Well I bought the DSG 1.6TDI Octavia, new, and then less than a year later the daughter bought a Yaris, a manual D4D.

Our 10-11 year ownership experiences were diametrically opposed.

Though at 170,000+ miles she is getting (hopefully fixable) DPF issues, and the origonal clutch very recently collapsed because she was/is a tad sharp coming off it and therefore some of the 6   springs that absorb the shock loadings failed, and quite understandably, though there was no discernable wear to be seen to the clutch plate itself(well she is, mostly,  her ould Da's daughter!)

And yes I am aware Toyota have their failings too, but it is my preception that they are overall a more honest company than the VAG Group are.

BUT

As said her experience persuaded me to go Japanese or Korean.

And the Rav4 appeared to meet our needs best.  Which car I intend to keep for at least 150,000 miles.

And she has said she will be buying another Toyota, probably a Corolla estate.

Perhaps iffen I had bought the 2.0 l diesel with the apparently bullet proof wet DSG I would have had a different ownership experience.

HeyHo, such is life.

Marcus

 

On 22/10/2022 at 22:58, marcusthehat said:

Breezy,

I have never found any particular reason to trust the motoring press.

I do however trust the very well informed opinion of a lifetime VAG mechanic who has run an independant VAG specialist garage most of his adult life, and whose son has followed him into the trade.

Two absolutely straight blokes who would be the last to say anything negative, unless it was glaringly obviously undeniably and unavoidably true, about their lifes passion.

So I will believe them.

Regards,

Marcus

Do you recall what the VAG mechanic told you were the most common big-bill failures that VAG vehicles suffer from, @marcusthehat?

I'm curious to see whether what your mechanic reported is reflected on the boards of Briskoda.

 

1 hour ago, EnterName said:

Do you recall what the VAG mechanic told you were the most common big-bill failures that VAG vehicles suffer from, @marcusthehat?

I'm curious to see whether what your mechanic reported is reflected on the boards of Briskoda.

 

It is a good while ago now, from hazy recall I believe a lot was EGR/injectors/emissions/electronic related(and btw his Son is big into the computer diagnostic stuff)

cheers

Marcus

A Briskoda member, journalist, reviewer that tells it as it is.

When there are faults he reports them and when he likes them that must be because they are good.

'Maybe subscribe to his channel'.

 

 

 

undoubtedly the greatest threat to Skoda is Skoda themselves.

 

My first was 13 years ago and the customer experience was a revelation, dealers who were interested, honest and had a real “ can do” approach. The cars were well built, reliable and durable, OK not perfect, but were excellent value. My faith in VW group product was derived from 60k miles a year for nearly 20 years, during which the VW, Audi and Skoda cars stood up to the punishment far better than the Vauxhall, Volvo and BMW models we ran.

 

We’re now faced with unsound engineering, substandard materials and above all, an attitude from dealers and Skoda customer service that is very much “can’t do”.

 

My current Kodiaq has been troublesome, I could live with that, but an expectation of the dealer network that they’d be willing to resolve issues is hopelessly misplaced and after more than 20years of almost continuous VW group ownership, this will be the last.

 

The need for something with at least 2000kg towing capacity limits choice of Japanese product so something Korean is now on the cards.

On 19/01/2023 at 21:20, Ranger said:

undoubtedly the greatest threat to Skoda is Skoda themselves.

 

an attitude from dealers and Skoda customer service that is very much “can’t do”.

 

..... and after more than 20years of almost continuous VW group ownership, this will be the last.

 

 

 

 

Sums it all up really in three sentences...

 

The culture that perhaps brought us to Skoda in the first place is very much broken... I want to change my car and basically they don't want to talk to me... last correspondence was chasing a price... and that was last month.

 

Perhaps my enquiry is still going from salesman to sales manager to sales managers manager to finance bod..... and back down the line.... can't anyone think for themselves anymore or are margins so so top secret......?

 

Thing is that I have now discovered, its universal.... Hyundai - as in making an enquiry .. comes back an automated message - Dear 'surname'... (that sort of **** ceased when we left grammar school....) ...  thanks for your enquiry - we will keep you informed... 

Do they really want £40-50K of my money or am I that much of a pain the ass... ( When it was £20K the service was so much better) ... or is it just another side affect from CV-19... 🤪

 

Must be me but I just get the feeling on visiting these sterile, clinical car sales rooms that ..... Never in the field of car sales was so little, done by so many...  ( apologies to WSC..) 

 

If yer really clever of course, car sales showrooms are cheaper than Costa...

 

Feel better now...

 

 

 

Skoda / VW UK and the lot they have doing the Customer Service service is an issue.

The lack of knowledge of the vehicles and referring customers and those that have vehicles back to Dealerships to get information.

 

These are often people at Dealerships without a clue in Sales, Parts or Servicing Departments.

After Sales for some from some is pathetic from Skoda UK & Dealerships.

eg

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/521243-q5-tsi-power-cutting-out/page/6

 

Really interesting thread reading from start to end, my first Octavia was an ex demo MK2 Octavia 1.9TDI, beautiful car bought in 2004 and stayed in the family until 2022.  Only got rid of due to lack of maintenance by my late father.   Currently in a 2018 Octavia 1.5 which is a total Swiss army knife of a car and I love it.  Bought at 3 years old.  Toured all over Europe in it.  Will cruise at speed all day, boot bigger than my old Touareg, Volvo V90 and other toys.  Does everything brilliantly.

 

Back to the question, biggest threats:

1) The dealer then was dodgy as hell, soon lost their franchise

2) The dealer now, near me, an absolute rip off, £700 for a replacement wing mirror and fitting.   Its not an ultra premium brand and yeah £125 on ebay and 30 mins to fit myself.

3) VAG, the dieselgate fiasco.  Cost / quality cutting

4) Model line up, I love the Octavia, Superb, Fabia and regret not getting a Yeti in 4x4.  But bloody SUV's and electric ones?  Worst of all worlds, ****e off road, heavy and handling compromised

5) Other manufacturers, beginning of this thread all Dacia.  And man they have improved so much.  New Duster looks epic.  But its Korean or Japanese for me.  And in reality the Chinese electric brands.   MG4 is epic value for money if thats your thing.

6) Residuals and depreciation, insane pricing at new means that my preferred purchase point now which is at 3 years old is increasingly lifting Skoda outside of the amount of money I am willing to pay for a vehicle that is a utility to me rather than a fun toy

 

Anyway my penny's worth

Edited 3 October, 20243 Oct by MrMajestyk

2 hours ago, MrMajestyk said:

Really interesting thread reading from start to end, my first Octavia was an ex demo MK2 Octavia 1.9TDI, beautiful car bought in 2004 and stayed in the family until 2022.  Only got rid of due to lack of maintenance by my late father.   Currently in a 2018 Octavia 1.5 which is a total Swiss army knife of a car and I love it.  Bought at 3 years old.  Toured all over Europe in it.  Will cruise at speed all day, boot bigger than my old Touareg, Volvo V90 and other toys.  Does everything brilliantly.

 

Back to the question, biggest threats:

1) The dealer then was dodgy as hell, soon lost their franchise

2) The dealer now, near me, an absolute rip off, £700 for a replacement wing mirror and fitting.   Its not an ultra premium brand and yeah £125 on ebay and 30 mins to fit myself.

3) VAG, the dieselgate fiasco.  Cost / quality cutting

4) Model line up, I love the Octavia, Superb, Fabia and regret not getting a Yeti in 4x4.  But bloody SUV's and electric ones?  Worst of all worlds, ****e off road, heavy and handling compromised

5) Other manufacturers, beginning of this thread all Dacia.  And man they have improved so much.  New Duster looks epic.  But its Korean or Japanese for me.  And in reality the Chinese electric brands.   MG4 is epic value for money if thats your thing.

6) Residuals and depreciation, insane pricing at new means that my preferred purchase point now which is at 3 years old is increasingly lifting Skoda outside of the amount of money I am willing to pay for a vehicle that is a utility to me rather than a fun toy

 

Anyway my penny's worth

 

Tend to agree with most of your points but interestingly our Kodiaq 4x4 is lighter than our Mk2 TDi 4x4 was... 

As someone who has just bought their first ever Skoda (mark 4.5 Octavia RS Combi in race blue) I can share what I almost bought instead and what else I drove.

Interestingly everything I considered was a VAG product. I so nearly bought a facelifted Formentor VZ. The facelift model is not yet released in New Zealand but I drove the older 228PS model a few times. On paper it was perfect. My old car was a 2012 Subaru Legacy GT Premium wagon. I wanted something a little smaller but still a 4WD vehicle with sporty dynamics. Apart from feeling the Cupra was a bit gauche in places with its overuse of the signature copper colour it was the one. The fact that the facelift added a 333PS engine and torque splitting rear diff from the Golf R should have sealed the deal.

Probably if the new car was available right away I would have one but I’ve never had an suv before and don’t really like them despite how handsome the Cupra is. I looked at the Leon Sportstourer but didn’t really like the styling.

I wrote off the Golf R, too much black plastic inside. I drove the Audi RS3 (my wife patted it after the test drive) but despite assuming I’d love the in-line 5 it seemed to have a soggy power delivery and didn’t sound as good as the older ones I’ve been in.

Next an Audi S3. It drove great, noticeably quicker than the Cupra despite the same engine (it’s a bit lighter) but S3 seemed a bit boring.

My wife got us back on the SUV option and we test drove an RSQ3 Sportback. That could have been the one. Still the same faintly disappointing 5 cylinder engine but it would have been a very pleasant place to be but alas the new Q3 was on its way with no indication of an RS model and no stock of the run out one.

I had earlier considered an Octavia RS. I’d been following the range since the Mark 3 and thought the Mark 4 looked great but discounted it thinking 245hp was not enough power. Once I learnt the facelift was on the way I tried a 245 model.

I was blown away by how it felt to drive. It just felt right. The seats were supremely comfy, sitting low reinforced the superior dynamics of a proper car chassis. I didn’t think it was that quick and thought there was too much torque steer.

Back to the Cupra and trying to order one but the niggling was there. Despite the Cupra being so much quicker on paper, the Skoda felt like a sports sedan whereas the Cupra still felt like a sporty suv. When the Octavia 4.5 arrived I drove it and fell in love. The changes to the media system were a big step. The new wheels were nicer (with the aero inserts removed). The car felt noticeably quicker in part because the model is making more power from 4,300rpm now so has more of a top end zing but the DSG box retuning really makes it snap through the gears. Getting rid of the sound actuator and having an actual exhaust with a bit of sound and a few overrun pops sealed the deal.

Sorry for the long winded post. What would I consider next? Well wouldn’t it be great if they offered a 4WD 333PS version in the future, I’d snap that up.

I also learnt I quite like having something a bit off axis. I live in a wealthy area and most people have fancy euro cars. I really prefer the drive of the Skoda to the other cars I drove (RS3 excluded but I didn’t like it enough to pay almost twice as much as the Skoda).

@whippersnapper I agree about Suburban Useless Vehicles. To me they always feel slightly floppy and unstable (even when a passenger).

If I had to switch, I’d probably reach for a Kia or Hyundai brochure. Both offer great value, smart tech, and comfort—definitely strong alternatives to Skoda in today’s market.