Hi all

I am considering a new Octavia estate as a family car which will be driven mainly by my wife. I've looked through all the brochures, had test drives of 1.9 and 2.0 (140) diesel-engined cars with manual gearboxes and believe that the following spec would be most appropriate to us:

Elegance trim (plus a few bits and bobs, notably ESP)

2.0 (140) estate with a manual gearbox

Optional steel spare wheel

We would probably be doing about 12,000 to 15,000 miles annually which is a combination of an A-road commute, some local trips and the occasional longer motorway run. The intention is to keep this car for about 10 years or so.

Having not had a Skoda before, or any comparable VAG cars, I have some questions which I hope those with more experience may be able to help with:

i) Although the 2.0 doesn't appear to come with a DPF at the moment, if we order now is it likely to come with one? I'm concerned about the fuel economy aspect of this change plus any possible impact on engine longevity.

ii) Does anyone have experience of the 1.8T petrol engine and how it compares with the 2.0 diesel, particularly in terms of economy, reliability and longevity?

I'm thinking that given the relatively low annual mileage we do it might make more sense to have the (cheaper to buy) petrol engined car and not bother with a diesel at all.

iii) Can the touch-screen display for the radio (etc) be dimmed manually and does it dim when the lights are switched on? It seemed rather bright in the demonstrator.

iv) Are there any dealers that are particularly recommended for new car purchases? (We're in Essex)

v) Any there any other things we should be aware of / consider / avoid?

regards

P.

I'll do my best to answer:

1. At the moment the 140 diesel does not have a DPF unless you get the Scout model, can't see why this would change in the short term especially if you are ordering soon. Not aware of any performance/longevity issues cause of a DPF.

2. The 1.8 is supposed to be very good and quite economic although for your mileage and length of time keeping the car I'd probably go for diesel anyway.

3. I have the equivalent stereo in my Golf, it doesn't appear to dim with the lights but you can adjust the brightness manually in any case.

4. Can't help you here unfortunately but have you considered brokers such as Drive the Deal they are quoting £15,484 for a car to your specification.

5. I would probably add Metallic Paint, Maxidot, Light Assist and Xenons to your spec which would raise the above price to £16,421.

Hi.

I have just bought a 1.8tsi elegance estate. I test drove the 1.8 petrol, the 140 and 170 (VRS) diesels before making a decision. IMHO (and the wife concured), the petrol was quieter, smoother, better performance (or at least felt faster) and was generally much nicer to drive. The 170 vrs was a nice drive but 3k more and we found the vrs styling a bit too in your face (for us anyway) and didnt like the interior .

We found the 140 diesel particularly noisy and didnt like the way at low revs you put your foot down and nothing happened for a couple of seconds and then there was a surge of power that ripped your head of. The response on the petrol was instant and smooth. We also found the diesel needed reasonable revs pulling away to avoid stalling which got a bit tiresome in town.

I would recommend you test drive a 140 diesel and 1.8tsi back to back to compare and take them both on a variety of different roads.

We do 10,000 mile a year which means it would take 7 years to pay back the additional diesel purchase cost in fuel savings, but for us when shelling out 14-15k for a car we will live with for several years, having one we enjoy driving we considered more important, particularly as any cost comparisons are small.

This review concurs on the engine choice

New Skoda Octavia Estate Car Review - Driving & Performance - Parker's

suggest you check your spec on drive the deal and buy it there or get the dealer to match it as per previous reply.

I hope this is helpful and would be interested in anyone else's opinions on the 140 TDI v 1.8TSI engine choice

Jason

Hi.

I have just bought a 1.8tsi elegance estate. I test drove the 1.8 petrol, the 140 and 170 (VRS) diesels before making a decision. IMHO (and the wife concured), the petrol was quieter, smoother, better performance (or at least felt faster) and was generally much nicer to drive. The 170 vrs was a nice drive but 3k more and we found the vrs styling a bit too in your face (for us anyway) and didnt like the interior .

We found the 140 diesel particularly noisy and didnt like the way at low revs you put your foot down and nothing happened for a couple of seconds and then there was a surge of power that ripped your head of. The response on the petrol was instant and smooth. We also found the diesel needed reasonable revs pulling away to avoid stalling which got a bit tiresome in town.

I would recommend you test drive a 140 diesel and 1.8tsi back to back to compare and take them both on a variety of different roads.

We do 10,000 mile a year which means it would take 7 years to pay back the additional diesel purchase cost in fuel savings, but for us when shelling out 14-15k for a car we will live with for several years, having one we enjoy driving we considered more important, particularly as any cost comparisons are small.

This review concurs on the engine choice

New Skoda Octavia Estate Car Review - Driving & Performance - Parker's

suggest you check your spec on drive the deal and buy it there or get the dealer to match it as per previous reply.

I hope this is helpful and would be interested in anyone else's opinions on the 140 TDI v 1.8TSI engine choice

Jason

I would have to say the noise of the 2.0 PD 140 is actually about par with most other diesels of a similar class to be honest. The Ford unit in my friends 1.6 TDCi is ummm clattery as a bucket of nails at idle, partial load and giving it the beans! The PD140 on the other hand is quite nice when pressing on in comparison.

I guess it is horses for courses and what you are used to.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Jason - you've hit the nail on the head with respect to my thoughts on the 1.8T engine - I'll try to find one to try out.

Out of interest, what economy figures are you getting with this engine?

I'll have to look into the maxi-dot and the xenons some more. I must admit I'm not a big fan of the sharp cut-off on dipped beam which xenons give, not the additional costs if they fail.

Other views on my dilemma welcome

regards

P.

Edited 18 August, 200916 yr by Porker
Edited for typo

..........with respect to my thoughts on the 1.8T engine - I'll try to find one to try out..

Well, good luck to you cos I haven't been able to find a petrol demonstrator anywhere in the South East! :(

Have you tried Allams, one of the site sponsors?

Yep, they're actually my local dealer.....I'm only 10 minutes from them! Even James says there's no petrols around!

Have you also tried Marlborough (isleworth) Withams (Walton) etc? Someone must have one!

Station garage in ewhurst had both the 140 and 1.8T 3 weeks ago when i test drove both. Both cars face lift manual elegance estates. They also have a FL manual petrol VRS.

I dont know the economy as the car wont be delivered until october :rotz:

skoda figure is 40mpg.

Jason

Thanks for the tip. I've contacted them but unfortunately they've sold the 1.8TSi. However, the salesperson I spoke to (Colin - seemed very helpful) said they would look around to see if someone had one they could get in for us.

Will see how it goes.

regards

P.

In terms of mileage for comparison, (when you get a similar figure for the 1.8), I'm getting 38 to 40 for a 2.0TDi 4x4 around town and 48 to 55 on a long steady run. I doubt whether the 1.8T could get near that in real life so you may find the payback time is less than you think?

In terms of mileage for comparison, (when you get a similar figure for the 1.8), I'm getting 38 to 40 for a 2.0TDi 4x4 around town and 48 to 55 on a long steady run. I doubt whether the 1.8T could get near that in real life so you may find the payback time is less than you think?

Only if you do enough miles.

Parkers site has a petrol v derv comparison chart which shows when the extra for the derv cancels out (break even)

In terms of mileage for comparison, (when you get a similar figure for the 1.8), I'm getting 38 to 40 for a 2.0TDi 4x4 around town and 48 to 55 on a long steady run. I doubt whether the 1.8T could get near that in real life so you may find the payback time is less than you think?

That's a pretty impressive "urban" mpg figure, especially in such a hilly city as Sheffield; Skoda's figure is 35.3mpg for a manual 4x4 140PD estate. Not often you can beat the manufacturer's published figures

A manual 1.8TSI Elegance estate (the OP's choice) supposedly returns 29.4 mpg in the urban cycle and 50.4 mpg "extra urban" according to Skoda's data. Whether these reflect real-world figures is up for debate :D/

That's a pretty impressive "urban" mpg figure, especially in such a hilly city as Sheffield; Skoda's figure is 35.3mpg for a manual 4x4 140PD estate. Not often you can beat the manufacturer's published figures

Yep I was pretty impressed as well - It tends to get driven relatively gently though around town as there's not much point in doing anything else given the traffic levels.

Also I have a theory regarding the DPF that it has fitted - most diesels emit lots of smoke when driven hard and this is caught by the DPF. Also town driving is the worst for the DPF as it may not get time to regenerate - hence I tend to drive it gently to reduce any potential smoke production at source prior to the DPF to prevent problems!

I'm not sure whether the theory stacks up properly but I've had no DPF prblems yet in 20,000mls whereas other have...

As a comparison the Fabia we have (1.9TDi Estate with 120,000mls on the clock) has given an average of 47.7mpg over the last three tankfulls (measured brim-to-brim and logged in a book rather than via th trip computer) and most of that has been similar journeys - around town with the odd 40 mile run on the motorway.

Also the next-door-but-one neighbour has a facelift Octavia 1.9TDI estate that he reckons he's getting mid to high 40's out of on a regular basis and again that includes mostly town with e few journeys to the coast every now and then.

If you are keeping the car for 10 years you should also look carefully at servicing costs. The 1.8 TSI has a timing chain, whereas the 2.0 TDI has a timing belt which needs regular changes (IIRC the current recommendation is every 4 years, but VAG seem to keep changing their mind on what is the right frequency - anyway, it costs quite a bit to change).

I liked the 1.8 TSI engine when I test drove one, it is a real honey. I ended up buying a vRS (petrol) more because of the extra kit that came std on the vRS rather than the extra urge from the 2.0 TFSI engine.

As others have said, get a test drive and buy the one you enjoy the most.

Thanks to everyone who's replied. I'll let you know which way the decision goes once we've decided.

regards

P.

We have decided to go for the 1.8TFsi Elegance estate with metallic paint, ESP, Curtain Airbags, steel spare wheel, a plastic boot liner and the 4-spoke MFSW with Maxidot. I know we'll need to remove the flat floor assembly when using the boot liner.

I test drove a 1.8TFsi hatchback at Progress in Bedford and was convinced. They also offered me a very good deal on the car and the best trade-in value on my wife's BMW when compared to other deals on offer, which the Skoda is replacing.

Delivery should be in November, although this is to be confirmed this coming week.

Thanks to everyone on the forum who replied with their thoughts and experiences, which were very helpful in us reaching our final decision.

regards

P.

Nice, but needs more 'toys'.