My 1.8 is so easy to drive gently, then, if needed, I can put my food down at 20mph in 3rd and it just keeps on accelerating. Prople not used to so much low down torque get a bit of a surprise. I sincerely hope the mk3 come with a decent petrol engine

 

      Even if petrol engines are not  available in the UK initially, I don't think it will be too long before Skoda have to change their minds as I think diesel vehicles will get clobbered  by tax increases, in fuel and RFL terms. A change  in the emissions has been " noticed " and deaths due to supposed diesel exhausts  are being voiced.  I think  some  cities on the Continent are either banning or reducing the use of diesel vehicles, Berlin being one I seem to have read. The mpg and emissions advantages by diesel over petrol seems to be lessening, the current petrol engines coming up closer in terms of mpg  and speed per 1000 rpm and without the dpf box problems. So there may well be a turning away from diesel yet. Whether any  RFL  changes would apply to existing vehicles  remains to be seen, but if so, there will be  very many adversely affected owners, myself for one.  I am therefore considering a petrol engine when I next change , in say mid to late 2016. As a matter of interest, my Superb is Nov 2010 and mileage so far less than 14500, 95% motorway miles. Still gets  serviced by Skoda main dealer every year. Manual, I am contemplating  going to auto next time, whereas I don't do much mileage in London, manual is a pain in the whatsit due to traffic congestion although Southampton ain't too good either. from circa 4 pm onwards. Being of a certain age I have a bus pass which in London is useable on tube and mainline trains as well, so it makes sense to use it, especially as there is nowhere to park these days except at ridiculous cost. All parts of London now are CPZ'd so even in the suburbs  you can't park anywhere except in your own area, hence  no point in taking the car unless absolutely necessary. To think when I was working in my earlier days,I could drive to the office in the centre of Southampton park right outside the office all day in a main road, come out late afternoon, get   in the car and drive off back home. MkV11 Jag manual with overdrive or next, XK140. A very close friend had a Special Equipment triple carb  XK150, chrome wire wheels, overdrive  red, red leather interior including dashboard, low mileage, which he offered to me free when  he went to work abroad. I said no thank you, as impractical as a main car, limited seating ,little luggage space and  low mpg. It went into storage somewhere for a long time and  great squabbles  came about  as to who owned it after my friend sadly died abroad due to being bitten by rabid dogs in Turkey. I did not involve myself in the fighting over the ownership, partially as I did not learn about them till some time after, and I had moved to London. But when it was offered to me it was worth about £600 and my immaculate XK 140  I sold  for  £255 to a friend of the XK150 owner. The buyer was emigrating very  soon after to New Zealand and taking the XK140 with him. He paid by cheque and when paying it  into my Bank I noticed the cheque was dated a year earlier!, and he had left the country. The cashier did not notice and it went all the way through the system ,( manual in those days but quicker than now ! )  and it got credited  into my account.

I would have considered a Berb 3, but after the way SUK have treated me in the last couple of weeks, I'll be off to pastures new for my next motor, something like a 12 month old Merc E350 V6 CDI will be just fine, even though it won't be factory fresh, I'm not being SUKs guinea pig again, I ordered my Octy 3 on launch weekend, will never again order a new car so early in production run, worst mistake ever, so would suggest anyone considering a Berb 3 gives it at least 6-9 months into production run before ordering so that any bugs in handling, ride comfort, etc, have time to be ironed out.

Surely that's the case with most manufactures on the release of a new model, not just Skoda.

      Even if petrol engines are not  available in the UK initially, I don't think it will be too long before Skoda have to change their minds as I think diesel vehicles will get clobbered  by tax increases, in fuel and RFL terms. A change  in the emissions has been " noticed " and deaths due to supposed diesel exhausts  are being voiced.  I think  some  cities on the Continent are either banning or reducing the use of diesel vehicles, Berlin being one I seem to have read. The mpg and emissions advantages by diesel over petrol seems to be lessening, the current petrol engines coming up closer in terms of mpg  and speed per 1000 rpm and without the dpf box problems. So there may well be a turning away from diesel yet. Whether any  RFL  changes would apply to existing vehicles  remains to be seen, but if so, there will be  very many adversely affected owners, myself for one.  I am therefore considering a petrol engine when I next change , in say mid to late 2016. As a matter of interest, my Superb is Nov 2010 and mileage so far less than 14500, 95% motorway miles. Still gets  serviced by Skoda main dealer every year. Manual, I am contemplating  going to auto next time, whereas I don't do much mileage in London, manual is a pain in the whatsit due to traffic congestion although Southampton ain't too good either. from circa 4 pm onwards. Being of a certain age I have a bus pass which in London is useable on tube and mainline trains as well, so it makes sense to use it, especially as there is nowhere to park these days except at ridiculous cost. All parts of London now are CPZ'd so even in the suburbs  you can't park anywhere except in your own area, hence  no point in taking the car unless absolutely necessary. To think when I was working in my earlier days,I could drive to the office in the centre of Southampton park right outside the office all day in a main road, come out late afternoon, get   in the car and drive off back home. MkV11 Jag manual with overdrive or next, XK140. A very close friend had a Special Equipment triple carb  XK150, chrome wire wheels, overdrive  red, red leather interior including dashboard, low mileage, which he offered to me free when  he went to work abroad. I said no thank you, as impractical as a main car, limited seating ,little luggage space and  low mpg. It went into storage somewhere for a long time and  great squabbles  came about  as to who owned it after my friend sadly died abroad due to being bitten by rabid dogs in Turkey. I did not involve myself in the fighting over the ownership, partially as I did not learn about them till some time after, and I had moved to London. But when it was offered to me it was worth about £600 and my immaculate XK 140  I sold  for  £255 to a friend of the XK150 owner. The buyer was emigrating very  soon after to New Zealand and taking the XK140 with him. He paid by cheque and when paying it  into my Bank I noticed the cheque was dated a year earlier!, and he had left the country. The cashier did not notice and it went all the way through the system ,( manual in those days but quicker than now ! )  and it got credited  into my account.

 

Love this - what a great forum post. Can't believe how much of it I just don't understand!! Whats a CPZ? Whats a Special Triple Carb? Did you get your money? I've heard of Overdrive but what does it do?

CPZ  = controlled parking zone.

Special triple carb = Engine the same as the first E-types with 3 x 2 inch SU carburettors.

Overdrive = An extra gear,switch operated, on the back of the gearbox, giving the jaguar effectively a 5 speed gearbox.

( I'm still lusting after all those lovely old Jaguars...) :p

Surely that's the case with most manufactures on the release of a new model, not just Skoda.

Agreed, but the way I was treated by SUK regarding my complaint over poor ride quality was not good customer service. The dealer was a little more sympathetic but I ended up with no good will. In the end I paid for new aftermarket springs and dampers and it has transformed my car into a better handling, better damped cruiser and I still feel my complaint was justified but resigned myself to no contribution from Skoda and life is too short to wallow in self pity. Hence, in future, if I buy another Skoda it will only be used or ex demo so I can test drive the actual car I would be buying and based on current used prices for nearly new Superb IIs, and the massive depreciation of Octy IIIs compared to that of Octy IIs, then I expect used prices for SIIIs to be very tempting cos I can't see many people wanting to pay any more than £25k for a nearly new top spec £30-35k+ options SIII otherwise you may as well get a used XF, A6, 5 series or E class which are bountyfull in the £25-30k used bracket.

Love this - what a great forum post. Can't believe how much of it I just don't understand!! Whats a CPZ? Whats a Special Triple Carb? Did you get your money? I've heard of Overdrive but what does it do?

 

       C P Z = Controlled Parking Zone, which blight most if not all of London. They mean it is almost impossible to drive elsewhere in London and be able to park, except in pay car parks, and the cost in them is astronomical. The cost also of Parking Permits themselves is increasing heavily, Councils have captive resident/car owners. And on the question of  diesel v petrol, we have now heard re Islington slapping on extra £96 for diesels for their permits.. And in many parts of  London, purchasers of new flats are banned from applying for  a parking permit  on public roads, that is part of the Lease on new developments, so where a development has limited parking provision,  or even none, a purchaser has no chance of buying a car.

                      Yes, I did get my money thank you. Overdrive is an electrically operated extra gearbox,usually with two extra gears. The part which always seemed to cause  the unit to stop working was something called the solenoid. So cars like a Standard Vanguard ( a favourite of mine )  with a 3 speed box had  5 gears  if fitted with overdrive, and which was brought into action by pulling the column gear stick upwards or down to disengage o/drive. I must say I like column gear shift, much more relaxed. The best ever and so precise was a Peugeot, and 4 speed at that. Cars and motoring  were far more interesting  then, not so fast  but equally if not more comfortable. I cut my driving teeth at age 15 on a friend's mother's Standard Flying 12, of pre-war manufacture and the tales I  could say about that car are quite scary!. My father was a mechanic and forbade me to buy it, but I did!  I bought a Citroen Light 15 and came home with it. He had a look, opened the bonnet. What are those rods he asked. I said they control the gears. Control the gears he said, so where is the gearbox?. In front of the engine I replied. In front of the engine he exclaimed, these people have no idea how to put a car together, you are not keeping this, so he made me take it back. It was so revolutionary in his mind  and he would be the one to" look after " it if it went wrong, and that scarred him. But of all the diverse things I bought, he always rallied to the rescue when needed. They ranged from a Morris 8 to Mk V11 Jag M, manual with overdrive, chauffeur driven from London,44000 miles, pale lavender leather, wood everywhere, ultra violet dash lights, steering wheel the size of a bus's, so many turns from lock to lock  you had to plan in advance how/where you going ,and having got round a corner, I found the best ,and only way ,was to let go of the wheel and let the car straighten itself.. I felt invulnerable and so safe in that car. It was immaculate, I bought it at Southampton Motor Auction, £96 !!.Swapped it for the XK140,also immaculate. ( as a matter of interest, the manual 4 sp  gearbox in Jags came straight out of the Standard Motor Co's factory and standard ones at that, which spoke well of the strength and quality of Standard's engineering to cope with an engine 2 1/2 times more powerful than made for in Standard's own cars. The first Jag engines were Standard Motor Co's  blocks, as were Volvo's. both with ohv set-ups in lieu of Standard's own side-valve. My father hated Standards for 2 reasons. Heads warped, iron block with aluminium heads, but I never had any problem that  way, and the brakes, Bendix leading shoe, now they were a different story, and many a tale about them! )

Agreed, but the way I was treated by SUK regarding my complaint over poor ride quality was not good customer service. The dealer was a little more sympathetic but I ended up with no good will. In the end I paid for new aftermarket springs and dampers and it has transformed my car into a better handling, better damped cruiser and I still feel my complaint was justified but resigned myself to no contribution from Skoda and life is too short to wallow in self pity. Hence, in future, if I buy another Skoda it will only be used or ex demo so I can test drive the actual car I would be buying and based on current used prices for nearly new Superb IIs, and the massive depreciation of Octy IIIs compared to that of Octy IIs, then I expect used prices for SIIIs to be very tempting cos I can't see many people wanting to pay any more than £25k for a nearly new top spec £30-35k+ options SIII otherwise you may as well get a used XF, A6, 5 series or E class which are bountyfull in the £25-30k used bracket.

 

          Hello, you make reference to Octavia 111's  great depreciation and I have seen that said elsewhere. Any idea  why that should be, 'cos the Octavia  used to be among the best for residual values, so what  has gone wrong. Especially when Octavia 111 gets  voted Car of the Year. 

          Hello, you make reference to Octavia 111's  great depreciation and I have seen that said elsewhere. Any idea  why that should be, 'cos the Octavia  used to be among the best for residual values, so what  has gone wrong. Especially when Octavia 111 gets  voted Car of the Year. 

Yep, on the O3 forum a few have referred to the significant depreciation and how the PCPs are likely to be in negative equity pretty much until the end of the contract whereas previous experience with O2s are that you can break even on a PCP in less than 2 yrs, especially with a late O2 vRS Blackline.  Regarding residual values, looking at dealer prices, SWMBOs 160TSI 2009 O2 Elegance with 30k on the clock would still retail for around £9K, which is 50% of original list and 60% of what we paid new.  150TSI O3 Elegances on the other hand at 1-2 yrs old with 10-20k on the clock seem to be retailing £13-£15K which is an average of £7K drop, assuming an average £21K list price with metallic and a few small extras.  Trade values are probably averaging £3K less than retail.  My 2yr old O3, which admittedly has quite a few miles on the clock (50k) is currently worth about £11K trade-in (there is a Mar 13 one on Skoda Approved site for £14K with similar miles/spec to mine so based on the £24K list for my spec, that's a 58% residual on retail prices, but on trade price vs actual £21K discounted purchase price it's only 52% so doesn't look good compared to our O2 which is holding up very well for a 6 yr old car!

Edited 16 June, 201510 yr by Matt Pez

The petrol debate is interesting,

 

The current 1.8 DSG appears to be good for 29-34 urban where a CR DSG prefacelift will only return 30-35 and the facelift CR DSG 34-40, all urban cycle in a busy city,

 

For me if I was buying I'd seriously consider the 1.8 now due to lower purchase costs and no dpf with only a minimal fuel penalty and higher road tax being the penalties.

 

 

          I am fearful diesels will get  a bashing by governments, already happening and more on the way?. This is an extract from Auto Express

     "

Diesel cars and the Euro 6 emissions standards

In particular, it's older diesel cars that produce higher levels of NOx and particulate matter and these have come under fire from a number of environmental groups. Some have blamed the Government for enticing consumers into diesel cars with VED and company car tax structures that reward low CO2 emissions. Diesel cars tend to be better than petrol models when it comes to CO2 output.

The automotive industry and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) that represents it have recently come out in defence of diesel cars and started a campaign to raise awareness of the clean diesel technology fitted to the new Euro 6 compliant models.

The SMMT is attempting to make sure all diesel cars aren't tarred with the same bush by drawing a line between older diesel cars and the new generation of clean diesel models. The concern is that confusion could lead buyers to shun new Euro 6 diesel cars when they're virtually as environmentally-friendly as the petrol alternatives.

In the short term, the new Euro 6 emission standards, are unlikley to have a direct impact on motorists, though they could see fuel economy and emissions of new cars improve further as the latest engine and exhaust treatment technology becomes standard across the industry. 

Euro 6: are diesels being demonised?

The longer term future for diesel cars looks a little more uncertain for the reasons touched on above and moves that are afoot within Government, at a local and national level, to penalise owners of diesel cars financially.  

Diesel cars have found themselves in the spotlight with London Mayor Boris Johnson calling for an Ultra Low Emission Zone in London be put in place by 2020 that would mean older diesel cars that don't meet Euro 6 emission standards would be charged an extra £10 to enter the capital on top of standard London congestion charge.

by Auto Express Diesel motorway pollution smog traffic

Some councils have already started to charge owners of diesel cars more for parking permits. Islington council in London is set to introduce a surcharge of £96 for anyone with a diesel car from April 1 2015. It claims that the reasoning behind this is "to protect residents from the health risks associated with diesel emissions".

Euro 1 to Euro 6: European emissions legislation timeline

European emission standards first came in to force in 1992 with Euro 1 standards becoming law. This initial standard ensured that diesel cars emitted no more than 780mg/km of NOx, while the maximum for petrol engines was 490mg/km. 

This moved on to Euro 2 in 1997 that dropped diesel NOx to 730mg/km and Euro 3 standards followed in 2000 lowering the diesel NOx limit to 500mg/km. By 2006, Euro 4 emissions were in place reducing the max NOx in diesels to 250mg/km and Euro 5 reduced it further to 180mg/km in 2009.

Throughtout this time, the maximum amount of NOx emitted by diesel cars has been way behind that of petrol models. Under the new Euro 6 standards, however, the maximum level for NOx in diesel models is 80mg/km compared to 60mg/km in petrol cars.

All this penalising of diesels, but they are just as clean (possibly more so) than petrols. We are now rid of the particulate matter, and NoX will be down to similar levels as petrol vehicles (as petrols get older they apparently become even worse than diesels regards NoX, so will the cat. be able to manage the increased NoX output from petrols has they increase in age?

 

What about CO and hydrocarbons? Does the Cat fully aliviate these problems? I guess not fully.

 

Petrols used to be the dirty engine, but has been made a lot cleaner via a Cat. A more complicated Cat than is found on diesels. Nobody moaned about petrols then, so why moan about diesels now. We are now onto the stage of cleaning up diesels so that the 2 types of engine are as close to level as possible. You'll never get rid of the fact that petrols burn more of our precious fossil fuels though.

Oh, and dont forget petrols also chuck out cancer causing particulates.

Don't think that's correct:

 

Engines will be as follows:

 

1.4 TSI 125PS

1.4 TSI-ACT 150PS

1.8 TSI 180PS

2.0 TSI 220PS

2.0 TSI 280PS

 

1.6 TDI 120PS

2.0 TDI 150PS

2.0 TDI 190PS

 

I would suggest anyone who wants a petrol engine to tell Skoda UK now... VW UK do not import petrol powered Passats and as SUK are an arm of VW UK I'm worried they will be forced to do the same.

If they are diesel  only then the 240 biturbo is a must.

Edited 17 June, 201510 yr by High Miler