Scouting for Skodas

I bought a 2008 Scout TDI PD 140 a couple of weeks ago after a long run of bad luck with a Mazda 3 (all stemming from a DPF problem) and some Peugeots, and most recently an old Rover 75. I also have a Shogun which is presently having a gearbox change.

My luck with cars has become legendary in the office, my garage suggesting that "If I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all". I even broke down in the garage's Freelander. It's all been very expensive and very stressful. Thinking back, the sequence started when I was hit up the back side by a drunk driver one Saturday lunchtime, which wrote off my dependable 306.

I do over 20k miles a year and, living in the back of beyond outside Brecon, having a reliable car is essential. I can't remember what started me thinking about Skodas - probably googled 'reliable cars' or something. A couple of mechanics endorsed their reputation for reliability, so the hunt was on for an Octavia TDI PD with a full history.

It was a toss up between a 4x4 estate or a Scout. In the end I went for the latter's extra clearance, in view of the back roads and steep uphill track to my home. I found three in my price range (i.e. cheap) and set out on a 550 mile road trip to view them. The first was the most expensive and had some mechanical issues, but it gave me my first drive of a Skoda.

The second, near Rugby, was a last minute find just before I set out. It was two leagues above the first, really tidy - almost like new - and evidently very well looked after by its one lady owner who happened to live just a few miles away in mid-Wales. I knew immediately that I'd take it, but checked the other one anyway and sure enough, there was no comparison.

I've spent the past couple of weeks since I bought Hawkwind (it's silver, old hippies will understand) adding basic accessories like car mats and seat covers, and thinking about winter wheels.

It's early days and I refuse to count chickens, but I'm hopeful that I may have done the right thing at last. 

The wealth of information, knowledge and experience available in this forum is outstanding and I hope to be around a good while.