Skoda Octavia [2001-2010] User Reviews

Great technology, good mileage, silent engine in spite of diesel. One major flaw that during monsoon, after 2 years of use, rain water started seeping in from somewhere below the driver's side windscreen and literally formed a puddle inside the car. Spent Rs.2500 at authorised showroom to rectify the problem. And guess what? They give a 1-year warranmty for this. Does it mean the car will leak every year? And they matter-of-fact told me that this is a common colmplaint in all Skoda cars. Is Skoda listening? Other than this hiccup, an excellent car. Good value for money (though the interiors could have been better appointed for that kind of money). I also read user review on the net that there Skodas are serviced every 30K km. Then why do we have to do this every 5k km? At approx. Rs.8000 per servicing, this aint really cheap. Any suggestions from Skoda?Very sturdy build, heavy carm, hugs the road nicely, gives a very solid feelInteriors not luxurious, especially in Ambiente. Car colours also could have been more attractive

IT WAS FRIDAY EVENIN WEN I GOT THIS CAR FROM SHOWROOM.THE ENGINE IGNITED AND HARD DAB AT THE THROTTLE SOUNDEDAND MADE TACHO SWINGING .BUT THIS WAS IN NEUTRAL.CANT HELP IT WHO CAN WIN OVER MUMBAI TRAFFIC.SO ON SUNDAY MORNIN I DECIDED TO TAKE THIS BABE FOR BLAST ON EXPRESSWAY.IT WAS 6AM THE ROADS WERE CRYSTAL CLEAR.EVEN B4 REACHING EXPRESS THE CAR WAS DEMANDIN ME TO TAKE ON SPEED MODE.FINLLY CAME EXPRESS I SAW THE ROAD AND ACCENT AT THE OTHER END I DECIDED TO CATCH HER.SO I PEDDLED MY FOOT HARD ON THE FLOOR AND BOOM THE CAR JUST CAME INTO WORLD OF HER OWN THE TURBO BLASTED AND SPEEDO HURRIED FROM 110 TO 190 IN 14 SEC.CAR WAS EATING THE ROAD AS IF SHE IS HAVING BULIMIA.THE ENGINE SOUNDED LIKE THAT OF BEAST MUSIC TO MY EARS.WITHIN NO TIME I COULD CATCH THAT ACCENT AND WITH ABSOLUTE EASE I COULD OVERTAKE HER.I DECIDED TO TEST THE CARS PEAK TURBO.UNBELEIVABLY I COULD MANAGE UPTO 229 KPH .MY HEART WAS PALPITATING AND PULSE WAS AT ITS PEAK. CAR HAD MADE MY ADRENALS EMPTY.THE CAR HAD SO BEAUTIFULLY LIVED UPTO MY XPECTATION.ALTHOUGH FUEL ECONOMY WAS DISMAL BUT WHO CARES I GOT THE BEST VALUE OF MY MONEY.THE CAR WAS AS STABLE AS ELEPHANT ON ROAD. I RETURNED HOME WITH ABSOLUTE SMILE ON MY FACEamazing engine,poormans ferrari,tourbo is awesome,sexy lookscramp space at the back

i have been self driving my Skoda since feb 2003, over 4 years. i have loved this car, the driving quality, pick up, handling etc is impeccable, and gives a very solid sturdy feel. i find the sound system is very good, though some people do complain that it lacks in deep base quality. the boot space is excellant, 2 entire bicycles fit in easily once i fold the rear seat, as when i go to my farmhouse. optionally i have once travelled with a couple sleeping in the boot, once the seats were folded down making a space 6 feet deep! the front seats ofcourse are very comfy, and adjust to a gr8 degree. the bumper is excellant, i have had small scuffles with autos and even after i have been hit fairly hard the damage to the bumper has been minimal.
The AC gave me problems in the first year itself, and 2 visits to Skoda didnt help any, apparantly much later i found out that the default mode was exhaust , so outside air would come in all the time, which may be ok if u are driving in the hills, but useless for our harsh summers. a local car mechanic "rectified" the problem by permanantly shutting off the exhaust feature which solved the problem , and after which the AC is fantastic.( i dont know if everyone has had this problem with the climacteric AC, or is it only me).
Furthur every service (free) would cost over RS 5000, as the diesel would be changed along with the air pump/fuel pump. aslo evry monsoon would require new wipers. also in heavy rains there is some leakage of water into the cabin, and again skoda were charging exorbitantly to repair this, my local mechanic solved it with some regular sealant, and the last monsoon was no problem. after 4 years my electronics are giving a little problem, the cabin lights are flickering off and on, and i think the fuel pump is also giving problems. the tyres, tubeless, radials, have barely lasted 25000 km, basically city driving and have needed to be replaced.
having driven for 4 years + i am overall very satisfied with my skoda, but i just had to point out the drawbacks which i have faced, are my problems alone or unique?, i dont know, that u can decide for yrself. my next car based on my experience will NOT be the Laura, i will probably go in for a Honda, accord maybe?
gr8 fuel economy, gr8 boot space, very solid feel, and gr8 handling, very good alpine music systemrear seat not spacious, free services expensive, AC has default exhaust mode,

I owned Skoda Octavia since 3 years & 75000 Kms. run. In last one year I bear near about Rs. 80000/- on repair & service.

Skoda Octavia is very expensive in handling. It means the saving you make in the fuel is recovered by the company in repairs. Although parts which are changed during wear and tear are not so much expensive for other cars, but due to availability of the same at only Octavia service outlets, they are provided at very high cost. e.g Engine Belt change = Rs. 25000/-, A.C fan change = Rs. 11000/-, A/C HSG Evaporateor = Rs. 23000/-.

Then why should I purchase Skoda? I would like go for any other low maintenance  Car which saved me from expenses on repairing.

M. K. Radadia - Surat

Good fuel economy, Good style.Less spacious at rear seats

Areas of improvement  

I used Skoda Octavia Ambient 2.0 (petrol) nearly for 6 years. On highways (when it runs), it's a KING. It's perfect vehicle for newly built National Highways or roads like NICE road outskirts of Bangalore. Even at 150Kmph+ the car goes just smooth and safe. Braking system is excellent and ABS really does work! One can almost take any kind of turn virtually at 80+Kmph. So, when it runs I'd only like to drive Skoda.

BUT, when it does not run, i.e. you have even a minor breakdown, then you had it! Especially in Bangalore I found servicing experience consistently worst, on following counts.

(a) Usually unavailable service slots at your preference

(b) Pickup/drop facility has never been serviced at promised time.

(c) Spare part AND service charges are just HUGE. In fact I used to complain if my car was serviced by Czech technicians.

(d) Many a times the service folks would not address all the problems reported and still give the car back indicating it's completely serviced

(e) Once handed over to the service station, you would NEVER EVER get any proactive intimation on the timeline, schedule and delivery time. You have to make almost 4-5 calls each time to obtain this information.

(f) In 6 years, only once the car was given back on the same day.

(g) They'd tell the spare part available/unavailable only after you drop the car for servicing. Which means you really can not plan anything until the car really comes back to you.

(h) There is no respect to customer. Even the service managers have been used to give misleading information and defend whatever Skoda has done.

(i) Last but not the least, if you try to escalate your dissatisfaction then following is how Skoda "handles" it. Say you go directly to Skoda WW, then they would promptly put it as India Skoda problem and would pass it on to Skoda India. Skoda India customer relationship manager or team would promptly put back the problem onto the dealer. So, even after escalating you are efficiently looped back to the same person or team against whom you may have escalated! This the way things have been working at least in Bangalore.

I spent almost 30-35% of the onroad price I paid for this car on servicing in 5-6 years, which is IMHO a HUGE amount and completely unjustifiable.

So, needless to say that I sold it off and leading much happier life since then.

 

 

Sturdy body, strong metal, very high stability, smooth shockabsConsistent pathetic experience in servicing

So people and my fellow skoda fans, i purchased a used octavia in 2006,the car however is a 2002 19tdi ambiente.The odo was 51k at the time of purchase,the current reading is 74k.To be very frank with u guys not once have i given the vehicle for a service at the authorised service center,its no point getting your pockets burnt out there as i know what really happens at these workshops,as i have worked for 1 of these authorised service centers in dubai.all i do is get the oil and filter replaced every 7500kms with mobil (cost 3200rs), replace the fuel filter every 15000kms(cost 1800rs) and get the air filter cleaned every 5000kms(cost free).Replace timimng belt every 50k for which i paid 4000rs with the tensioner bearing.i have taken the car around 10 times from bombay to goa with no hassels,the car after 6 years and 73k is absolutely rattle free(lets see any japanese car which can give you this).so thats it my advice to all just enjoy the car,stop cribbing about the cost thats what u have to pay for german technology  

Fuel economy,built like a vault,excellent road holding,excellent fit and finishGround clearance to low,front doors power window winder keep breaking

Da car by its looks pretty much says it all !! Its a hard bodied muscle car which is needed for the indian roads. And dunn forget the turbo, this car actually can deliver more by upgrading the ecu, and modding the turbo with some good aftermarket parts, however i wouldnt recommend this in india as there is not much space to utilize tat much power. If you are lookin for a great value performance car this you have come to the right place and this is he car for you because this is the only petrol turbo that is in the indian market, which can actually compete the accord even tho being a D segment car. I Prefer the RS one cause itsa complete sports car package, I love car with those extras even being approx 2 lac higher than the normal 1.8 sokda this is better cause it has a lot stuff in it which is valued more than 2 lacs. If you want some serious ride then go for this, this is a muscle car so its a bit heavier and stiffer in ride but u will eventually get used to it.fast, furious, xenons, muscle car, turbo swwwssshhhhhcould have done better with a larger leg room at da back

It's build quality is Amazing. No any cars are made now in this segment like Octavia rider 2000-2010. Car is too spacious and comfortable. Little bit heavy in city on and highway it's a king i am love in it...

I was obsessed by my Car for past 3 years...one fine day the pick up started dieing thn workshop told me Clutch Assembly to be replaced. The damage was 21K. Another 13K kilometers, same thing repeated & this time they say Flywheel gone. The new Flywheel Assembly comes with new Clutch Assembly, so the old clutch assembly is packed for me ( useless) and the new damage is another 52K.....

Well I think this is too much. The car is totally single handled driven and had been very well maintained. & this time even the Service notification also did not come on the front... Dont know whats wrong with the Machine...

Did I made a wrong choice for going for Skoda Octavia?????? Anyone there who can comment on this from Skoda?????

Thanx

Ashwani Bajaj

Great Fuel economy; Great Style; Low noise; A fire on HighwaysNot so great interiors; less space at rear seat, even at front too..