+ 3 Love it love it love it!

+4

...but a little biased, obviously!

+4

...but a little biased, obviously!

+5 Here as my last 2 cars were the estate version

[Go for the estate mate. It's massive and so verstaile. It also has roof rails on it which are so handy. Great wee compartmentsin the boot also to hide your tools etc.

Trust me I've got them as taxi's and the estates wipe the floor with the hatchbacks..

Hope this helps..

i think estates are just more practical, and i deff need a estate as our dog weighs 13 stone,mind you our other one was 17 stone...

Bloody hell....what does he eat? Go on say it.......whatever he wants!

I love my estate. Managed to get a washing machine AND a fridge in there at the same time !

I have a hatch, but my vote goes for the Scout....

i think that they do look better than the hatchback however i do debate on how much extra room you really get compared to a hatch. In saying this though, Yes its worth it!

35 or whatever litres of extra s[ace does not portray the actual additional space u get in estate!! Esp when picking up people with loads of luggage ,getting stuff from Ikea or going to the tip!!!

Personally love the look of the estate and while buying was willing to pay extra to get Estate only..Roof rails Great so that u can put up a roof box or whatever u wish!!!

I think the Octavia hatch looks better and to be honest I've never struggled for space.

The boot on estate just gives more height to the space but to be honest I wouldn't ever load stuff higher than the top of the rear seats as it's dangerous in an accident.

Prefer the Superb estate though to the saloon / hatch.

I think the combi looks pretty smart, way better than an estate should look, but don't think it's better or worse than the hatchback, it's just different.

I went to look at a combi when I was choosing my 4th Octavia, so I was very familiar with the space on offer in the hatch. I didn't feel if felt significantly bigger enough to warrant the extra £1000, maybe if it was a few hundred quid it would be. I also took one of my bikes with me (I'm a keen cyclist), as they are easily the most awkward shaped items that I regularly load into my car. I didn't find it any easier to load the bike into the combi than into my own car (and my own car was parked right next to the combi), even the salesman agreed that for me at least, it didn't make sense.

I think the luggage cover being removable makes life easy if you're moving around bulky items all the time, not sure who, but there must be combi owners who do that?

So do what I did, do a real life simulation of what you plan to use the car for, you might save a few quid. I think I'd rather go hatch and add DSG for a few quid more.

Unless you want to look like a taxi go for the estate. Mine has variable boot floor and dog guard, so golden retriever fits in or alternatively if not carrying the dog there are numerous other permutations for load carrying. As others have mentioned, roof rails as standard makes it easy to add a roof box, bike rack or whatever.

Finally - and this is seriously snobby so I expect some flack - all the "prestige" brands e.g. Mercedes, BMW, Audi etc offer their mid size models as saloon or estate. Hatchbacks seem to be the preserve of small cars and the lesser brands - and I therefore think image suffers a bit as a consequence.

The hatch is better looking, but with the estate you can actually see where the hell you are going when reversing!

Yes

It's not just £1000 more, don't forget the VED the estate is one more tax band higher which is £30 more per year than the hatch. Not a lot you may say but it all adds up.

What is £30 these days.....

£2.50 a month, not even a pint of beer

It's not just £1000 more, don't forget the VED the estate is one more tax band higher which is £30 more per year than the hatch. Not a lot you may say but it all adds up.

For which engine? I pay £110 for mine, 1.9 TDI, and according to this the hatchback is £110 too.

Got a saloon as it wasn't worth paying £1000 for space I was never going to use. If you are on a regular basis, only then is it worth the cost.

For which engine? I pay £110 for mine, 1.9 TDI, and according to this the hatchback is £110 too.

It seems to be weird what VED band most of the Skoda's are in I used http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/summary.aspx?model=1437&page=3 & http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/summary.aspx?model=1276&page=3

I've had a Mk 1 Octavia hatch and have the estate now as this time I wanted the estate for the dog.(who likes being able to watch out the window as he goes along which the estate is good for) It's occasionally handy having the extra space such as loading up at Ikea but overall when I had the hatch I never felt like I needed more space as the hatch has such a massive boot compared to the Golf and similar.

John

Is there any difference between the hatch & the estate in terms of floor space or is it exactly the same?

Only ever owned an estate but isn't there an issue with rain water running into the boot on the hatch?

Never had any such issues with mine ... first I've heard about that.

Is there any difference between the hatch & the estate in terms of floor space or is it exactly the same?

Floor space is the same in both.

Floor space is the same in both.

Excellent. So a boot liner for an estate will be the same for a hatchback then?

Have always had hatches, but very recently had 2 loan cars while waiting for my new car to arrive & they were estates, 1 Octy vRS & 1 Fabia Mk2.

My personal opinion =

The load lip on both cars were shallower that the hatch, making access easier.

The false floor option for the Octy would probably be a worthwhile consideration.

The boot cover whilst a half decent design gets a bit of mixed feelings, The Octy was good & I felt happy to leave items ( not expensive ones ) in the boot confident that with the cover pulled over they would be as safe as can be expected. However the Fabia cover is an absolute mare, one corner pops open, & even making sure the cover is locked into place, it pops open at the 1st junction I come to a stop at. OK its probably an iffy locking mechanism, but it doesnt inspire any confidence in reliability.

The brochures quote the same load capacity for both hatch & estate with seats down, although the estate does appear to be larger.

If you have dogs or constantly carry loads that require easy access, then the estate is worth the extra.