Before final decision - a few questions

[sh|tbmxrider]

Daihatsu used to bring Daihatsu in, but yes, owned by ToMoCo, but were a more independant entity from my knowledge... I know I used to work in the Daihatsu buidling in Dandenong South

[Gnat]

Was in Istanbul last week for work ...... Skoda's are bloody EVERYWHERE there!
.... didnt see an RS but.

[Jake02]

.... didnt see an RS but.

Shame for them that the only RS they sell is the Fabia.

[Damo105]

Shame they didn't introduce SEAT again when they brought in Skoda. They could have set up dual brand dealerships and had a great selection of products.

[Jake02]

Shame they didn't introduce SEAT again when they brought in Skoda. They could have set up dual brand dealerships and had a great selection of products.

Yeah but the sting from Seat last time would still be there, and that they're Seats. Seat lost over 300 million Euros last year whereas Skoda made something like twice that. The common taxi in Madrid is the Octavia not the Leon or Toledo - says a lot to me. I'm not sure that Seat will be around for much longer to be honest... Obviously I hope I'm wrong because they are a great-looking range. Maybe shut down Seat but add a few Seat styling bits to Skodas and produce them in Spain?

[theduckster]

It does look like Seat is on the edge, unfortunately. I'm not sure how long the Volkswagen Group are prepared to carry such losses. You never know maybe they throw it a lifeline and hopefully things will turn around for Seat. Maybe one day soon they will be back out available at dealerships but at the moment it seems highly unlikely.

[Brycem]

The lifeline is/was the exeo and exeo st which is selling relatively well in uk and Europe.

I owned a Leon cupra from new in 2003 for about 15 months. Based on a mkiv golf gti with an extra 30 hp and more torque, better chassis and more spec. Great machine and pretty rapid. Best bit was it was a few thousand pounds cheaper than the golf gti.

There are ten times more seat taxis in Madrid than octavias.

I hope they turn the corner as they are a good company who make fast affordable cars. Check out there Ibiza bocanegra and the Leon cupra r.

[Damo105]

The Exeo ST is a great looking car, and it's interesting they have the TSI 155kw version in it rather than the 147 in the RS. And the Cupra R is a beast! Such a shame we don't get them.

[safetyman]

I shopped around and couldn't justify the extra spend on a VW Jetta or loss of space going to a Golf, both of which have fewer features standard for the same cash.

I replaced a Honda Accord Euro with the Octavia RS and can't fault the car.
The Euro was also a very well built car and economical but don't ever try to overtake anybody uphill with family in the car as there was absolutely no torque available. Plenty of revs and noise, just no go.

And I've got to say, the reviews I've read for the Octavia quality overseas match my experience with the car here. I've had no issues whatsoever with my car and I really don't expect any.

With regard to comparisons with SEAT, I have driven some and they feel cheap and nasty, whereas the Octavia contains the same fittings, features and build quality of the VW's.

I'd say go for it but I'm biased

Oh, and I also have a Polo GTI in the garage.
The Octavia beats it on the quality front