9 December 2008

Skodas in the capital.

| nanzan
Join the conversation
28

I am very keen to know how many Skoda drivers there are out there now in Canberra.

Skoda returned to the Australian market after an absence of twenty-five years in October 2007, and since it was purchased by VW in 2001, it has grown as a marque in leaps and bounds. It is even outselling all its stablemates in Europe, such as VW, SEAT, Audi and so on.

There are currently only two models for sale in Australia, the Octavia and the Roomster, and we recently bought an Octavia, which is very similar to the more familiar VW Jetta and Audi A4. Skodas diesel models (like ours) seem to be proving popular as fuel prices rise.

So, any chance of starting a Skoda club in the ACT?

Join the conversation

28
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
Holden Caulfield11:13 pm 09 Dec 08

A Skoda?

The acceleration of stoned galapagas tortoise coupled with the styling of a Victorian era house brick.

That was then, this is now.

Your wishes are my commands.

I’ve recently been informed from the dealer that this IS the first Scout sold in Canberra so you were correct nanzan.
Pics of it will be put up by JB shortly.
On a weekend trip to Bowral it averaged 5.3l/100km so it is very fuel efficient, and as for its looks – well I think it looks rather stylish, not a brick-on-wheels like the Forrester (one of its direct rivals).

Police use these because they don’t look fast enough to catch a cold. That’s cheating.

That’s the quote from the Top Gear team (the real one; Clarkson, Hammond and May) about the Octavia vRS. If they like it, it’s good.

0-100 in under 10 seconds is not necessarily the hallmark of a great car. They’re like a Toyota Camry, invisible. There’s nothing amazing about them so they don’t get noticed. Probably a really good getaway car.

Skodas are an affordable and equally reliable substitute for most VWs. They’re very good cars if you have no problem with the perceived image problem they have.

Actually there was someone else buying a Scout on the same day we were buying ours so there might be a few of them out there, but I’ll post some pics. Liked the roomster but oddly didn’t have the “room” in the boot that we needed.
They use Skodas for taxis in Europe. And as for their ubiquity in Europe, they are probably more the 1.4L which aren’t available in Australia and probably don’t have the features.

Holden Caulfield5:15 pm 03 Dec 08

By my calculations, the only Audi with a 1.8T that could do 0-100 in 6-ish seconds from factory must have been the previous shape S3 (225kW).

The 1.8 TFSI used now is a completely new engine and with 118kW it’s not going to propel any Audi to 100 in 6 seconds, unless it has had an ECU reflash. Moreover, the 1.8 TFSI is now Audi’s entry level petrol turbo, and not really used in any of their higher spec models. It’s a damn good engine though.

smilesr said :

Yep, the 1.8 is amazingly sporty having test-driven them recently but I ended up getting the Scout for the 4WD option…so, hello nanzan, looks like there are 2 of us Skodarites out there!

Smilesr,

Yours must be one of – if not the – first Skoda Scout in Canberra! Any pictures?

The Canberra Times did a very nice review of the Scout a few weeks back. Did that influence your decision?

Our Skoda Octavia is viewable on the Skoda Australia page on Facebook.

I think I have spotted about 10 Octavias in Canberra this year – so they are still pretty rare, I think. Haven’t seen any Roomsters yet – but then I don’t get out much!

Moderns Skodas are supposed to be decent cars. They share a lot of common parts with VW. That being said, I would never consider buying one. I went to Prague this year and almost every car there is a Skoda with the odd Peugeot, Opel or Fiat here and there. That is to be expected though, however they are also littered all over the roads in Europe and are marketed similar to how Kia and Hyundai are marketed in Australia, as a cheap car to get from Point A to point B and not much else.

There is a black Octavia station wagon that drives like an absolute tool to Woden every morning down Adelaide ave. This guy needs a reality check, its not a bloody sports car.

Yep, the 1.8 is amazingly sporty having test-driven them recently but I ended up getting the Scout for the 4WD option…so, hello nanzan, looks like there are 2 of us Skodarites out there!

The 1.8T in the Skoda is directly used in the high end Audi’s. 0-100 in arund 6 seconds and I can attest to that :-)))

Don’t much care one way or the other about the car, but I reckon the commercial where they build the Skoda sandcastle has to be one of the best in years.

That being said if you want the engineering prowess that you get from VAG, the Skoda may be a good place to start, especially if you have a more limited budget.

Jonathan, always nice to get a better class of post on this site – thank you.

Yes, it seems that assembly location is very important for all marques, including the Volkswagen Auto Group.

The Skoda Octavias being sold in Australia are all built in the Czech Republic, just outside of Prague. The more conservative-styled Octavias are selling well here, apparently, with sales for the Roomsters, which have a funkier design, a little slower.

Pre WW2 Skoda were very well regarded in Eastern Europe. When the war came the Germans even used Skoda engines in their Tiger tanks. Once the ‘lada” people took over the country then they went down hill (but not up I know) The Skoda Estelle was basic by anyones standard, but good in the snow! probably why when hotted up they made great ralley cars? Skoda also made tractors under the the name “Zetor”. They were pretty good value. Skoda’s best claim to fame must be the sheer number of jokes about them, particularly in Europe. ” Why to Skodas have heated rear windows? To keep youer hands warm when pushing them!” Etc.

Jonathon Reynolds2:24 pm 04 Aug 08

Kramer said :

Interesting how many poo-poo the Skodas – how many of you have ever driven one? let alone even sat inside one??

The Skoda is effectively a variation on a VAG theme, but you can appreciate the price / quality differences by sitting in and comparing the Skoda Octavia, VW Passat and the Audi A6 models.

Build quality depending on where a car is manufactured tends to be an issue with VAG cars. I used to own a VW “New Beetle” (2000) which was made in Mexico, I bought it new and the build quality was very poor and the car literally started falling apart after a few years. Three years ago I traded it for a VW Passat (1999) that was built in Germany. The German built car has a much better build quality and is not suffering anything like the problems I was experiencing on the newer Beetle. You only have to scratch the surface on an internet search and you’ll see what I mean about owners complaining about build quality out of certain VAG manufacturing plants.

That being said if you want the engineering prowess that you get from VAG, the Skoda may be a good place to start, especially if you have a more limited budget.

I’m now waiting for someone to point out that the Lexus is nothing more than simply a variant of the Toyota models.

KFC sponsors the Australian cricket team. Do they get street cred in your books Kramer?

Interesting how many poo-poo the Skodas – how many of you have ever driven one? let alone even sat inside one??

Skoda have flitted around the edges of the PWRC / Group N international rally scene for quite a few years now, which is more than many vehicle manufacturers can claim. So that’s gotta say something for build quality and performance.

BTW – they were also the primary sponsor the Tour de France this year, so they get more cred in my books!

johnboy said :

Mr Evil said :

I hate Skodas.

Why?

I suppose I was being a bit harsh: I hate the ugly rear-engined Skodas that used to be around in the 60s-70s.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy1:17 pm 04 Aug 08

Skodas of old were certainly Euro-garbage of the worst kind, but the new models seem to be well sorted cars. I wouldn’t buy one personally (I don’t really trust Euro reliability), but I’m sure most owners are happy (with the latest models).

Having a club for these is probably going a tad far, though.

I don’t mean to poo-poo this thread but car club’s are usually for people who own a car which is:

-in some way unique
-has performance
-is collectable

The Skoda fails to meet any of these criterion.

Ah Skodas, the styling of a man who only had a ruler, the handling of a horse in gumboots, and the acceleration of a Galapagas Tortoise.

or to quote hitchhikers guide: looks like a fish, moves like a fish, steers like a cow…

Mr Evil said :

I hate Skodas.

Why?

I hate Skodas.

No, “we” work at the ANU.

How about you?

Nanzan, work for Skoda do we?

When I rode the trans-Siberian to China the engines were Skodas too.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.