So why?

Her sister-in-law had a big accident in a small car recently. She prefers bigger cars anyway.

So yesterday we test-drove a Skoda Octavia 2.0 Combi Elegance from 9/2001, with 44k kms on the clock, and looking as new. It could have been the 4x4's sister. It was Black Magic, with the same fully-loaded Elegance trim, and even the same 16" Skoda Style alloys, but with the huge FWD 540-litre boot. And we adored it - that old VW 2-litre 8v engine is so sweet! Has great pull and punch, and the road-holding was pretty neat for a FWD with standard suspension.

http://www.autoselect.nl/htmlpaginas/4355/VG-F4-VY.htm

Also, the seller had lost its way because he was some 1500 euros short of the market price. (He's now put 1000 euros up on the price, incidentally!)

Still, we didn't do it. So why?

Mrs Dutch4x4 came to her senses just in time. Her mileage is just 3000 kms a year. She never goes further than 20 miles. She has no need whatsoever for the huge boot. We don't need two big cars for our holidays. The excess depreciation, road tax and insurance finally woke her up. She wasn't going to allow herself a present this big... (It's her decision and her money!)

So for the same money we will be looking at a brand-new Fab now. It will still be the small car for the missus (she hates that) but it will be safer than the old-model Micra, and slightly roomier. Or she may decide to just carry on with the Micra after all - you can't beat it for cheap driving, especially between the age of three to six years.

Anyway, I thought I'd share my thumbs-up for the 2.0, which IMO is underestimated and unjustly put aside as "not even being a 16v" and "just having 115 hp, which is so meagre for a two-litre". We test-drove some other 2-litre cars this weekend, with outputs up to 147 hp, but this one was quickest and felt best.

Mattijas,

I think the 2l 8v is under rated as it's really and old technology engine. Engine is basically bullet proof and gets better with miles as most VAG engines do.

Also part of the problem is that it's used in much heavier cars than it was originally designed for.

IIRC it's a development of the 1.8 GTi in the mark 2 Golf and even maybe have it's ancestry in the 1.6 GTI engine. Of course it's be constantly tweeked to meet the Euro Emission laws which can't be good on a performance level.

I seem to remember all the motoring rags use to rav about the 1.8 GTI engine having great mid range pull even though it's competitors had more power.

Well, the two litre Fabia has never really sold here (I suppose that it is because the 1.4 16v has only 15bhp less and is better with the economy) but I have driven it in an automatic Octavia, and apart from being able to see the fuel gauge move, it was not a bad engine. If it worked well enough in the Mk3 Golf GTI then why not in a fabia/Octavia.

So for the same money we will be looking at a brand-new Fab now. It will still be the small car for the missus (she hates that) but it will be safer than the old-model Micra' date=' and slightly roomier. Or she may decide to just carry on with the Micra after all - you can't beat it for cheap driving, especially between the age of three to six years.

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Test-drove a Fabia 1.4 75hp today and was well-impressed. Car feels so solid compared to the tinny Micra - it's like driving a small large car.

But then - the p/x... :(

Thanks to EU net price equalizing over the past few years, new cars - and in extension, recent used cars too - have become excruciatingly expensive. The net prices have gone up but the towering luxury tax has stayed, resulting in price increases of 10 to 20%.

So now it's starting to hurt. The Micra was bought in the old days, the Fabia has a "modern" price tag, meaning that either way you must throw big money into bridging the gap. For someone with her annual mileage it's just not worth it. It would be two very expensive additional EuroNCAP stars and 50 litres of boot space. And the Micra is faster too...

So sadly, we won't be seeing a second Skoda in the Dutch4x4 stable for some time to come, unless something special comes up.

Wow, so car prices in holland are on the up and ours are going down. in recent years 2nd hand car prices have plunged to new lows, along with new car prices. They seem to have bottomed out though. Just curious, how much in