New Octavia ....when? How Much?

[GeeMatt]

My car docks 6 Jan. Maybe 2 weeks later I will have it.

A banana required

[brenno]

The Octavia has been eliminated in round one of this year's Wheels COTY citing the poor ride, poor equipment levels and the acoustic boom. Bit of a shame given that on paper it should have been everything last year's winner has (Mk7 Golf), and more.

[GTR27]

Poor equipment levels? I bet the Mazda 6 made it through, despite being both more expensive and less equipment than Octavia......

I don't get the love/hate relationship car mags seem to have with the Octavia. Motoring groups like racq/nrma etc love it and say the polar opposite.

I'm happy with my purchase as it suits me better than any other car on the market for under 50k.

[muli]

Drive obviously disagrees with Wheels

2014 Drive Car of the Year: Best Family Car

The readers comments is a must read for a good laugh, seems the aurion is the car to have from most comments in lot of articles

[brenno]

Wheels assesses the range as a whole, whereas Drive seems to have focused on one particular spec.

The issues with spec were directed at the Ambition model, having missed out on cruise control, centre arm rest and rear vents when compared with the cheaper Golf.

The Mazda 6 was released early last year so would not have been included.

[GTR27]

That's a flawed argument though, What other mid sized wagon can be had for 24-25k?

Cheapest Mazda 6 that's new is 37990 on car sales (2014, < 150ks were the only search options). Hyundai i40 wagon cheapest is 36590, Mondeo wagon cheapest is 32990.

So it's missing a few, cheap options (most of which are fixed by 1500 travel pack) which still mean it's 8-9k cheaper than the cheapest direct competitor. 11-13k cheaper than the other two.

This is why I hate car reviews, they claim to be unbiased, but come up with nonsensical points to mark cars down on.

Realistically, the elegance is the direct competitor, and the level of equipment smashes then out of the park. Comparing top spec, (fully loaded rs) and it's criminal beating over the others.

But anyway, I like having a less popular car, makes us unique. Let the plebs have the others.

[KWICKS]

Price remains a big factor in my decision. To get what I wanted in a car at this price it was new Octavia RS of into the second hand market.

[brenno]

That's a flawed argument though, What other mid sized wagon can be had for 24-25k?

More to the point, which mid-sized wagon, or even sedan, is available without cruise control?

So it's missing a few, cheap options (most of which are fixed by 1500 travel pack) which still mean it's 8-9k cheaper than the cheapest direct competitor. 11-13k cheaper than the other two.

Cruise control is standard on a 16K Polo, and probably more to the point, is standard on arguably the Ambition's main competitor, the cheaper Golf 90TSI.

This is why I hate car reviews, they claim to be unbiased, but come up with nonsensical points to mark cars down on.

Whilst not a review, their argument comes across as pretty solid. How could a car based on such a capable chassis be tuned so poorly? I realise they are exceedingly cheap, but the Ambition really could have been specced more appropriately. Really, how much would cruise control cost to spec for a modern engine?

[GTR27]

Again you are comparing cars in a smaller class. With travel pack specced, it address's all those issues, and is still many thousands cheaper than its competitors. Who would cross shop a micro or small car with a medium? Most people who buy a medium sized car, want a medium sized car, not a small or a micro sized car. The price point it is at, really caters for the people who don't want those extras, and just want the car as cheap as possible. With the travel pack it is similar to a comfort line, but cheaper.

Likewise to your argument, Skoda offer xenon's and adaptive cruise. Only the Mondeo offers adaptive cruise, and only the Mazda 6 offers xenon's (and those are inferior low beam only, and on top spec model). No one else offers manual transmission on anything but the base model, if at all. No one else offers multiple engines at different price points. Why can't they offer them, yet the cheaper Octavia can?

We could go round and round in circles here, but comparing to out of class cars is not apples to apples comparison.

[brenno]

I did. I cross-shopped the Golf and the Octavia. I simply wanted a Golf with a bigger boot. I didn't realise I was getting a Golf with a not-so-Golf like ride.

Xenons and adaptive cruise are wonderful options that should only remain options - I really despise xenon headlights.

Cruise control quite simply should have been standard on the entry model. Wheels Magazine seems to agree.