I am in the early stages of looking for a new car and have narrowed the choice to either a 1.6 Eco boost ford mondeo in titanium x business trim or a Octavia vrs or 1.4 elegance hatchback. I have never considered the Octavia as a serious contender until I read the what car reviews and video reviews by car buyer, auto express etc and all appear to favour the Octavia. I went to the skoda dealership and must admit I was impressed by the Octavia in se trim and although I only asked the salesman about the vrs and have been offered a test drive in a deisil vrs for next week so will see how that goes. The ford salesman was only interested in selling me what they had in stock. Are skoda reliable and what is the aftersales like and any comments eve vrs versus 1.4 elegance trim please.

Not coming like with like there at all, the 1.6 mondeo or the 1.4 Octavia with the VRS. 

1.6 engine in that mondeo was pure heavy when I drove it, not sure what the 1.4 is like in the Octavia, but its like having a cool bag and a fridge. 

If you drive the VRS you won't want to buy either of the other 2. 

I've always found VAG cars very reliable, no complaints here about them. 

 

As for the two models you're thinking about, they're as different as chalk & cheese.

 

The SE is probably the best VFM car (where the Elegance trim level is a bit better when it comes to loads of "toys") & the vRS is the bad boy and a bit of a hooligan car, it's quick... Seriously quick and you'll need to keep your eye on the speed, the steering is different an has less turns to do lock to lock, the suspension is firmer and you can really have some fun on the twists & turns.

 

The SE has softer suspension & smaller 16" wheels, rather than the sports suspension & larger 18" wheels of the vRS.

 

The SE gets a choice of engines 1.2, 1.4 TSi & 1.6 & 2.0 TDi, with the choice of either 5 or 6 speed Manual or DSG-6 or DSG-7 depending on the engine size.

The petrol VRS is a beast and super quick 6.8sec 0 to 60 , the VRS TDI is quick at 8.1 and the 1.4TSI is 8.4 for the manual saloons.

 

I would give them a good test drive back to back if possible, if you can afford to run the TSI VRS and like the hard ride then that will be it.

 

Another thing you could do is add the sports suspension to the 1.4TSI and get similar handling to the VRS at a much lower cost.

 

1.4 TSI SE £18,390.00 + £150 for sports suspension. TDI VRS £23,260.00.

The petrol VRS is a beast and super quick 6.8sec 0 to 60 , the VRS TDI is quick at 8.1 and the 1.4TSI is 8.4 for the manual saloons.

 

I would give them a good test drive back to back if possible, if you can afford to run the TSI VRS and like the hard ride then that will be it.

 

Another thing you could do is add the sports suspension to the 1.4TSI and get similar handling to the VRS at a much lower cost.

 

1.4 TSI SE £18,390.00 + £150 for sports suspension. TDI VRS £23,260.00.

 

Lol... sports suspension on a 1.4 TSI (torsion beam rear setup) = VRS handling. 

 

You have obviously never driven the 2 cars and compared them back to back. 

 

As Dempsek stated you need to try the cars out.

 

Skoda were top in the JD power survey for quite a few years in a row.  VAG engineering but much lower ownership costs than VW or Audi.

Just ordered a petrol vrs with manual gearbox.

Good choice sir. What colour and options did you go for?

Enjoy, have you found one available or having to wait to get the car with / without options?

I went for corrida red colour, manual hatchback, red stitching in cloth seats with anthracite alloys and the following options,

Sunroof

Space saver spare wheel

Heated front seats

Heated front washer nozzles

Intelligent parking assistant

You'll love it. Picked mine up Saturday. Tsi Corrida red hatch ,Dsg ,sunroof , canton , columbus sat nav , 19 inch Extreme wheels.

Awsome :-)