2001 Skoda Octavia Ambiente review from UK and Ireland

Nothing has gone wrong with the car so far.

Although it is relatively early days in my ownership of this car I have been so impressed with it I wanted to submit this brief revue. The Octavia is an ideal family car. There is more than ample room for five adults and the car has a huge boot affording great luggage carrying capacity. This was an important consideration for us as myself and my wife and two kids go camping.

When we bought the Octavia we had the car serviced and the timing belt changed. The total cost for this was 200 pounds. We have only covered about 1700 miles so far so I suppose I can't really comment on reliability. At the risk of tempting fate I can say it has proven reliable so far. The t.d.i. engine is a gem affording a good balance between performance and economy. In fact the fuel consumption for a fairly big family car is amazing. If you drive really steadily then mid 60's to the gallon can easily be achieved. Perhaps mid 50's would be more the case in normal use.

The Octavia is fitted with power steering and electric windows all round. A plus point about the windows is that all four can be controlled by the driver as well as at the individual windows. The Blaupunkt cd / stereo provides a high quality sound system.

The whole package seems well put together in terms of quality etc. and the driving experience is a pleasurable one.