Well we often see folks on here slagging off Vauxhall for reliablitly. Latest Which survey puts Vauxhall and Skoda pretty much in the same place, about half way down the list.

Interesting. Wonder if Vauxhall are improving or Skoda slipping or a bit of both?

Chris

I think it depends which survey you believe. In 2002, IIRC, Ford and BMW topped the German reliability charts

My experience of Skoda reliability certainly wasn't what I'd been led to believe by the media, but then neither has my Ford's been As an aside, all the Vauxhall's I've owned have been faultless and covered 80k with just standard servicing!

Chris

Skoda and VW build quality, whilst good, imho arent all they are hyped up to be.

Done 1000 miles in my brand new Corsa, not a squeek, rattle or problem yet to rear its head. Had numerous small issues on the day I collected my brand new Fabia vRS

1000 miles already Tom - you've only just picked the Corsa up :eek:

Should hope it does not squeak after only 1000 miles - the only squeak you should hear is from the hamster powering it

1000 miles already Tom - you've only just picked the Corsa up :eek:

Should hope it does not squeak after only 1000 miles - the only squeak you should hear is from the hamster powering it

and the squeak of your wallet!

1000 miles already Tom - you've only just picked the Corsa up :eek:

Should hope it does not squeak after only 1000 miles - the only squeak you should hear is from the hamster powering it

I know, poor thing. Its actually only 900 something but .

Will be doing a bit of a review/comparison/write up/members motor page for it when I can be arsed...

i think alot of cars have come on a long way and most tend to be similar for reliability.

the fabia vRS we had was terrible and wouldnt buy another but that doesnt mean our A4 and bora will proove to be angels either.

From experience of 2 Astra's with the 2.0 16v petrol engine over 7 years and 130,000 miles in them or so, that mechanically they were fantastic, but, and it's a big but, the ECOTEC engine electronics are absolutely awful. One of them had a new ECU, 3 Cam shaft speed sensors, 2 crankshaft speed sensors, new engine wiring harness, the other became the same the moment it hit 90,000 miles.

I have never found VW particularly reliable, indeed spent today in the garage trying to fix the beam adjustment on the Polo. Although they are solid, they're not reliable...

The Fabia, now that is a lot better built then the Polo (although the Polo is previous generation platform), and lot better than the vauxhall's I've been in. So far, only 1 fault I didn't even notice put right by Parkside Skoda under warranty.

Biggest problrm with Vauxhall is the depreciation, that'd be the other reason to stop me buying one.

At present my fabia vrs is my 3rd car ive owned and has had the most problems. I prevously have had 2 vauxhall corsa (corsa b and c) and they were faultless. Never once were they in the garage other than for a service or tyre change.

My skoda on the other hand is now 1 year old with 13,000 miles on the clock. It has been in the garage for its first service, which is normal however subsuquently it has been in to have the drop links replaced, rear wiper motor replaced, front driver side kick plate replaced and to top it all off the car has go go back in again to have the near side cv boot replaced which i was informed was repaired to stop it leaking at the earlier service.

Hows that for reliability!

I think a large part of these surveys is based on what people expect for the money, and as Skoda's go up in price and perceived market position then I think their results in surveys will drop without the company themselves actually altering anything. With our first new favorit loads of little things went wrong but the service was excellent so they are forgotton about. The first vRS the cd player nacked up and wipers failed (turned out to be a fuse), This furb vRS as a wrinkled seat, and maybe a mild stutter on occaision, will see if it develops, but stull happy. By comparison the vauxhall vans combi astra corsa x breed things that are now six months old and are dropping to bits, trim door panels etc, and not threw misuse! Not keen on the deisal power plants either.

And here was me thinking Skoda's were very reliable. Left me thinking if I should go back to a Honda or a Toyota for my next car.

I think it depends which survey you believe. In 2002' date=' IIRC, Ford and BMW topped the German reliability charts

My experience of Skoda reliability certainly wasn't what I'd been led to believe by the media, but then neither has my Ford's been As an aside, all the Vauxhall's I've owned have been faultless and covered 80k with just standard servicing!

Chris[/quote']

Same feeling here, Vauxhall Astra which I'd owned a few years back ran up to 95K with no problems. Skoda's been the first car Ive had to break down in just over a year of ownership, makes you wonder how accurate these surveys are.

I bought a Skoda based on media hype. Big mistake. Overpriced, under - engineered, poor dealer back-up, even poorer SUK back-up. All IMO of course, but just speaking from experience. My views are only confirmed by many of the stories I read here. They are not cheap cars anymore, and there is more choice than ever. I can accept that all cars have problems. Our Jazz needed some warranty work done ( a new carpet), as have other presige cars we own. But it is how the issues are dealt with, and it's that which lead me to sell the car at a loss, and get back to BMW. The dealers don't give a toss. Nor do SUK. I paid 24k for a new Octy, which had a few issues needing attention. I got nowhere with 3 different dealers or SUK. Compared to our 530 BMW Touring. 4 years old, out of warranty, 44k on the clock and the auto boot opening hydraulic system packed up. Our Dealer, Barons, fought like tigers to get BMW to pay for the new parts - 800 quid. All we paid was the labour - 500 quid. This is why I hold BMW in far higher regard than Skoda. Brand loyalty needs to be earned.

. This is why I hold BMW in far higher regard than Skoda. Brand loyalty needs to be earned.

Probably one of the reasons why we stick with Skoda, allways had good service in the past, for eg. when the favorit was coming out of warrenty the dealer fit us a new exhaust foc because it looked like it was on its way out:eek: don't think we'd get that now tho:rolleyes:

"don't think we'd get that now tho"

I think that's an interesting point. It seems to me that Skoda are losing their grip on customer service here. Why that is I don't know. Have they got complacent because the cars are selling themselves? Are they not equiped to deal with the more complex cars they offer? Certainly from my experience with the headlights, I'd say that was true

Much to do with the fact that they used to be sold threw small family concerns where the showroom was a shed and the garage was just that a garage, with oil on the floor. Now alot of these have been forced out by VAG demanding plate glass showrooms etc, and so the big players have the franchises and they have shareholders and massive overheads rather than just having to by the missus a new fur coat There are still one or two that appear to have survived the transision including the two I have had dealings with.

Pat, that sounds like Allams in Epsom. Brand spanking shiny showroom shared with Vauxhall and Alfa. It's a shame the service doesn't match the facade. They had a look at my headlights even though the mech I spoke to about them had never seen an Octy before. And the car was covered in grease when I picked it up. Mind you, I've just had what I consider to be poor service from Vines BMW so Skoda aren't unique. I guess in a bowl of fruit you will find some rotten apples.

I should imagine in such a large group of same brand owners you would find faults regardless of how good or bad the vehicles in question are.

Will I buy another? Perhaps not. Can I replace it with something that ticks the right boxes and still make a profit from my car allowance? No.

Guess I'm stuck with it for the moment

We had a MK4 Astra before the Octavia. Never had anything wrong with it, ever - unlike the Octavia.

It also handled better and was much more fun to drive. The only thing it needed was a nicer engine.

Old VW Golfs for us. Our first one was a MK1 diesel that did over 250k miles, we just got bored in the end and bought a brand new Peugeot 306 estate turbo diesel. I drove it in a very large puddle after a year and killed the engine We said we would never have another one because the dealer is shockingly incompetant rather than the car itself.

Velma was an older Golf too but on the whole reliable. I'm not sure VW have the same reputation for their newer models so it's probably just aswell I didn't spend an extra 6k and get a new Golf like I was going to

"don't think we'd get that now tho"

I think that's an interesting point. It seems to me that Skoda are losing their grip on customer service here. Why that is I don't know. Have they got complacent because the cars are selling themselves? Are they not equiped to deal with the more complex cars they offer? Certainly from my experience with the headlights' date=' I'd say that was true[/quote']

I think you have a fair point. Out of the 4 dealers I've been to, 2 were garbage, total and utter excrement. 1 was average, 1 is very good.

I think many dealers have a problem with technical aspects, but I see it as a UK wide problem of a lack of hands on people, just like sparky's, plumbers etc.

Saying that though, VW dealers are even worse, swimbo arrived back once with the Polo after a service with smoke coming off a back wheel due to an overadjusted handbrake, oh yes, another VW stealer damaged the sill, another one (supplying dealer) incorrectly fitted the hatch spoiler so it had to come off 3 times, in the end I took it to a bodyshop to get it done right 'cause VW couldn't...

Vrs, To be honest we've had some shocking service from prestige manufacturers. My mum's 4.2 A6 Quattro was sent home with the engine cover missing! I am from an aircraft maintenance background, and I accept that sometimes cars break down or whatever, but for me, it's what happens after that and this is where I feel sorely let down by Skoda.