Money no object - Well thats a completely differen post to start

Priced an A4 quattro Estate to the same spec as our 4x4 and came to about £28,000

Paid £16,500 for my Octy 4x4 at 3 months old but even new would have only been £21,700... Not sure where the extra 6.5k went on the Audi.

Priced an A4 quattro Estate to the same spec as our 4x4 and came to about £28,000

Paid £16,500 for my Octy 4x4 at 3 months old but even new would have only been £21,700... Not sure where the extra 6.5k went on the Audi.

Yes Audi's are a bit overpriced. They definitely benefit from higher levels of engineering though. You only have to sit in an A4 then sit in an Octy to see that. Skoda's are fabulous value and a very cheap way to get into a well equipped VAG engineered car, I love them (have ordered a Fabia vRS estate) but would have to concede they are no Audi.

26k for an A1! That's rediculous! I've seen loads of A1's about recently so there's plenty of people buying them. The phrase "more money than sense" comes to mind.

My point was that the GT (not GTD) comes with cruise and TPM. Admittedly it only has the 140ps engine so I guess isnt exactly a direct comparison to the vRS CR.

However taking a vRS hatch 170 CR DSG adding metallic and the bits it doesnt have compared to a GTD, it still comes out at £23345 OTR and I believe you currently cannot get the VAT saving on it being a diesel. Yes it is usefully cheaper and bigger than a GTD but its still an expensive car and I personally (if money were no object) would not prefer a vRS over a GTD. With VAT removed it becomes a healthy competitor.

I will agree that all mainstream VAG group cars (Audi probably being the only exception) are not as well bolted together as they used to be. My MK6 GT has had to have a few bits of silly warranty work which has not impressed but all in all having looked at a new Octavia whilst they are admittedly well bolted togetehr the materials used in its build are generally not as good, particularly the interior. When I test drove the Fabia, both cars (60 plates with less than 4k on the clock) had their share of rattles, I cant imagine the Octy is that different. We'll probably have to agree to disagree there then.

My comparison was a GTD to a VRS with the same spec. £4580 difference. wow it doesn't come with MDI and auto lights...but it gets 18's, cruise, TPM, touch screen 6cd. You can't compare the GT to the VRS. As i said the interior quality is identical in the FL Octy and the Golf, i can't see how you are saying they aren't....im in both day in day out and the quality is the same. The Fabia is a different kettle of fish as is the Polo....again you can't compare a Fabia to a Golf. I haven't had a single rattle in mine besides my sunglasses in the holder which took me ages to figure out. I test drove the Fabia VRS the other week and it was the interior that let it down, the plastics are in a totally different league to the quality of the plastic in mine.

When i got mine i got it 'VAT' Free and with my extras the difference was £11k over the Golf. No brainer in my opinion and even at £5k the Golf isn't anything like £5k worth more car.

Priced an A4 quattro Estate to the same spec as our 4x4 and came to about £28,000

Paid £16,500 for my Octy 4x4 at 3 months old but even new would have only been £21,700... Not sure where the extra 6.5k went on the Audi.

The Octy isn't based on the A4! The Superb is a comparison for the A4!

My comparison was a GTD to a VRS with the same spec. £4580 difference. wow it doesn't come with MDI and auto lights...but it gets 18's, cruise, TPM, touch screen 6cd. You can't compare the GT to the VRS. As i said the interior quality is identical in the FL Octy and the Golf, i can't see how you are saying they aren't....im in both day in day out and the quality is the same. The Fabia is a different kettle of fish as is the Polo....again you can't compare a Fabia to a Golf. I haven't had a single rattle in mine besides my sunglasses in the holder which took me ages to figure out. I test drove the Fabia VRS the other week and it was the interior that let it down, the plastics are in a totally different league to the quality of the plastic in mine.

When i got mine i got it 'VAT' Free and with my extras the difference was £11k over the Golf. No brainer in my opinion and even at £5k the Golf isn't anything like £5k worth more car.

Yes financially with the VAT deal the Octy vRS represents fantastic value for money; I'm not denying that. It's a very good car and alot of metal; however at its RRP its then not a cheap car and not what I'd call great value for money. When you consider a Leon 2.0 TSi FR (with 10ps more) costs about 19.5k without discount it kind of puts things into perspective. It also comes with curtain airbags!

Sure the Golf GTD doesnt have some of the flashy toys and it is over priced but to drive, look at and sit in it all in all would wipe the floor with the Octy vRS CR. It's silly things like the body styling, wheels (certainly the 18" Charlston Shadows), steering wheel, seats, trim......all these things are fantasically classy and so much cooler than Skoda's efforts. In the same way the Polo GTi betters the Fabia vRS (which I've ordered incidentally...so am a Skoda fan) but no one I know of is mad enough to pay £20k for one. It gives you that feelgood premium car feeling that the Octy bless it just lacks in my opinion. I don't agree that the interior plastics are as good as a Golf's, i've had a good look round a brand new FL Octy and they simply are not.

I'm very money concious so if I had to chose between a Golf GTi and a 2.0 Tsi Octy vRS with my own money right now I would probably buy the vRS just to make a nice saving on the VAT deal. I'd be getting off on the fact that I have a 200bhp car and it only cost me £16.5K. If you asked me which is the better car and honesty which I'd rather have, it would be the GTi any day of the week. I just wouldnt pay £26-28K for one unless I came into some money.

If you can honestly tell me the Octy vRS is a better car than the Golf GTI/GTD then i'd respect that opinion but I'm not sure i'd wholly believe you

Yes financially with the VAT deal the Octy vRS represents fantastic value for money; I'm not denying that. It's a very good car and alot of metal; however at its RRP its then not a cheap car and not what I'd call great value for money. When you consider a Leon 2.0 TSi FR (with 10ps more) costs about 19.5k without discount it kind of puts things into perspective. It also comes with curtain airbags!

Sure the Golf GTD doesnt have some of the flashy toys and it is over priced but to drive, look at and sit in it all in all would wipe the floor with the Octy vRS CR. It's silly things like the body styling, wheels (certainly the 18" Charlston Shadows), steering wheel, seats, trim......all these things are fantasically classy and so much cooler than Skoda's efforts. In the same way the Polo GTi betters the Fabia vRS (which I've ordered incidentally...so am a Skoda fan) but no one I know of is mad enough to pay £20k for one. It gives you that feelgood premium car feeling that the Octy bless it just lacks in my opinion. I don't agree that the interior plastics are as good as a Golf's, i've had a good look round a brand new FL Octy and they simply are not.

I'm very money concious so if I had to chose between a Golf GTi and a 2.0 Tsi Octy vRS with my own money right now I would probably buy the vRS just to make a nice saving on the VAT deal. I'd be getting off on the fact that I have a 200bhp car and it only cost me £16.5K. If you asked me which is the better car and honesty which I'd rather have, it would be the GTi any day of the week. I just wouldnt pay £26-28K for one unless I came into some money.

If you can honestly tell me the Octy vRS is a better car than the Golf GTI/GTD then i'd respect that opinion but I'm not sure i'd wholly believe you

Didn't say better, i would say the same. The plastics are identical....go and have another look (same soft touch tactile plastic) . The seats in the Golf are dull compared to the VRS with the half leather and white alcantara affair....re the styling the 18inch wheels are an option, they are standard on the VRS. I also took a lengthy test drive in the GTD and GTI. The Leon you have quoted is a TSI?? We are talking about the diesels here price wise...the Leon FR CR DSG comes in at £22.5k and not sure what is and isn't standard (again 18's an option)...but then the interior in that is ghastly and no match for Skoda or VW. The Golf is simply stupidly overpriced which is further confirmed by the fact that you can get an A3 Sline 170DSG for £26k.

I would have the VRS any day of the week over the Golf...Looks a lot sportier and less like every other Golf on the road (I have had 4 VW's by the way so not 'VW-ist'). The VRS stands out from other Octavia's, the GTD/GTI doesn't apart from the optional alloys.

£23k rrp doesn't sound cheap but compare is with other makes - The hideous C4 is £23k rrp for a manual 150bhp diesel...

Edited 2 March, 201115 yr by jrw

i had the money in cash for either the golf, leon or vRS when i bought my octavia. I test drove all, th golf was the first one i omitted. Looked boring and to similar to other golfs. didnt like the tartan seats either.

I chose between the cupra or vRS in the end. Leon interior quality was diabolical. Really poor effort, and the way i saw it a remap on the vRS negated the power advantage of the cupra (didint know about the turbo differences atthe time, that might have swayed me).

But between me, my wife and my bro who tested them all, irrelevant of cost we all preferred the vRS and i still do to this day. The interior is definitely of equivalent quality as the GTI as well. ive driven enough of them to know that as well.

That and you can tell vRS is a vRS. MOst TDI golfs look like a GTI until you get close, same with the leos. Pretty much every 1.6TDI leon has the cupra or K1 body kit.

I will agree with you on the fabia Vs Polo interior though. there is definitely a lower grade interior in the fabia compared to the Polo. Id say the fabia and ibiza are of similar quality interiors

i had the money in cash for either the golf, leon or vRS when i bought my octavia. I test drove all, th golf was the first one i omitted. Looked boring and to similar to other golfs. didnt like the tartan seats either.

I chose between the cupra or vRS in the end. Leon interior quality was diabolical. Really poor effort, and the way i saw it a remap on the vRS negated the power advantage of the cupra (didint know about the turbo differences atthe time, that might have swayed me).

But between me, my wife and my bro who tested them all, irrelevant of cost we all preferred the vRS and i still do to this day. The interior is definitely of equivalent quality as the GTI as well. ive driven enough of them to know that as well.

That and you can tell vRS is a vRS. MOst TDI golfs look like a GTI until you get close, same with the leos. Pretty much every 1.6TDI leon has the cupra or K1 body kit.

I will agree with you on the fabia Vs Polo interior though. there is definitely a lower grade interior in the fabia compared to the Polo. Id say the fabia and ibiza are of similar quality interiors

The Leon interior is hideous isn't it?

I omitted that option without even going to the dealer! I already knew how horrible they were!

If you can honestly tell me the Octy vRS is a better car than the Golf GTI/GTD then i'd respect that opinion but I'm not sure i'd wholly believe you

I think it is. The Audi I had recently felt cheap inside whereas Skoda seemed to have had to make an effort to sell the brand and have used higher quality materials. Having said that, I've seen today what's planned for the Octy in 2013 and I'll not be having another unless they do something about it. Funnily enough given the choice and the cash, I'd have the new A3 four door with boot that's currently a concept but is more than likely to get built or the Polo GTi rather than the Fabia vRS as IMO, it just doesn't work.

shame because the exterior is lovely

of the Fabia I assume ? It's a flawed design. I don't disagree it goes like you know what but the previous design was much much better

Edited 2 March, 201115 yr by Paul007

that was ugly as well. Its a fabia thing lol

i really did want to love the fabia vrs it just felt plain an boring i went for a polo gti(didn't pay 22k ) its a much more thought though car

ignore the vat offer the fabia vrs speced up isnt any cheaper then my polo

the only way most will consider the fabia vrs is with the vat offer

ignore the vat offer the fabia vrs speced up isnt any cheaper then my polo

the only way most will consider the fabia vrs is with the vat offer

I seriously doubt it! Fully specced 'inc vat' price is just under £19k...thats with Black roof which i don't think you can get on the Polo. Depends what spec you have and how much it comes to but RRP wise the Polo will always be more.

The Octy isn't based on the A4! The Superb is a comparison for the A4!

Yes and no is the answer to that, the Audi A4 and VW Passat do use a larger more advanced platform than the Octavia. The Octavia is based on the Golf/Jetta/Audi A3 platform.

But the Superb no longer uses the Audi A4/VW Passat platform it uses a stretched version of the Octavia/Jetta platform so the suspension layouts on the Superb have more in common with the Octavia/Jetta than the A4/Passat.

Whether that was a cost saving measure not to use the more advanced platform for the Superb I dont know but the Superb doesn't feel any poorer for it.

Cheers

Lee

As far as I was aware the passat also uses the extended golf platform as both the octavia and superb use. The A4 uses a different platform all together which is shared with the A5 variants and the new upcoming A6. The engines in each platform are mounted differently hence why the passat and superb can't use the 3.0 TDI as its the wrong way for the platform one is longitudinal and the other transverse mounted. In terms of the A1 it does seem very expensive but no more so than the Mini and look how many people buy that :S.

As far as I was aware the passat also uses the extended golf platform as both the octavia and superb use. The A4 uses a different platform all together which is shared with the A5 variants and the new upcoming A6.

It does start getting really confusing as the new A4 did move to a new platform and the B6 Passat used a modified PQ46 platform "Golf" but with a revised rear section and totally different rear suspension layout. The Jetta/Octavia platform is also known as the A5 platform by VAG which has nothing to do with the Audi A5 which uses the Audi A4 platform which is known as the B6 Platform by VAG but has nothing to do with the B6 Passat. Confused???

Cheers

Lee

Edited 2 March, 201115 yr by logiclee

Didn't say better, i would say the same. The plastics are identical....go and have another look (same soft touch tactile plastic) . The seats in the Golf are dull compared to the VRS with the half leather and white alcantara affair....re the styling the 18inch wheels are an option, they are standard on the VRS. I also took a lengthy test drive in the GTD and GTI. The Leon you have quoted is a TSI?? We are talking about the diesels here price wise...the Leon FR CR DSG comes in at £22.5k and not sure what is and isn't standard (again 18's an option)...but then the interior in that is ghastly and no match for Skoda or VW. The Golf is simply stupidly overpriced which is further confirmed by the fact that you can get an A3 Sline 170DSG for £26k.

I would have the VRS any day of the week over the Golf...Looks a lot sportier and less like every other Golf on the road (I have had 4 VW's by the way so not 'VW-ist'). The VRS stands out from other Octavia's, the GTD/GTI doesn't apart from the optional alloys.

£23k rrp doesn't sound cheap but compare is with other makes - The hideous C4 is £23k rrp for a manual 150bhp diesel...

Hi JRW,

Good debate this :-)

Just my view but I'm sorry I dont agree that the interior on the Ocatvia is quite as nice as that of a MK6 Golf. It's very good and miles better than they Leon (even with the facelift its still pretty bad!) and the standard toy tally is great but it definitely does not have quite the same premium feel. A standard low-end Golf S/SE might be quite boring but if you sit in a GT with sports seats (particularly the Alcantara items in a GT) and leather MFSW or a Match with the Touchscreen HU they do feel more premium. It's a little bit like sitting in a Lexus after being in a Toyota, the fundamentals are similar but theres just something that puts the Lexus in front. Its the same comparing a MK6 Golf to a facelift A3, again the A3 has a nicer feel than the Golf.

On that note I completely agree with the Audi/VW price comparison, it is ridiculous. My Dad bought a brand new facelift (2011 model) A3 Sportback 1.4 TFSi Stop Start S-Line DSG last year, admittedly care of my brother (works in the motor trade) got a 10% discount on the car but it then only cost £19.5K. Thats a hell of a car for that money, also it wasnt entirely standard having had Bluetooth and Parking sensors added as options. At that discount if I could have afforded one I'd have chosen it over any Golf or Octavia.

I agree I confused the matter regarding CR & TSi choices, but I'd only be in the market for a petrol Skoda at the moment given they are the only variants with the VAT free offer.

I think ultimately what I'm trying to say is that the only reason I'd buy a Skoda at the moment is because of the fantasic discounts they are offering. I also think this is the only reason they are shifting so many cars. I'd much less likely consider one if the VAT deals were stopped and we were faced with paying RRP for one. Reason we've bought our Fabia vRS was purely economic; was the cheapest supermini estate we could find. Just happens to have 180hp! :-)

As I said i test drove the GTI and the GTD. The GTI was fully loaded with rear view cam etc. The only thing i would want from the Golf on my car is the flat bottomed wheel. Other than that the feel and quality are identical. My seats are also alcantara and leather!

You don't need to justify to us why you have a Golf!

I also think that the A3 interior is very dated now, afterall it is still near on the same as it was in 2003 at launch.

As I said i test drove the GTI and the GTD. The GTI was fully loaded with rear view cam etc. The only thing i would want from the Golf on my car is the flat bottomed wheel. Other than that the feel and quality are identical. My seats are also alcantara and leather!

You don't need to justify to us why you have a Golf!

I also think that the A3 interior is very dated now, afterall it is still near on the same as it was in 2003 at launch.

Each to their own JRW, respect your view fully and guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this RE the A3 interior yes it does without the latest and greatest ICE etc but the air of quality and fit and finish still betters VW and Skoda.

I am amused that someone has said the interior of the new A4 felt cheap, it betters every car in its class in this respect.

May have mentioned my Golf is a company car, had a limited choice of vehicles and this was the best one in my opinion. If I were buying something I would be interested in a Octy vRS CR or TSI Estate or maybe a Superb Elegance Estate but only with the VAT deal.

i really did want to love the fabia vrs it just felt plain an boring i went for a polo gti(didn't pay 22k ) its a much more thought though car

ignore the vat offer the fabia vrs speced up isnt any cheaper then my polo

the only way most will consider the fabia vrs is with the vat offer

Well thats not what AutoExpress think even without the VAT off

AE Polo GTI vs Fabia vRS vs Ibiza Cupra

Each to their own JRW, respect your view fully and guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this RE the A3 interior yes it does without the latest and greatest ICE etc but the air of quality and fit and finish still betters VW and Skoda.

I am amused that someone has said the interior of the new A4 felt cheap, it betters every car in its class in this respect.

May have mentioned my Golf is a company car, had a limited choice of vehicles and this was the best one in my opinion. If I were buying something I would be interested in a Octy vRS CR or TSI Estate or maybe a Superb Elegance Estate but only with the VAT deal.

Yes looks like it except the plastics and the quality are the same - see the 2 pics below which is the best close up i have of both cars to see the plastics:

I think it is. The Audi I had recently felt cheap inside whereas Skoda seemed to have had to make an effort

The radio controls were cheap plastic ones and the rubberised plastic just felt hard. This is an A3 I'm on about of 2008 vintage. Maybe things have improved but I felt mine was better. It rattled a bit too whereas the Octy is quiet. I don't believe in paying through the nose for a badge.

Edited 3 March, 201115 yr by Paul007