Hia All

I was in the pub the other day and these two women were looking through the second hand car sales in the paper.

Get a Mini said the one mate to the other or get a Ford.

I said to the one girl 'get a Skoda'

The reply was: I would rather bee seen in a grey wheelie bin than one of those!

I just thought...more fool you

Does anyone think that Skoda will ever lose their old image?

I thrilled wi my Skoda Fabia vRS

What do others think? Will Skoda ever lose their 'old' reputation?

I hope they don't!!

Save *** holes buying them.

Not in the UK.

Mind you,I am as prejudiced as those women.I wouldn't buy a french car and yet the cars are probably ok

I hope they don't!!

Save *** holes buying them.

Well said Emily-Elizabeth

I doubt very much that the past Skoda reputation will disappear, however I'm not bothered either way and to be honest I don't really understand why anyone else would be bothered.

They won't lose it until they improve their quality control and build/design issues

Chris

They won't lose it until they improve their quality control and build/design issues

Chris

Replicating known faults from one model to a new model isn't generally a good idea.

The problem is that the dealers will have to treat you "like a king" and the cars will have to be extra good to brush of a reputation.

Just average isn't good enough if they want to loose the image.

I mean look at BMW they were a joke many many years ago and look where they are now.

I feel they already have to a degree. They're still regarded as a value brand though...

Compare Skodas now with Ladas now.... Well, if you can find a Lada in the UK.

J.

People always tell me when I say I drive at Skoda that 'they are made by VW now so are good cars, just cheeper.' This annoys me for a couple of reasons:

1) Yes, I do know that they are made by VW

2) You know they still wouldn't want to own one, yet are more than happy to drive a C4 or something....

My skoda is great, it is fast enough, insurance is okayish (for a 20 y/o with No NCB) and it is well built.

Anyone who actually knows about cars does not think Skodas are bad motors.

insurance is okayish (for a 20 y/o with No NCB)

Can you put a figure on okayish as I would have thought a modded car (especially a remapped car!) would be extortionate to insure at 20 with no NCB?

Chris

Can you put a figure on okayish as I would have thought a modded car (especially a remapped car!) would be extortionate to insure at 20 with no NCB?

I expect the cost of my insurance is going to be about the same as Tom's, Walkie's and Snoopie's was... They were all about my age with modified fabias.

So not impossible, but okayish (and helped by the fact that I am female)

This is one of the reasons i love my skoda.

I think their reputation has gone from the minds of people with sense who know about cars. My neighbours make jokes all the time about mine and my fathers car, but I just laugh at them. They think a C reg XR3i Cabriolet with a yellow roof is style!

I bought a VAG Ibiza while SEAT were still shrugging off their shoddy image. I reckon it was the Leon - specifically the Cupra version - that really took them over that final hurdle.

Skoda will manage it if they embrace the go-faster brigade with either overtly sporty versions (like the old Ibizas and Cupra Rs) or took on an approved tuner and gave some aggressive body styling options. Impress the kiddies, then the rep will improve. It's all about street cred, not actual capability. Although not being a comedy team in WRC might have helped.

The other week on one of those Radio 2 comedy shows, it was suggested that to eliminate teenage gun crime, firearms had to be uncool - therefore weapons were only to be made by brands that kids would never be seen with, including George at Asda and Skoda

I mean look at BMW they were a joke many many years ago and look where they are now.

They still are arn't they?

It's all about street cred, not actual capability.

When someone says they wouldn't "be seen dead in a Skoda", they're not saying they're rubbish cars, they're saying they're a rubbish brand.

Which, in this country, is true...

Rob.

Princess Diana wouldnt' have been seen dead in a Skoda.

I hope they don't!!

Save *** holes buying them.

Not at all, when you consider whathisname that crashed his Fabia vRS whilst hooning about and then made out it was cos he'd hit a ptch of oil/been chased by some nutter...

They still are arn't they?

only to those who can't see past the badge and/or image... :P

They won't lose it until they improve their quality control and build/design issues

Chris

But they can't be bad... they have great satisfaction amongst owners (latest Top Gear survey for example). The image is just with those who don't know anything about cars... to those in the know...great!

You know they still wouldn't want to own one, yet are more than happy to drive a C4 or something....

......something like a 10 year old ****box of a mazda a dickhead co-worker of mine drives?

this asshole i have to work with took the **** big-time when i turned up last summer in my shiney new octy, his decade old 323 has failed the mot 3 times on the trot, and yes he is driving around in it un-taxed un-insured etc, maybe he should buy a skoda?!

look at BMW they were a joke many many years ago and look where they are now.

So skoda willl have to wait until 2054 for a great reputation ?

They've got a great reputation now. I think as the only manufacturer to finish in the top 10 of the JD Power survey for the last 10 years speaks for itself.

People who use Skoda jokes are -

A) Narrow minded

Just use the car "to get from A to B"

C) Drink Mild

D) Drive a Renault

E) Don't know thier ar$e from thier elbow

But they can't be bad... they have great satisfaction amongst owners (latest Top Gear survey for example). The image is just with those who don't know anything about cars... to those in the know...great!

Unfortunately (correct me if I'm wrong) the Top Gear survey only surveys three year old cars...so it's hardly an exhaustive survey. It also just measures people's perception of the vehicles...it doesn't actually represent cold hard facts about consistent build quality.

Plus "not as bad as the competition" is not the same as "good"...

As vindaloo said, it's a value brand. Anyone buying with any kind of image-awareness will not pick a Skoda...different things are important to different people.

Rob.

. It also just measures people's perception of the vehicles...it doesn't actually represent cold hard facts about consistent build quality.

Rob.

But this argument never explains why there are excellent cars (and expensive,with the right badge) doing well in these surveys e g Lexus,Porsche,BMW:confused:

And the cars you would expect to see at the bottom usually are..citroen,renault etc

As an aside,had a sit in the old IS 200 the other day.What a disappointment.Not my idea of a luxury car:(

But this argument never explains why there are excellent cars (and expensive,with the right badge) doing well in these surveys e g Lexus,Porsche,BMW:confused:

And the cars you would expect to see at the bottom usually are..citroen,renault etc

It's hard to explain why which cars are where...but the point is that the benchmark varies, because it's based on people's perception. So it's likely that people buying different brands have differing expectations, and that even within those brands there will be a difference of expectation (ie. someone investing all their money in a car might expect a lot more from the experience compared to someone buying the same car out of their "loose change").

It's also a "voluntary" survey, so you might find the only Citroen owners who come forward are the 3 who've bought bags o'sh*te, and the other 4mil owners are more than happy with their's but not bothered about submitting the response to a survey.

As an aside,had a sit in the old IS 200 the other day.What a disappointment.Not my idea of a luxury car:(

The IS200 isn't really a luxury car...it's a middle-management saloon...

Try an LS, it's very different!

Rob.

It's also a "voluntary" survey, so you might find the only Citroen owners who come forward are the 3 who've bought bags o'sh*te, and the other 4mil owners are more than happy with their's but not bothered about submitting the response to a survey.

Rob.

I doubt it.

Most of the surveys are in the car magazines themselves so Joe Bloggs on the street who just bought thier new car to get from A to B and thinks it looks O.K, couldn't care less about the JD Power survey or any other survey for that matter.

The guys who are offering thier testimony in these surveys are, to a certain degree, 'into' cars. Therefore when they compete the survey they are most likely to give a fair account of thier experiences of that particular manufacturer.

I think therefore, that the surveys are pretty much reliable guide and i'm sure that when the data is analized, they have a certain number of entries (i.e 100) to give a broad spectrum of views.

The likelyhood of them having 3 unhappy Citroen owners come forward and therefore say that 100% of Citroen owners thought thier car was a bag of $hite, is highly unlikely.