30,000 miles and one year later

[Decron]

That's what we are up to (Well 29,768). It's been exactly a year since I picked it up with 6 miles on the clock.

So how has it gone? What have been the good points? What have been the bad points?

Overall, it's gone great. It's been the easiest year of car ownership I have ever had and probably one of the more frugal too. There have been no faults, not one (I did have a rattle in one of the seats once but it went away), my previous Fabia was on it's second DMF and clutch by now after having had a new wheel bearing, a bumper respray, all the door seals done and a few other bits too. It's just had it's third oil change/service, the costs have been excellent done through a local specialist.

There have been no issues with any of it (Apart from the IMPOSSIBLE position of the sidelight bulbs). The interior has survived 3 car boot sales, two family holidays, a vomiting baby and now a vomiting toddler, a new washing machine, a new fridge and a new coffee table (Not all at once of course). It's carried 5 adults with ease and comfort and it's pulled away from a VRS out of the tolls on the severn bridge

It gets better. The average fuel consumption for the whole year is 54.2mpg according to the clock which I have proved to be about 1.8mpg optimistic so it's really done over 52mpg as an average which I am impressed with. It's not fussy about what fuel it uses either I have just changed back to the OEM tyres which have done 18k (Had F1's fitted for 12k) and I fully expect to get another 5-7k out of these before I change (Been quoted £240 fitted for the new Falken 912's). The only other costs have been windscreen wipers @ £16 a set (x3) and a new wing mirror glass and ring for about £27 (Which has been the only negative experiance in my mind).

The "modifications" are subtile and worth every penny. The RARB is great and the tuning box is also fantastic (If you think I only paid £280 total for the pair) and as anyone can see from other threads and from what Tony has done to his it's ripe for these choice mods. It's never going to satisfy the ardent petrol head but thats what motorbikes and track cars are for

If anyone comes onto this forum looking for something to clinch the deal then this thread should be it. I will probably own this car for many years as it's pretty much every car you could want (Apart from the track car of course). Don't bother with a Fabia estate, it's poor value compared to this. Don't bother with your Renult Kangoo, it's bloated, slow and french. Don't bother with a Cmax either, it's boring to drive and massively overpriced in comparison.

This is about as good as it gets for the cash. Seriously.

Edited 7 October, 2008 by Decron
spellink

[StuartBell]

Well, my Roomster 2 1.9Tdi is one year and one week old - though I bought it in November '07 as a pre-reg with 7 miles on the clock. Mine goes in for its 10K service on Thursday, with around 10050 on the clock.

I haven't kept an overall log of mpg, but only rarely get less than 50mpg around town, and usually drive with the trip mpg showing on the display, and aim for 55mpg on 'journeys', almost always achieving it. Indicated 60mpg on rural runs is easily managed.

Faults? Only that flippin' door seal which you easily dislocate on getting out of the car and then trap in the door, distorting it, when you close the door. Simply needs a better fixing system.

Have also towed a folding camper for around 1500 miles, getting around an indicated 44-46mog towing. Was brilliant for all the camping clutter, plus 4 passengers. Took out the middle back seat, and put several squashy bags down the middle.

Stuart

Edited 9 October, 2008 by StuartBell

[Decron]

Well, my Roomster 2 1.9Tdi is one year and one week old - though I bought it in November '08 ......

You have just broken Time!

I was waiting for the LHC to do it!

[anonymouse]

Blinkin eck - that's some mileage.

But a damn good showing :thumbup:

[Broomster]

This is about as good as it gets for the cash. Seriously.

I am just entering "nearly new" Roomy ownership, so your post is very encouraging as I am also planning to keep my car till the doors fall off.

I agree with your last statement. I did a lot of research to find the right car. Well priced, well specced, safe, solid, can do just about anything, fit in my garage, manage 50mpg in the fast lane AND be decent to drive especially on long journeys. I even like the dealer I bought it from (Willis in South Ruislip).

I did seriously consider a Meriva which is about the closest rival on exterior size and the flat-folding seats are very clever but they look like upturned soap dishes and seem quite overpriced and underspecced by comparison (esp the 1.7Cdti). Not as nice to drive either and not as economical, plus if ever a car screamed "baby on board" this is the one. As those days are behind be I wanted something with a more ambiguous "activity/utility" image which the Roomy manages quite well.

Now if I could get my co. logo stencilled on the sun blinds I really would have a "dual purpose" vehicle

The odd thing is that all my male friends (including one professional designer) love the styling except for my Boxster driving lawyer mate, but then I reckon he is having a raging mid-life crisis! However the WAGs including mine are less convinced. So, do Skodas seem to appeal particularly to men and does this say something about my friend with the Boxster? :P

[bahnstormer vrs]

I did seriously consider a Meriva which is about the closest rival on exterior size and the flat-folding seats are very clever but they look like upturned soap dishes and seem quite overpriced and underspecced by comparison (esp the 1.7Cdti). Not as nice to drive either and not as economical, plus if ever a car screamed "baby on board" this is the one. As those days are behind be I wanted something with a more ambiguous "activity/utility" image which the Roomy manages quite well.

We considered the Meriva a few months ago when a replacement was required for our FIAT Doblo and we ruled it out for pretty much the same reasons.

The odd thing is that all my male friends (including one professional designer) love the styling except for my Boxster driving lawyer mate, but then I reckon he is having a raging mid-life crisis! However the WAGs including mine are less convinced. So, do Skodas seem to appeal particularly to men and does this say something about my friend with the Boxster? :P

Don't think so; our Roomster was bought as my wife's car (I've hardly driven it) she really likes it. Driving position and visibility is good, handling is nice (quite nifty IMHO ) and load space flexibility is great, needed for our dog.

She has received quite a few complimentary comment from various girl-friends in recent weeks.

PS> Boxster driving Lawyer? Philistine!

[Guest parsko]

I am just entering "nearly new" Roomy ownership, so your post is very encouraging as I am also planning to keep my car till the doors fall off.

I agree with your last statement. I did a lot of research to find the right car. Well priced, well specced, safe, solid, can do just about anything, fit in my garage, manage 50mpg in the fast lane AND be decent to drive especially on long journeys. I even like the dealer I bought it from (Willis in South Ruislip).

I did seriously consider a Meriva which is about the closest rival on exterior size and the flat-folding seats are very clever but they look like upturned soap dishes and seem quite overpriced and underspecced by comparison (esp the 1.7Cdti). Not as nice to drive either and not as economical, plus if ever a car screamed "baby on board" this is the one.

As those days are behind be I wanted something with a more ambiguous "activity/utility" image which the Roomy manages quite well.

Now if I could get my co. logo stencilled on the sun blinds I really would have a "dual purpose" vehicle

The odd thing is that all my male friends (including one professional designer) love the styling except for my Boxster driving lawyer mate, but then I reckon he is having a raging mid-life crisis! However the WAGs including mine are less convinced. So, do Skodas seem to appeal particularly to men and does this say something about my friend with the Boxster? :P

Ref the wag's just tell them you have always prefered awkward , quirky and functional to beautiful and useless. and wait for those comments to sink in!

[Stephen McVicar]

I'll back this up. A year & a bit as well as 21000 miles & I can say it is the best car I've had (it is number 7). It has been all over the UK, To France this year, Spain, Andorra & France via the passes of the Pyrennees all with a trailer tent on the year before. Replaced 2 front tyres, had the safety recall on the airbags done & a silly glove box light that would not turn off. That is it. It is comfy, tows the trailer well, lugs the mountain bikes & all the cr** the family needs. It looks funky & is a pleasure to drive whilst returning over 55mpg. Oh, & when all the 4x4 drivers are crying in their beer over the road tax going up, my little 1.4 Tdi has come DOWN!

[Broomster]

Ref the wag's just tell them you have always prefered awkward , quirky and functional to beautiful and useless. and wait for those comments to sink in!

I have to find an excuse to drop that into a pub conversation....

[Decron]

Update:

45,000 miles gone after a quiet winter work wise I have put 8k on it in the last 6 weeks, work is really picking up now and I estimate Ill be putting another 20k on it in the next 6 months so it will really be tested

The car is still....faultless. It's at an average of 52.3mpg (Would probably be higher if London wasn't such a pain to drive through) and it's running great!

BTW, it's a little more sprightly when you run it with the rear seats out which I have been doing for the last 3 weeks.

[vRSLen]

Nice write up Decron, and it does seem to serve you well. Long may it continue

[Vroomster1]

All very reassuring and Thanks Decron for the post - ours is coming up to 17k in about 18m without any significant issues so let's hope it stays that way!

[cvennall]

We're about to get a 40k service, and then there will be 3k on holiday in the few weeks after that.... car runs well, the reversing sensors have gone awol recently, but hopefully that will be fixed at the service, other than that nothing has gone wrong.... put fuel in and drive seems to be all we have to do. A recent weekend trip down south saw 600 mostly motorway miles in a weekend, 4 up at a sat-nav corrected 75 most of the way, and the car returned just under 50mpg. It needs a good valeting, a few paint chips sorting and I'm going to talk to the dealers about 1 of the alloys which has a small area of lasquer which has lifted to see if they will replace it under warranty. Mr Whippy doesn't sell any ice-creams, but does keep on rolling.....

[nigel45]

8 months and 10,000 miles of trouble free motoring. I really cannot fault this car as I haven't experienced a single problem!

Our 1.6 with tiptronic gearbox averages around 37mpg with lots of short journeys around town interspersed with motorway runs between the midlands and the west country. I tried the manual gearbox for 10 minutes around town but haven't bothered since - it stays in automatic mode. I use the average mpg facility all the time to try to model my driving style and it's great. Love the parking sensors too!

Plenty of storage/luggage space. Dog contained in the rear. Passengers all comment on the light and airy interior and comfortable ride front and back.

If only all the cars I ever owned had been like this.

[bluecar1]

i have a roomster 2 (may 07 registered) currently 68000 miles , no problems apart from a minor shunt

now passed the 60,000 warranty i will service it myself,

steady 70 on motorway averages about 54mpg, steady 60 on motorway averages about 60-62mpg

one thing i notice is supermarket diesel seems to give 4-6 mpg less than shell,bp,total fuels, i do a long regular run kent to birmingham so i notice these things when bored on motorway

just change the pollen filter (that was fun) thanks to others on here for pointing me in the right direction, in the passenger footwell, behind the glove box, right hand end slide the two clips into the middle and the filter pulls down, easy when you know how

my last car was a 2000 octavia 1.9tdi glx, at 8 years old 235,000 miles still on original clutch and exhaust!!!!

peter

[malagaoth]

note to self adjust driving style! I simple cannot maintain an average of over 50mpg in my Scout

[Calomax]

Our 1.6 with tiptronic gearbox averages around 37mpg with lots of short journeys around town interspersed with motorway runs between the midlands and the west country. I tried the manual gearbox for 10 minutes around town but haven't bothered since - it stays in automatic mode. I use the average mpg facility all the time to try to model my driving style and it's great. Love the parking sensors too!

Plenty of storage/luggage space. Dog contained in the rear. Passengers all comment on the light and airy interior and comfortable ride front and back.

If only all the cars I ever owned had been like this.

I am envious, Here in Guernsey it's all short journeys and, driven gently, our 1.6 tiptronic can just achieve 25mpg most of the time. Sunday morning when it was quiet, and I did a few runs one after the other, it reached 30mpg.Maybe paying 81p per litre and no road tax compensates.

We're taking it to France next week and it'll be interesting to see what it does towing our 800kg caravan.

I certainly agree with all your comments about the car. It must be the best I've ever had in 40 years.

[Decron]

Just hit 50,000 miles today on my way back from the Isle of Wight.

Same story. Other than a rattle devloping in one of the rear headrests and the the bit of trim covering the rear wiper motor coming loose it's still driving like new, giving me 50mpg plus. I now have a few scratches on the wheels from silly carparks, a few stone chips and a scratch on the filler cap from the isofix carseat but other than that it's looking good

It's only half way through it's second set of tyres and it hasn't needed ANY maintenence other than the servicing, a tail light bulb and a few sets of wiper blades. Even the pads and discs are still miles away from any serious wear which is impressive.

Might be making some interior changes soon too...

[Robjon]

Originally posted by Decron:

If anyone comes onto this forum looking for something to clinch the deal then this thread should be it. I will probably own this car for many years as it's pretty much every car you could want (Apart from the track car of course). Don't bother with a Fabia estate, it's poor value compared to this. Don't bother with your Renult Kangoo, it's bloated, slow and french. Don't bother with a Cmax either, it's boring to drive and massively overpriced in comparison.

This is about as good as it gets for the cash. Seriously.

Decron - your threads really did clinch the deal for me. I have a Schitroen Berlingo, which is also bloated, slow and French. I am looking forward to a new Scout 1.9TDI in September.

Edited 8 August, 2009 by Robjon

[Jonny5ive]

To echo those above our vRoomster Scout 1.9 is due it's 20k service now. No faults aside from foggy headlights!

Great for SWMBO and J5 Jr

As Decron has mentioned the subtle mods make it much more positive to drive.

[octimark]

Maybe this is a sign but i'm in the process of thinking about a roomster and from these reviews i'ts made me think about booking a test drive and doing a bit more research.

Thanks for the reviews. They are helpful.

[Skodaboy1983]

Decron - You have sold me a roomster mate, I've been thinking over the last few weeks/months about changing the fabia and after reading this review of your car I've decided that I'm going to get a Roomster Scout within the next 4-6 months, I was thinking about not touching the car apart from a tuning box, but I think I might go with the RARB and I think in black as well with tinted windows would be very subtle and keep it low key.

Cheers mate once again for the review

[Robjon]

I hope Decron is getting commission on all these sales

[FirstTimeSkoda]

Decron - the rear headrest rattle - both main headrests on the rear did this on my R3 after a couple of thousand miles - I fixed it myself by opening the headrest trim (at the back), angling the headrest to get to the offending plastic piece and putting in a bit of silicone sealant (I couldn't get the plastic piece to come out - it was easier to stick in place). 10min job.

[Decron]

I hope Decron is getting commission on all these sales

That would be nice