Octavia VRs Estate
Discussion
I’ve always been a hot hatch owner, but a second child has forced me into a change… Fortunately this has a lot in common with a hot hatch, and indeed goes better than my tired old mk5 gti that made way for it.
First impressions are very positive. I’ve waited a couple of months to find a car in the right spec and location (gone are the days of travelling all over the country for a car). I even bought one in my preferred colour of Meteor Grey one last month, but it turned out to have been in an undeclared crash. Fortunately the dealership were honest, and once they discovered this whilst servicing pre collection, they immediately notified and refunded me.
The actual car is I believe a rare colour - Velvet Red, which is a Skoda exclusive colour (whatever that means!). There really aren’t many about in non monotone colours, and the odd red one you do see tends to be the non-metallic Corrida Red. Anyway, the Velvet red is lovely in the metal. It has my preferred options spec - manual, cloth seats, 18 inch rather than 19 inch alloys and the really rare digital dash. The only thing missing is a reversing camera, but we will have one added aftermarket.
As long as it’s as reliable as my two mk5 gtis have been it will certainly be a long term keeper. I’m looking forward to the ownership experience and plan to keep a record of it here. Bought with 47000 miles on the clock, I’m just waiting on the history to come through via email, I may need to chase Skoda up a bit.
First impressions are very positive. I’ve waited a couple of months to find a car in the right spec and location (gone are the days of travelling all over the country for a car). I even bought one in my preferred colour of Meteor Grey one last month, but it turned out to have been in an undeclared crash. Fortunately the dealership were honest, and once they discovered this whilst servicing pre collection, they immediately notified and refunded me.
The actual car is I believe a rare colour - Velvet Red, which is a Skoda exclusive colour (whatever that means!). There really aren’t many about in non monotone colours, and the odd red one you do see tends to be the non-metallic Corrida Red. Anyway, the Velvet red is lovely in the metal. It has my preferred options spec - manual, cloth seats, 18 inch rather than 19 inch alloys and the really rare digital dash. The only thing missing is a reversing camera, but we will have one added aftermarket.
As long as it’s as reliable as my two mk5 gtis have been it will certainly be a long term keeper. I’m looking forward to the ownership experience and plan to keep a record of it here. Bought with 47000 miles on the clock, I’m just waiting on the history to come through via email, I may need to chase Skoda up a bit.
Excellent car - I had a black 245 Challenge which sounds very similar spec to yours (digital dash, DCC, power/memory seats etc.). Mine was a hatch rather than the estate. I think the estates look better and are even more massive in terms of boot space. I had mine from 3yrs old and 34,000 miles to 5 years old and 62,000 miles. I don’t recall anything ever going wrong with it. The only two negatives for me were:
1. I bought and sold at the worst times and lost £9,000 in 18 months in depreciation, but that’s my own fault really.
2. I had 19in wheels which take 35-profile tyres. They’re hopeless for UK roads and you’ve got a much better setup there with 18s. More comfortable and cheaper tyres that are less likely to burst (as mine did annoyingly often - 3 punctures in 6 months at one point).
Oh and Velvet Red is a brilliant colour. I tried to find my current car (Enyaq) in that colour but there was only 1 in stock at the time and it didn’t have the option packs so I’ve ended up with Race Blue, which is also a decent Skoda colour. Enjoy the Octavia though - very nice!
1. I bought and sold at the worst times and lost £9,000 in 18 months in depreciation, but that’s my own fault really.
2. I had 19in wheels which take 35-profile tyres. They’re hopeless for UK roads and you’ve got a much better setup there with 18s. More comfortable and cheaper tyres that are less likely to burst (as mine did annoyingly often - 3 punctures in 6 months at one point).
Oh and Velvet Red is a brilliant colour. I tried to find my current car (Enyaq) in that colour but there was only 1 in stock at the time and it didn’t have the option packs so I’ve ended up with Race Blue, which is also a decent Skoda colour. Enjoy the Octavia though - very nice!
@bencollins - there aren’t many if you’re looking for a certain spec, no. The 18 inch wheels are common, but proper colours with a manual box certainly aren’t - I’m hoping it’s because owners tend to hang on to them! The specs are also a bit all over the place but fortunately they’re pretty good as standard. Mine was perfect really apart from missing the spare wheel - it’s got the tyre kit instead which are usually useless. Going to order a spare wheel and sort a reversing camera ourselves, plus some rubber mats for family duties! If you’re patient they do come up though!
Great cars. I have a manual Corrida Red 245 hatch on 18s. Love it. Bought at 11,000 miles and have now covered over 30,000 without it missing a beat. Was originally looking for an estate, but the hatch has an enormous boot and I have't really missed the extra load capacity. It replaced an B6 S4 Avant and the only time I've missed the Audi is if doing a rapid overtake on a greasy road, where the Skǒda struggles for traction at times.
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