of a long wheel base 7 series, and comfortably more than the A8 my mate used to have. Obviously there's more to it than simply size, but as family cars, it's a massive bonus.
That's kind of what Rover did in the 90s (but I guess that didn't work out too well for them). The Rover 200/25 was a much bigger Fiesta rival but smaller than an Escort/Focus and the Rover 400/45 was a bigger Escort/Focus rival but smaller than a Mondeo. I think Skoda have done a better job with this strategy though (I think offering both the Octavia and Superb as estate cars helps).I think the Octavia has a slightly higher spin speed, but the Mondeo has a larger drum and a better quick-wash option. Both will be budget variants and therefore neither is likely to include the optional tumble dryer.
Thanks OP, I think you have provided me with the final straw to remove GG from my list of Favourite fora.
Thanks OP, I think you have provided me with the final straw to remove GG from my list of Favourite fora.
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