So after 3 long years my '71 Octavia Se Tech PHEV has finally been collected and taken off to the great auction house in the sky, if anyone is stupid enough to buy it.

Without doubt the worst car I've ever had and I owned an Austin Montego!

Apart from the ridiculous long wait for CarPlay to load, fiddly touch screen, lane hindrance system and a collision detection system that doesn't work in the rain, the following is too many things for any person's sanity:

Intermittent Infotainment errors, freezes, unexplained restarts

Intermittent ‘Engine needs to run longer’ message

Intermittent Fuel & battery gauges flash

Intermittent Driver window goes down when button pressed for up

42'000 Gear selector error on dash, gear selector replaced

49'000 Emissions light on dash, new sensor

49'000 Rear tyres heavily stepped

49'000 Boot rattle, new wedges

58'000 Aircon ceases to blow cold

58'000 All HV coolant leaks out, car recovered. New heat exchanger fitted

So for me the only thing Surprising about Skoda is why anybody gets a another one. Although, there is an umbrella in the door :)

Shame yours has left a bit of a sour taste, as it were. But it’s interesting how our experiences with a car over time can colour our opinions of the model or brand.

My 70 plate 1.5 tsi SEL FE, which I bought at 6 months old, was very much a roller coaster of emotions for the first year of my ownership. Within a month Škoda UK asked me to return it to the dealer for diagnostics - got back 5 months later (a similar, but SE FE, loan car was faultless). Since then, and 58,000 miles later, I’d say this car is one of the best I have ever had. Yes, a few s/ware niggles since but overall a great car. Spacious, economical, plenty quick enough, comfortable, reliable. Dealer is excellent too.

Would I buy another? Yep!

5 hours ago, PawmMag said:

49'000 Boot rattle, new wedges

Oh wow, yours worked for so long! I'm close to 42k, mine are to be changed for the second time already.

You've certainly been unlucky in suffering so many problems and many of the teething issues that beset a number of early Mk4 builds. I think your dislike of "fiddly touch screen" and "lane hinderance system" are probably more subjective opinion rather than actual faults. Also, if you covered 58k before the AC stopped blowing cold you did quite well, assuming it hadn't been re-gassed in that time.

My MY23 has been one of the best cars I've owned. All the earlier issues had been ironed out by then. I too would would buy another Skoda in a heart beat.

sounds like it wasn't a great experience for you. What are you driving next?

I have a face lift car and find it fantastic and the UI, UX is very good but I understand its very difference from the Mark 4 cars.

Not sure 'Rear Tyres Heavily Stepped' is a Skoda issue, I have had it on a couple of cars, 911 and Golf. Both turned out to be the tyre make and model, some are prone to it, infact one in particular is renound for it!

It is a Skoda Issue. Very much with Superb & Octavia.