2005 Skoda Octavia Laurin & Klement review from UK and Ireland

Turbo oil seal failed at 22,000 miles, unfortunately first indication was the rattle of big ends as the engine expired. That was an engine, turbo and cat under warranty.

Climate control blew warm air only for the next 14 months, taking repeated visits to the dealer before a dead a/c cooling fan was diagnosed and replaced under warranty.

Fuel cap latch stopped working, we now pries it open with a finger nail, as the dealer failed to address it at the last service despite being told it was defective.

This is our second Octavia L&K. The first one was a 130 TDI L&K and was staggeringly good in every way, it ran from 0 to 80,000 miles in 2 years needing only a service every 23,000 miles and one set of tyres. As a driving, owning & value for money experience it was stunning.

The current L&K was a disappointment from day one as we discovered just how far short the 2005/2006 L&K fell. It's still a huge spec car, but its not an L&K. We have since been told by a dealer that Skoda didn't believe there was a market for the L&K in the UK so they didn't plan to market a 2005/2006 model until public demand prompted it. The only way they could fill the gap was to spec up the Elegance with leather & Xenon and badge it as L&K. That's why, externally there was no distinguishing feature between Elegance and L&K (not even an L&K badge on our car). The drop in bhp from 130 to 105 was also a bitter pill to swallow. Don't get me wrong, the 105 goes way better than the figures suggest, but the 130 is a huge act to follow.

We have been looking at the latest L&K 140 TDI and the good news is that it is the real deal L&K again, it looks goes and feels like an L&K. But its not the bargain it once was.

The result of all this is we are dropping out of the Company car scheme at next renewal, taking the monthly allowance and buying a second hand Octavia 130 TDI L&K to run for business use. That's how much we rate the old L&K!