Collected my first eve Skoda today just 3 weeks after ordering.

Personal contract hire Skoda Octavia Elegance 2.0tdi in Candy White, black interior, no extras except for a spare wheel. First impressions are excellent. Love the build quality, the looks, the colour, everything to be honest. The interior quality is beyond what I thought it would be looking at images on the web. Its the little touches that impress like the arm rest sliding forward, sunglasses cubby hole etc. my dad has a new Audi A1 and he cant believe all the extras the Octy has that the Audi didnt come with as standard. Skoda have thought of everything, every little detail impresses such as the parking ticket holder, the bag holders in the boot. I also got the mobile phone holder which I thought was extra cost. Love the Amundsen system, music from SD card is excellent with album art etc showing and full control, iPod will be staying at home on the Zeppelin from now on. DAB radio is a real bonus as well.

Pics to follow and further updates on handling, performance and mpg as we get to know each other better.

Congrats....Glad you are enjoying your new ride.....How did you get Music from SD card with album artwork on Amundsen ?

Congrats....Glad you are enjoying your new ride.....How did you get Music from SD card with album artwork on Amundsen ?

If you set album art up via windows media player before you copy your files to SD card, the art files come over automatically, but there is a setting in Amundsen to turn it on I think :think:

Forgot to mention so far my only minor criticisms are that the bonnet should be on hydraulic arms not a conventional arm and there should be a safety vest & warning triangle included but that's just being ultra critical.

Edited 24 June, 201312 yr by Lees

I think you can change this one easy. Enjoy the car.

Forgot to mention so far my only minor criticisms are that the bonnet should be on hydraulic arms not a conventional arm and there should be a safety vest & warning triangle included but that's just being ultra critical.

I agree totally about the bonnet which is very heavy due to its size - pointless and mean penny - pinching. Not easily solved! And yes very surprised that a safety vest and warning triangle were not included - they must be in the majority of the EU as it is compulsory equipment. So I transferred the vest that Toyota gave me free with the Yaris in the car and somewhere in my garage I've a warning triangle...

Yes, I picked up my Octavia from the dealer from new and it came with a first aid kit, triangle and a big fire extinguisher..not bad! But I guess it must be because I live on the continent so I agree with the OP, a bit stingy but you can't have everything!

congrats on your new buy njoy your octy and please post some pics.

Well so far so good.

Interior

Everything seems really well put together. Very impressed with the quality of the finishes, steering wheel is identical to the Audi. I find the seat very comfortable and the leather/ alcantra is very nice - happy with the quality of the leather and fake leather -time will tell on durability. Find the mats a bit disappointing - think they could have had octavia branding on the drivers mat - not sure whether to buy some more carpet mats to go on top or get the rubber mats - any thoughts welcome. Paired my phone to the Amundsen and works well, love this unit, DAB radio is excellent and I like the Nav and the maxi dot a lot. Updated maps from version 18 to 21 last night, hope it works when I put the SD card back in!

Cubby holes and boot fantastic, lots of nice points like power in the power, bag hooks, spot for warning triangle taken from my old Audi!

Exterior

great, like the styling and the paint work seems great. spolied a bit by the dealer sticking their raised silver logo under the number plate? Rear wiper handy even though I think the car looks better without it and happy with the standard alloys although they will be a pain to clean. No B pillar problems like another thread.

Drive wise

Driving position comfortable plenty of head room, cruise control works fine, plenty of power, nice roar when accelerating hard, slick gearbox, ride is good over pot holes and reasonable on undulating motorway -a little wind noise on motorway around the windows compared to my Alfa. Very happy. Got 61mpg on a 37 miles trip to work yesterday driving sensibly and 51mpg on the way home doing 80 with air con on so seems great.

Edited 26 June, 201312 yr by Lees

I'm getting exactly the same colour and spec - can't wait now! Keep the updates coming, especially mpg

Discovered today you can save bitmap images of the dab radio station logos to USB or sd card and then import them into the Amundsen to show as the station logos, great stuff!

I'm getting exactly the same colour and spec - can't wait now! Keep the updates coming, especially mpg

Same again today , 30 miles motorway, 4 miles through city centre got 61mpg, 54mpg on way home as I tend to drive quicker on way home

Over the years Skoda have been slowly crawling into the executive market (just look at the octy III & Superb) they have came a massive way since the 90's and i am not just saying this cause i'm a skoda owner i really mean it, why buy VW or Audi when skoda is cheaper and still as good,the new octy is cheaper than a golf but bigger, a superb is cheaper than a passat but bigger, and the superb has more legroom than a SWB AUDI A8 but again CHEAPER, skoda is on a roll the now, but they still need to keep the rapid cheap as that will get the taxi and ph drivers interested too

Edited 26 June, 201312 yr by United 11

The bonnet has two actuators under each bonnet hinge which pop up at accidents from 30 km/h to 55 km/h . These sort of act as air bags in the event that a pedestrian is hit , lift the bonnet upwards slightly and the bonnet itself is constructed to act as a cushioning material which can absorb the impact , most probably a hydraulic strut to hold the bonnet up would have made this safety system pointless ...

I agree totally about the bonnet which is very heavy due to its size - pointless and mean penny - pinching. Not easily solved! And yes very surprised that a safety vest and warning triangle were not included - they must be in the majority of the EU as it is compulsory equipment. So I transferred the vest that Toyota gave me free with the Yaris in the car and somewhere in my garage I've a warning triangle...