2003 Skoda Octavia SDI 1.9 diesel from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Quick, reliable, economical and well built

Faults:

Nothing went wrong for me, as I bought it and sold it on.

Few things that were not right; exhaust had blow in joint, engine was a bit tappety due to miles.

That's it!

General Comments:

IF YOU WANT superb reliability and fuel saving, go for the VW/Skoda SDI engine. Although you only get 68bhp, there is still plenty of power and torque.

These engines go on forever, so I 100% recommend them, even thou I'm a Ford fan.

The cabin is gloomy (yes, like the example), and the seats are bad quality and stain easily.

Brakes are the best, and the build quality cannot be beaten.

Overall a very good car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th September, 2010

18th Sep 2010, 16:25

Is this review for real? The individual bought it and sold it with the same mileage and he rates it?

13th Apr 2014, 06:02

Where does it say he had sold it?

2003 Skoda Octavia Ambiente 2.0 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Functional, Dependable, Reliable. Solid Worker, but expensive to run

Faults:

1. Inlet Manifold which cost an eye-watering £650 to repair. This was 2 months out of warranty, and happened 2 days after a service. I had just shelled out £350 for servicing and new rear brakes, and two days later had an engine management light on - eventually they found it was a hairline crack in the manifold, and I consequently had it repaired.

2. Shortly after I bought the car, most of the buttons on the CD/Radio Head Unit didn't work. Had this sorted for free.

3. Windscreen wash jets became loose, but easily sorted (just push them back in)

4. Some nice gentleman clipped my wing mirror off and broke a washer that held it altogether. Skoda were unwilling to help, as they only sold a complete mirror. As my car has heated wing mirrors, this was £120. In the end, me and my dad bodged a fix. Then I managed to smash the glass. Bummer.

General Comments:

I bought this car back in October 2004 for £7,000. At the time I wanted a big car, and it has certainly fitted the bill.

The car looks a bit bland, but is very functional. There is plenty of room in the car for 4 adults, although very rarely have I actually had 4 adults in it. The boot is tremendous in size, and easily devours weekly shopping, and it is able to take large loads with relative ease.

Driving this car is good, the seats are comfortable, although you can feel a little fatigued on the longer journeys. The seats are height adjustable, so a range of driving positions can be found. For those looking for "fun" driving however, don't look here. It understeers if you go a bit mad (but then that's a good thing) and for a 2.0, with only 115bhp you may feel there's something lacking under the hood.

General build quality is pretty good, everything in the car feels pretty solid, although I've found a few squeaks that are quite annoying. Also, I've recently heard the car "creak" which is a bit disconcerting.

Performance is decent, 0-60 apparently is 10 seconds, top speed is 120mph. However, I've found best performance really is when you go 60-80 or 80+. (not that I've tried)

Consumption is very good for what the car is; I usually get between 32-35MPG on the commute to work, and sometimes get up to 37-40 on the longer motorway trips. However in these times of rising petrol prices, I've decided to jump ship and sell the car. A full tank of petrol in this car will set you back nearly £50, and you will get 360-420 miles for that.

Servicing is very good, the dealers are polite, prompt and very helpful. I was very upset after what had happened to the inlet manifold however, and have decided to move on and get another car while this one still has some value in it.

Cost of servicing I felt was a bit expensive too: - 10,000 mile interval, and costs were £120 for the first service, £180 for the second, and £250 for the 40,000 mile service I had this year. Added to that the £100 they wanted to fit new rear brakes has meant that running costs are a bit on the high side. Added to this the fact that Tax is £190 a year, and it belongs in Group 9, running costs must be considered!

Toys wise, the car has plenty: - The dashboard was a bit plain, but functional, and the onboard computer works well and does the job. I ditched the original (grundig) heat unit as it was rubbish. This does mean that the 6CD changer that I had with it becomes useless, as ONLY the original head unit can take advantage of it.

My model has Air Conditioning, heated/electric mirrors, electric windows all round, fog lights, metallic paint, remote central locking, ABS, power steering, 6CD + Head Unit (although poor) 60/40 split rear seats.

After 2 years of ownership, in general I am pleased with the experience I had in this car. I frequently drove for long distances, and it was always reliable and dependable. Despite my gripes with the running costs and servicing, these cars will run and run if you look after them. The badge will put people off, but who cares, if you've bought one of these, you've probably saved yourself a few grand buying it, and probably deter thieves at the same time!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th September, 2006

10th Jan 2011, 21:27

I have just (5 months ago) bought a Skoda Octavia Laurin & Klement on a 53 plate.

Overall, servicing costs are high if you use main dealers, but if you buy the parts, DIY or get a mate to, they reduce quite substantially.

I've done my brakes front and rear (both pads and disks), rear pads and disks cost £160 with labour at a local garage, as the rear brakes were originally corroded, and I didn't want the hassle of getting the disks off. The fronts were even worse then the rears, but I did tackle this myself. A good idea so it seems!

I've also bought an ODB scanner, which has saved me shedloads of money even in the short period I've owned the car. I've done around 8000 miles in just over 4 months, which equates to around 24,000 miles a year.

I just love this car. With cream full leather, it is a bit of a dog to clean sometimes, but overall, the car's fan-bloody-tastic. It's fairly quick off the mark, and cruises like a Rolls! I just wish all cars were made with this kind of comfort in mind!

My last car, a Ford Mondeo, was a right pig. It rattled like crazy, the engine was laggy and noisy and overall was not very interesting at all. Not so with the Skoda.

My advice. Drop your generalised pre-judged thoughts about Skoda, (what with them being a VW group company now) and take a test drive in one of the latest Octavias. You won't be disappointed, trust me!