Skoda Octavia in general

Of all the cars I ever expected (or hoped!) to own, a Skoda was never one of them. Well, not until March 01 anyway. Got rid of my Golf GTi Mk 5 and went for the public transport option, but then along came Hatfield and months of delays. Back to the road, then. I liked many of the features of the Golf, but not its roly-poly handling, the indifference of VW dealers and the fact that bits kept falling off it. I subsequently found myself and my misgivings in a Skoda dealer after a recommendation from a friend, and proceeded to be amazed by the Octavia. First impression on looking it over was to double check the badge on the bonnet. Switches, controls, dash ...  Read the complete review

I had often admired from afar the German automotive art with examples from prestige makes including; Porsche, Mercedes, Audio, Volkswagen, and the mighty Trabant! I wanted to buy into a reliable German Diesel like an Audi A4 or VW Passat. My ex. Boss had got himself an Audi A4 and always moaned about the £400-odd cost of its annual servicing. My two brothers had both recently changed their cars, one getting an Audi A6 and the other bought himself the VW Polo. I had heard about the VW takeover of the Czech automobile manufacturer Skoda and made enquiries about the Octavia that looked rather like the VW Passat but offered for sale at a fraction of the cost ...  Read the complete review

~ ~ Does anybody remember the old Skodas that used to be the butt of many a joke in the days before this Czechoslovakian manufacture become part of the Volkswagon empire? For certain there are few, if any, jokes or snide remarks made these days about anyone driving one of these fine pieces of engineering. ~ ~ As regular readers of my opinions will be well aware, I review cars on a regular basis for the “Irish Taxi-Driver”, a monthly publication for the taxi fraternity here in Dublin, Ireland. This particular model of Skoda, the Octavia, has been a favoured buy of taxi-drivers since it made its first appearance on the Irish car market around ...  Read the complete review

New 2009 Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI I grew up at a time when Skodas were the butt of many car jokes, such as, "Where's the dip stick in a Skoda? In the drivers seat." A car from the eastern block couldn't really be taken seriously, and no self-respecting person could possibly be seen in one. Then Volkswagen stepped in to work with Skoda. Ever since VW started having an input, Skoda started to turn out some quite credible cars such as the Felicia. Dull to look at and uninspiring to drive it nevertheless marked an upturn in Skodas fortunes. Skoda is now a very viable contender in the market. For nearly a decade their cars have been ...  Read the complete review

Skoda have a bad reputation for their cars, and these days its definitely a reputation which is undeserved! About a year ago, my husband and I decided that we needed a new car, and started our investigations, at first we looked at the more popular Ford Mondeo, but all the second hand ones we could find in our price range were much older than we wanted, so we turned out attention in other directions. My mother had recently bought a Skoda Felicia, and was very happy with it, so we thought, OK, why not give Skoda a look, after all it couldn?t hurt could it! What a pleasant surprise we had when we discovered that not only was the Octavia much more highly ...  Read the complete review