5 weeks in and very happy with our Roomster

[RedRoomy]

Hi all,

Got our Roomster on May 8th and both me and my wife are loving it.

It's quite simply the best car for the money that I can see, we had a look at all the other sub-$25k hatchbacks and they all felt cramped and claustrophobic compared with the Roomster.

The kids love having the big windows to see out of.

We used to have a Renault Scenic and basically wanted something similar, with the flexibility of removable seats and a spacious roofline but nothing else in the market offers that in Australia.

In Europe, i'd be looking at a choice of a whole pile of cars with similar space and functionality - Golf Plus, Touran, C-Max, Scenic, Picasso, Berlingo Multispace, Kangoo, Altea, Zafira, etc, etc

Here, there's nothing. Apart from the unloved middle child, the Roomster. Most people in Australia (it seems) have barely even heard of Skoda, never mind the Roomster when we tell them what we bought.

The 1.2 TSI engine is a little cracker, and it just makes me laugh in Sport mode, it's so eager and spools up to gather pace surprisingly quickly.

We got a great deal on it as well, dealer was pretty good, but has been a touch average on follow up of things since purchase.

Don't know what the sales figures have been like in April/May/June, but looking at the data from past years and the first quarter of this year, we are only one of about 300 brave (stupid) people to have bought a Roomster in total, over both pre and post facelift versions. It's like we've joined an exclusive club. We'd been looking at the Roomster since March and could not recall seeing one on the road ever, then finally apart from the one we took for a test drive and our own, we finally saw 2 within a week, a silver one at Sydney Park and a Red one in Ultimo/Haymarket.

We looked at the 77tsi Yeti and 77tsi Mk6 Golf and came pretty close, but they were just that bit more enclosed feeling in the back than the Roomster was. We may regret that when it comes to the end of the 3 year lease and we look at trade-in or buy-back $$$ but we're comfortable with it for now.

Not quite getting the hoped for fuel economy at this stage, dunno whether the engine will free up as they used to say or whether this is it, but neither me nor my wife are sympathetic drivers, but it's still a big improvement over the Scenic.

[Bradpalace]

Hi Red Roomy. The Roomster needs the right colours to look good. The all over grey and silver colours look horrible and make the windows look all wrong. Your name suggests a red one. Which colour did you go with? I liked the Roomster too and have driven as hire cars the B series Merc and a Renault Grand Scenic, so I understand your liking the extra room. The Roomster is a bit different with plenty of room and yet is still a small vehicle, as its size is vertical, not longitudinal. Dearly beloved saw a silver/grey one and the first word was "No". Ended up with the little Fabia which I should pick up soon.

[RedRoomy]

Yep, we (wife) actually wanted a blue one, but of the 3 blues in the brochure, none of the Skoda Australia cars in stock were blue, so the choice was down to what was available, which was White, Silver/Greys, Cappuccino, Black or Red.
I quite fancied the Black as I thought it would look good with the dark tint, but was overruled by my wife as it would look to much like a midget hearse. So given that we agree that grey/silver is not compatible with the shape (and her last car was silver and wanted something different) and brown/beige is a brave choice, white was too dull and again didn't think it looked good on the Roomster, Red was the only choice left.

So Postman Pat it is then!

[Pugdriver]

Photo please

"Midget hearse" -

[RedRoomy]

Here it is.

[Bradpalace]

Very nice Roomy. Those windows don't stick out quite so much with something to see all around them.

[onyertod]

I miss my Roomster.

Even now, two years after having to reluctantly part with it

The Roomster was possibly the most practical and versatile car I ever owned and was a nice drive too.

Circumstances dictated that one of our two Skoda's had to go and the sums said keep the Octavia.

Enjoy your Roomy!