Both my husband and I have ancient cars that are now both dying. I have an 04 Octavia with 150k miles on the clock and it needs a lot of money to be spent on it so it now makes sense to start afresh. My husband has a 53 subaru legacy with 130k miles. Even though I've done more mileage, our lives have now changed so that he does more mileage than I do - about 25k a year and I'll be about 20k a year. We have 2 children and 3 dogs so space is important, particularly for me as I'm the one that is normally taking dogs and children for walks. My husband is frequently on the motorway but won't have the children and dogs as often but will do from time to time.

So, I"m trying to decide between an Octavia and a Superb - which do you think I should get and what size engine, spec, etc?

My husband is trying to decide between the VW Passat and the Octavia - likewise, what would you recommend for him? (trying to be as unbiased as possible!)

Look forward to your advice

Get a Petrol Octy VRS Estate for the local runs, loads of room for the kids and dogs and no DPF to worry about when doing lots of local runs (although my 9 month old diesel has never had the dpf light on yet and do lots of town driving). Get Diesel VRS Hatchback (still room for kids and dogs occasionally) with DSG for hubby better for motorway driving and theoretically more economical.

Of course there'll likely be a slight bias on here, but I'd steer clear of the Passat purely as it's a saloon, so although it has a decent sized boot, capacity for any large objects is limited.

With 3 kids I'd be tempted to go for a Superb. The mk2 is just 3yrs old now so should be some good used buys around.

Edit: unless you were thinking of the estate Passat ofc, in which case ignore me.

Edit edit: whoops, only 2 kids!

Diesel all the way at that mileage.

Yes diesel everytime on that mileage. If your husband likes sporty then a vRS Octavia, if not then an Elegance or if he does like his toys etc. a Laurin and Klement. If you are doing a lot of ferrying of children and dogs about an Octavia estate should do but a Superb estate will be better, though they haven't been around for that many years so finding older cheaper ones, if that is what you are going for, may be a bit harder. 2 litre diesel is what I'd go for, as for spec, well that all depends on what you want but you can accessorise. Happy hunting.

Ian

Edited 4 June, 201115 yr by countryboy

The kids could have a game of six-a-side in the back of the Superb estate and the build quality looks really good too. If you don't need quite that much space though the Octavia estate still has masses of room but with so many children and dogs I would guess you have estates already. 2.0 diesel engine for the superb without question, the large petrol engine would bankrupt anybody these days.

Thank you all, great feedback. Yup, with the 3 dogs and pushchairs, etc an estate is an absolute must!

Vrs estate

Thats what ive got its a really good car. The boot space is vast and the car is a real wolf in sheeps clothes Ive got 3 kids and a dogue de bordeaux and he is a big boy (13and a half stone) fits in no problem.

Depending on how big you and your husband are and how big your kids are you may find the rear passenger space a little limited. I am 6'4 and there is not enough space behind me for my 4 yr old son when I have the seat in my prefered position. I have to pull it forward a little. Hence for the everyday kids car the superb may make more sense. The octy all the way for the hubby as plenty of space for occasional kids use. VRS CR estate with full leather is the way forward (easy to keep seats clean since standard seats have a very light colour at front).

Another option could be too look at a car other than a Skoda for your car. My wife has a Toyota Verso. This has 5 good size seats with lots of leg room for all. It then has 2 more seats in the rear which are good for occasional use (making it a 7 seater) but rest of time these folg flat giving a good sized boot. The Verso also has great fuel ecomony with 50-55mpg during normal use and up to 60+mpg on a long run.

Thanks all, think I'm decided on a Superb because of the boot space for the dogs - now need to get on and find one. Then I need to persuade my husband he'd be nuts to get a passat but that may be a battle I lose!

When we were comparing estates we found the Superb and Octavia boots were pretty much the same size - the Superb gives you more rear legroom. We tried a Passat estate but found it too wallowy and settled for an Octavia. Better value and much better to drive.

Look at the new SEAT ALHAMBRA, seven seater and 2.0tdi CR engine.

Edited 5 June, 201115 yr by alberg