I am thinking of buying a 2004 Skoda Octavia Vrs, as it seems like the only car that meets my needs, not too expensive to buy or insure, a bit of power -180bhp and decent driver headroom.
But l am looking for opinions on the car. How expensive is it to run and service? Is it a reliable car. l know Skoda had a bad name in the past but they use volkwagen engines, so they must be reliable now, right? Is there anything l should look out for when buying one? At what intervals does the timing belt etc need to be done?

Thanks

The only problem is the name. Underneath it is a Volkswagen. It is rugged, reliable and fun to drive. But do you have the front to drive around in a car that says Skoda?

PS, If you're short of leg and need to have the seat forward, make sure you can comfortably operate the handbrake. All VWs have this problem. They are designed by men with long legs.

Hi. At the moment, l drive the Fabia vRS. The Octy vRSis an absolutely stunning oiece of machinery. Slightly more to insure, & run thn mine. Due to my age, l get stung by the insurers. Although the Octy is petrol, u should get around 30-40 to the gallon. As the Fabia vRS is diesel, obviously this is more economical.
Regarding running cost, fuel is spiralling at the moment, so whatever car u decide to purchase, if u have a heavy right foot, any car willbe expensive to run.
l have had no problems with service at the main dealer, l am currently running my 2nd Fabia vRS & think there prices r really competetive.
Build quality is second to none. Built by the VAG group, so no problems there.
If u look under the bonnet of one, all partsare badged up VW/AUDI.
l have no ideas on timing belt changes etc, but l guess they will be similar to the old VW Golf GTI.

l recommend u sign up to the website: briskoda.net
The guys on here know everything about Skoda's.

l recommend u take one out for a test drive.


Hope this helps.

Happy motoring.

First - Skoda is one the oldest car makers in the world.

Second - The Police have bought them for patrol cars so they can not be that bad.

Third - Its a Volkswagen without the glitz.

In recent customer surveys like JD Power Skoda has been one of the highest performing European brands beating all of it is stablemates and other premium brands like Mercedes, that just speaks for itself, they are well designed and well built, it seems to be true that 'Skoda makes happy drivers'.

For advice etc try the best Skoda forum http://briskoda.net/
or my favourite VAG forum http://vwaudiforum.co.uk/