My old Mercedes 300E broke down and was unable to be fixed. So searching for a new car. Require enough headroom and legroom in the back for a 188cm (6'2") passenger. Saw a thread on OCAU discussing Skoda referring to this forum, so decided to join.

Went to local dealer yesterday, he has a demo Octavia Ambition Plus hatch and a new Elegance wagon. The hatch was fine for me in the driver's seat but marginal headroom for my brother in the back. The wagon had a tiny bit more rear headroom and no glass close behind his head and that made all the difference. It's difficult to find any modern cars that we can fit in comfortably so that's a good start.

He also had two 2013 pre facelift Superb Elegance hatches in stock and suggested we try one for size. Although the interior was luxurious my brother's head was touching the roof in the rear and the driver's seat was too narrow and too high for me. I felt quite "squeezed in" because the centre hump and door pods for window controls were very close.

Yes, Superb has excellent rear legroom but for my brother and myself, we felt the Octavia wagon to be much roomier and more comfortable overall. This was a bit surprising as many published and personal reviews rave about the large amount of space in the Superb. Just goes to show how reviews can sometimes be misleading and are no substitute for checking out all the cars you are interested in yourself. Also shows how well packaged the new Octavia wagon is I suppose. For those who aren't as tall or wide as us though I could see how the Superb would be a very comfortable, well equipped cruiser.

So looks like I may be driving an Octavia Ambition Plus soon if my dealer can source one somewhere.

I would like to thank all those posting about their experiences with Skodas, particularly the current model Octavia. Most who have taken delivery generally seem quite pleased. It's been helpful in narrowing down which cars to consider. I've also enjoyed reading about the enthusiasm of those with custom Octavia orders eager to be assigned a production date and even tracking their delivery ship across the ocean.