2006 Skoda Octavia Reviews

Leaking rear washer pipe caused burnout of tow electrics module (not Skoda part!), which affected main lighting module. £200 repair!

No other faults.

The car is a comfortable, roomy, fast and incredibly economical. Normal long journey at legal speed mixed roads: 60+ MPG. Towing a light caravan: 45 MPG.

Road holding is excellent, though road noise on some surfaces with Michelin tyres can be intrusive.

Service costs are average, though I recommend having the computer switched from variable servicing to fixed interval if your mileage is average.

When you get to around 80,000 and have the cam belt changed, make sure all the pulleys AND the water pump are replaced at the same time.

Clockspring malfunction after 3 months, replaced under warranty.

Clean design.

Rear seats are less comfortable than a Ford Telstar's, but driver's seat is comparable.

Automatic transmission is not fun, feeling under power, but tiptronic manual is superb.

Tyre noise is obvious.

Built quality is comparable with CKD's BMW, even better in certain parts.

Engine's power feels like a 2.2L, but fuel consumption is like a 1.8L car.

Has got many features that do not come in other manufacturer's cars from the same segments and price (e.g trip computer, ASR, 6 speed tiptronic, coming/leaving home light, electric seat with memory...)

Very stable, even at 200kmh on regular highways.

Boot space is very huge!!

The light in the needle of the speedometer stopped working at about 55,000 km.

One of the springs in the back of the driver seat was broken at about 50,000 km.

Both fixed under the guarantee (no costs on me).

The car is very reliable. 90,000 km without a need to go to the garage between maintenance visits.

Cheap to own. Average consumption is between 5.1 and 5.3 lit/100 km (summer tires are wider and low profile and they cause increase consumption). Maintenance needs to be performed only every 30,000km, and is not very expensive compared with car of other makers.

Performance of the 2.0 TDI model is very good. A lot of torque. A lot.

Very comfortable for tall people (and I have heard that's also true for short people).

Nothing.

We had an Octavia Mark 1 and were generally satisfied, but the Mark 2 is an enormous improvement in a number of areas.

There is much more rear seating room - the old one was very cramped. The load area in our estate is vast.

The 2.0 TDi engine is quieter and has much more oomph (though I had extra soundproofing fitted). Fuel economy is 41-42 mpg, but that includes a fair bit of town driving (the Mark 1 1.9 gave 47 mpg with more long runs).

The DSG automatic gearbox is generally smooth, though can be caught out on occasion, giving slight jerkiness.

The build quality seems as high as ever, with absolutely no creaks or rattles.

Our intention was to run our Octavia for a decade, so we bought an L&K with all the bells and whistles - depreciation becomes pointless over such a long period. Present indications are that our Octavia will do just that - serve us well into our 70s.