Skoda's

[melbster]

One to throw in the discussion pot.
When you ask a Skoda owner why he bought that particular make of car I guarantee one of the answers will be "They are made by VW now!".... so does this mean Skoda owners are too tight to buy a VW in the first place??
Your thoughts & witty comments....

 

[RobertP]

I bought a Skoda because it was the only car short of around 28k that had the spec. I wanted....and cost me 17k. And yes lots of bits on it are obviously VW which did help overcome my fear of the Skoda joke.

So not a witty comment as the joke is out of date.

 

[Jimmy_Lemon]

I have an uncle who is very much into his cars and he owns a skoda as he says they make some of the best cars around at the moment, but apart from that I aint got clue I own a Rover for god sake

 

[tricky]

i bought my skoda for a taxi does me fine and is cheap to run!!!

 

[antihero]

I also go on the seatcupra forums and a member on there has a 260bhp DIESEL fabia, so to me they are far from being a joke these days.....you could always say VW's are overpriced skoda's

 

[justjase]

I also go on the seatcupra forums and a member on there has a 260bhp DIESEL fabia, so to me they are far from being a joke these days.....you could always say VW's are overpriced skoda's

Actually the skoda's hold their price better than VW at the mo....

 

[scoff]

I have an 07 vRS Octavia deisel, it was my first choice.... replaced my Accord, faster, built well.
Never considered the VW/Audi aspect! the engine is now used in ALL performance deisels in the group inc the Leon FR
The only laughing I do about the brand is when I put my foot down and the 170bhp and 350nm of Tourque kick in!

 

[andrewc]

I get chronic back ache whenever I sit in an Octavia. The Superb may have a lovely ride, but wallows like a oil tanker.

I'll stick with my Mercedes AMG. 300bhp. 450Nm of torque.

Skodas are still built by Skoda. They're just owned by VW and share common floorpans and engines.

 

[scoff]

lol, a true comparison would be £/BHP!

 

[Joe T]

Anyone who says bad things about Skodas in general needs a reality check. Seriously.

 

[King of Groove]

I have an uncle who is very much into his cars and he owns a skoda as he says they make some of the best cars around at the moment, but apart from that I aint got clue I own a Rover for god sake

I own a Rover 45 and it's a bl**dy good car!

 

[Cobra]

And you know why they have heated rear screens? its to keep your hands warm whilst you are pushing them

 

[inaneredstripe]

i had one of the first big octavia diesels as a taxi some time ago. it was faultless , and gave less trouble than the previous tdi escort.
ok ,SOME ford parts were a little bit cheaper, but it actualy wore better tah the escort. sold with 165,000 miles on it. and its still running around.
and it was CHEAP.

 

[inaneredstripe]

my present wheels has a 7.5 litre turbocharged motor and makes 250bhp
and enough torque to pull anything and a fully adjustable air suspended seat.( i bet that gave it away).
averages about 11 mpg tho.

 

[unclerichy]

Nowt wrong with Skodas - had my Octavia for two years now and love it. It's a 140BHP 2.0TDI and doesn't feel any slower than my previous car - a Seat Leon Cupra with 180BHP. Unlike my Cupra the turbo works every time I use it too

 

[whitewash]

Skodas are still built by Skoda. They're just owned by VW and share common floorpans and engines.

that isnt exactly true, yes they share design and floorplans and they are still build by skoda, however the main problem with original skodas was the build quality, now that they have VW group designs and vw group implemented working practices and materials they are obviously nothing like the old "comedy" skodas.


they seem to have turned full circle and thats great, the skoda range is superb (badum tsssshhh!) and yes they hold there value brilliantly and in the case of cars like the fabia vRS are nice little pocket rockets!


they should have retained there rally program though, they had just sorted the handling problems and turned it into a competive car and they canned the project!

 

[Joe T]

my present wheels has a 7.5 litre turbocharged motor and makes 250bhp
and enough torque to pull anything and a fully adjustable air suspended seat.( i bet that gave it away).
averages about 11 mpg tho.

Tell us more!

Tractor?

Bull dozer?

Crane?

 

[inaneredstripe]

its yellowy orange

 

[whitewash]

ive heard hes actually called marge, a 400lb female truckie who can crush mens heads between her thighs and always wears dungaries, her call sign is "stinky pinky" and she can be found at the gulp and guzzle snooze and stop

 

[andrewc]

Skodas in the early part of the century were considered very good cars, Czechoslovakian engineering was superb (boom tish), and its no wonder that both German tanks and the fabulous Hispano Suiza were at one point built in the Skoda works.

Its the communists and the iron curtain that made things go bad, but Skoda were well on the road to recovery before VW invested in them.

However compared to the Audi and VW ranges, there are some trim differences which are obviously cheaper on the Skoda which accounts for some of the difference in cost.

My wife looked at Superb and the Octavia. I couldn't live with either - either because of back pain caused by the ridge half way up the front seats of an Octavia, or because the Superb was only Superb in a straight line, throw it a corner and it just wallowed into a ditch.

 

[mullrallyesport]

that isnt exactly true, yes they share design and floorplans and they are still build by skoda, however the main problem with original skodas was the build quality, now that they have VW group designs and vw group implemented working practices and materials they are obviously nothing like the old "comedy" skodas.


they seem to have turned full circle and thats great, the skoda range is superb (badum tsssshhh!) and yes they hold there value brilliantly and in the case of cars like the fabia vRS are nice little pocket rockets!


they should have retained there rally program though, they had just sorted the handling problems and turned it into a competive car and they canned the project!

Well said and I agree with you on the rally program, just look what McRae did in that car and the WRC could have done with another manufacture.

 

[andrewc]

The only rally team I want to see come back is Lancia, to remind everyone how to do it. They're still the most successful manufacturer.

 

[inaneredstripe]

220 lbs you cheeky git.
i may have been rumbbled

 

[nilagin]

I'd like to see Skoda return to rear engines. Back in the eighties there was a feature in Motor (now Autocar) magazine about a tuning kit you could by for the Rapide. Because of the engine being at the rear and the ability to lay down the power, they were competitively fast against alot of performance cars of the time.

 

[inaneredstripe]

the one on the left is mine http://www.beardsleys.co.uk/index.shtml
uprated with a lter engine to 250 bhp. o to sixty , never.(speed limiters). but will carry over 9 tonnes.

 

[Joe T]

I'd like to see Skoda return to rear engines. Back in the eighties there was a feature in Motor (now Autocar) magazine about a tuning kit you could by for the Rapide. Because of the engine being at the rear and the ability to lay down the power, they were competitively fast against alot of performance cars of the time.

Ive seen some excellent vids of Rapides sliding round a rally course.

 

[Chuckurbarla]

And you know why they have heated rear screens? its to keep your hands warm whilst you are pushing them

You'd need long arms to keep your hands warm on mine matey!

 

[mullrallyesport]

Old Skoda's, letting you down at the last minute

 

[Cobra]

You'd need long arms to keep your hands warm on mine matey!

Thats even more thoughtful of them to get rid of the back bit so you can get a good grip on the side pillars and still warm your hands on the rear screen

 

[melbster]

Nice One Cobra.... glad someone out there has a sense of humour.
You Skoda lot are a very sensitive bunch ...
I think i'll just go and clean my Lada Samara

 

[Chuckurbarla]

Thats even more thoughtful of them to get rid of the back bit so you can get a good grip on the side pillars and still warm your hands on the rear screen

Nice one. Trouble is your hands would still be cold because it's not a heated back window. They obviously didn't think I would need one for some reason. But don't ask me about the things that DO cause problems!! And the state of my local garage

 

[inaneredstripe]

cobra. does the ped go in the back, so you can get home?
a while ago, we bought an OLD skoda (93) as a temporary runabout for£200. ran it for two years and sold it for twice what we paid for it.it cost us £80 to get it thru 2 mots.
she runs a rover now. sorry.

 

[Cobra]

Nice one. Trouble is your hands would still be cold because it's not a heated back window. They obviously didn't think I would need one for some reason. But don't ask me about the things that DO cause problems!! And the state of my local garage

Actually my Dad ran one of the early ones I can't remember the model but I guess it was late 70's?
That thing went on and on towed a small caraven all over the UK too. blew a water pump and boiled. new pump new belt and no further problems .... It just seemed to go on forever
I currently Drive a mondeo est. V6 auto ( firms car so I had no choice ) I have to take the pee outta something to stop me feeling quite so hard done by

cobra. does the ped go in the back, so you can get home?

Whoosh........... straight over me 'ead, that one :shrug:

 

[RobbieW]

I bought my Octavia as it was the only car that appealed to me, never had a problem with it, the garage has been perfect. And its not a boring Mondeo or Vectra which is what every other car on the road seems to be

 

[Chuckurbarla]

cobra. does the ped go in the back, so you can get home?

but I think that was intended for me not cobra wasn't it? The scooter cost about £600 brand new out here and if you took the panels off and saw the build quality you'd see why! That's why I never go off a bus route with it

 

[STARRIDER]

I had a Lada once:embarrassed: :shake:

 

[scoff]

I had a Lada once:embarrassed: :shake:

Before you got a Fridge?

Thats an admission for a drunken night out when you want to kill the conversation....

Got a great image of a skoda somewhere... will dig it out over the weekend!

 

[Cobra]

but I think that was intended for me not cobra wasn't it? The scooter cost about £600 brand new out here and if you took the panels off and saw the build quality you'd see why! That's why I never go off a bus route with it

Ah I see

 

[spannerdude]

The only rally team I want to see come back is Lancia, to remind everyone how to do it. They're still the most successful manufacturer.

 

[spannerdude]

that isnt exactly true, yes they share design and floorplans and they are still build by skoda, however the main problem with original skodas was the build quality, now that they have VW group designs and vw group implemented working practices and materials they are obviously nothing like the old "comedy" skodas.


they seem to have turned full circle and thats great, the skoda range is superb (badum tsssshhh!) and yes they hold there value brilliantly and in the case of cars like the fabia vRS are nice little pocket rockets!

I agree entirely that Skodas are now very good cars but I take issue with a couple of points.

Those "comedy" Skodas won their class on the RAC rally for 17 years in a row. I joked at the time when they were bought by VAG that VW had finally worked out how to win in international rallying - Buy Skoda. However, VW blew it. None of their VW clones have ever been as succesfull as genuine Skodas.

And the question of depreciation is also an interesting one. Very much a case of lies, damn lies and statistics.
If you trust statistics then you could say that an Estelle for example probably suffered from something like 90% depreciation in the first year of ownership, compared to a mere 33% for a current Superb. But look at that in terms of pound notes and it takes on a different complexion.
An Estelle cost about £3500 and lost virtually all of that in the first year, a Superb cost £15000 and only lost a third. But that's still 5 grand! So how is that a better investment?

When I was in the motor trade I had a number of customers with rear engined Skodas and Favorites when they came along. They bought new, ran them for the duration of the 3 year warranty and then bought another new one. When the VW clones came along the price doubled and they could no longer afford to buy them. One guy said "I'd rather be able to afford a new car with a rattly dash and funny looks, than buy a used VW".

It's easy to improve build quality if you can just double the price. All VW did was change the target market sector that they were aiming at. A huge and brave investment but whether they can claim an "improvement" is debateable.