Have you heard the one about the car manufacturer who puts cars in showrooms but DO NOT have a car for a test drive ?

 

I would like to test drive the new Octavia L&K 1.8TSi 180PS DSG before making a purchase which I am sure you would agree is very sensible. I believe I am correct in saying that this petrol engine with a 7 speed gearbox is only available in the L&K version of the Octavia.

 

I know that this engine and gearbox is available in other VW group cars like the Seat Leon and in this respect I have read a couple of reviews thanks to another forum member. The reports are good but I want to test drive the car I am interested in buying.

 

My local SKODA dealer has a manual version of the L&K in its showroom but this will not be put on the road until September. The sales staff have contacted Skoda UK requesting a car for demonstration purposes but the message back today from my dealer is that there is no car available.

 

I find this totally unacceptable and ask how can they expect to sell this top of the range car purely based upon a brochure and a static car in a showroom ?

 

Forum member views and advice very welcome.

Take your business to another manufacturer?

 

I tried to buy an Alfa Romeo with a certain type of alloy (you could configure it on their website)......I even got as far as putting down a deposit.

 

But when the dealer tried to place the order with Alfa Romeo, the computer said no.

 

So I bought a vRS.

Which dealer?

This seems to be a common issue with VAG.

 

We had all sorts of problems with getting a test drive of a Diesel Manual vRS, our local dealer had one but refused to take it off the shop floor for us and avoided the topic when I suggested at least getting a test drive of their petrol vRS and a diesel "non" vRS car.  In the end they promised us a test drive of the 2.0 Diesel but actually gave us a test drive in the 1.4 petrol.  We ended driving 180miles to Preston (from Edinburgh) to buy ours because they would give us a test drive without issue.

 

The same dealer gave my mate a test drive in a 86ps Monte Carlo Estate when he wanted the 105ps Hatchback - luckily he's not a "performance" driver so wasn't too bothered.  The annoying thing was they have a 105ps Monte as a courtisy car.

 

One of the local VW dealers gave the same guy a test drive in a 1.2 90PS Polo whilst selling him a 60PS 1l telling him "If you like this car you'll LOVE the 1l".

 

Sorry bub - I'm not buying a car until I can drive it, neither will I let my mates if I can help it.

If you do not want to Buy until you can drive,

maybe better not looking to buy until a good few are built, out there as Demonstrators,

being driven and any issues found out by real people rather than Journalists & Professional Car Testers that never seem to see the Obvious issues 

with many VAG vehicles.

 

Life is too short to be landed with Skoda & VW Snagging Lemons.

 

george

If you do not want to Buy until you can drive,

maybe better not looking to buy until a good few are built, out there as Demonstrators,

being driven and any issues found out by real people rather than Journalists & Professional Car Testers that never seem to see the Obvious issues 

with many VAG vehicles.

 

Life is too short to be landed with Skoda & VW Snagging Lemons.

 

george

Good advice which I might just have to do if I cannot find a test car soon

Which dealer?

I see that your profile has you being in West Sussex same as me so you probably know WSM.

 

In addition to wanting a test drive in the L&K version I also wanted a good drive in the vRS 2.0 220PS DSG petrol version but no joy again within their group. They did have a demo car in green at Chichester but they said that had been reserved so no longer available for a test drive but I see that it is still on their website as being for sale so what's going on !!!

This seems to be a common issue with VAG.

 

We had all sorts of problems with getting a test drive of a Diesel Manual vRS, our local dealer had one but refused to take it off the shop floor for us and avoided the topic when I suggested at least getting a test drive of their petrol vRS and a diesel "non" vRS car.  In the end they promised us a test drive of the 2.0 Diesel but actually gave us a test drive in the 1.4 petrol.  We ended driving 180miles to Preston (from Edinburgh) to buy ours because they would give us a test drive without issue.

 

The same dealer gave my mate a test drive in a 86ps Monte Carlo Estate when he wanted the 105ps Hatchback - luckily he's not a "performance" driver so wasn't too bothered.  The annoying thing was they have a 105ps Monte as a courtisy car.

 

One of the local VW dealers gave the same guy a test drive in a 1.2 90PS Polo whilst selling him a 60PS 1l telling him "If you like this car you'll LOVE the 1l".

 

Sorry bub - I'm not buying a car until I can drive it, neither will I let my mates if I can help it.

I'm not alone then with my search for a test drive in the car I want !!

Is it the engine / DSG you want to drive, or is it the spec ?

 

I am sure Skoda have the engine/ DSG combination in either a Yeti  or Superb that you could try.

 

But if you are adamant that it is the whole package you want to try & they cannot provide this then as a potential customer you have every right to take your custom elsewhere.

 

Hats off to the dealer for making an effort to check around to see if SUK have one, there are other brands around who would have just said no & not bothered checking around for you,  has he tried contacting another dealer to see if they have one ?

Some dealers just suck. When I was buying my Subaru, I went week after week, trying 3 different variants, one of which was registered on the spot for me so I could try various engines/transmissions/specs.

If your local dealer can't accommodate you, I'm sure another will.

I'm not sure the term 'suck' is justified tbh. It's unrealistic for a dealer to stock every spec available for that one person who comes in to try it. As said, credit to them for even asking around for one. It's an unfortunate situation, but no worse than that IMO.

I'm not sure the term 'suck' is justified tbh. It's unrealistic for a dealer to stock every spec available for that one person who comes in to try it. As said, credit to them for even asking around for one. It's an unfortunate situation, but no worse than that IMO.

 

True not all dealers can. But what the original poster has said is that Skoda UK have non available and they won't put the one they have in their showroom on the road, so that does suck.

Is it the engine / DSG you want to drive, or is it the spec ?

 

I am sure Skoda have the engine/ DSG combination in either a Yeti  or Superb that you could try.

 

 

They'll be the last generation 1.8TSi, not the third gen units as fitted to the MQB platform models.

Is it the engine / DSG you want to drive, or is it the spec ?

 

I am sure Skoda have the engine/ DSG combination in either a Yeti  or Superb that you could try.

 

But if you are adamant that it is the whole package you want to try & they cannot provide this then as a potential customer you have every right to take your custom elsewhere.

 

Hats off to the dealer for making an effort to check around to see if SUK have one, there are other brands around who would have just said no & not bothered checking around for you,  has he tried contacting another dealer to see if they have one ?

I don't think the Superb has the same 1.8TSi 180PS engine but I will check out the Yeti as a possible alternative for the test drive.

I was originally interested in the Octavia vRS 2.0 TSi 220PS DSG which is a very fast motor (for me !) but I wondered whether it may not be as comfortable on one of our long runs to Spain.

The L&K on the other hand is more refined and should be a little more comfortable with standard suspension as against sports on the vRS.

Engine wise, I already have the DSG on my Superb which is a must next time round.

My Superb which is a few months short of 3 years has only 14,700 on the clock so very low annual mileage for a diesel car which concerns me with regard to the potential DPF damage in the long run. It is because of this that I intend to change to petrol for my next car.

I have looked at various road test reports for the 1.8 TSi 180PS for the L&K and 2.0 TSi 220 PS for the vRS to find that the smaller engine is more than adequate for me but with better consumption particularly on a long run.

It is surprising to find that when I have been obtaining quotes from brokers that there is a much larger discount for the L&K vs the vRS which when including my other options there is only a few hundred pounds difference in favour of the vRS but there are significantly more goodies on the L&K.

I hear what you say about the dealer but can you believe that there is NOT an L&K for a test drive from SUK !!!

Some dealers just suck. When I was buying my Subaru, I went week after week, trying 3 different variants, one of which was registered on the spot for me so I could try various engines/transmissions/specs.

If your local dealer can't accommodate you, I'm sure another will.

I don't think SKODA nationally will be as generous as Subaru but I have identified another dealer who might have a car to try.

True not all dealers can. But what the original poster has said is that Skoda UK have non available and they won't put the one they have in their showroom on the road, so that does suck.

Indeed, I take the point. But to register a car so it's effectively used? Just for one test drive? Again, unfortunate and inconvenient IMO.

Of course there may well be others wanting a test. But we'll never know unless they show themselves [emoji2].

They'll be the last generation 1.8TSi, not the third gen units as fitted to the MQB platform models.

Thanks for alerting me to the fact that the engine in the Yeti will be the previous generation of engine.

People will buy the Limited ones built, unregistered  and on Dealership Showroom Floors without road testing.

 

If they are sitting unsold at the end of August they will become Demonstrators for the Dealership & then run for 3 months or 3,000 miles,

and then sold used.

 

By then there may be more available in the UK or Order Times will be reasonable.

Or not as the Skoda Black Hole ordering system works.

 

They might be expensive top of the range, they are not volume sellers.

Edited 26 July, 201411 yr by goneoffSKi

If you do not want to Buy until you can drive,

maybe better not looking to buy until a good few are built, out there as Demonstrators,

being driven and any issues found out by real people rather than Journalists & Professional Car Testers that never seem to see the Obvious issues 

with many VAG vehicles.

 

Life is too short to be landed with Skoda & VW Snagging Lemons.

 

george

Very valid comment so I may just wait a few months before making a final decision.

Indeed, I take the point. But to register a car so it's effectively used? Just for one test drive? Again, unfortunate and inconvenient IMO.

Of course there may well be others wanting a test. But we'll never know unless they show themselves [emoji2].

I think SKODA have conceded an own goal by only having the 1.8 TSi 180PS in the L&K Octavia. I'd be more than happy to have a test drive in a Superb or Yeti if the same engine spec.

Which dealer?

I am pleased to advise that thanks to your reply to my posting I have today had a very good test drive of the L&K Octavia with the 1.8 TSi 180PS 7 speed engine.

The dealer in question for the benefit of other readers of this posting is Station Garage in Horsham, West Sussex . I sent an email on Saturday asking if they had a demo and had a phone call on Sunday morning advising that they had a car in my spec having its pre delivery check and would be available today for a drive and this even before they had it registered for the road.

I found the salesman to be very professional who went out of his way to get the car ready and he didn't even need pushing to to have an inspection of my own Superb.

All we need to do is agree " the deal !!! " which may prove to be harder than finding a car to drive.

Pleased they came through for you.

I got bored of trying to get a test drive in a 1.4, manual. I wanted to buy in Elegance trim but dealers around here couldn't get the engine and gearbox I wanted for a testdrive. I was able to drive the 1.4 in an automatic, but couldn't test the manual gearbox. So....A3 sportback on order.

Edited 29 July, 201411 yr by ianb1

I am pleased to advise that thanks to your reply to my posting I have today had a very good test drive of the L&K Octavia with the 1.8 TSi 180PS 7 speed engine.

The dealer in question for the benefit of other readers of this posting is Station Garage in Horsham, West Sussex . I sent an email on Saturday asking if they had a demo and had a phone call on Sunday morning advising that they had a car in my spec having its pre delivery check and would be available today for a drive and this even before they had it registered for the road.

I found the salesman to be very professional who went out of his way to get the car ready and he didn't even need pushing to to have an inspection of my own Superb.

All we need to do is agree " the deal !!! " which may prove to be harder than finding a car to drive.

Did you like the car enough to buy one, at the right price...............?

 

DC

Did you like the car enough to buy one, at the right price...............?

 

DC

Negotiating as we speak !!!