Having been a lurker on here for about 6 months I thought I should at last register and post something about the first Skoda I have owned, a 57 plate Roomster Scout 1.9Tdi.

 

For almost a year now I have been sorting and gradually clearing my late Mother’s house.  I have been doing the trip most weekends, travelling from my home in Oxfordshire to East Kent and was putting huge miles on my everyday car, a Volvo V70 D5 estate.

 

I was also doing 4 or 5 runs to the local tip each weekend, and using the Volvo as a dustcart was taking its’ toll so I started looking round for a cheapish hack that would be big enough to shift rubbish and economical to run, as well as being capable of long runs every weekend. 

 

A van was out of the question due to the fact that commercial vehicles need a permit to use the tip, so I thought of getting something like a Citroen Berlingo/Peugeot Partner.  I looked at several and most were tired and tatty, which caused me to question whether they would be reliable enough for 400 or so miles every weekend, mostly on motorways. 

 

While on my way back from the tip one Saturday, I stopped to look at a tidy Berlingo at a small second-hand car lot, only to spot something that had slipped completely below my radar - a Skoda Roomster.  

 

A first glance led to the inevitable “what the hell is that…?” question but shape and size-wise, it seemed to fit the bill so I had a look over it, inside and out and was impressed by the flexible seating in the back, which offered a reasonable amount of space when completely removed.  The car drove nicely and had a huge amount of paperwork with it.  The previous owner had clearly been OCD about servicing and maintenance and it had a long MOT.  I checked the MOT history online and saw that there had mainly been straight passes, with few advisories and the only failures there had been were for very minor points, immediately sorted, to the extent that the MOT date is still the anniversary of the vehicle being registered. I did a bit of online research, including finding this site and decided to buy it. 

 

I had the garage do an oil and filter service (even though one wasn’t strictly needed for a while) and change the cam belt and water pump. I collected it at the end of January, at which point it had 57,000 miles on the clock since when I have added a further 6,000+ miles.

 

What I did not expect was for the car which had been bought as a ‘thing-for-a-purpose’ has actually become my car of choice for everyday use as I actually find it more comfortable to drive than the Volvo.  

 

The large rear passenger doors also make it much easier to put my 2 year old grand-daughter in her seat every day for the nursery run without whacking her head on the roof!  She loves the large windows and good view of the road ahead.  The rear space is plenty big enough for being crammed full of rubbish and is easier to load than the Volvo due to the tall tailgate.

 

The Roomster hasn’t missed a beat and returns 50+ mpg regardless of how I drive it, much more on a steadily-driven long run.  It is plenty quick enough for me and much cheaper to fuel than the Volvo, doing at least 10-15 more miles for every gallon.

 

The only problem I have experienced so far is that very occasionally, the OSR door won’t unlock, either on the remote or on the button inside  and, even when everything else is unlocked, it won’t open using the internal handle.  Did it for a while then sorted itself out and has worked fine ever since.  I gather from reading posts on here that such problems are far from unknown.

 

It is surprisingly well equipped as the original owner must have ticked almost everything on the options list, including heated front seats, which appears to be quite a rare fitment and something I didn’t spot until after I had bought the car.  Looking at others for sale online, I struggle to see anything that was available for the Roomster back in 2007 that mine doesn’t have.

 

I took a bit of ribbing from work colleagues when it turned up in the office car park but despite the odd design, I absolutely love the thing.

Hello Gordon and welcome to Briskoda-land,

 

Also welcome to the small but select band who've discovered the versatility and charm of the quirky Roomster, and who can happily live with driving something distinctly different (the most similar in concept would appear to be the older Corsa Combis run by Royal Mail, I've seen fully-windowed versions, probably private imports, that might match the Roomster footprint, with a similar older-tech 1.7 turbodiesel, but with twin rear doors, though I have seen one with a hatch, a coffee-bar conversion).

 

My first cars were LHD Belgian Citroen 2CV, then Dyane 6, so quirky works for me!     Both very versatile cars.

 

Further down the headings there's two dedicated Roomster areas, 1st for general stuff, 2nd for special projects.

 

Enjoy, keep us posted, I do a 170miles round-trip across the Peaks and Pennines once a fortnight, mine has been economy-remapped, use Millers oils and fuel additive, last fillup 63.5mpg, car stays parked mostly as I have a Peugeot van for work.

 

 Just sailed through another MOT, no advisories, though driver's door lock intermittently faulty (not responding to remote unlock command, needs key, then alarm may go off!)

Better post a query requesting part-number......

 

Richard

Hello Gordon welcome to the Skoda forum good to have you with us glad your happy with the Roomster 

Welcome Gordon!   Sounds like a good buy all round.

Update on my original post.

 

16 months down the line and the Roomster is still going strong - this morning I clocked up 27,000 miles in my ownership since January 2017 and the car now has 84,000 miles in total.

 

The only faults to date have been a parking sensor failing and a couple of bulbs blowing.  The intermittent problem with the off-side rear door refusing to unlock appears to have resolved itself and it hasn't done that for months.  I have had to fit a pair of new rear dampers and new front discs and pads but other than routine servicing, it hasn't needed anything else.

 

Fuel consumption is still good - if anything it is improving.  Long steady motorway runs now average low 60's mpg, running at normal motorway cruising speeds, rather than artificially low speeds to get better economy.

 

It is the car of choice for most purposes, including holidays in the UK and in Europe.  Both my wife and I find it more comfortable than the Volvo V70, which has been relegated to the vehicle that we use for transporting things that are too big for the Roomster.  

 

All in all, I think it is one of the best cars I have ever owned in 36 years of driving.

A warm welcome to the Forum !  Nothing like practical.

Just looking back at this post from August 2017.  I still own the Roomster and use it as a daily driver.  It is partnered with a 2017 Kodiaq 2.0Tdi 190 4x4 Edition, which I bought in 2019.

 

i realised tonight that I have now driven well over 100,000 miles in the two Skodas, having taken the Roomster from 57,000 to 121,000 and the Kodiaq from 26,000 to 82,000.

 

Both still perform well and neither have suffered any serious issues in that time; the most serious issue with the Roomster being failure of the power steering unit.

 

Son is now buying a Kodiaq to replace his Passat estate as, having looked at all the other options, he has decided that the Kodiaq will make a good tow barge for his 5 berth caravan.

 

All in all, I remain very satisfied with the purchase in January 2017 of the bizarrely-shaped hack,bought to be a glorified dustcart and which is still the vehicle of choice for most journeys 7+ years later.