c_balls

Are by chance THIS Julian Edgar? http://autospeed.com.au/cms/title_Skoda-Roomster-19-TDI/A_110186/article.html Either way, great review and reinforced my decision to buy the Roomster. Just a practical and fun little car. I was of the understanding that the front suspension was from the Polo though I may be wrong, if so perhaps Polo GTI brakes and struts fit. Will be watching your changes with keen interest, remap definately on the cards in the future for our Roomy as long as fuel economy under typical driving conditions does not suffer and does not result in significantly more soot out the tail.

Dealer seemingly fixed our passenger airbags rattle, for good fingers crossed. However am presently chasing a buzz / rattle eminating from the dome light area. May have to wait and see if it can be sorted at 30k service

Great statement to summarise this car, thanks. Its just a shame that the majority of people/drivers in Australia just dont 'get' it. A car can be a swiss army knife. Everyone thats come for a drive or had a sticky beak around the car and sat in it is impressed - just seems Skoda Aust does has not got its head around marketing it, and now it seems it will not be stocked at all. To add insult to injury, now the Dealer where I purchased it at which I had a good relationship with Sales and Service Staff has sold the Skoda Licence to a new dealer.

We have completed just over 22,000km in our Roomster TDI in Sydney, Australia and the car still continues to impress. We have a TDI, however the way Skoda specs things here I think it is a little different to Europe, we have the 1.9tdi with maxidot, stability control, reversing sensors, roof rails, cruise control, Dance radio/CD and 15in alloys with 195/55 tyres Overall have been super impressed, I had a very defined criteria for getting a new car and essentially was between Hyundai i30 CRDI, Holden (Opel/Vauxall) Astra CDTI and the Roomster TDI. Could only get the Astra 2nd hand so counted that out and drove both the i30 and Roomster. We had severe parking restrictions where we live right in the CBD of Sydney (car could be no longer than 4400mm max, and ideally 4200mm so you could still have access to boot/hatch) and after experiances in Europe and with parents living 100km away wanted a diesel. These were the only cars that fitted the bill, plus we needed room for all the gear associated with a new baby plus my cycling interest. The Roomster won out against the the arguments of my wife that the car was ugly, I argued that it was a better drive, safer, more space/room, I didnt need to buy roof racks to be able to take my bike/s with me (they fit inside with just one seat taken out and it was European as opposed to Korean. Dont get me wrong, I think the i30 is a good car (great engine gearbox, and good spec) but the interior feels flimsy and cheap and does not steer or ride anywhere near as well as the Roomster. In contrast I think the Roomster is a GREAT car. We have generally averaged about 5-5.5l/100km over this time with runs as good as 4.1l/100km and with a Sydney to Melbourne run with 4.6l/100km (sitting on between 110-120kmh). Considering is often takes 30-45mins to travel 10km I am pretty impressed. The awesome thing is the wife has grown to LOVE this car and constantly reinforces that the Roomster TDI was the right decision. Coming from a 306S16 I knew it would be slower and also sacrificing significant handling prowess. However in the real world once rolling in most cases the Roomster is potentially quicker and definately far more relaxed, a favourite bit of road (twisty) that felt made for the 306 is similarly great in the Roomster, but instead of sitting at 4000-5500rpm to make fas smooth progress the calm Roomy gets through it in 3rd with revs generally in the order of 1700-3000max (with occasional short shift to 4th). That for me is one of the great attributes of the car, smooth and relaxed effortless progress which for such a small car is remarkable. On the Freeway in 5th with cruise at 110-115kmh nothing stops it, just eats hills. Yes the 1.9tdi can be a little gruff, and unfortunately that fabulous surge from about 1500-3000rpm runs out all to soon, but the engine definately has character and the rubble nature of it has been a godsend to send our little boy to sleep on road trips, even he loves the Roomie. After 22,000km the front tyres have lost a little off the shoulders but otherwise seem remarkably wear free (Aus spec Bridgestone Turanza) and their performance has been pretty good, I expect with sufficient rotation we will easy get 40,000km. I guess it is not driven quite as 'enthusiatically' as the 306. My only little niggles are: - for some reason this cars attracts stone chips and chipped windscreen (already 1 cracked windscreen down) probably Murphys Law for getting a brand new car - there was a buzz coming from passenger airbag/glove box which was fixed under warranty, but have a slight occasional buzz coming from dome light area - there really should be a dome light in the rear passneger / lounge room area. No light here can make it a bit tricky getting the boy in his baby seat and finding all the buckles, straps and clips Sorry for such a long post, but just really wrapt in this little car, every drive is enjoyed and often take th long way home just cause we can and it uses so little fuel that it doesnt matter too much.

Thanks very much. Seems to be a lot of passion on here for Skodas of all types and for me specifically the Roomster. Unfortunately much of the public over here just dont 'get it'. but anyone that has seen, been driven or had a sticky beak around our car is super impressed if not convinced. The Roomster makes so much sense that it should not be fun...but it is.

Found this great forum through numerous Google searches and lack of a good Skoda Forum in Australia. Lots of great information here, much like a French Car Forum (aussiefrogs) we have in Australia when we had a 306 S16. Our family are now the proud owners of an ocean blue Roomster 1.9TDI and could not be happier.