Well, my Octy is gone - I had two Octavias in the last seven years, my wife had a Fabia, and my parents had one as well, and they're all gone. I've switched to VW (a Passat estate) for the moment, and thought I'd share my initial impressions here for anyone else to make use of.

In general, the Passat is a more comfortable car, but not a better one. It's undoubtedly smoother; it's more refined; it's quieter; it has the 170bhp CR engine versus my old 140bhp PD, so what do you expect. It's a fine vehicle, and munched up the 1000 miles I drove the first week I had it.

However, the Skoda is more... well, practical. Things I miss (in - genuinely - no particular order):

1. The windscreen ticket holder

2. The cubby hole on the dashboard for your windscreen cloth

3. The locker under the passenger seat for whatever crud you keep (I used it for torch, breathalyser and hiviz jackets)

4. The false boot floor - the Passat has one, but you can put naff all under it, nothing like the roof bars, bungees, kite and everything else the Octavia swallowed

5. The side boxes in the boot - the VW has open holes, the Skoda had covers on them. I'm sure they're an extra, but... (and the Skoda ones were bigger)

6. The bag holders - VW owners clearly don't carry as much shopping in the boot, they're *much* smaller...

7. Other odds and sods, such as the larger door storage buckets and the larger ashtray/spare change container in the middle of the console.

8. The 'leccy mirrors can only be activate from inside the car, instead of the push-and-hold the Skoda had

Things that are better:

1. The dealers. I hated my local Skoda dealer. Loathed the incompetence and "we don't care" attitude. No, really despised.

2. It's quieter (and was engine-for-engine on a test drive - Octavia and Superb).

3. It's probably better mannered around corners (Sport suspension, though - let's face it, the Passat isn't renowned for its racing pedigree)

4.The dealers. I might have said.

5, Bi-xenon lights and LED DRLs/rear lights

6. It's better specced - yes, I bought stuff, but

.... the leather seats are better (I always thought the vRS ones were deeply vulgar)

.... the climatronic still has half degrees (and can be read properly on a RHD car)

.... the maxidot equivalent is colour and has more eye candy

.... the RNS510 has some improvements over my old Columbus (version differences, really)

7. Start/stop technology (which should be on the Octy III - maybe some other things here will be as well)

8. Did I mention the dealers?

9. Rear legroom

10. Audio quality (speakers, I guess)

11. MDI as standard (despite it being really clumsy for us non-fruit people) - a handy USB charger if nothing else!

12. Other options that Skoda doesn't (yet) have - heated front window, lane detection, road sign recognition, etc. (not all of which I have, but they were available, at least),

Things that are outright worse:

1. The VW has unfinished trim... I have an electronic boot release lever, for example, but no electronic boot. really, guys...

2. The VW has some really naff buttons on the roof for the 'phone - call VW for help, call them for advertising. Shockingly useless and opportunistic.

3. The boot is - surprisingly - smaller. Volume isn't everything, and the width of this one is less even if the overall size if greater.

I'm sure I'll grow into this one, but I'd have been far happier swapping it for an Octavia III (having had two Octy IIs, FL and non-FL), I think. Put in some sound proofing and you've a better car for less money. You can put the difference towards getting towed to a different dealer - not sure if I ever said how much I hated my local one...

Is it the new facelift Passat?

I don't like the VW all look the same front ends. The pre fl Passat was better looking especially the CC which is a great looking car.

I found the inside of a Passat is very bland and boring and not as good quality or looks as the Octavia interior. I find the Octavia is better screwed together than those but that's just my opinion.

We are all waiting the Octy 3 arrival maybe that will sway you back to Skoda.

Having recently grabbed an octavia over a passat, I agree entirely with the list of practical things you miss. But I would have one more. A real handbrake.

Having recently grabbed an octavia over a passat, I agree entirely with the list of practical things you miss. But I would have one more. A real handbrake.

I know someone who has had to have there handbrake sorted on the passat, one side went at a cost of around £700 and then the issue appeared again, so he thought that's ok I am covered under warranty for the repair but when he went to the garage, he discovered it was the other side that had went and another £700 at the dealer, so a very expensive handbrake.

expensive and pointless - i mean, we managed fine with leve/cables for a very long time. makes me mad when car makers "fix" things that are completely unnecessary and add complexity, weight, annoyance!

I had a passat as a loan car once last year - you certainly could not see where they could justify any pricing premium over the skoda.

@Stormchaser - yes, the Passat VII. I'm happy with the looks (I didn't like the FL Octavia at first, but the wraparound headlights really grew on me).

@Kiwibacon - oh, yes - the handbrakeythingy - how could I forget that one, I get in, start the car and stare blankly around, wondering what to do next. Or wave my left hand in some muscle memory simulation of "button in, lever down". The auto-hold is good once you get used to it, but the lack of a handbrake reminds me of the first time I drove a car with a column shift, or a foot-operated parking brake (both in the US).

I have to say I was really not looking forward to having the electronic handbrake on my A4, but when its combined with the auto-hold function then its brilliant. In traffic it is so much more relaxing than having a manual handbrake as it just automatically engages every time you stop and then disengages when you pull off. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you've had one you miss this functionality on cars without it!

However agree with the comments about the Passat. I test drove one before I got the A4 and the interior didn't feel much more special than my Octavia, and things like the analogue clock just looked tacky. I actually found the seats more uncomfortable in the Passat as well.

Interesting post.

I was considering a Passat before I bought the Skoda. They are certainly good value used, but I then read about a lot of associated problems with the later ones.

What of my Octavia? I too love all the practical little details as listed above. However after 2 months of ownership I'm still sorting out a list of niggles with it. I think the worst aspect of my Octavia is the 1.9 PD engine, which is definitely the most agricultural diesel I've had. I must try a CR for comparison.

I've had two previous diesels: a Peugeot 406 estate and a Rover 75. The Peugeot was the best, wish they still made the 406. The engine was suberb, quiet, smooth - better than the BMW unit in the 75, but not as efficient.

If i could afford one, I would certainly be tempted by the Passat CC, which I think is a super car.