havocUK

Kev - I did quite a bit of research, including on here, and the consensus seemed to be 35-40mpg average, which I could live with. I also made clear enquiries of the dealers as to what I could expect - once I'd pushed past the party-line official figures, they were saying late-30s, maybe 40+ driven gently. So all of my budgeting was based on 37mpg. I also had prior experience with VAG 2.0T engines delivering close-ish to official figures - as I've said above if you bothered to read the posts. ...so, even allowing for the engine needing running-in, when the first tank returned 28mpg (nearly 40% off official figures and 25% off my expectations) I took a very sharp intake of breath! It's entirely possible that I've got a Friday-afternoon engine, and that my experience is atypical - but what are my chances of getting anyone at a dealership or Skoda UK to listen / investigate? It's also possible but unlikely that it'll improve by 10mpg as it loosens-up, but I can't take a £50+ per month risk on that, and I've only got this week to return the car. And today I did just that - sent the cancellation form to VWFS. Disappointing all-round... Final thought - the last two posts above are showing early-40s mpg on a speed-limit motorway run, which is supposed to deliver >50mpg officially. So even a run-in engine is still c.20% off the official mpg. So maybe my car is pretty typical - 20% off the official figures when driven like a saint, quite a bit more in mixed, "typical" driving...

Yeah - it's paid off and I didn't need to sell it to fund the vRS as the vRS was a lease not a cash purchase. I do like the vRS...it's just going to end up too expensive for me for what I want from it. May well get one in a few years time when they're run-in and cheaper...

I've already spoke to VWFS - they've clearly said no issue with returning it and cancelling agreement, nothing to pay them or the dealership either. So unless they're lying (no reason to), it seems to be straightforward under contract hire. mileage - probably 15-16k a year here too. Your difference is about £700 a year / £60 a month, mine would be ~£40-50 a month between where I am now and where I'd expected to be / led to believe by salesmen. But I'd already stretched myself to get the car, and an extra £1k+ over 2 years, along with pretty poor ride quality on the 19"s, just means the numbers don't add-up anymore. (If this was the car I'd always promised myself, I'd find a way to make them add-up, but it's not - it seemed the best compromise if I had to sacrifice the Civic, which I utterly adore and, without wanting to sound rude, the Civic really shows where VAG are failing to deliver in terms of drivers' cars*. I can see a couple of quick wins with the Octavia though - smaller, lighter wheels, proper sports exhaust and no sound-actor, geometry adjustment, new wingmirrors to eliminate the annoying wind noise at speed) * Yes, I need a go in a GTi Clubsport. But that appears to be the only exception.

Appreciate the wheel swap options, but it's a contract hire car so no can do. Anyway, I've decided - I'm rejecting the car back to VWFS within my 5 day window. Shame, as it's a nice all-rounder, but I'm currently getting better mpg and similar ride quality from a more engaging car* which is paid off and will suffer less depreciation - so the reasons for getting the vRS have just disappeared. I'm sure the engine will loosen-up and mpg will improve, but the most it's going to get to from 28 is ~35, which is ~10% better than the Civic and therefore hardly worth bothering with, given the cost of the lease to start with. Really shocked with VAG's gaming of the economy figures with the current generation though - was talking to the nice lady at VWFS and pointed out my Civic is bang-on the official combined mpg, that our old Mk5 GTi was within 10% of official figures, and that Becs' current Golf-R, on mainly town runs, is ~15+% off the Urban figure. So how the vRS can be close to 40% off right now, and almost certainly >20% off even when run-in - makes a joke of the whole thing and makes buying a new car a lottery - talking to my Honda dealer their nat-asp petrols are still pretty close, but anything with a turbo HAS to game the system to get a decent CO2 rating... * OK, less toys and no warranty, I know...

We didn't fit the floor tethers, ours had an extending leg which locked at the right length, and then was ISOFIX'd into the back seat with an anti-rotation hoop pressing against the rear seat-back.

Markos - I got this car because I wanted more economy but still in a car that revs - everything I read suggested the vRS petrol should get 35-40 average from combined use, which would be enough of a step up over the Civic to be worth the swap. Gerry, The vRS is no more powerful than my Civic (FD2 import saloon - 222bhp official, typically late-230s actual - hell of an engine and in that regard a very difficult act to follow), and the Skoda weighs ~50-100kg more, so thicker mid-range aside the performance is pretty similar / familiar. Your comment about 'revving it out' is bang-on though - but that's my driving style - I like revs, hence why I didn't get a diesel. If I'm going to have to drive this like a diesel to get the economy then it's going back and I'll get a 330d. (I'm not using full-rpm yet as it's still running in, but I'll tend to (traction permitting) accelerate quickly to my desired speed then carry momentum - I'm not a tailgater / jerky driver so can usually avoid much braking/accelerating except at junctions) I've tried a few different styles - 'enjoying' the car but giving respect to the bedding-in and I saw <27mpg / driving around country lanes like Miss Daisy I saw 34mpg. That's genuinely worse than the Civic, and completely throws out of the window one of the main reasons for buying the car. (I know official mpg figures are now a game, but the Civic's official are 31mpg combined / 40.4mpg M-way - I can easily achieve the first without being overly sedate, and if I restrict my speed to 70 I can easily get 35+ on the second measure. Octavia is 44.8 combined / 52.4 M-way, so right now I'm >35% adrift, which is ridiculous.)

I've just taken delivery of a vRS230 manual, and from my first tank of typical driving (commute 4 days, couple of short town runs) I got 28mpg. ...which I'm a little shocked by - I figured I'd get mid-30's from the car easily given the comments on here and the 'official' :cough: mpg figures. I know the engine is likely to loosen up over time, but I'm wondering:- - what mpg improvement did new owners (220 or 230) see as their engine 'bedded in'? - after how many miles did it become apparent? 1k or 10k? - for those getting high mpg, how much time do you spend at what I'd call 'high-ish motorway cruising speeds' - stuff beginning with 8? (Because that's what seems to be killing it - whenever you try and adopt anything near an autobahn cruise the economy drops into the 20s, and whenever you open the throttle up it turns into Ollie Reed. Drive it lower in the rev range at lower speeds and it'll return good mpg...but what's the point of a 230bhp hot hatch then???) I bought the car as I wanted something a little more economical than my (32mpg driven how I want to) Civic Type R and a little more comfortable*, and I'm a little nervous right now. Thanks all, Martin. * Those 19" Extreme's have got to go! :(

Winters - evo have done a winter tyre test the last few years - google should be your friend there. Short version - Conti Wintersport TS830P / TS850 tend to come top. Goodyear's latest winter tyre also scores very highly, Michelin's Alpin A5 is also much improved (A3 only rated mid-table - can't remember on A4 - maybe that was the improved one). Mid-tier brands - Nokian as above seem a good all-rounder and rate well in owners' reviews, Vredestein's Wintrac and Snowtrac do pretty well also. (I've experience of TS830P's - excellent and pretty good in 'just wet' conditions, TS830's (less 'sporting' but great on the snow/ice) and Snowtrac-3's (playful, great on snow/ice)) Cost-saving tip - see if you can find some 17"s which fit over the brakes (steelies?) - winter rubber is pretty pricey even in normal sizes, let alone on 19"s!

Non-ISOFIX is absolutely fine if you very rarely need to move the car seat, so Group-1 onwards really. ISOFIX bases for Group-0 are even more convenient. I'd also agree that rear-facing is far safer than front facing - we had J in a Gp-1 rear facer in the main family car until his legs got too long (~2y.o. or so, from memory). With regard to "basic tests" - I've had some good chats with someone who tests these things (hence why we kept J rear facing for longer), and she wouldn't touch some of the cheaper brands with someone else's bargepole... I do agree regarding pushchairs / prams / "systems" though - there's absolutely no need to spend hundreds of pounds on this stuff - half of it is branding aimed at the middle classes...

That applies to all of the MQB platform cars - you need either a people carrier or D-segment car to get that sort of width with modern Gp-0 / Gp-1 child seats - they've been made a lot safer, sure, but they're now wider than a 90th percentile adult in most cases. Ball ache for a lot of parents who don't want a tank or a bus just because they start a family...

That's well over a month better than me - ordered end-April, car wasn't built until end-Aug so I've 2-3 weeks to wait yet... ...who should I blame???

Really? I think (with a lot of respect - you've clearly stood up to them despite everything they've tried) that you've listened too much to their specious reasoning here... You purchased the car - the clutch is your part. You paid for a replacement - the replacement is your part. EAG's position in this was supply and fit of the new part, AND unless otherwise guided to deal with the disposal of the old part. At no point in that transaction did EAG obtain title to the old part. I can't think of ANY circumstances...except for a granted warranty claim (!) where the dealer has a right to retain the part. As for charging to hand it over - it costs them 60 seconds of their time to do so, and you've saved them scrap disposal costs. Anyway, arbitrary now - a good result (finally)! I would be tempted to go for a bit more publicity here - you've had no goodwill gesture or compensation from them, so you are in effect down dozens of hours of your own time, plus stress and aggravation. And as you say, anything to bring this out into the open more and dissuade them from putting someone else through the same trial.

It seems to be VAG - wife's Mk5 and Mk7 Golfs had/have similar, as well as with wheels, while I've never had any wheel or cap corrosion issues with multiple Hondas (which isn't a premium brand either). ...which tallies with my experiences in the industry - VAG take suppliers and squeeze them until they squeak, then keep squeezing. Jap manufacturers (well, Toyota/Honda) seem to understand the Tier-1's actually need to make a profit to survive, but send in people to ensure / improve efficiency and then take a lot of the benefit (not a bad method, actually). US manufacturers (inc. Ford and Jag) are just aggressive but historically haven't been as professional so ways to get around them / make a profit, esp. on change management. BMW are very methodical - "THIS is the costing method we accept, either you make it work for you or you don't". Which makes it very hard to put one past them but also very straightforward to justify genuine costs. Shame, as VAG are actually making some very good cars at the moment...just not sure I'd want one outside of warranty...

Looks like someone (AutoBild I hope) has tried to graft the old E-Class lights onto the Octavia. Unredeemably awful...only positive is that anyone with a pre-facelift car will see improved residuals!

This deserves airing in the press - it's the one thing big corporates actually fear. And if it's out there, it becomes a public precedent to refer to for the next poor sod who finds himself in your shoes. If you keep it quiet then Skoda can ignore it for the next chap, who will then have to do everything you've done... Oh - £15 to get your OWN worn part back?!? You've GOT to be kidding me!!! Finally - EAG - definitely raise a claim against them - hopefully it'll ding their credit score...