Octavia or Volvo S40?

[Wheelchair]

Which would you go for?

Does anyone have any experience of the S40?

Thanks

[tux]

Not sure a Skoda forum is the best place to ask that question!

I don't yet have much experience of the Octavia, but I have driven the S40 a bit. It is an excellent car and feels very solid. It doesn't "excite" though, and it is a lot smaller than the Octavia. The 1.6 and 1.8 petrol engines struggle a bit to pull the cars bulk around, but the 2litre petrol and diesel engines are excellent.

I guess it depends what you want from a car. I am about to order a new company car and both the Octavia and the S40 were on the shortlist (along with the V50), but having driven both and spent time with the S40 I have opted for the Octavia. To me it adds up to a better value for money package as you get a lot more for your money and i reckon it will be the most comfortable car to drive over long distances.

[steve06vrs]

Hi

My wife had a 54reg S40 2litre diesel (which was remapped to 180 bhp).

I have an 06 VRs estate.

The S40 was an amazing, quick and comfortable car.

It had similar options to my VRS - including heated leather seats, headlamp washers etc.

I really liked the s40 - but it was so much smaller than the octavia - especially the boot - which has a very narrow opening.

Cheers!

Steve

[tchapm]

Before I went for the Octavia Estate, I was looking at a V50.

The V50 is a great looking car and it drives well. I went on the Volvo driving day a few months ago a tested a number of different Volvos, including the V50 and S40.

The problem with the Volvos (apart from the price) is that if you look at second hand ones, they don't seem to have the prestige quality you would expect. After a few miles, and a bit of B&Q hauled backwards and forwards, these nice cars tatty all too quickly imho.

The other thing that put me off the V50 (apart from the fact that to get an equivalent car to the Octy VRS you had to spend over £6k more), was the resale value after 3 years was less than the Octavia. Therefore, the cost-to-change (key figures) resulted in quite a big difference between the Octy and V50 in the deals that I could do.

[Guest]

I looked at both S40's and S60's. The S60 is probably more comparable with the Octavia I would have said (it's about 3cm longer if I recall).

The S60 is a nice car but it is a cruiser as opposed to a car that really handles. I test drove the the S60 R which was a 300bhp rocket ship!

[runboy]

We looked at Volvo's before the Octy.

A few things I would say:

The S40 is smaller inside and the boot opening is small. I even found the S60 to be smaller in the back than the Octy.

Volvo servicing is expensive (well my local Volvo dealer is).

[jos22]

Owned an S40 2.0 for 8 years. Solid build & no big repairs. MPG awful (average 25mpg) access for large items in boot - awful, same if you tried putting the bulky item on the backseat.

Changed to a Skoda 2 months ago. Would not change back.

[radders]

I test drove the S40, the Honda Accord and the Octavia. The Honda and the Volvo drove OK, but the Octy was a lot better.

Also, what is that flat panel console for. It is style over substance as it makes the storage bit behind it very difficult to use if you are driving. Looks good though. The boot opening was too small for the size of the boot and it was also very expensive.

Mark

[runboy]

Volvo has received a lot of good reviews about the "floating console" as it is a diversion away from the norm. But yes, it would make getting at things behind a bit of a distraction which to me goes against Volvo's safety principals.

[Guinness]

Do you have kids, or would you be looking to carry rear passengers much? I very nearly bought an S40 before I got the Octavia, until I got in and out of the rear seats a few times. The rear door aperture is small and an akward shape, and space is tight in the back.

I also agree with the comment above about them not wearing too well. When I went to look at one, I was "lucky" enough to be shown around one that had not been "prepped for sale" - this is a great way to see the car warts n' all, before it's tidied up again.

It was less than 18 months old, with under 30k miles on it. There we several dents and small tears in the door card material, quite a few rattles, and not the feeling of quality I was expecting. The brand new one sat in the showroom was much better, which doesn't say much for its durability over the first 3 years. My old Mk3 mondeo still looked like new inside, after a simiar period.

It was great to drive (punchy 2.0D), but it just didn't come close to the Octavia for value or space, or (most surprisingly) build quality. I also thought the LCD screen on the floating console looked a bit naff, but I guess that one's just personal opinion...