Niche Market

Or this: Metallic paint (probably brilliant silver Moon White) Winter pack Virtual pedal Full matrix lights Rough road pack 17" Pulsar Aero black alloy wheels LED interior light pack HUD List price £38,655 / OTR £38,965

In the end the answer was obvious......

Apologies if this has been covered before, but I read in a lot of Golf reviews that the climate icons (+/- temperature) at the bottom of the central touch screen are difficult to see at night. How is it in the Octavia 4?

Agreed, the heated windscreen won't be coming off the options list. The PHEV I drive now is brilliant in this respect - no heated screen - but the heating can be operated remotely or on a timer (like most PHEVs), so the screen is clear when you get in the car.

Test drove a FWD SE L 150PS TD DSG estate and really liked it. The car was a '21 plate and had done 25K, but no sign of any rattles or creaks (and I can't say that for all the BM's I've had 🙄) I got to drive it on dual carriageway and a twisty lane I know well, so a good mixture of roads. Very smooth and quiet, engine excellent. Although on paper it has significantly less poke than the heavier 250PS Volvo V60CC mild hybrid petrol I also tested, it doesn't feel much slower in the real world. I thought the gearbox was much better in the Skoda, the Volvo was a bit Jekyll and Hyde in kick down. The Octavia is an easy car to thread down a windy road but rolls a bit more than I am used to, although I think the Rough Road Pack may have slightly stiffer springs (but offset by higher CoG). I'm only basing this on my recollection of the Mk 2 Scout we ran alongside a regular Mk 2 hatch for a while though. Overall I thought the Mk 4 is a lovely car and great value. This one had manual tailgate and no HUD, which has given me a bit of a pause for thought as per my previous post. Virtual cockpit might make the HUD a bit redundant 🤔

Thanks, you make a good point, it's impossible to predict the list price - I checked what HMRC say: 'The list price is the inclusive price published by the manufacturer, importer or distributor of the car if sold singly in a retail sale in the open market in the UK on the day before the date of the car’s first registration.' Electric tailgate I am a bit 'meh' about too. HUDs seem to divide opinion between those who have had them and those who have not - the latter think they're over-priced gadgets and the former don't want a car without one. On an Octavia, the Rough Road Package is a fair bit more than a 'metal tray under the engine': 'The package also significantly enhances the ability to cope with light terrain, thanks to the bespoke springs and shock absorbers. The Rough-Road Package consists of engine skid plate, cable protection, brake line protection, fuel line protection and additional plastic protective parts.' (https://www.skoda-auto.com/world/rough-road-package) Also includes 15mm extra ground clearance and an off-road driving mode. That all seems like good value if you need it/want it for £195. I have adaptive LEDs on my BMW and they are excellent, I don't want to go back to standard lights. Reading Skoda's claims for the Full Matrix LEDs, they sound even better, in the respect the BM lights don't make a great job of handling reflections from road signs, but Skoda specifically call out reducing dazzle from road signs as a capability. I don't care too much about depreciation since I intend to keep the car for a while, so probably it's better to have the spec I am happy with than miss out on too many options. So, I am going back and forth on this: Spec it how I want it <£40K and take the risk the list price changes De-spec some stuff to give a bit of headroom (and then end up dissatisfied with the car and/or could still incur the extra VED) Just forget about the supplemental VED altogether - I was after all looking originally at cars >£50K

SHMBO and I took a stroll past it again last night, it didn't get her vote 😂 So Brilliant Silver or Moon White I think...

So, I've looked at OBDEleven and I think based on that I will pass on the Travel Assist, I think the other options in he package might be a bit annoying. I've used Bimmercode before so shouldn't be too difficult, but I've got a Saphe Mini anyway so may be won't bother.

Also, it now seems you can get all the options on a Skoda, where as years ago those options seemed to be limited to Audi or VW but not available on Skoda or Seat. I guess that's a just the natural trickle down of tech.

To be fair my BMW does that, I think sometimes it will read a speed limit on a side road, not the road you're actually on. So you'll be driving on a main road at a 60 limit, you pass a turn that is a 40 limit, and it will display the 40, not keep to the 60.

OK thanks

I know you need to spec Travel Assist for full road sign recognition, but without that does the car still recognise and display speed limits?

So this morning I test drove a Volvo V60 Cross Country (petrol). Why's that relevant to a Skoda forum? Because I went straight from the Volvo dealer to a Skoda dealer and sat in an Octavia SE L. Honestly I don't think that the Skoda gives up much, if anything, in terms of perceived quality. Of course there's a lack of leather and wood bits, but then Volvo costs about £12-15K more (compared to SE-L 4x4). I think I might even prefer the microsuede seats to leather anyway.

Hmmm... just seen a Superb Estate in Energy Blue, looked quite smart.

Think, I think it's a similar story for most brands. I have been quoted similar lead times by 2 different Skoda dealers, and different lead times for different models (originally enquired about VRS 4x4 as well and both quoted same time - can't remember what it was, but was shorter than SE-L and both dealers gave the same lead time). At the end of the day not too bothered, other cars I am looking at are already on longer quoted lead-times, but also if you look at something like the Volvo V60 CC, there is very little in the way of options I would choose so might even be able to pick one up from dealer stock. Zero chance of finding an Octavia in my ideal spec, or even any 4x4 (unless VRS, which I don't want). The Octavia wins out on costs, but a car on my drive is worth two in the factory 🤣