Skoda Octavia reviews

Purchased this vehicle to replace the same model of 2008 vintage. Achieved good fuel economy; 50-55 mpg from mix of urban & rural motoring & around 60 mpg at motorway cruise at 65 mph. Engine For a diesel engine it produces disappointing torque at low RPM. The engine is quite prone to the engine management system cutting the engine dead at the slightest amount of labouring. Engine mapping is awful. It suffers from a non linear throttle response with huge flat-spot between 1700 & 2500 rpm. Instead of progressive throttle response, when demanding steady acceleration its nothing,nothing,then a surge. There is ample power at higher RPM but this demands a driving style incompatible with road safety. To maintain higher engine rpm the car often needs to be rowed along on the gear box. This exposes the problem of poor selection when changing down from 4th to 3rd gear. Although an improvement on the 2008 model gear selection when changing from 4th to 3rd gear is hampered by poor narrow gating on the gear-change lever. The driver may get 3rd or 5th or 1st gear. With an already unresponsive engine a missed gear selection results in either shuddering retardation & skid risk or inability to maintain progress.The 4WD and traction control features are of little safety advantage when the driver is unable to adopt a smooth driving style due to poor engine response. On wet roads driving becomes frankly uncomfortable. Steering Compared to the 2008 model steering is quite vague & lacks the solid feel & sensitive feedback of the older model. In sport mode its just about acceptable. Road holding/ride quality. On well maintained surfaces ride quality is good & rear seat passengers comment on the smooth ride. On rutted lanes the low profile tyres/dampers struggle a bit to damp the bumps but ride remains reasonably smooth. In snow the poor engine response and low profile 55 section tyres deterred even taking the car on the road therefor I can offer no first hand information about snow capability. Brakes. Good under all conditions I've driven in. Ergonomics Seats fine, plenty of adjustments to suit driver & passenger, good legroom. Vision ok except wing mirrors give odd perspective. Sun visor bashes driver in the face when swinging across to shield sun on drivers door side. Door locking. Utter frustration. Endless clicking on the key/zapper. Ridiculous sequential clicking to unlock rear doors, boot door locks every time its closed. Try loading shopping at the supermarket car park, everytime you close a door they lock & you fiddle about in your pocket for the key again. (Main Dealer states "thats just how they are") Info-tainment system. Menus, sub menus,scroll,select,voice instructions, beep bong ping. Bang you have just hit the car in front whilst fiddling with the settings! This system requires so much cognitive effort to operate I keep it switched off. If you like tech & gadgets well here goes: GPS Display is North up. So when travelling South what you see on the left of the screen is on the right of the vehicle. If you are ok with this fine but some find it counter intuitive & there seems to be no option to change to head(ing) up display. The display is set at 500 mtrs. To change scale parameters requires much fiddling with menus,the operating manual and considerable time. As a navigation aid its takes so long to set up for a journey that its quicker to stop & ask for directions!! Most mobile phone Navigation apps outperform the built in system. Radio Well it's ok but to change station: scroll, tap, fiddle, fiddle,tap, ooops tapped in the wrong place on the screen, scroll,tap, BANG you v'e just hit the car in front because you were looking at the on screen menu and trying to tap the screen in the right place! Buttons can be turned or pressed without looking at a screen.Buttons would be much safer. Lane Assist Well we often have to move a little to the right to avoid potholes in the gutter.This seem to upset the system & cause warning beeps & messages on the dash. There is an option to turn this system off. I selected off so cant comment on its merits. Car Mode Too many acronyms in the menu.Normal,Sport (sport? its an estate) Off Road,Hill descent etc.Fiddly & time consuming to select the driving mode Once again the driver is fiddling about with a screen and menu. On a slushy muddy dark back road in winter the driver doesn't want to be fiddling about with menus. Bluetooth/Hands Free Mobile phones + driving = Dangerous distraction. Controls on the steering wheel introduce further distraction when inadvertently touched by initiating a voice demanding connection of phone etc. Further distracting messages appear on the infotainment screen and drivers display. Overall Impression Parts of the basic Octavia estate are is still there underneath but is principle attributes are undermined by poor engine performance. Low profile tyres cancel out some of the advantage of 4x4. Reliability seems fine but the gadgetry is no compensation for the loss of capability compared with earlier models. At the right price they are good cars but don't be blinded by the gadgets.

It's a good car, I like the performance, the space and the comfort. When the infotainment system starts it is good too. But when it doesn't, you can't listen to the radio, no apple carplay (or android auto), no parking sensors, you can't adjust your climate control, it beeps at you that the SOS call is unavailable, that your seatbelt is not tightened (even though it is), that the airbags don't work ... I took it to the garage 3 times and all they did was software update. It still keeps happening. I am really miserable with it. I'm looking into selling the car because it is a piece of crap. In the garage they say that they haven't been able to reproduce the fault. It did it once when I was picking the car up from the repair, so I called them to come and have a look at it. They said that they wouldn't be able to tell what's wrong anyway. So they're useless and they don't actually help. DO NOT BUY.

Any one had a problem with the engine cutting our when driving along

Stacks of space, high levels of equipment, good performance and economy. Comfort only marked down slightly as the sports suspension can be a bit bumpy on some roads. All this in a car that was half the price of the equivalent Audi.

Good quality, reliable car with very good performasnce, good comfort and space. Good original purchase price. Maintenance and repair costs a bit high.

The best car I have ever owned (I'm 74). It ticks all the boxes; everything seems just right

Engine lasts a long time. Very spacious with large boot.

Comfortable, fast, good performance, well equipped, economical, although the satnav is poor compared to TomTom. Navigation through the touch screen takes a lot of work and has to be done by passenger (or stopped). More gizmos that I need or use therefore more to go wrong. Would be better if some controls were switches which could be felt by touch, thereby not taking eyes off the road. good value - effectively a cheap Volkswagen

I love my Skoda Octavia, it still runs really well after 13 years use, it is an economical and a pleasant drive. I would recommend the car to anyone and when the time comes for me to replace it I will buy another.

The Skoda Octavia 1400 auto Estate, is spacious and reasonably easy to access, and load, and quite comfortable to drive, with plenty of performance speed and acceleration , with very good braking and vehicle control, in urgent situations. I would definitely recommend this vehicle model to any driver of 6ft height or with mobility restrictions.

I bought my Approved Used Octavia about 2 months ago so it's early days, however I have not been disappointed so far. I was looking a car with a larger boot than my previous car (Ford Focus) and an automatic as I spend a lot of time in traffic on the M25! The Octavia fits that small brief perfectly, the boot is huge. I was initially thinking of the Estate but the Hatchback was more than enough for me. The fit an finish of the Skoda is excellent especially in the higher spec Elegance model. It's clear to see the influence of VW as many parts seem to be lifted straight from either the Golf or Passat. However Skoda have added in lot's of really simple storage solutions throughout the car which really add benefit to the day to day experience. The DSG box works really well plus you have different driving modes to choose from, all work well however I tend to stick to ECO mode to save fuel. It's a very comfortable drive especially on the motorway, if you're looking for something to hustle along A-roads then this is probably not the car for you but in real world every day driving it is excellent. 60+ MPG is easily achievable without driving like at a snails pace (I suspect the manual version is even better on fuel economy). I had an issue with a faulty water pump two weeks into ownership which was disappointing however Skoda fixed under warranty. It appears to be a known fault so something to watch out for. Skoda service has been excellent so far, the service intervals are 2 years or 20000 miles and Skoda servicing costs look reasonable. The only thing holding this car back is the badge on the bonnet, if you need a so called "Premium" badge then you probably aren't reading this. If you have an open mind and an eye for a bargain then the Octavia is well worth a serious look.

The Octavian is a good sized famil hatchback with very large luggage carrying capacity. The 2ltr diesel is responsive and economic.

POSITIVE. Very reliable to run and reasonable service costs, plenty of room for passengers and luggage, and with the rear seats folded down I've even had room to transport a new full size American style fridge freezer. On a long journey using motorways I've had up to 59 miles per gallon. Acceleration is very positive having twin turbos and cruising speeds are quiet having 7 forward gears. NEGATIVE. It has been fitted with the fraudulent emissions software now awaiting rectification.

A spacious, well equipped car with a huge boot and excellent road manners. Performance is rapid but the VRS still offers 40+mpg on a run. Good handling for a big car and very reliable so far, this my 3rd VRS. My only criticism is the tyre noise.

This is my 2nd octavia wonderful car for the price positives unbeatable load space fantastic auto transmission smooth ride so reliable with about average service costs negatives seats could be more comfortable heater & air con could be better

I bought this Skoda as a used car in 2012 and apart from a replacement clutch and timing belt set the only problems have been with failed window mechanisms which have been simple to replace.. I am very satisfied with its performance,especially on motorways, and m.p.g. I have no plans to replace it in the foreseeable future.

I have had this vehicle for over 3 years and despite high milage it has never let me down

I have owned this vehicle for 3 years. During this time it has proven to be reliable, comfortable and economical. For those considering a Skoda I would recommend this car against Audi & Volkswagen as after all they are the same car, and would recommend this vehicle to any other person considering a similar vehicle from other manufacturers. The Skoda badge no longer carries the stigma previously associated as it has for a number of years now been part of the Volkswagen group and the improvement in all their vehicles has been advantageous to all motorists.

My Octavia Elegance is very well equipped and a pleasure to drive and own. A few things have gone wrong, but after 7 years of ownership I struggle to think of anything else I'd like to own.

I have found that the format of 5door hatch/sedan is very flexible for a young family, with plenty of space for 5 and all the stuff associated with children ( prams etc). And with the rear seat folded down can carry fairly large items securely .