About the Skoda Octavia
Jeff C purchased this Skoda Octavia new with additional options for $55,000 (including all on-road costs). Jeff C would buy this car again because: “No, I wouldn’t because I don’t think today’s offering of the same car and variant strikes the balance between price, performance and practicality as well as this 2018 model. I literally optioned it up with everything but without the sunroof.”
How reliable has your car been? Tell us about any issues.
From a mechanical perspective, it’s been an easy few years of ownership.
The car drives beautifully and does the job perfectly. Aside that, there were issues with the stop-start system, the blind spot monitoring system not working and creaky side mirrors but they’re not major.
If I were to nit-pick, there was a bit of toing-and-froing with the rear bumper cover which was initially installed incorrectly but that was a more process/people problem than the car itself.
What do you think of the ownership experience with your car?
It’s been a lovely few years of ownership – I really can’t make any fault. It’s really a backpack on wheels that can be fast if it wanted to where like I said, it strikes the perfect balance between price, performance and practicality.
What I mean by that is that I’m not paying too much for what’s on offer. The price I quoted earlier consisted of the Tech pack, Luxury pack, automatic boot opening and quite a few cosmetic options like that rear bumper cover I got in black, rubber floor mats, etc.
From a performance perspective, the 180kW on offer is more than enough power and when you combine it with the car’s limited-slip differential, it allows me to have my fun when I’m by myself. Which of course then leads me to the practicality component for when I’m with my family.
At 588 litres with the back seats up which are taken by baby / child seats, I can lug anything with me with its nice rectangular shape. If I were to nit-pick in this area though, perhaps it would be better if there was no load lip as I could then just slide items right in but then you could argue that having a load-lip keeps everything in place.
To add to the practicality, the numerous tie-downs and hooks means I’ve placed numerous cargo nets in the boot area which has really allowed me to maximise the space on offer. Hence, it really is a backpack on wheels that can really kick it up a notch for more spirited driving.
How has the purchase and aftercare experience been with your car?
It’s been nice and easy. Also included in the above quoted price is the three-year/45,000km service pack which has been a nice little saving. Skoda is of course part of the Volkswagen Group so there’s a high degree of consistency and feel during the initial buying process and aftercare experience in terms of servicing.
With that, everything is very functional and does what it does. As the adage goes, the best form of customer support is when you don’t have to give it because things just work. That’s how I would summarise my experience.
Are you happy with the price and features of your car?
Very happy with the overall package. I’ll say it again but I did a lot of research to ensure I picked a car that strikes the perfect balance between price, performance and practicality (yes, I keep saying this).
Dare I say, I don’t think I’ll ever need to buy another car unless of course, we become a family of five, I decide that an EV would offer more benefit and of course, a new car just for kicks.
I believe that says a lot. Putting my “3P” decision-making criteria aside, the car has all the safety technology one would really need.
Some notable features in this area would be AEB, blind-spot monitoring and lane assist which have saved me a few times already. From an overall technology standpoint, a full digital instrument display, and a heads-up display would be nice but as the name implies, they’re very much nice-to-haves.
What do you think of the performance and economy of your car?
As shared earlier, a wagon that produces 180kW is more than sufficient. During my buying process, I did look at Golf R wagon as well as the Audi S4 wagon but the difference in price for each did not substantially justify the improved performance in my eyes i.e. 213 kW for the Golf R and 260 kW for S4.
Would 260kW been more fun? Perhaps, but not for relatively double the price.
As for fuel economy, the Octavia isn’t what you call economical – the engine is the same as Golf GTI I believe – but I had that in mind when I purchased it. It’s really neither good or bad really, it is what it is.
What do you think of the technology in your car?
The technology is everything I need and everything I don’t.
As shared above, things like a fully digital instrument display and a head-up display would mean this car has pretty much everything based on the type of technology you can put in a car nowadays but whether these things are actually useful is a subjective question.
I must say the infotainment system works perfectly – the design layout in terms of the buttons, scrolling mechanisms on the steering wheel and the main touchscreen all work well together.
In that, the unit is housed below and integrated into the dash below eye level in which I believe is the best way to put it as opposed to the Audi, for example, where it looks as though a tablet is just stuck to the dash – an afterthought really. As for navigation, there is really no need to connect to Apple CarPlay because the system itself is smooth and responsive with no lag, and the graphics are crisp with the right options to get from A to B.
The graphics also extend to the rear-camera for parking which are viewable on a large 9.2 inch screen.
What do you think of the ride comfort and handling of your car?
Overall, the ride comfort and the handling are lovely for a car of this size. The firm is ride, especially when you toggle it to vRS mode, but nice and smooth when you put into the comfort mode setting.
Things are never perfect which leads me to the biggest gripe with this car – the 19 inch wheels with their quirky design give the car a real menacing and unique look, but it’s absolutely terrible when you drive over any divot in the road because when you do, you’ll really feel it (I’m cringing as I write this!)
With that, I suppose you pay for what you get where a higher-priced car might correct for this so to speak with air suspension or something like that but I’m no engineer.
At the end of the day, these big 19 inch wheels look cool but I’m reminded every time when I drove over a divot in the road that much like in life, everything comes at a cost.
Do you have any additional comments about your car?
You could argue the interior of black on black is just boring with a combination of soft and hard plastics but I much very like the understated look – it’s not as flashy as a Mercedes for example with all that ambient lighting although there is an option to change the lighting inside but it’s very minimal.
With the 245, there’s a lovely red theme throughout the car in terms of highlights in the leather and Alcantara seats and stitching on the steering wheel and instrument clusters so that breaks it up. Overall, I set out back in 2018 to find a car that strikes a balance between price, performance and practicality and this car fits this brief perfectly.