Hi all, I have often read but this is my 1st post. Looking to buy either an Octavia or a Mazda 6 diesel (I drive about 28,000 miles a year commuting from Essex to the Lake District.
My current car is a 1999 Octavia with the old 1.6 AEE 8 Valve 75BHP engine and although overtaking has to be planned well in advance it cruises all day at 75mph and does about 45mpg. It is however a bit basic inside, I think even the steering wheel was an optional extra!
So its time for a new (nearly new) car and I am considering either a new shape Octavia 1.9TDI Ambient on an 05 plate with 40,000 miles on for £8700, or a Mazda 6 TS2 (with leather trim and factory Sat Nav) with 40,000 miles on a 04 plate for £8999.
Your thoughts and advice on the merits of either car and what one you would have would be really appreciated... thanks
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Off the top of my head, I'd go for the Mazda6 -
Looks better, to me anyway..
Apparently would be more fun to drive.
Probably going to be more reliable (Skoda is a VAG product after all, and for all the customer satisfaction surveys you need to be wary of faults that will exist across the platform line-up).
Probably won't depreciate much more than the Skoda by now.
Better trim level?
Skoda will probably get better fuel economy and hold its value a little better. May be set up more for comfort than sportiness, which may count for something when commuting 28k miles pa. However, whatever you choose, I think that either way you've got a good couple of choices there, you probably won't be disappointed in either car.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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I have no opinion onb either car. However, would it not be easier to move to the lake district?
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It'll be very important for you to try both at motorway speeds. I've tried a Skoda and it's fine: road tests say that the Mazda's main fault is noise at speed, so make sure you can live with it.
Skodas come out very well in all the customer surveys, so there's no need to tar them with the VAG brush: I personally think the truth is that VWs are good casrs let doen by too may don't-care dealers. There are also issues wirh VWs built i countries other than Germany - which shouldn't make a difference but seems to.
Both cars should be reliable: try them and see which you prefer. This particular Mazda seems to have had an easier life than the Skoda - maybe there are other examples of both cars to look at.
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PS I'm guessing your home is in the Lake District and work is in Essex!
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I'd be pushed to decide. If it was me, bearing in mind that I would give them 5k oil and filter changes, unless you're doing it yourself, the accesibility to a garage you could trust would feature. and that regular cost would be s consideration......is it easier to get bits for the Skoda than the Mazda perhaps????. In my opinion the Skoda has a good track record wih some known faults, not sure about the Mazda but no doubt reliable, friends have both brands and the small town Skoda dealer is light years ahead in Customer Service than the giant Mazda warehouse down the road.
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No, believe it or not my home is in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and my job is near Lake Coniston in the Lakes.... boy do I know that M6 well!!!!
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>>so there's no need to tar them with the VAG brush>>
The very point I was intending to make...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Hmm ... I think it's still a valid caveat though. I'm not knocking the Skoda, people do seem to rate them and the current one would certainly make my shortlist, but I'm trying to be as objective as possible. For example, when MAF sensors became a known problem on VAG diesels, were Skodas immune to this issue? What about the ignition coil problem in the petrol engine, were Octavias fitted with this engine less prone to failure than VWs?
I don't doubt that the average Skoda dealer probably handled such incidents in a far more appropriate manner than the average VW dealer, but I don't think that means the inconvenience/frustration for the average driver was eliminated - just that it wasn't exacerbated. I'm genuinely interested to know whether Skoda has been shown to suffer significantly less from these platform-wide problems. In the context of this thread, I believe Mazda as a manufacturer enjoys a superior reputation for reliability than any of the VAG stable.
PS I'm not anti-VAG, I own a couple of their products which I have had mixed experiences with - quite happy with my Leon, of which I had high expectations from the start, somewhat less so with the Passat, which I also expected to be well-designed and well-engineered, and turned out to be inferior to the Leon - in my experience, of course.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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I'd go for the taxi drivers choice...Skoda. :o)
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>>I'd go for the taxi drivers choice...Skoda. :o)>>
An opinion that's particularly relevant as it's something on which a livelihood is based.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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So the Mazda you're thinking of is a diesel version presumably? I'd go for the Mazda if so, otherwise get the Skoda for the economy.
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As the mileage on both cars is about 40,000,they will be out of warranty in about 8-9 months with me when they pass the 60,000 mark before they are 3 years old. Is it worth taking out an extended warranty? Warranty direct quote £26 a month for their "Gold" cover on the Mazda which seems pretty comprehensive. Anyone have experience of these warranties or am i better to approach Skoda or Mazda direct to see what extension plans they do?
Also is there any other diesel car in the £9,000 bracket (no older than 2 years) that I should maybe consider besides the Octavia or Mazda 6?
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Toyota Avensis D-4D got to be worth a look, and HJ himself is a fan of the D-4D engine...oh, and then there is that Mondeo TiDC, TCDi, TDCi or something its called!
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Wow. 13 replies before the Mondeo got mentioned - is this a record?!
Also, consider the Accord i-CTDI. Lovely to drive, very powerful and comfortable, although you'll probably get more like 45 mpg than 50.
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Ok with the mileage you do you are looking at comfort and economy mainly.
The Mazda is a fine car, very good looking and sporty. Thats its problem. Its noisy and the ride is a little jiggly.
The diesel has also had its fair share of problems.
For this application, it has to be the Skoda.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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