Hi:

 

For a number of (unforseen) reasons I may be passing my 2014 Octy III onto one of my children. Don't want to sell it as there's still three and a half years left on the warranty and its only done 11K miles.

 

If I do, what do I replace it with?

 

I need another estate (petrol and automatic). Another Octy (I've now owned several) is the obvious replacement but what else should I be considering?

 

I've looked at a Superb but its too big. The Yeti is obviously not an estate. 

 

At the moment I'm drawn to the 3 series BMW and the C-Class Merc.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

How about the Leon and Golf Estate or are they too small?

How about the Leon and Golf Estate or are they too small?

Possibility but as you say maybe too small. I also think the Golf is vastly overpriced for what it is.

How much longer is a Superb?

It looks like a great car, more refined than an Octavia for only a little more money.

An obvious progression from an Octavia.

The new C-Class is in a different league to the Octavia. It would be my choice...........if only it was sold by Skoda Dealers!!

 

Their Dealers are woeful and an extra special sort of salesperson!

 

Inside it's class leading in quality and it shows. Not as much room in the boot as the Octavia or in the back, but there is not much in it.

 

Diesels are not overly quiet, but for me I didn't find them that loud. Gear change was smooth (but not as good as the BMW 320). The C is set up for touring, and it shows against the BMW. If you are after a soft, well controlled A to B tourer then it's good. If you want some fun and a "drivers car" the BMW is better.

 

Lets put it this was, the Octavia 3 was not my first choice, infact Skoda was not, mostly due to their new price structure. Which meant that both the BMW and Merc like yourself caught me eye.

 

My local dealers wouldn't give a decent discount on the BMW and for the spec I wanted it was getting pricey. Merc was better value, but after 2 month of trying to make a deal, get information, test drive etc, I finally gave up.

 

Why did I get the Octavia? Took my uncle along to Skoda because he needed a replacement for his Octavia vRS, got chatting to the salesman, got a good deal and signed there and then.

 

Shame Mercedes didn't do that!

 

What about Volvo? I test drove the V60 and that's a really nice car.......but......it's not as big on the inside as the Octavia/BMW/Merc.

A friend of mine got a fully loaded C Class hybrid as a replacement for an A4 Avant. He hates it. Mainly due to it being rear wheel drive, he just doesn't feel as confident driving it on country roads. If you're used to RWD then not an issue but if not suggest a good test drive first.

The new Fabia 1.2 TSI estate?

The new Astra is getting pretty good reviews

If you want something from the VAG stable thats arguably a better car than the Octavia in some respects and still need space you could do worse than considering a Golf or Passat estate.

A GT spec Golf estate would be quite nice, but a GTD or R all the better....but they are pricey and not everyone would want the general running costs of an R.

The Passat SE Business is a nice spec, GT that bit better. A 150 or 190 TDI GT estate would be a nice car. I nearly got myself a 150 TDI GT saloon as a company car but the lure of a Golf GTD hatch was too strong. Again the only issue with the Passsat is its not that cheap.

I think if I were looking to buy a car...though nothing it would seem nowadays is immune from depreciation....a facelift 320d M sport or C220/250 Bluetec AMG Sport would be on my shortlist....neither is massive but v nice cars and good PCH deals to be had on either.

A sports auto 320 with the M Sport Plus pack would be quite a lovely thing....but then at +£35k it bloody ought to be too :-)

The new Astra is getting pretty good reviews

It looks quite nice and seemingly quite alot of car for the money. Drives v well apparently.

Be the usual thing though....will it be reliable and it will drop in value like a stone.

I think its probably about time they dropped the Vauxhall brand in the UK and went Opel.....far less stigma attached...and a better looking badge.

Thanks for the comments everybody.

 

I’m going to try and do test drives of both the BMW and Merc over the next 10 days or so. Another Octavia (perhaps VRS this time) remains another possibility. I hadn’t considered the Volvo V60 and needs to do some more research.

 

Some of my thoughts (and prejudices!):  

 

Astra Estate -  It appears that the only petrol auto available is the 1.6i which only produces 85Kw. But it emits a whopping 174gm CO2 in auto format which costs £205 annual tax. The load entry area is also small – a downside of the tourer style design concept being exaggerated on a number of estates these days. I also suspect the residuals would be poor. I owned an Astra Estate petrol auto a good few years ago – it was very reliable (if thirsty) but the residual value of it was such that I ended up running it into the ground.  

 

Fabia Estate – Possibly a little smaller than I am looking for

 

Merc C200 Estate – Classy looks inside but I understand that the ICE/Sat Nav controls are awful and difficult to use.  Noisy engines (both petrol and diesel) and unrefined ride. 128gm CO2. Discounts available along with OK PCP finance deals. Good auto box.  Concerning that reviews of Mercedes dealers seem to be universally poor.  

 

BMW 320 Estate -  Good handling/ride and a good engine. Auto box OK. Classy interior. 138gm CO2. Discounts do not seem to be readily available and PCP finance seems expensive to me. So likely to end up being much pricier than all the other alternatives, especially if you start to add any options. If my buying experience is anything like when I bought a new 5 series many moons ago I’m standing by ready to be patronised by the dealers!        

Golf R Estate, Focus ST Estate?

Dill

Would definitely look at the Focus Estate, if not the ST, even the 1.5 ecoboost is a good machine. Was a close thing for me against the octy but getting the 4x4 swung it for what I need. Still got one in the fold (previous gen hatch) as the daily dog and not had a single issue in 10 years (he says grabbing a chunk of wood)

Had an Octy, same spec as yours; have gone for the Leon ST FR 1.4 EcoTSI DSG this time as I actually found the Octy a little too big to be honest.  Leon is just that little bit smaller - almost the same as a Mk2 Octy I think.  Free Tech Pack did help swinging it in the Leons favour as well - plus I prefer the fact the Infotainment screen is higher up in the dash as well.

You say the Golf estates are expensive for what they are......................

 

please remember that they have items fitted which are not on options lists & the Octavia does not get................eg bonnet lifters, cruise control on the steering wheel instead of on a third stalk, etc etc.

 

I have a GT spec estate & chose it over the Octavia................I also have a 1.4lt 140ps engine, sports suspension & multilink rear axle..................a combination which is NOT made for Octavia................multilink axle is only on L&K, VRS, & Scout.....& yes you can feel the difference in the handling !!!

please remember that they have items fitted which are not on options lists & the Octavia does not get................eg bonnet lifters, cruise control on the steering wheel instead of on a third stalk, etc etc.

I actually prefer the stalk over CC on the steeringwheel.

And the bonnetlifters, who cares?

I did look at Golf before buying the Octy, but it didnt have any petrols with 4x4 and Dsg, so I dropped it. But a nice car all in all.

(didnt even consider the R, its insanely expencive here)

Had an Octy, same spec as yours; have gone for the Leon ST FR 1.4 EcoTSI DSG this time as I actually found the Octy a little too big to be honest.  Leon is just that little bit smaller - almost the same as a Mk2 Octy I think.  Free Tech Pack did help swinging it in the Leons favour as well - plus I prefer the fact the Infotainment screen is higher up in the dash as well.

We've just replaced our Mk2 Octavia Estate with one of these (but a manual) and we are very pleased so far.

I would say the Octy2 boot was fractionally bigger but not by enough to make a difference to us. Agree with your comments on the Tech pack and display screen also.

The new A4 looks good, a notch up from the Octavia. It is receiving some good press.

Just to finish off the story....

 

Circumstances changed again, so now keeping the Octy.

 

Looked at a number of alternatives, and eventually decided on the Merc C Class 200 Sport Auto Estate.

 

The Merc dealers were better than expected (sales side - obviously can't speak about their after sales service) and there are some great discounts and offers to be had up to Christmas. PCP Finance currently 4.8% with further deposit contributions from Merc. BMW prices (and discounts) were laughable - just about everything I consider to be an "essential" was an optional extra. The Merc on the other hand (at laest in Sport trim) has just about everyting I was looking for as standard.  Audi pricing structure was even worse than BMW's.

 

Car drove well, but is obviously a bit more of a comfort barge than the BMW which is probably a lot sportier. But at my time of life that's no disadvantage. The downside was a weird infotainment system controller which is probably impossible to use safely on the move, a Sat Nav which seemer to be added as an afterthought on the dash, and a very dark and forbidding interior - you can have too much black in your life.  

 

What none of the alteratives could offer was the space utilisation of the Octy. None of the others came close in my opinion to the room in the cabin and usable load area available with the Octy

 

The C Class would have been nice, but I'm not losing any sleep over it. The Octy may have issues, but also a lot going for it, even compared to cars which cost £6-7K more.

 

So I will continue to haunt this forum............