Heat, the entertainment magazine, hosts an annual “weird crush” competition allowing readers to vote for their guilty celebrity crush. Jeremy Clarkson, Derren Brown and Simon Cowell have all featured. But what if there was an equivalent competition for cars? My vote would go to the Skoda Octavia estate.
It may not be the most fashionable car on the road, but that would be missing the point. This is a practical, safe and dependable car that can handle pretty much everything you care to throw at it, from all the members of your household to the kitchen sink. And it comes with a family friendly price tag too: you can pick up a second-hand 1.4 TSI SE for less than £7,900.
It’s important to know exactly which Octavia you’re looking for, though. The car has been on sale in Britain since 1998 but buyers should search out models produced after the 2009 facelift. These benefited from a range of new engines, from smooth four-cylinder petrol units to penny-pinching diesels. The pick of the bunch is the 1.4 litre TSI SE, which combines the perkiness of a petrol with the frugality of a diesel. The engine produces 120bhp and returns 44.8mpg on the combined cycle.
Taking into account the spiralling price of diesel (recently averaging 144.7p a litre against petrol at 137.3p), the economical TSI SE makes financial sense at the pumps and is also roughly £1,500 cheaper to buy used than its nearest diesel equivalent — a 1.6-litre TDI.
The best thing about the Octavia, however, is the amount of internal space it offers. This is the key selling point of all good estates, of course, but it is often sacrificed by manufacturers at the expense of rakish styling. The Skoda makes no such concessions. Although shorter than a Vauxhall Astra estate and narrower than the load-lugging version of the Ford Focus, it holds an ace card in having a boot bigger than either that of a Ford Mondeo or a Volkswagen Passat — both estate cars from the class above. Access is easy, too, thanks to a square-shaped loading bay.
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Luggage can be secured using an abundance of lashing eyes while a low loading lip means you won’t put your back out lifting in heavy suitcases. There’s plenty of room in the rear seats as well.
On the road, the car is unspectacular: it reaches 62mph from standstill in a respectable-enough 9.8 seconds. The ride is firm but comfortable, the cabin feels well cocooned from the world outside, and the fixtures and fittings have just enough Volkswagen-like quality to them to stop the vehicle feeling cheap inside. In many ways, then, this is the perfect large, practical family estate.
Reliability and servicing
Any used Octavia will be set up to be serviced following either fixed or variable intervals. For low-mileage users and town drivers, the fixed interval is the most suitable option while motorway or distance drivers can probably squeeze more miles between each service by using the variable interval, which can last up to 20,000 miles.
A simple oil change costs from £130 at a Skoda dealer, and a major service from £220. A full set of front and rear brake pads and discs is £510, and a change of brake fluid every two years costs £59.
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Residuals
When new in 2009 a 1.4 TSI SE was only £15,000 and because the car depreciates slowly it is still worth at least half that. You could buy a newer Ford Focus estate with fewer miles on the clock for £8,000, but the Skoda is a more practical vehicle than the Focus and the good news is it is likely to continue its slow depreciation.
Need to know
Air-conditioning: Standard on all models since the 2009 facelift but check that both controls work on models with dual-zone climate controls
Boot space: In a word, vast. A split/fold rear seat and totally flat load area make the boot the Octavia estate’s trump card
Clutch: Some owners report heavy clutch wear as a problem
Gearboxes: Standard manual gearbox is popular but check for stiff gearchange action on high-mileage examples
Service history: To check both the service history and which servicing schedule an individual car is using, ask any franchised retailer
The one to buy
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A 2010 10-registered Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI SE estate with 20,000 miles on the clock. Pay £9,625 at a franchised Skoda dealer or £8,900 in a private sale
Or for similar money
2008 58 Volvo V50 2.0 SE
2009 59 Volkswagen Golf 1.6 SE
2010 60 Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec
2011 11 Peugeot 308 SW VTi Sport
2011 60 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 ES
Owner's view
I like Good value for money; room to carry everything.
I do not like No sat nav on my car; only manual rear windows. MP, Cambridge