My early Skoda experience predates most - a 1967 Skoda 1000MB I recall.

Bought as by comparison with alternatives (eg: Anglia, Herald) it was well equipped - it had a heater that worked.

Unambiguously the worst car I have ever owned. Rot ridden, starting problems, engine and gearbox failures.

By contrast one of the best was a 2011 Octavia 1.4TSI - kept for 7 years, 140k, just two minor one repairs (one under warranty), average ~50mpg.

We soon forget just how awful how many european cars were from the 70's too, you could watch the rust eating through on almost everything from that era, it still happens underneath on subframes etc on too many but almost no one looks there so kids themselves that modern cars don't rust.

I so agree re rust still being a problem , some worse than others.the killer of many a car is the rusting through of a front subframe , cross member or rear suspension/ spring cups. Many bodies are galvanised but that can be defeated especially on cars that use galv metal and are then welded during manufacturer - eg Fiat but there are others. VW's and Audi's use horrible foam sound proofing foam "packs" that trap water/condensation which eventually cause rust - eg many a Passat has rusty front wings at a certain age.

I was brought up on cars of the 60's & 70's so became an accomplished welder!

Edited by Big John on 20/04/2024 at 00:29

Chap i know bought a new Lada Riva estate (hmm now was it the estate or saloon, can't be sure), still brand new he asked me why the steering was so heavy, steering box had no oil and when i topped it up all the oil leaked straight out. It was an awful thing its solid bodywork the only good point i could find.

Loved my Lada

Absolutely the Best 40 Quid I ever spent.

I think that, perhaps more than most cars, that they were disproportionately bought new by people who were clueless, and knew it, and were thus especially scared of buying second hand.

This was compounded by the fact that the Sovs got the punters to do the production QC, rather like modern car makers get the punters to do the development testing

(There arguably wasn't much development on a Lada)

This meant they were an especially dodgy buy new, but by the time they cost 40 quid, Darwinism had done its thing and weeded out the weaklings.

Over about 4 years I replaced a wheel cylinder, which IIRC cost a fiver, put a stainless steel tube insert in an exhaust fracture, and faked up the jacking point outriggers with ferrocement for a few MOTs.

If an unreasonably hostile MOT tester (who didnt spot the outriggers but was quite imaginative elsewhere) and an inherited Renault 5 hadn't coincided with an MSc thesis deadline I would probably have still had it when I left for Taiwan.

Bit heavy on fuel though.

Edited by edlithgow on 06/05/2024 at 02:25

All this reminds me of:-

During the 1980's I was a supervising installation engineer for a major diesel engine manufacturer. I used to visit various companies who purchased our products - technical liaison, troubleshooting etc.

One visit at one particular company I noticed the car park was jammed with newish Skodas.

I walked into the plant and asked a chargehand I knew what was going on with all the Skodas in the car park.

He told me that the company had arranged a deal with the local Skoda dealer that all production operatives could have a new Skoda every year with a personal HP deal for peanuts, as long as a certain minimum number were involved.

So. the guys, who were on serious money, on double day shift, all had a new Skoda that started every morning at crack of sparrow and got them to work in a rural environment - that's important you are running a high pressure production operation all year round.

Most of them were fed up having to mess about with old bangers as a second car to get to work, while their OH used the decent motor to get to their jobs and run the kids about etc.

My first car was my Dad’s old 205 diesel, which was a revelation in terms of ease of starting. Provided you let the glow plugs work their magic before cranking the engine over, I don’t recall it ever failing to start first time. And no damp morning hesitation or stalling either!

Even better when the Dturbo arrived about 1990, and better still ten years later with the TDi engine in the 306. Only needed about a second before starting !