My father has been generally very satisfied with his 2005 Skoda Octavia Elegance 1.9 TDI DSG, but it is beginning to show its age, having just required a driveshaft replacement and with a few other little faults appearing (e.g. onboard computer & sat nav glitches and problems with the tyre pressure sensor). His local dealer is offering a new Octavia Elegance 1.6 TDI DSG with what seems like a good discount (approaching £1000 off the list price, after options have been taken into account). We thought another diesel may not be a good idea as he does a relatively low mileage these days, but he needs an automatic. The dealer reckons that short runs with the 1.6TDI will not be a problem if it is taken for a longer/faster drive every couple of weeks or so. Have you any feedback on this particular engine?

Also we noted on the test drive a harder ride than the old model. We're told that the test car had 18-inch alloys, but when pondering the virtues of the 16-inch wheels on the SE model vs the 17-inch standard ones on the Elegance, the dealer claimed we probably wouldn't notice the difference. I wondered if it is possible to 'downgrade' the Elegance to 16-inch wheels at time of purchase?