Driver Power 2011

[The Plumber]

Appears Skoda have had a clean sweep of the Driver Power awards;

Superb no.1

Yeti no. 2 and best 4x4

My link

TP

[900000]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to fill this in!!!!!!!!!! Darn.......... I missed it.

Next year we need to make sure we all fill this in.

BUT what a result!!!!!!!!!!! We know all of this of course but WOW!

[rockhopper]

We know Skoda make the best cars out there and we all know that the Yeti is "...the best car in the world"

yet another kick in the teeth for VW. the Golf is no 10 and sirocco at no 17....

Skoda the poor relation to VW? No way.

[Gizmo]

We know Skoda make the best cars out there and we all know that the Yeti is "...the 2nd best car in the world"

yet another kick in the teeth for VW. the Golf is no 10 and sirocco at no 17....

Skoda the poor relation to VW? No way.

Edited for accuracy

[BigHusky]

Thanks for the Link TP. Johaan's right we should of all done this poll ( yes i missed it too)

Awesome result for Skoda and another incentive to get people considering an alternative to commonasmuck Qashqai's etc to consider something way more practical and fun!

[Sprockutt]

Edited for accuracy

Great result for Skoda and all of us as well! This continual praise of the car and manufacturer will do no harm at

all to residual prices of our Yeti's. Can't wait until September'ish when we finally get our car. I havn't been this excited

about a new car since we ordered and had a similar wait for a MINI Cooper S in 2004.

[900000]

Thanks for the Link TP. Johaan's right we should of all done this poll ( yes i missed it too)

True but thinking about it this feels fairer. Next year we all vote as well yes, but this result is WITHOUT the most loyal of Yeti owners from this forum!

So next year it will be us voting against the Superb forum for number 1 spot! hehehe

[Gizmo]

True but thinking about it this feels fairer. Next year we all vote as well yes, but this result is WITHOUT the most loyal of Yeti owners from this forum!

+1 IMO this makes the 'awards' even more worthwhile when the vast majority of enthusiasts on here had no input

Just need the Fabia (23rd) to pull it's socks up now!

I wonder if/where the Roomster will come in the commercial vehicles??

[900000]

I wonder if/where the Roomster will come in the commercial vehicles??

Oh Martin!!!!!!!!!!! :giggle: :giggle: hehehe

[BossFox]

What an amazing result for Skoda.

So what now, VW start limiting the options Skoda can put on the cars?

[Gizmo]

Oh Martin!!!!!!!!!!! :giggle: :giggle: hehehe

Whaaaaat???

So what now, VW start limiting the options Skoda can put on the cars?

That about sums it up :think:

[Yeti_Man]

What an amazing result for Skoda.

So what now, VW start limiting the options Skoda can put on the cars?

See now to be honest thats the way I think when I see the Yeti picking up more awards/praise unfortunately!

In my mind there is no doubt whatsoever that Skoda have really been trying to cheapen things up and make cost savings on their products and the more the Skodas outperform their equivalent VW group counterparts in tests and reviews, the more pressure there will surely be to limit their appeal and increase profits further?

[Trevorminor]

True but thinking about it this feels fairer. Next year we all vote as well yes, but this result is WITHOUT the most loyal of Yeti owners from this forum!

So next year it will be us voting against the Superb forum for number 1 spot! hehehe

I voted :p

[900000]

Had to go and buy the rag just now. Out of the top 100 cars the Yeti scored:

1st - Build quality (yes TOPS out of ALL cars!)

2nd - Ease of driving

4th - Reliability

4th - Handling

9th - Practicallity

9th - Comfort

11th - Braking

14th - Ride Quality

16th - Performance

25th - Running costs

That top spot for build quality is amazing!!!!!!

By comparison the Land Rover Freelander 2 (that came 16th) scored:

25th - Build quality

10th - Ease of driving

28th - Reliability

56th - Handling

21st - Practicallity

16th - Comfort

25th - Braking

3rd - Ride Quality

31st - Performance

88th - Running costs (yes 88th!)

The Freelander 1 (that came 93rd):

91st - Build quality

87th - Ease of driving

100th - Reliability (yes BOTTOM of the pile as the most unrealiable car in the country!)

95th - Handling

48st - Practicallity

41st - Comfort

87th - Braking

47th - Ride Quality

90th - Performance

99th - Running costs (yes 99th!)

[900000]

But some other things really do not compute in this survey.

For what is basically the same car why is the Reliability so different in this lot?

(Superb - 17th) - yes I know it is not really Golf based but many of the bits are shared.

Yeti - 4th

Golf - 27th

Octavia - 15th

Leon - 46th

Altea - 55th

Tiguan - not even featured as it did not have enough votes?!

Running costs:

(Superb - 4th)

Yeti - 25th

Golf - 22nd

Octavia - 6th

Leon - 21st

Altea - 40th

The former is perhaps just down to the factories that build them? The latter? How can the Superb be 4th and the Yeti 25th?!?! The 4x4 running gear does not add THAT much and you get 4x4 Superbs too... And dealer servicing and parts are the same. Really peculiar.

[Gizmo]

This is how they all did (you beat me to it Johann - but mine covers all but the Skoda cars)

My link

This was done for the Superb (the rest are in the brackets)

As well as coming 1st overall, here are how the Superb (and the other Skoda's) scored in each category:

6th in the performance category with 91.54% (Octavia 4th & 91.58%, Yeti 16th & 89.01%, Fabia 44th & 84.75%)

17th in the reliability category with 92.56% (Yeti 4th, & 96.34% Fabia 5th & 95.8%, Octavia 15th & 92.9%)

10th in the comfort category with 90.77% (Yeti 9th & 91.14%, Octavia 29th & 86.53%,Fabia 31st & 86.27%)

22nd in the handling category with 88.21% (Yeti 4th & 93.52%, Octavia 24th 88.14%, Fabia 62nd & 82.39%)

2nd in the braking category with 93.08% (Octavia 9th & 91.28%, Yeti 11th 91.14%, Fabia 50th & 85.3%)

4th in the running costs category with 88.05% (Octavia 6th 86.8%, Fabia 18th & 82.54%, Yeti 25th & 81.14%)

7th in the build quality category with 93.33% (Yeti 1st & 96.34%, Octavia 14th & 92.31%, Fabia 37th & 89.41%)

3rd in the ease of driving category with 95.38% (Yeti 2nd & 95.71%, Octavia 11th & 92.27%, Fabia 17th & 91.76%)

3rd in the practicality category with 97.18% (Octavia 5th & 96.62%, Yeti 9th & 95.21%, Fabia 27th & 90.51%)

7th in the ride quality category with 90.51% (Yeti 14th & 87.43%, Octavia 21st 83.9%, Fabia 37th & 82.05%)

Who would of thought it would be so high up in the running costs? (as in costing the least to run)

[900000]

I voted :p

And you did not remind us all to vote! Shame on you!!!

[Trevorminor]

And you did not remind us all to vote! Shame on you!!!

I seem to recall that I was invited to vote and could only use the supplied form or could enter the details on line but having to put in a code - a bit like the Census. It may have something to do with my car being an early one and that only cars up to a certain time could be included. If I get an invite again, I'll publish details to make sure that everyone votes who can - it's compulsory

I tend to agree with the individual rankings for the Yeti with the exception of that relating to running costs. I find my SM to be economical (50+mpg), cheap to insure and so far quite reasonable for servicing. A bit surprised then to find it ranked as low as 24th. There again some competitor cars would be quite happy to achieve 24th - in any category!

[w4rn3r]

What an amazing result for Skoda.

So what now, VW start limiting the options Skoda can put on the cars?

or they relocate the skoda designers to VW

[fordfan]

So how did the 2 wheel drive version do?, or does the 4X4 category include the 2 wheel drive ones because of the styling?, it seems so from the Yeti owners comment on the 4X4 page.

[BilboBaggins]

True but thinking about it this feels fairer. Next year we all vote as well yes, but this result is WITHOUT the most loyal of Yeti owners from this forum!

So next year it will be us voting against the Superb forum for number 1 spot! hehehe

Why dont we get someone to hold our coats and sort this out in the car park?

Or we could be civliised and ensure that Skodas en mass are top of the rankings overall Although it goes without saying that Superb will be the top dog

[Bobdog]

But some other things really do not compute in this survey.

For what is basically the same car why is the Reliability so different in this lot?

(Superb - 17th) - yes I know it is not really Golf based but many of the bits are shared.

Yeti - 4th

Golf - 27th

Octavia - 15th

Leon - 46th

Altea - 55th

Tiguan - not even featured as it did not have enough votes?!

Running costs:

(Superb - 4th)

Yeti - 25th

Golf - 22nd

Octavia - 6th

Leon - 21st

Altea - 40th

The former is perhaps just down to the factories that build them? The latter? How can the Superb be 4th and the Yeti 25th?!?! The 4x4 running gear does not add THAT much and you get 4x4 Superbs too... And dealer servicing and parts are the same. Really peculiar.

Remember it's a survey of owner/driver OPINION. I haven't seen the survey questions (perhaps the person who has contributed to the survey can help us here) but I suspect he was not asked "how much does it cost to run?" - to which he might give an objective figure (such as £x per mile/year etc)but rather something like "how do you feel about running costs?" Now that rather depends on your expectations. If I had a Rolls Royce and expected it to do 10mpg, and then found it actually did 15 mpg I might say nice things about running costs. If I had bought a Yeti and expected it to do 60mpg and it 'only' did 45mpg ... well! Looking at the magazine (which I also rushed out to buy after the OP) these 'running costs' seem to include depreciation/fall in second hand value. Well (i) that's got to be an estimate this early on and (ii)when was the survey done? I suspect a little while ago, before the waiting list developed and second hand Yetis started selling at higher prices than list for new ones. Next years survey will make for interesting reading - I'll bet 50p now that the Yeti will score more highly on running costs!

Edited 13 April, 2011 by Bobdog

[mbrock]

I'm having to balance my smugness at having chosen the 2nd and 3rd (XF) placed cars in this survey - against the thought that - had I not been smitten with the Jag (and been offered a very good deal) - I could now be even more smug at having 1st and 2nd! The Superb was well up on my shortlist, way above the 3-Series and C-Class...and could yet appear on my drive as a Combi would be a lot more practical than the XF given my current circumstances.

However I am sure there are still people who believe that Skodas only do well in these surveys because their owners are undemanding and don't know any better, and equally there are plenty of people who don't have the confidence to go against the crowd and buy something that doesn't have a German badge on the bonnet. More fool them, I say.

Mark

Edited 13 April, 2011 by mbrock

[900000]

I seem to recall that I was invited to vote and could only use the supplied form or could enter the details on line but having to put in a code - a bit like the Census. It may have something to do with my car being an early one and that only cars up to a certain time could be included. If I get an invite again, I'll publish details to make sure that everyone votes who can - it's compulsory

Ah ok. Though the questionaire gets published every year in the magazine so anyone can fill it in. With the option (for anyone) to fill it in online as well. The proviso is normally that your car should not be older than three years - so nothing to do with early cars or anything like that. Which for the life of me I can't get why for the last three years running they have included the Rover 75/MG ZT (which went out of production in 2005!!!!!!!!!!!! So let wait and see if DriverPower 2012 will inlude the Ford Anglia if enough people do the questionaire on it. What a farce!)

As to the value of this type of survey: yes it is 23,000 people's personal view, but it is their opinion only on things they can't subjectively judge as they don't have a Rolls Royce next to their car to see if their car is in fact built as well as that. They base their answers on their own subjective experience and what they hear of their friends' cars and base their experience relative to that as well I suspect. Just remember a MORI, etc poll that gets banded on the news about X, Y and Z amount of people said this and that is normally based on just 1000 people's responses.......... SO 23,000 is actually pretty representative, of something. What exactly and how scientific that "something" is, and how seriously one should take it, is up for discussion of course. But since we "won" and Land Rover "lost", I suspect it is the LR owners' clubs that are in a spin more so than us!

[BossFox]

But since we "won" and Land Rover "lost", I suspect it is the LR owners' clubs that are in a spin more so than us!

Interestingly the other LR owners I've spoken too are not surprised at all.

Although generalisations, many of them feel the dealers give bad service, the cars are expensive and the reliability is not good.

So they are not in a spin at all as they know the product quality is bad. Which is why so many would not risk buying a new one. Second hand with all faults fixed is best in the LR world.