Compare that to a little 1.4TDI heading north .after 300  miles ,car said fuel for 190 miles, so tank topped up  -that would make HIGH  MPG on a right mix of-roads, most of them motorway with Furby wanting to get there in a hurry- Dad was in hospital after stroke, and might not survive. Average was 75 MPH. ( tops -I'd rather not say ),WITH mpg almost equal to 51 MPG. Not impressive- but a 1.4v TDI running for 4 hours etc at high revs uses a lot of fuel - add to that another 150 at changing speeds, to get max out of car, and it leads to maximum fuel use.

 

For some reason Skoda have not put much effort in making their smaller cars very aerodynamic whereas the Octavia, and Superb are more aerodynamic than their SEAT and VW counterparts hence their are faster and often more economical than those cars.

 

A Fabia at 75 mph will use more fuel than an Octavia at 75 mph for the same engine type ie diesel/petrol.

 

Add to that, and it has been a feature of the great debate whether to go for a smaller engined car or a larger capicity one, particularly when when is requiring about half or more of an engine total output then that engine is usually set to run richer fuel/air ratio so it can be less economical than a bigger engine that is only running at a quarter or a third of full power.

 

The 1.9D, many will say, hit that sweet spot of being economical at motorway speeds and having plenty of power especially in the 130, 150 and 160 hp versions. MPG around 60 in normal use and even 70 mpg when pootling were not uncommon.  Coupled with decent 12 gallon tanks gave extrodinary range.  A 1.9D Estate, Mk 1 Octy, L&K spec, was an incredible machine that would have a range of over 700 miles.  Yes a bit clattery as the PD engine was, but would out accelerate a 140 hp 2 litre diesel we had at the time and be 5 mpg better MPG.   Skoda progressed its diesels (?), I do not think so.  VAG itself stated it was putting more R&D in to TSI techonology as it saw a better future in that direction especially with the likeyhood of more restrictions of diesel particle emmissions.

 

It all boils down to Skoda and VAG really taking its customers for granted.  Not producing the type of cars that biult the brand up both for functionality and price and now there are other brands that do offer the value and functionality that Skoda use to but do not and now they have just ended up as a only "slightly" cheaper brand of VAG and with the fugly element and inferior depreciation number to Audi/VAG Skoda is looking increasingly marginalised in the current market place.   

Part of the issue with diesel development has been that most of the tech has had to be put into the emissions side of things and not into power or efficiency,despite the claims.  Euro compliance in terms of noise and particulates has all but put the nail in the coffin for long term trouble free, economical diesel ownership.  If you can forgive the clattery noise, the 1.9 pre-pdf PD engine was imho about as good as diesel engines got.  Strong, economical, reliable, long lived.  I wouldn't change our PD equipped Fabia for any new diesel as sooner or later, the complexities and issues with egr, pdf's etc etc coupled with the routine PDF cleaning cycle means that unless you do lots of motorway miles, modern diesels don't actually seem an attractive proposition.  Even then, to ward off the DMF issues with higher mile cars, an auto option might be the lesser of two evils.

 

When those issues are coupled to Skoda's contempt of its customers (bred by familiarity and having a strong market for a fair few years now) coupled to the reality of Skoda dealership ranking and the banality of newer models not knowing quite where to fit in, yet costing as much as anything else, and you have...well, an "oh dear...where now" scenario.  Hardly good for Skoda or VAG.

Edited 4 April, 201511 yr by SEVrs

Bought my first Skoda from Bamfords in Gloucester, a Felicia, ahh happy days.

 

A different time.

Like one of our local dealers who was Land Rover, SEAT and SAAB, oh dear.

Just noticed my dealer has sold/lost their Peugeot franchise - has been re-branded to another local dealership. Take it they're still keeping their Skoda/Kia site as haven't heard otherwise.

Just noticed my dealer has sold/lost their Peugeot franchise - has been re-branded to another local dealership. Take it they're still keeping their Skoda/Kia site as haven't heard otherwise.

 

SUK - Skoda UK - seem to want to remove all those single site family dealerships and replace them with ones with at least a few branches you will, upfront, take more stock and pre-register if necessary, all to get the figures looking good so the senior management of SUK can look good and move on to, what they perceive, as better things, ie the other VAG franchises.   This is done even when the customer satisfaction rating is less for the remaining skoda outlets than the once virtual forced to give it up and reflected in the Dealer survey quoted in the first post.

 

Just watched the Top Gear Ukrainian episode with the £18K Fiesta, £11K UP and £7K Dacia, great episode.