My Octavia is brilliant but has sadly been adopted by the wife; however when my 12 year old Peugeot finally expires a used C5 in today's used car market is currently a more attractive option than a high mileage rather dated looking pre-FL Octavia.

Some mornings as I walk to the Tube a white 11 reg top of the range C5 Estate passes me. Big nice wheels and dark windows - both standard. Wow. What a gorgeous car!!! So I'm with you here as to secondhand value, rarity and looks. But at the end of the day I prefer reliability to tons of toys in a lovely body for thousands of pounds less than say a boring Golf or Octavia...

I hear you.

The problem for me is that I have set myself a £10K limit for my next car.

As much as I'd love another Skoda on the drive, I can't afford one, or should I say I'm not prepared to spend £10,000 on a three year old, low mileage, pre-FL, basic spec Ambiente.

Perhaps all used car prices have risen, not just Skoda. I bought my 12 month old Scout two years ago for £14K. The same car is almost £18K today.

Maybe I'm expecting too much

CAR just reviewed the 3008 with the same powertrain...

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Peugeot-3008-Hybrid4-2011-CAR-review/

It can go for a whole THREE MILES on its battery pack alone. Least it is a whole mile more than the Prius and that on only a fifth of the electric power the Prius has!

Well said. I've had a lot of PSA cars and a lot of VAG cars, I still rate the Xantia TD I drove for years as probably the best car I've owned, but very closely followed by the Octavia TDi I have now. Neither were trouble free though, if you want that buy a Japanese petrol !

Re the Japanese car, My Nissan is very reliable but on the odd occasion I have problems it costs a small fortune & parts are often on back order.

Ive also had 3 Citroens, 2 BX's & a Xantia, generally great cars, the odd problems but parts were cheap as chips, all 3 served me very well when I was skint

Personally I think it looks better than my Scout, however having owned 4 French Cars, in my experience it will go wrong at some point and it will cost a pretty penny to sort....so no thanks for me

I hear you.

The problem for me is that I have set myself a £10K limit for my next car.

As much as I'd love another Skoda on the drive, I can't afford one, or should I say I'm not prepared to spend £10,000 on a three year old, low mileage, pre-FL, basic spec Ambiente.

Perhaps all used car prices have risen, not just Skoda. I bought my 12 month old Scout two years ago for £14K. The same car is almost £18K today.

Maybe I'm expecting too much

Go on push the boat out, plenty of FL Vrs's with under 10K miles for £13-14k (and thats main dealers)

Skoda Used Car Locator

Just one example (not mine BTW)

Looks nice,but Scout Haldex drive system will be superior I think.

You'll probably find they are made in the same factory, just like the VRS front brakes being the same as those on a 307cc

You'll probably find they are made in the same factory, just like the VRS front brakes being the same as those on a 307cc

Thank god i changed them recently then lol

Now Volkswagen is at it too! Hopefully this won't cost £36,000 as the Pug RXH is being reported as costing!!!

From: http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/First-Official-Pictures/VW-Passat-Alltrack-2012-first-official-pictures/

That's a serious competitor for the Scout. Bet it'll look good in the flesh - albeit at £28k!

I can't see why anyone would buy an A4 Allroad now, except perhaps for the V6 diesel.

Edited 23 November, 201114 yr by London Les

I'm amazed and disappointed at the negative comments on here. There was a time not that long ago when Skoda was the butt of jokes and criticised for no good reason.

ALL manufacturers produce the odd duff car, Skoda included - how about a shagged DPF at 7K, boost pipe goes bang at 10K, numerous rattles and squeaks from the dash, oil seal failure on throttle body resulting in a buggered wiring loom - these are all faults on my previous Octavia VRS CR170.

My father-in-law has a Pug estate with almost 100K trouble free miles. His previous 206GTI was a dream of a car and not a single thing went wrong in 80K, prior to that he had another 206GTI, again trouble free,,,,,,,,,,,, go figure!

Have some balance!

+1, Good post. I had an old shape Megane for 3 years/50k miles and not a single issue. Also, my first car was a Saxo which has been passed around my family and will soon reach its 12th birthday. Never broken down, never failed an MOT, total cost of repairs over 12 years: £11 - for a failed windscreen washer pump, and that was probably because I burnt it out trying to spray from a frozen tank.

Personally not a great fan of the current crop of French cars but give them a chance!

Edited 23 November, 201114 yr by Guinness

Oooo I like them both actually....

I have had a couple of peugeots, and several hired ones, and most have had some issues. As already stated here several times, all manufacturers have failures but I'd be wary of having another Peugeot or Citroen.

The VW does look promising....will it be any better than a scout with a higher price?

Will have the OffRaod button but only 16.5cm road clearance compared to 18cm Scout.

Seats much better than Scout I guaranty.

Not a fan of Passat design, looks like a blown up Polo/Golf. No difference whatsoever for the premium you pay.

Now the upcoming A6 allroad with 3.0TFSI, yes please http://www.gmotors.co.uk/news/2012-audi-a6-allroad-quattro-rendered/

With tall kids, I reckon the Scout will be struggling for legroom when I need to replace it. This new VW looks to be a real option when I need to replace it, if the rear legroom is good enough. 160mm clearance is probably enough for the gravel road with occasional rutted track running I need the clearance for Failing that, an A6 Allroad (we don't get the A4 allroad in Oz) is the other option - I ain't going back to an Outback, which is now too tall and tinny, and I don't need roly poly 220mm clearance!

I cant knock Citroens , my family have owned 9 between us , ax, bx , cx , 3x saxo ,c2 gt ,2 x xantias .

The AX and 1 saxo were destroyed in crashes and the only actual breakdown between them ALL was a broken rear spring on the C2 GT .

The CX did give me great embarassment when filling up with water (literally) in a car wash when the heater box drains got blocked , the water was 1/3 up doors

The BX and both Xantias covered each covered over 120k under my ownership without a hiccup ,they were the cheapest cars to run i have ever owned.

I would have bought another Citroen but until they released the new C5 they looked aweful , if they bring out a hatch version of the new C5 that may well be my next car . Dont get me wrong i like my Skoda its a lovely car to drive, but have not been impressed by reliability (injector failure 21000 miles) and looking through this forum the quality of the engineering and design has the potential to turn the car into a money pit as it gets older .

I grew up on a Citroen GS Estate, lovely boxer engine, and have a soft spot for the Cit, but more of emotional than go and buy one.