Luckily in the 13 months I've had a Skoda nobody has ever been snobby about it, Almost everyone has been really upbeat/impressed with it, one work colleague went out and bought a Furby vRS after seeing mine. I don't know if this is due to being an Aircraft Engineer and usually always surrounded by people interested in the machine and not the badge? Maybe some sections of society, the ones mentioned above who know nothing about cars, are snobby maybe. Thing is it all makes no sense, if card were bought on merit, who would pay for a Merc, with dodgy reliability & quality of the last few years? As the say, " a fool and his money are easily parted"...It isn't just Skoda, the Mondeo is a damn good car too, as was the Omega - but right car, 'wrong' badge etc, the number of dealers I heard say id these 2 had BMW badges they would have flown of the forecourts.

Yes I know, another thread on this theme, but since I've owned my car (1st Sept delivery) I,ve never come across so many motorists who appear to not want to be seen following me. My mate's wife wont go in my car so she drives us, which is fair enough BUT she drives her Merc at 40 mph on the motorway and even uses the steering wheel as a novice does on their test. My uncle has questioned my sanity at such a purchase too. How the hell do we get the message across? This is ****ing me off. Any thoughts guys?

know what ya mean m8...

just got my new superb elegance few wks ago..and same applys here...told my m8's what i was getting and...er.....WOT...A SKODA !

when they saw it..er...differant story...

black pearlescent & full biege leather / fully loaded with toys... they ALL now say...what a bloody great looking car .

yeh, call me sad...but i even park it on the main street and stand across the road and watch people actually STOP, and look in the car...then stand back and admire the outside

that make me very happy bunny .

i know it looks classy in/out and so now do the locals where i live....

tell u what guys....

there is another new pug 407 black in town...and everyone thinks mine looks the exact same...er..only better,,cause i got the full monty interior .

yes..i WILL buy another new one in 2 yrs time....only this time...will be the auto tiptronic 2.5 one....or bigger....if they ever bring out a bigger engine one.

I've only ever had one person say anything bad about my car and all they said was, "but, it's a skoda". This came from someone that just bought a second hand R-reg Rover 400 in green for about

just mention the octy rs and that should do the trick

An office badge snob just bought a 1.4 diesel C2 - wouldn't touch a Skoda because 'It's still a Skoda'.

It's a horrible little thing!

In all fairness, I think the badge snobbery is excellent, it keeps my car affordable

Its a fact of life, everyone loves their own car, and think its the best thing since sliced bread. Some dont like others cars, well so what? you buy a car because you like it, its all you can afford etc.

Live and let live!

well today has proved the point.... I parked up next to a rangerover

:eek: :eek: size difference!!

Anyway bak to point... was sittin in the car having my lunch when the couple came back to it who owned it. They got in and started having their lunch also. Then i heard wife say (have to say i nearly wet myself!) "oh look that funny little posh skoda thing has sat-nav to" and were talking just generally about the car.

to cut a long story short before they left they got out and spoke to me about the car.... their son will now be having one! So whereever their large house is with range-rovers in the drive there will be a little skoda alongside!

Shame in a way that the message is getting through, I have had my Furby for 20 months and cos of the badge i dont think anyone gave it a second look, now 2 people have bought a little soot rocket.

1 is Silver , the other picks his banana buggy up soon ( both have registered here)

It was the only one, now it is common in the car park, will have to trade it in

Interesting quote from the IxM review of the new Octy vRS

''There has to be a tipping point where customers can no longer remain sniffy about any perceived social stigma regarding driving a Skoda. Much comes down to your own self confidence. On the rare occasion that I spot an Octavia vRS coming the other way, I usually clock the driver and make a quick mental note. Smart cookie.''

And from the Autocar reiew of the vRS estate

''The density of quality engineering is remarkable for just over

A work colleague of mine had his house broken into. They found all his car keys, and had the choice of a Range Rover (a 30-odd yr old classic one), a Lotus Elise or a 1.9TDi Octavia estate.

And yes - they nicked the Octy!

Maybe we need more badge snobbery

They probably needed the estate loadspace for all their stolen gear! Don't fancy their chances shifting stuff in an Elise myself, and the Range was probably too old for them or something!

Steve

And yes - they nicked the Octy!

Given that almost the whole of VAG use the same flick-keys, they probably thought they'd hit the jackpot and were getting a Bentley Continental GT

I personally love the badge snobbery, it stops my car being a) as common as muck, expensive. I think everyone knows they are good cars but don't like to admit it so they say things like, well they're not really Skodas anymore etc etc. From what I understand Skoda have always been good cars but got lumped in with the whole eastern bloc thing and got classed alongside Lada. Trouble is, if you start to tell people about this, you come across as an anorak trying to defend your car.

I read in a survey (JD Power I think) that it's often the preconception of what a car is like that decides your satisfaction. If your Skoda is reliable you are well impressed because of it's old reputation, on the other hand your expectancy of a Merc or BMW is much higher so a break down is unacceptable. This could contribute to us believing that our Skodas are better than they are.

All that said, I am on my second Skoda now in 5 years and I like them. I fool myself into thinking I am one of the enlightened ones but I am a snob too. I don't like BM drivers (generalising a tad me thinks!) but their cars are excellent. I find Merc a bit poor considering the price, this really is about buying the badge, and having owned 5 very different Fords, I wouldn't have another thrown at me, unless it was an old Mustang of course.

As someone earlier said, it's all about compromise. I would rather be driving a 50s Chevy Bel Air but with our fuel costs, no way. I even had to get a 1.9Tdi Superb instead of the 2.8 petrol I would have preferred.

I think that once the stigma has gone and Skoda re on a level playing field, the expectancy of their cars will rise and they could be in trouble. That's when we will all start buying Kias or Hyundais for exactly the same reason we bought Skodas. Oh god help us!

Sam, I think you are totally right. Because Skodas have the reputation of being cheap (not really true nowadays) people will still be happy even if the car gives some trouble. However pay

Isn't it strange how badge prejudiced people are. In my opinion all that Chevy have done in rebadging the Daewoo is trash the name Chevrolet. The manufacturers of the Bel Air now make the Matiz - go figure! If anyone speaks negatively about my Skoda I thank them for it and tell them that without their luddite, flat earth attitude I would be paying top dollar for my top dollar car. They don't like being responsible for my cheap motoring costs. I only hope the dealers, as well as Skoda themselves, don't get too big for their boots and become all VAG on us with regard to service etc. I'm already seeing glimmers of it with my local dealer. While ever the stigma is there they have had to mind their Ps and Qs a bit, which has been beneficial to us all. I hope the stigma never really disappears and we can keep driving one of the best kept secrets around . I know a lot of dealers had to literally give up their franchises when the Superb came along. Apparently the level of investment needed by the dealers to get themselves tooled up to service and repair the thing was way beyond the small family type of dealer that most of them were. Maybe the new Octy has had a similar effect. I looked at quite a few different cars when switching from my Octy and it was the 'first name terms' service of my dealer that swung me back to Skoda when I bought my Superb. Every other dealer was as faceless as I knew I would soon become once I'd bought a car from them.

Truth is they sell millions of them all over Europe.

It's just vest wearing knotted hankie on head Brits.And its grrrrrreat

Mind you,we won't try 'funny foreign food' either

I don't travel half way round the world on my holidays just to eat foreign food - I want a fry up!

I ******* hate Brits abroad!

I myself couldn't give a flying f*** what people think of my Fab vRS because I love it to bits. In fact, I'm glad people still sneer/laugh/smile because it keeps them RELATIVELY rare and in my eyes thats a plus. One of the reasons I looked into Skoda in the first place was because I was desperate to steer well clear of Fords, Peugeots, Vauxhalls, Citroens etc ALL of which in my eyes are boring.

Driving a Skoda fills me a sense of real smugness KNOWING that I DO drive a great quality car, and that in time those that sneer now will be converted. Didn't the great Audi once have a naff reputation?????? I beleive they did.

So, the longer Skoda stays a car ONLY for those in the know, I'll be more than happy. To those that sneer/laugh etc, get in your sh!te Ford Focuses and breakdown somewhere.

I guess if you are a sensitive soul then owning a Skoda might be difficult. But just keep reminding yourself what a wise decision you have made. I had the mickey taken at work for ages. But those co-workers that knew anything about vehicles eventually agreed that I had made a "bold" decision and were genuinely impressed by my Furby. But those living in suburbia couldn't ever buy one because what would the neighbours think. That suits me fine, because if everybody bought a Furby VRS then Skoda could jack the price up and I would feel far less exclusive- now who's being a snob!

One of the reasons I looked into Skoda in the first place was because I was desperate to steer well clear of Fords, Peugeots, Vauxhalls, Citroens etc ALL of which in my eyes are boring.

:rofl:

Chris

:rofl:

Chris

Or should i say downright common

Or should i say downright common

So does that mean when the Fabia becomes common (and it's pretty common already!), you'll switch to another brand? :P

Chris

So does that mean when the Fabia becomes common (and it's pretty common already!)' date=' you'll switch to another brand? :P

Chris[/quote']

He's got a point

yeah to be fair the Fabia is pretty common itself

i still think alot of skoda owners have just as big if not bigger chip on there shoulder than other car users. yeah the car you drive may get ignored, but to be fair why shouldnt it? most car owners dont get much attention to there everyday car such as ford focus, vectra, A4 etc

IMO a very select few still dont like skoda but most people do rate them, hence why there sales are doing well these days. it seems more skoda owners hate just about every other car make cause its not skoda.

enjoy your skoda, they are great cars:thumbup: but other people make good cars too:)

can i ask something? what make every other car maker boring compaired with skoda? what does skoda have that makes them interesting and exciting? (serious question-still own a skoda)

what does skoda have that makes them interesting and exciting?

Briskoda.

Rob.