Having had the priveldge to drive two different newish (08 fabia and 03 octavia) skodas recently, I thought Id post my expericences on the here to gauge peoples thoughts/criticisms
Now you would image that nobody would touch a skoda with a bargepole but I have to admit to be impressed. Now the 08 fabia is OK. I have felt head over heels with the interior and exterior. Its OK and the two tone works well but I was impressed with the engine. 1.4 TDI goes very well indeed and sounds musclar and like a flat 6 porsche at the same time. The estate is a good size and rivals the golf very well for space
I was most impressed with the Octavia. 1.9 TDI 110 HP which is very smooth and powerful. The interior if the Octavis is excellent, quality materials and a still a nice smell for a 5 yo car. By far the better car of the two
As Im used to drive old hacks normally it was a nice change and cant understand why people shrugg skodas and the ilk off so easily
What are your thoughts?
slt
Edited by Pugugly on 09/11/2008 at 23:14
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Surely this is a time-warp post.. Hasn't the 'surprise' over how good Skodas are been thoroughly discussed circa 2002? Now, what do you think the likelihood of electing a woman prime minister is? No, don't laugh...
Edited by Pugugly on 09/11/2008 at 16:43
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WB sorry for the late post
I havent had much opportunity to drive the "modern" skodas. Dad as he works for VAG can have a loan car every year out the range for a reasonable montly fee. TBH the car is was most disappointed with was the SEAT ibiza 57 reg 1.4 petrol. The dash looked very cheap and unfinished and marked very easily and the interior was very flimsy plus the 100HP engine needed working hard to achieve any sort of pickup, the was no low down pull whereas with the 1.4 TDI it has remarkeble pickup from almost tickover.
I know the skodas have low vakues after a few years and he has made the most of that and bought a 2003 Octavia 1.9TDI with 25,000miles for £4000, which is stupidly cheap for condition and miles
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Fear not - only people who are very ignorant or very prejudiced (usually both) still scorn Skodas. The jokes came from the - shall we say uncertain - handing of the rear-engined Skodas back in the 70s and 80s. And they too had their defenders.
Nowadays the mechanical parts are VW-sourced, but usually because of better dealers Skodas score higher in the customer satisfaction surveys than the products of the parent company. They are often cheaper, although you need to look carefully as the Octavia 2.0 TDI estate that I thought carefully about is almost the same price as the equivalent Golf, which I went for, as (not necessarily logically) VWs hold their value a bit better than Skodas.
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Everone knows that Skodas are wonderful cars, they even have heated rear screens so that your hands don't get cold when pushing them.
Woman prime minister, you jest sir. You will be saying that there might be a black president in the USA next.
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Why has a Skoda got a heated rear window ?
:-)
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What's that apostrophe doing there in the thread heading!! Pugugly if you are reading, oh well perhaps not (see journalism standards thread people). Right back on to the subject concerned: Skodas. My advce would be do not hesitate. My Skoda Fabia has been faultless in the three years I have owned it (hope that isn't tempting fate)with terrific build, performance and economy, although the TDI 130 is a bit on the noisy side.The dealer has been well mannered and the servicing hasn't been that ruinous. Yes there have been a few sniggers directed at my choice of car but I just throw the keys of my VRS to the detractors and most of them recant their cant after a drive in it.
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Oh so title is Skoda's renaissance, that wasn't there a moment ago, just "Skoda's", ignore my waffle. Anyway just to add that I think the little Diesel triple is a great engine and has loads of character. I think it is much much more interesting to listen to than a four pot. I would recommend a Fabia 1 estate (which I think is better looking than the latest car) with the 80 BHP version of this engine. Had one as a courtesy car and in some ways preferred it to my own car.
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I admit to tweaking the subject line - I had to think of an imaginative way to keep the OP's unnecessary apostrophe in !
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I freely admit to having been an unreconstructed Skoda basher. Would have been the first to roar with laughter at the snide jokes.
Until......
About two years ago I had to hire a car. I asked for a medium sized estate. To my utter horror when it turned up it was a Skoda Octavia diesel estate. 1.9 I think. Must have been a fairly upspec model because it had everything on it and more. Drove it for three days and over 1000 miles. Complete convert by then. Great car. Would buy one if they were big enough for my needs. Will be really interested to see if they make a good job of the Superb estate.
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Latest Skoda joke is the Octavia 2.0 FSI (same engine) Scout (4x4) - horrid car, useless engine (there that'll keep the second hand price down a bit)
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Of course Skodas these days are VWs made in the Czech republic, preferred by many to VWs themselves.
The last real Skoda was the Estelle, a curious mixture of modern and old-fashioned, cheap materials and components and some really brilliant design. I loved the things despite their faults and drawbacks. They did a lot with a little, the opposite of VW. Their image in this country was degraded by owners already spoilt by Japanese and Eurobox white-goods reliability and boringness, who couldn't keep them in tune and wanted more power so that they could accelerate up hills after approaching them at a waddling mimse...
As a matter of fact the Estelle sorts out the sheep from the goats among so-called car enthusiasts. Jasper Carrott-style braying is a sure sign of profound ignorance and a basically infantile cor-what'll-she-do-mister attitude to the automobile. Only the serious and unpompous understand the thing. And we are few.
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I'll secnd that Lud. I wouldn't mind a 136 Rapid even today. A school chum had an Estelle 105 Lux with the basic 40 bhp engine. No performance at all so the trick was to keep momentum and avoid the pendulum effect of the rear engine at the same time.
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Am I allowed a modicum of prodigality Lud ?
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Sorry HB. You have put yourself beyond the pale. Seeing as it's you though...
I suspect that the cheapness of Estelles, new and used, probably made people look down on them in the loadsamoney eighties and nineties. Of course it was an attraction to the poor but intelligent, capable of fettling contact breaker ignition and twiddling carburettor screws from time to time. I wrote a piece about them when I had my first one, a 120LSE, that ended:
" 'I say I say I say, how many Skoda owners does it take to screw in a light bulb?'
Thank you Jasper Carrott. You aren't always funny, but you've saved me a bomb."
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I occasionally see a couple of mint Skodas driving by my gaf from the 50s or maybe early 60s, when Skoda originally had a reputation for making great cars. Lovely they are too and clearly well looked-after and cherished.
Eastern Europeans have exactly the same jokes that we do except Skoda is replaced with Austin.
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My parents were once faced with the dilema of buying a car, they wanted something quite new for less than £1k. The choice was as follows:-
Lada Riva - Horrible
Skoda Estelle - Engine in the wrong place
Yugo 45 - Fell to pieces
FSO - The only thing that rusted quicker was iron ore.
The Lada one as it was the most complete package, you could buy a 4 year old car with a bit of kit (heater, cig lighter and boot lamp) for £800.
This is why I want Dacia to come to the UK, Skodas are no longer budget cars they are too expensive and they are good cars so they should be, we no longer have cars for phesents.
Sadly people are still snobby about Skodas but I would happily have an Octavia and am considering one for a later date.
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The little 70s coupe was a very pretty car too.
When I was a lad a local guy had a Rapid with the after market tuning kit that you could buy via Skoda dealers. They were normally white with big skirts and alloys and had a larger carb, hotter cam exhaust etc. This thing sounded amazing and went like stink, the VRS of its time.
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Last real skoda was an Estelle... hmm, now skoda were at one point many years ago pre communism were known for their forward thinking therefore I'd say that the last real skoda was the fwd Favorit... over to you, Lud! ;)
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I don't have any detailed knowledge of pre-war Skodas, but of course I know Skoda was and is a great engineering firm. Made for example the giant bicycle wheel hub and bearing at the centre of that ferris wheel on the South Bank. Skoda was already great before the first world war when Hitler was in short pants and VW wasn't even a gleam in his eye (or that of its engineering brain Dr Porsche, a Sudeten-German Czech by the way).
That was why that smug 'Guess who's behind Skoda now?' ad used to send me into a towering contemptuous rage. Just thinking about it still does.
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You're right Lud - but it did give the brand a new lease of life - and deservedly so, I will slap the next person who says " its a VW underneath isn't it ?" especially if they add the word "innit, bruv, blood" thereafter.
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You'se a proper ramdom buff sometimes innit P' ?
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Those would be original front-engined rwd swing-axle Octavias perhaps BBD, well made but allegedly tail-happy... I bet the Czechs had the measure of them though.
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"Those would be original front-engined rwd swing-axle Octavias perhaps BBD"
I think so Lud - I also used to park next to an abandoned, old and rusting 50s Octavia where I used to work. It's painted in two-tone red and white and is still obviously a very handsome car despite it's condition.
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Saw an impeccable tomato-red restored convertible one in Prague a few years back, someone's pride and joy. Not a proper Tatra to be seen though.
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I forgot to mention www.briskoda.net which has a very friendly and helpful forum where Skoda owners past,present and future chat. Can get plenty of feedback positive and not so positive on all the cars here. It also acts as a de facto owners/enthusiast club with meets organised throughout the country.
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We test drove an Octavia 4x4 TDi when we were due to change last year. Very impressive and would have been a very strong contender apart from the seats, too hard!
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