Goodbye Octavia :-(

[TheITGuy]

After 16 months with my Octavia III 1.5TSI SEL, I have replaced it with a second-hand Audi A4.  Whilst being a long term Skoda fan (2 Estelles, 1 Favorit, 2 Octavias and 2 Superbs), this most recent Skoda purchase has been a disappointment.  My previous Skoda was a MKII Superb Estate and perhaps I was expecting too much with the Octavia - it was surely just going to be a smaller, better handling version of a Superb?  er, no.  The build quality has been very disappointing, with the slightest bump in the road setting off a cacophony of interior rattles creaks and taps, a constant tap from the driver's door, rattles from the sunroof, etc.  Then, there is the ride - crashy and sometimes darn uncomfortable!  Road noise isn't brilliant (although this may be partly down to the Bridgestone Turanzas still on the rear).  Then there is the well documented kangarooing in first gear and hesitation when using a light throttle.  Don't misunderstand me, it had its good points - styling, the interior design, equipment and fuel economy have all been spot on.  But I found myself on long journeys having to mentally try and list the good points to offset the bad.   In most of my previous cars I have actively looked forward to the journey, knowing I would enjoy the drive.  Not so in the Octavia.  I do feel that engineering design and build quality is a step down from the MKII Octavia, even down to the way the doors shut.

 

So, Octavia traded in for a 66 plate 1.4 petrol A4 sport saloon which is quiet, comfortable, rattle free and is beautifully built.

 

My interest in the Skoda brand will continue and perhaps I will return to the marque at some point in the future.

 

If anyone would like a set of rubber floor mats FOC and are able to pick them up from me (Suffolk), just send me a PM.

 

The IT Guy 

[nitro2]

full agree on your octy vision .

 

i am currently on no 3 ,

and the build quality has NOT been improved over the years , NOR have they done anything to improve re-occuring problems .

 

too busy with the all new full electric version 4 ??

 

 

[AllanDJ]

At the same time I've just come back to another Octavia, with the 1.5 engine and that was purely because it was so much cheaper on the PCH deal than the Superb which I would have preferred to have, mind you that was the 2 litre TD, they couldn't give me prices for the 1.5 petrol version at that time as they hadn't finished all their engine testing last year. Compared to the first Octavia mark 3 that I had I'm finding this one much better, very quiet engine, much better suspension than the 1.6 diesel Elegance Estate that I had originally. Not sure if this is in part due to the SE Tech models having 16 inch wheels on Continental tyres rather than 17 inch wheels on Dunlop Sport tyres which were rather noisy, plus a bit of evolution/ improvement in suspension but for the money, I can't really fault it. As for the first gear issues, can't say that it's really any worse than the Yeti 1.4 that I had before which often hesitated when you tried to pull away in first gear, with the Octavia it seems to need reasonable acceleration to pull away, too gentle on the throttle and it will be a bit jumpy, not perfect but not a major issue to me.

[shyVRS245]

16 hours ago, TheITGuy said:

After 16 months with my Octavia III 1.5TSI SEL, I have replaced it with a second-hand Audi A4.  Whilst being a long term Skoda fan (2 Estelles, 1 Favorit, 2 Octavias and 2 Superbs), this most recent Skoda purchase has been a disappointment.  My previous Skoda was a MKII Superb Estate and perhaps I was expecting too much with the Octavia - it was surely just going to be a smaller, better handling version of a Superb?  er, no.  The build quality has been very disappointing, with the slightest bump in the road setting off a cacophony of interior rattles creaks and taps, a constant tap from the driver's door, rattles from the sunroof, etc.  Then, there is the ride - crashy and sometimes darn uncomfortable!  Road noise isn't brilliant (although this may be partly down to the Bridgestone Turanzas still on the rear).  Then there is the well documented kangarooing in first gear and hesitation when using a light throttle.  Don't misunderstand me, it had its good points - styling, the interior design, equipment and fuel economy have all been spot on.  But I found myself on long journeys having to mentally try and list the good points to offset the bad.   In most of my previous cars I have actively looked forward to the journey, knowing I would enjoy the drive.  Not so in the Octavia.  I do feel that engineering design and build quality is a step down from the MKII Octavia, even down to the way the doors shut.

 

So, Octavia traded in for a 66 plate 1.4 petrol A4 sport saloon which is quiet, comfortable, rattle free and is beautifully built.

 

My interest in the Skoda brand will continue and perhaps I will return to the marque at some point in the future.

 

If anyone would like a set of rubber floor mats FOC and are able to pick them up from me (Suffolk), just send me a PM.

 

The IT Guy 

If you don't mind me asking what was the trade-in for the Octavia and how much did you pay for the Audi (guess the Audi was more expensive).

[ahenners]

5 hours ago, nitro2 said:

full agree on your octy vision .

 

i am currently on no 3 ,

and the build quality has NOT been improved over the years , NOR have they done anything to improve re-occuring problems .

 

too busy with the all new full electric version 4 ??

 

 

 

Can you elaborate on this?

 

Also I'd be very surprised if the MK4 version was fully electric.

Edited 16 March, 2019 by ahenners

[nitro2]

the my2019 car i have , still has the same issues as the first octy i drove years back , the second one had the same problems …………...

 

maybe skoda is already busy with all men available developing model 5 to be hydrogen ?? 

 

for the list price of 44+ k€ i do expect a little more .

 

[MorrisOx]

Suspect most Octy drivers are reasonably happy with what they’ve got because it remains a lot of car for the money, and is better than you might expect.

 

But my own experience reflects that of the OP - Skodas are never quite as good as they could be, and there is plenty of evidence that while the basic ingredients are decent (platform, engines, gearboxes, ICE etc), the stuff you can’t see (such as shock absorbers, bushing, sound deadening) is either cheaper grade or absent.

 

My 2018 Superb is unquestionably better than the 2015 Octy it replaced, but it will probably be my last Skoda. Used Audi or Merc next time.

Edited 17 March, 2019 by MorrisOx

[Oldmansomerset]

As a former Merc owner, I did go and look at them before ordering my Octavia.  Also looked at BMW and Audi.  The Audi was very nice but I thought the Skoda package better value for my pennies.  The Merc had rather poor paintwork, esp for a brand new demo car.  They only allowed me a five mile test drive as opposed to giving you the car for at least a couple of hours.

[TheITGuy]

@shyVRS245:  I made a grand total of £250 from the trade in of the Octavia, as there was still the outstanding PCP finance to settle.  The Audi was £16.5K and an Audi Approved Used vehicle.

 

Having driven about 400 miles since getting the Audi on Thursday, what a difference!  It's very quiet, copes with poor road surfaces brilliantly and is returning over 50 mpg.  Very happy :-)

 

@Oldmansomerset : certainly being the standard Sport model is isn't brimming with toys (most of the owner's handbook doesn't apply to my model) but to be honest a lot of the toys in the Octavia just irritated me!  The HBA would turn off high beam when reflected from some traffic signs and it seemed reluctant to drop to dipped beam when following other vehicles; the AEB system activated twice, both times when a vehicle was coming towards me on their side of the road, so there was no "emergency"; the traffic system would generally only alert me to a serious delay AFTER I had been sat stationery in said delay for at least 20 minutes and one time it took me off the M6 toll road, sent me parallel to the toll road for a few miles, before making me re-join - for no apparent reason and incurring extra toll charges.  

 

I'm happy to forsake some equipment for a car that is solidly built and feels "engineered".