New Octavia ....when? How Much?

[Gerrycan]

Bit of a generalisation to say that they wouldn't rate any diesel.

With a name like EVO I thought it would be all WRX and Lancer stuff which would mean the preferred flavour would be high revving petrol.
Personally I like diesels except for the DPF complications.

[Gerrycan]

Woohoo....less than a week till the ship docks! Starting to get excited. So excited, I bought another $250 of detailing gear in preparation for the car........

Oh My......

You can get professional help for your condition...

[MJKooLio]

You can get professional help for your condition...

I have the solution!

[GTR27]

I joke about it, but I have planned to buy all this stuff. I have been working an extra day each week since about June. 6 days a week sucks, but at least I can pay cash for this stuff and not worry.

Edit: oilburna I basically got stuff I needed to replace, or was missing from my kit. Got a good wheel brush, some car shampoo (dodo juice), 303 interior protector, detailing spray (dodo juice red mist), new buckets and grit guard, new waffle weave drying towels, a few new foam applicator pads and a couple of other bits and bobs. I still have synthetic sealant (Wolfgang) and poorboys wheel sealant in my kit. Will prob need a day or two to detail the car when I get it. But it's cheaper than interior and paint protection, and at least I know it's done right.

[Buckers]

FYI - Nice "Speed Date" car review on the caradvise website: Skoda Octavia RS Wagon Speed Date | CarAdvice

Sums up the car pretty well I thought.

Also another one from a few weeks back which also gave it good marks: Skoda Octavia RS Wagon Speed Date | CarAdvice

Noticed in the last RACV magazine (for those in Victoria) that their "Australian's Best Cars" awards short list includes the Octavia 103TSI in the medium cars < 50K category and the Octavia RS in the Sports cars < 50K. Will be interesting to see how it goes - winners announced Nov 25th.

[brad]

With a name like EVO I thought it would be all WRX and Lancer stuff which would mean the preferred flavour would be high revving petrol.
Personally I like diesels except for the DPF complications.

They like fast cars but generally all the magazines like fast cars. Having a Nissan Tiida on the cover doesn't sell many magazines...

Evo | Supercar and performance car reviews and news

[kasi]

OK, test drove an Octavia 1.4 TSI today. That little engine is certainly a corker, even though I had read reviews and personal reports that it was good, was still surprised at its zippy performance when I drove it myself.

Car was so quiet and required so little accelerator compared to my old car that at times the speed crept up quickly without me noticing, at one stage glanced down at the speedo and I was doing about 85 in a 60 zone.

Brake application was much more sudden than I'm used to, hope I can develop a smoother technique quickly. Ride and steering was reasonably good on 45 aspect ratio tyres, no excessive jolting through the wheel over bumps which I had experienced in some older rack and pinion steering cars.

Was impressed with the space, performance and value so I bought one. Hopefully in about 2 weeks or so I will be taking delivery of an Ambition Plus DSG wagon + Tech Pack and Extended Warranty. Wasn't planning on a Tech Pack or metallic paint but the only wagons currently available here had those options so I took what I could get. After I got home and thought about it more I'm now glad I got the Tech Pack.

I received excellent service from Peter at Central Coast Eurocars, no pressure, relaxed, friendly and helpful, a much better experience than I expected buying a new car.

I've owned lots of different cars but this is my first new one since 1997 so I'm quite excited. Go Skoda.

[GTR27]

Tech pack is a great option IMO. They are such a nice car to drive for the money, and as you say the 1.4 is surprisingly spritely.

Nice to see someone else look past the badge, drive one and buy based on the car itself

[kasi]

Some of the Tech Pack options I'll probably never/rarely use but the better sound system, keyless entry and xenon lights I was interested in having though. So I actually did want the Tech Pack, just didn't want to have to pay for it, as adding it plus the extra warranty put the total price up a bit high for my budget.

Luckily I was offered a good deal even though my car was not a custom order but was one of a few just arrived. That really took the sting out of paying extra for the Tech Pack.

I wasn't expecting that as stock of wagons seems to be scarce at the moment, but I had no trade in to complicate matters and was willing to take any colour except black, so maybe that helped. Or because I had only been enquiring about a car without a Tech Pack the Sales Manager knew I wasn't just saying that as a bartering ploy but was fair dinkum. Whatever it was, I'm happy with the price, there's nothing else anywhere near this price that is big enough for me plus my brother in the back seat. The fact it drives really well too is a great bonus. Perhaps could have even gone for a bit extra off, but it was unlikely to be much more if any and I wanted to keep a good relationship with the dealer as I'm going to get the car serviced there.

The car didn't just drive well but inside it felt and looked like good quality. I'm not going to go on like some reviews about whether or not the car had soft touch plastics and how my phone paired, but the doors really did shut with a nice solid sounding thunk, haha.

You're right, Skoda is not a brand that I had thought highly of, just a strange European brand I had seen as support cars in the Tour de France. It was actually one of your posts on another forum about how happy you had been with your previous Octavia RS that put Skoda on my shopping list. So thank you for that.

[GTR27]

That's good I've helped someone at least look at one of these cars. I can hand on my heart say my previous rs was the best all round car I've owned. Sure there were some things I preferred from other cars (the traction control was too aggressive I feel) but I genuinely loved that car and it just did everything well. I seriously regretted selling it, so when I had the opportunity to get another family car, I looked at buying a second hand rs. Most of them were around 25-30k which started me looking at a new ambition. It was missing a few things, so I looked at an ambition+ originally I wanted it without tech pack and sub 30k, but I really wanted xenon's..... Tech pack worked out hardly more than xenon's alone, so I got that. I really wanted the sunroof, but the missus wasn't sure so initially we didn't order that. After some large delays, and lots of convincing we added that to our order. So we ended up getting an almost maxed out ambition+ (I wanted a manual, and didn't want to stump up for an rs as it's primarily a kid carrier).

Now I have gotten a little carried away with bling and extras, but at least everything about the car is exactly what I want. I'm really fickle about my cars, so the wife wanted to make sure I was 100% happy, so we didn't seem our car in another year or two like the last few....

Edit: the hardest thing with telling people about a Skoda on forums is there will always be nay sayers who will bag the cars, with absolutely 0 knowledge or first hand experience of them. People who seem to be madly anti vw anything. I research everything to crazy amounts, and test drive literally everything. I compare at very high detail differences in the car, and also include how it drives (I.e does it have feel/feedback, or does it drive like a Camry). The Octavia IMO is unbeatable under 40k, at multiple price points for the level of kit, driving experience, build quality, room and convenience. I have people call me fanboi, but the truth is, if there was a better car, I'd buy it. I'm not brand loyal in any way at all.... Have owned all sorts of brands. I buy whatever is best at the time for my needs/circumstances, and always look past the badge