Hi everyone,

I'm after a bit of advice and wonder if you lovely people could oblige! My wife and I are looking to change from our current car (a 2010 SEAT Leon 1.6TDI SE Ecomotive) as we've recently had a baby and need some more boot space for all the stuff that seems to come with offspring. We think the Octavia Estate will suit us well and had a Fabia in the past that we loved.

We now drive around 11,000 miles a year, probably split 50/50 between town driving and long journeys. I'm not heavy-footed but probably only achieve around 50Mpg in our current car.

Would people suggest a 1.4Tsi or 1.6TDI for our Octavia? We're not particularly fussed either way but can't decide what would best.

I'm also torn between the SE Connect and SE Plus spec; the SE Connect is a bargain (at 25% off) but doesn't have cruise control or steering wheel controls, which I have become used to on our current car, and we could only have in diesel form. The SE Plus doesn't have these either but it is possible to add options on (but is 'only' 20% off).

We think the car's right for us but just wondered whether anyone had any pearls of wisdom they'd like to impart!

Thanks,

Dave

If you're buying new I'd go diesel to be honest. Not a lot extra outlay but resale down the line will be much better.

Petrol makes more sense 2nd hand as much cheaper due to depreciation.

Hi Dave,

With the Octavia, I honestly think that its one of the few cars out there where there is simply no need for an estate as the hatchbacks boot is HUGE as it is. I've never had a problem fitting prams, buggies, even prams, buggies and suitcases in there in the past. And as for your spec, all I will say is that my father in law recently ordered a SE Plus, with dual zone climate and auto lights added on extra. After 4 weeks with no build date, he changed his order to a vRS Blackline and only had to pay £400 more. There are some great deals out there just now on the Octys. Good luck

Thanks guys - useful information.

The reason we're thinking of an estate is because I actually prefer the shape of it, and my wife thinks it'll be easier for visibility to reverse than the hatch, but we're going to test drive one today to confirm whether that's the case.

As for build times, I'll talk to the dealer about that too.

Whilst the hatch is big (I have one), the estate can swallow pushchairs etc. without having to lay them flat because of the extra height. The hatch gets most this in, but you have to 'pack' it a little more.

The SE connect is a bargain, no extra for metallic paint and you can ad cruise control yourself for very little. I'd say its resale would be pretty decent too, compared to say a 1.4 petrol

We have both, the wife has an estate (plus our 2 year old daughter) and I have the hatch.

When we go away we always take the estate as it does swallow so much more stuff.

Agreed, the boot floor is the exact same shape on both versions but the extra height, no heavily sloping rear window and lack of parcel shelf makes it a better load-lugger.

If I was doing 11,000 miles a year I'd buy the petrol. After owning diesel's all my life I'm loosing faith in their long life/reliability claims. Tough emissions standards are making them much more complicated.

I keep my cars for a long time so the improved resale values enjoyed by the diesel are less relevant to me. Take the lower purchase price of the 1.4 together with the lower road tax.

You'd have to run the 1.6 diesel for a long time or cover high mileage before you covered the initial outlay with the increased fuel economy.

More importantly though - drive both engines.

They are very different and you might simply prefer one more than the other which would make the cost side of things irrelevant.

While I love my diesel octavia, there is one major drawback. Namely, time taken to warm up is excessive. For a car use d on regular journeys of less than say 15 miles, I'd plump for petrol. Economy will be similar over short distances.

1.4 TSI SE PLus with metallic is £14100 inc. the £500 deposit contribution and haggling (drive the deal)

1.6 TDI SE Connect inc. metallic is £14240 inc. the £500 deposit and NO haggling.

Then look at the residuals after 3 years and its a no brainer, the diesel will see you £2k up without having taken MPG into the equation. If you were going second hand, petrol all the way, its cheaper to buy second hand.

Hi everyone - we went for the 1.6TDI SE Connect in the end. The difference in price to move to the SE Plus was too great (as the dealer wasn't particularly willing to haggle) and we decided that we prefer the drive of a diesel.

I did manage to get floor mats, Diamondbrite coating and a spare wheel thrown in so overall I'm pretty pleased.

Thanks for all your advice!

Oh and you don't get the £500 deposit contribution with the SE Connect, unfortunately.

Oh and you don't get the £500 deposit contribution with the SE Connect, unfortunately.

Booooooooooooooo.

Nice choice, what colour?

We went for anthracity grey (a third colour choice that's not shown in the brochure). We used to have a Fabia in that colour and it looked great.

Good colour..less washing required than a yellow one.

Nice

The Estate is better for a family as in 4/5 years the prams will be replaced by bikes.

Good point Web Ferret!