John2022

I intended to buy a Scala 1.1 in SE trim, until I randomly test drove a1.5 demonstrator. I liked that engine very much and that is what I bought! It is smooth and lots of torque, I don't drive like an idiot and the thing gives me over 53mpg on a decent trip at road speed and 30ish in stop start urban. The only way to decide which version to buy is to drive both if you can. I have never driven the 1.1 TSI engine so I can't comment on that, except to say that there aren't many (any?) complaints about it on here. My previous car had a Peugeot 3 cylinder 1 litre engine, which is well regarded and the turbo gave it plenty of go for motorway but I found gear changing in urban motoring a pain. My Scala is a manual box and that's fine. My only 'whinge' is that the 1,5 engine is so smooth that sometimes I don't realise what gear I am in, until I try to accelerate from 10mph in 6th that is!!!!! I like to drive intuitively without looking at the dials (except for speed) and the lack of noise and vibration sometimes catches me out. I call this version of the Scala a 3rd gear car, bung it in third and you can drive between 10 to 50 almost anywhere without changing gear😀

Well I would not accept the 'it might get better with time' reply. That is absolute Bull ****! The transition between two and four cylinder operation should be barely perceptible, it will not alter with time until the mechanism develops serious wear. However I suspect the Scala suspension system is finely tuned so if there is a fault in the front it is feasible, I think, that the changed engine vibration pattern between four and two cylinder mode could cause a problem.

March delivery to you then🤞

First update I had was notification that it was built! Took six months after order.

Same waiting time as mine then.

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy your Scala as much as I do mine.

Good news - that will get sorted then. On mine the 2/4 cylinder change over is very smooth and not at all noticeable. The change over happens at speeds as low as 50km/h if the car is just drifting along - assuming it happens when the 'ECO' symbol appears. Be interested to hear what caused the problem.

That’s odd. Mine is quite smooth except for one short section of road. The road surface is badly weathered concrete slabs with the larger stones showing. The slabs are also fractured, basically it’s worn out and should be repaired. I drove over it at 20mph and the car shuddered and vibrated like crazy. Fortunately the section is only a few hundred yards long. My suspicion is that your problem may be related to the road surface and particular tyres.

Does this occur on just one particular section of high speed road or over all of it?

Well it isn't on my 1.5TSI. The car was delivered just before Christmas and I have driven it on all types of roads and up to 112K/hour on motorways. It is very smooth, even on our terrible rural roads. Running on 16 inch wheels and ordinary summer tyres. Hope you can get it sorted out John

Just completed 200 miles with the car so far, with the last journey of 180 miles return on motorways, A and B roads. The fuel consumption (driven at traffic speed) is shown as 57mpg. Impressive stuff!

Yes it is. I can think of number of possible reasons: a) Mapping the engine to comply with EU emission/ fuel consumption stuff for towing or not. b) Cost saving by fleet buyers whose costumers will not want to tow. c) Cost cutting by dealers in order to offer the customer 'cost savings'. d) VAG group differentiation between brands. e) something else! Either way mine is OK, perhaps because I paid the listed price and didn't haggle.

Thank you. No but I will tomorrow when the outside temperature rises above 0C. Oh and it is plated for towing.

Well I collected the Scala yesterday and have managed to do all of 35 mile or so in it since. So far I have been more than pleased, very happy in fact. This weekend we have a 150 mile return trip to do so that will be interesting. Today we managed to ram a 7ft Christmas tree into the car and drive home a few miles; it’s a good job I bought rubber mats for it! The last thing I did yesterday was to have a quick look under the bonnet but unfortunately did not close it fully, and one side was not completely down. This morning the car started fine but when I tried to use the windscreen wipers nothing happened. Lots of swearing and ten minutes later the manual came out. In small letters at the end of the section on wipers it told me that if the bonnet was open then the front wipers were inhibited…… A push down at the offending corner and everything worked. If there was a warning message then it wasn’t obvious, unlike the pointless message, when the ignition is turned off, to take my mobile phone out of the car.

A photo of the Scala, it was too cold and windy to take any more!

It’s a 1.5 Manual box in SE trim. Only options were metallic paint and a reversible boot mat. Just driven it home - It’s good! Regards John

Collect my Scala, ordered in July 2022 today, Hope the snow doesn't come back!

Ah thank you for clarifying that.

That's interesting. it's not surprising the EV registrations are lagging I suppose. I did look at that option but just couldn't see how the finances added up, not to mention the grief of recharging the things during a long journey....

Well Skoda obviously needs money. The dealer has just called me to say the Scala has been delivered to them. Apparently within twenty hours of leaving the factory it was at the dock in Germany where they had extra ships lined up to take cars to the UK. Once unloaded, they had a fleet of transporters to get the things to dealers so the end of year financial deadline could be met. End result I pick it up next week.

I ordered my 1.5TSI manual late July this year and did not hear anything until last week when an email from Skoda told me the thing was built and had left the factory. I expect that yours will be completed about Christmas time or January. The dealer was quite honest about the delays and, at the time of signing the order contract, said that delivery to me would be in late January. So far then they are keeping to, or are slightly ahead of, the schedule. John

Thanks Mike. I am assuming four weeks from now so I think that collection will be in early January, which is a good thing in that it gets the Christmas palaver out of the way! It might come into Sheerness, but I guess it just depends upon shipping timetables. At the moment the local roads between Sheerness and Medway (or the rest of the world come to that) are in somewhat of a disarray due to clever planning by the highways people. However, the car does exist and it's on the way!!!!!!

Blimey! A communication from Skoda - 'Our expert technicians have completed the final checks on your new ŠKODA SCALA. It has now rolled off the production line, ready to begin its journey to you.' So how long will it take to travel across Europe and finally be ready for me to drive? 😀

Well regarding the towing and plating I will wait and see. It was an idea but I'm really not that bothered about it. Rationally I have been driving for very nearly fifty years and the lack of a towbar has never caused me any hassle, so I expect that I can manage the remaining few remaining for me😃 Regarding the MY issue, I think the approach is to 'not count my Skoda until it's been hatched'! I'll wait until an email appears from Skoda saying that the thing has actually entered manufacture, rather than it's on the list. Regards john.