Skoda Octavia VRS Estate
Used wagon signs off
What sticks with me most was how adept it was on the morning commute
It was as though the Octavia knew it was going back into storage at Skoda and had started to express its dismay through the medium of its sat-nav.
At least, that’s how it seemed. Just a few days before the car’s return, the sat-nav decided that I wasn’t on the M25, heading west, as my eyes would have me believe, but rather that I was on a north-easterly path through the Hampton Court Palace Golf Club.
I rather hoped that wasn’t the case – apart from anything else, I’d just had the Octavia cleaned before it went back – but the asphalt beneath me was testament to the fact that I was still on the M25. I pulled off the motorway to take a photograph of the offending sat-nav screen and continued on my way.
The glitch sorted itself out by the time I embarked on my journey home, but it seems that it isn’t an unknown problem with the Octavia. Owners’ forums suggest it’s caused by either a connection fault with the GPS aerial or a problem with the aerial itself. At least it’s an easy fix.
Despite that minor niggle, I will admit I was a little sad when the chap from Skoda came to whisk our six-year-old Octavia VRS back to the firm’s heritage collection. By the way, the car’s provenance goes some way to explaining its low mileage and rather high value.
I’ve loved my regrettably short time with the Octavia VRS. It’s been a superb jack of all trades, and while there is the inevitable caveat that it’s the master of none, the estate has nevertheless been very good at the majority of things.
Whether it was being filled up with stuff, either by me or one of my colleagues (as the only diesel estate on the fleet for a time, the Octavia was in high demand), being thrown at a niggly B-road in a spirited fashion or simply sitting on a motorway for a trip to the relatives, the Octavia felt perfect for the task in hand and very hard to fault.
What sticks with me most, though, was just how adept it was on the daily commute. Every morning and evening, the Octavia’s considerable mid-range thrust, its gearbox’s ability to be in just the right gear, its comfortable seats and its easy-going controls made grinding through the M25 traffic a cinch.
Mind you, it wasn’t completely perfect. The optional 18in wheels land the vrs’s ride just the wrong side of uncomfortable. Smooth roads are fine, but you find yourself wincing into potholes and over larger expansion joints. I reckon the standard 17in rims would bring the ride comfort back in line.
The interior plastics aren’t quite as special as they could be. Cheap in places and dour in others, they are at least well screwed together, with nary a rattle. And while the dashboard design is a little bland, it does at least all work well – with the exception of the air-con panel. Its finicky buttons and slim fan display indicator mean you have to spend longer than you’d like when you want to adjust things. As with many diesel cars of this age, too, the Octavia took an age to warm up in winter.
But these were minor flaws in comparison to the Octavia’s towering talents. As long as you don’t buy a super-low-mileage example like ours, it’s not even all that pricey as a used car. If you’ve only got the space for one car in your life, this one makes a very strong case for itself.