HotVRs

I also have hundreds of CD's (and no time to covert to MP3). The only good thing about a Prius I was made to drive for 8 months as a near-end of lease company car was that it had a 'jukebox' and it recorded every CD you played into a hard drive that you could then access. That made the process a lot easier. It's a great idea.

My wife had a habit of hitting kerbs (in her car, I don't even let her drive mine, from experience) but oddly she stopped doing it when I made her go to Kwik Fit and spend £80 of her own money replacing a tyre that had a damaged sidewall from her latest kerbing incident.

I'm assuming he doesn't plug it in? Otherwise he's get some miles just from the electricity. I don't know what the Mitsubishi PHEV does but most PHEV's now can do at least 30 miles without ever starting the engine (assuming non motorway) if you plug it in. None of them do the figures quoted, but on the European cycle, and using the plug-in capability they get crazy MPG figures, like 170+. The end result being about £100 a month more in the pocket of a company car driver than with a 2.0 TDi. The rules are absurd but we just have to work out our way of benefiting from them.

I've had 3 Octavia's (and two Fabia vRS's) some private, some company cars. I'm looking at the Kia Optima Sportwagon PHEV. Makes sense as a company car due to the low emissions and thus cheaper to run than Octavia 2.0TDi I have now. The spec list is huge and Skoda don't even make a hybrid, never mind a PHEV.I know the Superb is coming but it is too late, and it is too big for my hiking trips to the Lake District. Plus it is time for a change from Skoda. For a private car I'd adore a Dodge Challenger.

2.0 Tdi. Have had Goodyear Eagle F1's on the front for about 30,000 miles, down to average of 2.5 mm (left is at 2, the right at 3). Rears are at about 5mm after 59,000 miles. Never known tyres last so long on a car. Wouldn't mind but the Eagles are the worst tyres I've ever had and the lease company won't replace them just yet.

Mine (2004 Amundsen) can't say Manchester properly, says it as 'Manchister'. It's like an episode of East Enders. I once had a hand-me down Prius company car and that SatNac couldn't pronounce Dumbarton, said it as 'dumb arton'.

I've had 3 Octavia's, and never found noise much of an issue. Then again it probably depends what you are comparing it to, mine replaced a Fabia vRS which was nosier, and our other car (2007 Toyota Corolla Verso - (1 fault in 11 years)) is much noisier than the Octavia. Always found isolation of engine vibration through the steering column more of an issue than noise.

I always preferred the TDi PD's, the power delivery was more useful, the current CR seems really tepid in comparison.

Mine does this sometimes, when the rear lights have been switched on or off (separate lights in rear due to panoramic sunroof). Afterwards weird stuff happens such as one of front reading/map lights not coming on with the doors opening but works fine if switched on individually. I have to switch the lights on and off individually and they start working normally again. There's no logic to it that I can find.

I got the panoramic roof to stave off boredom for my children on long journeys. They like watching aircraft. I also like the airy feeling it gives. Just not the creaking when opening and the knocking it makes when open. An unexpected benefit is that I find the car cooler after being parked in the sun than the previous Octavia 3 I had without the sunroof.

I think the service instruction is the 'special grease'. Doesn't last, and you still get the fault randomly. I'm with Gregoir, not worth the hassle, which is a shame because the panoramic roof is a lovely thing. When it works.

Yes.... Mostly on warmer days or when it is parked in the sun. Had it doing it for 2 years on and off. It creaks when being opened. It went into a Skoda dealership (so far) 4 times. The most it was at the dealer was for 2 days so that a 'special grease' could be applied to the seals. The fault being explained that the seals are sticking together when it is closed. It worked for about 6 weeks and started creaking and groaning and generally sounding awful whenever opened. It has been back since for more grease and still does it. Mine is a company car and is being returned soon and I have given up on it. My advice, if you have the same fault, is to video it and go straight to SUK, who probably won't care, and then consumer groups, because it appears to be unfixable.

Dealers lose so much work by doing this. As soon as mine are out of warranty everything comes from Opie or the local car parts shop and I can do it in far less time than the entire day the dealer needs the car for. Brake pad and disc replacement prices are absurd for such an easy and quick job, especially on the front.

I've noticed this, and would much rather have the current road name than the driving mode showing. Is there a way of way of keeping the road name showing instead of driving mode?

That's why I am glad my Octavia goes off lease this December. It's currently in assessment for repair after some bellend drove into it, I am hoping it gets written off to be rid of it faster and get something with lower BIK.

It's for company car drivers. A PHEV has a BIK % of about 9 %, an Octavia 2.0 TDi is around 25% as is a 1.4 TSi. And those figures go up 3% every year. Currently any TDi or petrol is economic suicide for company car drivers and they are dumping them as fast as possible. The waiting lists for PHEV's are around 6 months long. Skoda really got to this party late.

This is plain weird for that level of wear. I have the original Dunlop SportMaxx on the rear of mine after 56,000 miles, and they are still on at least 5 mm. The fronts are Goodyear Eagle F1 assymetric's that were fitted 30,000 miles ago and are on 4mm. Never had tyre wear so little on any other car.

The Superb rides really well and is quieter than the Octavia, most journeys down urban roads require the use of an osteopath after driving down them in a vRS. Superb much easier to live with as a high mileage too (parking space issues aside).

I keep cars for years and service them myself once out of warranty. Last service kit I bought (for my Toyota with the 2.2 D4D) was 6 litres of Shell Helix (fully synthetic) and an oil filter - delivered by Opie to my door for £45. Add in the air and pollen filters, the air con cleaner aerosol and Bosch wiper blades all round and it was still just under £100.

Good to know they aren't all total **** then.

Have had 2 Octavia 3's, the auto-dipping (intelligent light assist or whatever Skoda call it) has been useless on both and I never use it. The auto wipers worked great until about 50,000 miles and now are pretty useless too. In auto, they either don't switch on, or stay in intermittent during heavy rain, then will go full speed in the dry. I have stopped using them too. Great cars on the whole for the money, but quality of the technology sucks, but that really seems to be a European car thing.

TPMS on my 2013 Octavia (on Golus 18's) was a PITA, would go off all the time, once did it three times in a around 100 miles on the same journey, thought I had a slow puncture, I didn't, no fault. The TPMS on my 2014 Octavia (standard 17's) has triggered a warning maybe once or twice in 3 years. Might just be my own anecdotal experience but it seems to have been reduced in sensitivity to prevent nuisance activation.

The Octavia is a bit noisy, I have a 2.0TDi estate on 17's and road/tyre noise is prominent. I had a 1.6TDi as a courtesy car and the engine noise at speed was noticeable worse at motorway speed than the 2.0 TDi. You get used to it but it's a shame they never made more of an effort with sound proofing, it seems to be one of the areas where they saved money compared to the Golf/Passat etc, they have to get that purchase down somehow I guess...

Indeed, I became one of those muppets you see who appear to not be able to drive in snow, the only way to get it up the local hills was in 2nd gear at 4000+ RPM. Very undignified,

MIne was terrible, embarassingly bad. Octy 3 with 3/4 worn Goodyear Eagle F1's. Barely made it up hills that other cars were driving up without much issue. Big contrast to my former Fabia MK1 vRS that I ran with winter tyres (and had the electronic LSD). That thing was like a snow plough, never had a problem, went almost anywhere. Would do same with current Octavia but it's a company car.