With the benefit of experience is a CR vRS TDi a good family car?

[Sonic_Vrs]

Well?

Very tempeted at the moment. But it needs to be baby/child friendly.

I'd have the estate with a few toys desperately still trying to keep a sporty theme..

[Karlos69]

My mate has one (the estate version).He bought it specifically to replace his Golf so he could carry his army of hounds around along with his baby daughter. He's got another baby on the way and will still be keeping the car as it's so roomy and is relatively inexpensive to run, without sacrificing performance too much.

[soapywalrus]

A definite yes - the criteria for a family car being practicality and carrying space, it has the lot, especially in the estate version. And it still packs a bit of punch and doesn't look like an old man's car.

When I bought the PD vRS a couple of months ago (hatch) I did it specifically thinking that I would keep it for the next 4-5 years, and that it would be perfect sporty saloon for ferrying a baby in.

A definite yes.

[SCVRS]

Well?

Very tempeted at the moment. But it needs to be baby/child friendly.

I'd have the estate with a few toys desperately still trying to keep a sporty theme..

Don't know about the CR tdi but my PD tdi is brilliant with my 6 month old son and he has LOADS of stuff to take around with him! Buggys, Toys, Changing bag and travel cot all fit in the car at the same time without a problem.

Mine is a hatchback.

HTH

[Brimma]

A resounding YES !

Bags of room in the estate for rear seat passengers and luggage.

Having had a 140PD Touran before this, it's like going back to petrol. The sound (or lack of it) is incredible for a diesel, and the torque seems to there right through the rev range.

Mine's only 2 months old, 1000 miles, but it's already recording high 40's/early 50's on a run, so I'm more than happy with the economy.

Performance is there in abundance for overtaking, and using it doesn't seem to harm the economy too much, if you are sensible.

The icing on the cake for me was having the DSG box - 1st automatic I've ever owned, and it's a doddle to drive. Thought it might take me a while to get used to it, but it hasn't. It does have a degree of creep if left in drive, which I don't find to be a bad thing, as it will hold itself on reasonable slopes without worrying about rolling back. The ability to switch into manual is something I've only recently experimented with, but early signs are favourable.

Haven't driven a 170PD VRS, but having had the CR I don't think I'd want to.

Feel free to PM me me with any particular queries, and I'll be happy to assist.

[GriffoVRS]

I think that you will get a lot of positives from a Skoda site, but they are not wrong

Excellent car, practical but with a good turn of speed/economy. Very pleased with my PD vRS.

Note that the boot on the estate is not any bigger than the hatch unless you load it above the seat-line.

[Jules59]

I have an estate. I bought it because the boot was SO much bigger than a BMW 3 touring. Only the mondeo (previos model) was bigger but was not as fun to drive IMO.

Its taken huge amounts of SCUBA kit all over the UK for me with ease.

Ive never regretted not having the BMer. Plus the difference in price went towards the mortgage.

[Guest]

For me it is the perfect family car for under £20k and in fact you can get them for under £16k now so very much a bargain too.

Unless you particularly want an estate I wouldn't bother as you don't get that much more space. I've got a little girl who is almost 2 and I've only had vRS's since having her and we've always managed to get everything in the boot and we do a lot of weekend visiting.

The CR TDI is a good engine although not as quick as the TFSI in the petrol vRS but the economy makes up for it. I average 38mpg and I've only done 2,500 miles so it's still running in.

You'll get the odd creak and rattle but if you can put up with that then you'll find little to fault in the vRS.

[Paul007]

I'd agree with Jonno. Mine's yet to do 2k miles and it's a hatch but the CR is excellent. Had a PD 140 before and the difference in "noise" is remarkable. The DSG is good too and comes a close second to BMW's M3 SMG but that can't accommodate a little one (or two) and pram and nappies and....

[Pinty]

I'm delighted with mine. Enough room for children, dogs, luggage but will still give you strong performance and 45 mpg! Would recommend to anyone that needs a load lugger and if you are not precious about the badge, then it makes difficult to see why you would spend the extra for an A4 Avant!?!?!

[Tomo1971]

I voted yes and as others have said its a good family car, in estate or hatch variants.

A couple of things to consider though.

A/ The seats are half leather/half alacantra and not the easiest to keep spotless, depending on the age of the children then consider covers for the whole of the rear sears or some Sunshine Kids seat protectors to stop the car seats making an imprint on the seats. The later also is big enough to cover the non leather bits of the seats and helping to stop anything getting too dirty.

B/ As with many cars in this class, and dependant on number of kids and type/size of car seats its hard to get three seats in the back and even with 2 seats both using ISOFIX hard for an adult to sit between the 2 seats. To get a little extra room, we take one or both the seats (one is a booster) away from ISOFIX and use them with the seat belts.

C/ Hatch and Estate are both the same length, so you get no extra space in the estate other than the part over the load cover that is obviously higher than in the hatch.The space under the respective load covers is pretty much identical. Estate does have a 12v supply in there though.

For us its a perfect car, has satisfied my craving for something a little more sporty (have been driving MPV's and 4WD's for a few years now) yet been family friendly and economical too. Cheap(ish) to insure, cheap to service (shop round dealers) and cheap to tax (£145 for my PD, CR may be cheaper)

Enjoy.

Steve

[Guest]

Anyone going to own up to voting 'No' then?

[InexEng]

Totally yes from me.

I work away from home a bit, so as soon as I'm gone SWMBO and two boys (ages 1 & 4) "OWN IT" diching the C-Max straight away

The CR TDI is a good engine although not as quick as the TFSI in the petrol vRS but the economy makes up for it. I average 38mpg and I've only done 2,500 miles so it's still running in.

Jonno you should find it goes above 40mpg after running in

[Johnwg]

Owned an Octy VRS Estate and now have VRS Hatch. I have a large dog and a child, about as family friendly as you can get so a yes from me.

Alternatives, well there's an army of MPV's out there. My Dad has just got shot of his Touran, which was up to the family job and was as Sporty as one can get being in 'Sport' trim (went quite well once remapped and went round corners better than you'd expect given it's van like proportions), replaced it with a Passat Estate, must admit I like it a lot, bit more space than the Octavia so worth considering!

[gregozedobe]

If you are tossing up between hatch and wagon it is worth noting that rearwards vision is much better on the wagon. I love my wagon, heaps of space, good pace, fun to drive.

[Guest]

If you are tossing up between hatch and wagon it is worth noting that rearwards vision is much better on the wagon. I love my wagon, heaps of space, good pace, fun to drive.

More importantly, the forward vision is exactly the same

[InexEng]

If you are tossing up between hatch and wagon it is worth noting that rearwards vision is much better on the wagon.

Try telling that to a woman :rofl:

Edited 22 February, 2009 by inexeng
typo

[Paul007]

In my experience as an Observer for the IAM, women are better drivers than men. They sit and listen and take stuff in whereas men arrive with the notion that they are better drivers anyway. Some are just b****y minded. As for not looking out of the back, can't support that either.

[Guest]

In my experience as an Observer for the IAM, women are better drivers than men.

Name one women who has won the Formula 1 World Championship.

[InexEng]

Mine was just a flipping joke - lighten up PLEASE

Anyway I was refering to MY WIFE

for the record though I did have a TDi elegance MK1 octy estate for 2 years and my wife said it was "a little too big and long - for her to park" HER OPINION - NOT MINE

she loves the hatch (with sensors)

and I love both

P.S. - one of my all time rally heroines was Michelle Muton - bet you say who's that LOL

Edited 22 February, 2009 by inexeng
a PS

[Fitz323]

I think its the perfect all round car. I bought my PD vRS a couple of months ago and i'm over the moon with it. Got 3 kids and 2 dogs and it does everything you could want. the performance is still pretty impressive even with 5 adults in it. Loads of space in the boot for the dogs. looks great, goes great, great fuel economy....etc etc. i could go on.

[Nathanio]

I test drove a vRS PD several months ago and took the fiances parents out in it. Me and her dad was massively impressed with the speed and ride from the front.

However, SWMBO and my Mother in Law complianed of the harsh ride in the back and made them feel a little car sick.

I would suggest you try and get an extended test drive and take the family out in it to try out things like that

[Guest]

I've had no complaints so far from my little girl who's nearly 2. Although she was sick in the back once when we were on some country roads :(

[Nathanio]

I've had no complaints so far from my little girl who's nearly 2. Although she was sick in the back once when we were on some country roads :(

Alot of it is down to personal opinion on ride and I thought it was ok but made them feel queasy. She is strange one as we have hired two VW Vans (3m and 4m load length) and she felt sick in the 3 but fine in the (near identical) 4m!

I was just raising it as a concern so that he doesn't buy it and then find it makes his kids sick

[jlwah]

Well?

Very tempeted at the moment. But it needs to be baby/child friendly.

I'd have the estate with a few toys desperately still trying to keep a sporty theme..

I think they do make a sensible and quite sporty family car, however I'd also have a look at the new Seat Exeo as it will be available as a saloon or estate and has the same engines as Octavia but has a higher quality interior (from the old Audi A4 cabriolet).