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Is it handsome? Perhaps it's a case of handsome is as handsome does |
My present car is my third Skoda Octavia, bought
consecutively. In all senses it’s the best car I’ve owned which – to my mind – is
at it should be. I’ve learned from experience and it was bought to drive not to
fondle. Its prime virtue is its seven-speed automatic gearbox which can be
switched to manual when descending steep slopes in mid-Wales. All its occupants
sit in comfort, its boot is huge (essential for French holidays) yet it is
propelled by a comparatively small (ie, 1.4 litre) petrol engine.
You’d hardly know. When I need to accelerate it responds –
heartily. On French autoroutes it maintains the legal top speed of 130 kph (80
mph) hour after hour. It’s economical and, thus, the annual road tax is £30. It’s
even handsome but perhaps that’s mere familiarity.
It’s also unique in several ways. It’s slightly elderly
(bought in 2016) yet it’s done less than 50,000 miles, thanks to the pandemic.
More particularly it will almost certainly be the last car I own. I’m 87; the DVLA
and insurance companies look warily at such ancients behind the steering wheel.
I had a little epiphany with it. Given its low mileage I
decided to extend the warranty costing about £200. Recently a slight leak
developed in the cooling system and, lo, it was covered by the warranty. The
work took three hours and main-dealer labour costs £100/hour. Do the arithmetic
and you’ll see why I’m smiling.
One doesn’t boast about owning a Skoda Octavia at cocktail
parties. Nor does one pretend that the car has “character” which I regard as a
costly failing. At my age I need a car more than ever before. I love my Skoda
because it does what I ask of it. Also because it’s a mechanical marvel. Hard unromantic
love.
That's a nice-looking very fast car. It surprises me that the speed limit in France is so fast. Nothing like that here in California. Have fun driving around... Zoom Zoom!
ReplyDeleteNewRobin13: Fast? I haven't told you the half of it. We share the driving on on the long, long drive from the Welsh border in Britain, virtually to the Mediterranean. One year D, my soon-to-be son-in-law, was the shared driver and I was sitting in the back. It seemed to me the sounds of journeying had changed. I looked over D's shoulder and discovered the reason: we were doing 113 mph.
DeleteIt's nice to have a car one can trust. The last time I sat with a car salesman (2015) to buy a new car, he insisted he was going to find me a car that I loved. I politely told him that I don't love cars, I just need one. I could tell he didn't like that. It took the wind out of his sails (salesmanship).
ReplyDeleteColette: I was careful to say this was hard love not romantic love. I love the Octavia for its comforts and its technology not its fuzzy-wuzzy "personality".
DeleteExcellent, no nonsense review RR. The days of the older, communist Skodas are now very much forgotten, as are those music hall jokes of the time
ReplyDelete(Why do skodas have heated rear windscreens?
To keep your hands warm while you're pushing it.)
My wife had one of those earlier Skodas - it was basic but never let her down. Thereafter she always bought a Skoda (the later, Volkswagen ones) although of a smaller variety than your Octavia. They are now better than the equivalent VWs I think.
Avus: But there's always someone (and it's usually a Brit) who wants to rake up Skoda's past. These same people also like to talk about a mythological beast "the British car industry" yet no such thing exists. Only foreign car companies who happen to manufacture in the UK. Not a single volume company is British.
ReplyDeleteAt least Skoda improved which is more than one can say about British Leyland. I never owned one of the earlier Skodas but it's hard to imagine it was any worse than my terrible Austin Cambridge. Synchromesh on first to second disappearing for good in less than a year. Provoking the typical Brit excuse: "Yes, they all do that."
Gotta say that Skoda's extended warranty is the goods and there's no weaseling about claims. And here's the best news: £230 now buys you one year's cover with a £100 excess. Spend £40 more and the excess drops to zero. I wasn't expecting such a warranty to be available much longer for my 2016 car, yet the service manager trawled the computer for ages, shook his head, said "As far as I can see the limit arrives with 100,000 miles on the odometer." I need to check this but if it's true that shows real confidence in car quality.
I have one complaint. The Octavia comes with a beep-beep warning in reverse. I'd like to see this added to the front bumper. We've even toyed with attaching a rod with a red ball atop. So deliciously retro.