Skoda Octavia Hatchback Review

Performance4.5/5

With six petrol and three diesel engines on offer, everyone should be able to find something to suit them. The lowest, entry level petrol is a 1.4 litre, the lowest diesel is the 1.6 TDI CR 105PS. The turbocharged petrol versions will give you a little more welly – and the TDI engines are also well worth thinking about, offering as they do low emissions and a punchy performance.

Handling4.5/5

Comfort is the key word here – the Skoda Octavia has it in shedloads. The light suspension takes all the lumps and bumps in the roads in its stride; quiet engines, minimal road and wind noise; plenty of grip, accurate steering, and supportive seats – for a family hatch it is about as good as you can get. Not particularly sporty, apart from the vRS which does its job well – but if you want to take a family of four or five and their luggage on a lengthy trips, this could easily be the perfect car for you.

Exterior3/5

Skoda haven’t exactly pulled all the stops out in the design of the Octavia. Updated in 2009, and despite the addition of a newly designed front grille, and body coloured bumpers and side moulding, the basic model still looks a little staid and unexciting. On the upside, there are options such as alloys and xenon headlights which can be added at a reasonable cost and which boost the look of the whole thing.

Interior4/5

The Skoda Octavia’s interior may not have the wow factor, but it does tick all the boxes when it comes to solidity and quality of finish. The dashboard is user friendly, the driver’s seat and steering wheel have loads of adjustment, making the driver experience comfortable for all shapes and sizes. The cabin is spacious, easily allowing four six-footers to sit comfortably with plenty of wriggle room. The impressive 585 litre luggage space expands to 1455 litres with the back seats folded; they don’t fold flat however, which is not so good. The folding seat is an option with S and SE trims and comes as standard with the higher levels.

Equipment4/5

Plenty of trim levels here to choose from; the S, SE, SE Connect, SE plus, Elegance,  vRS and GreenLine II – take your pick! Air conditioning and electric front windows come as standard across the range; the SE adds alloys, rear electric windows and a CD multichanger. Sat-nav, Bluetooth and rear parking sensors will be yours with the SE Plus; dual-zone climate control and cruise control are added with the Elegance.

Safety3.5/5

At the time of writing, it is eight years since the Skoda Octavia was last NCAP tested, and it was only awarded four stars at that time. Front and side airbags come as standard with all models, but you would have to upgrade all the way up to top of the range model to get curtain airbags fitted as standard. Same with electronic stability programme, although anti-whiplash head restraints, anti-lock brakes, traction control and brake assist come with all cars across the range.

Buying & Owning4.5/5

The Skoda Octavia is a sensible solution for family use. It’s not overly expensive to buy, and, even so, discounts may well still be available. If you can afford to go up to mid range you will be better equipped – entry level models are really quite basic. All engines, but particularly the TDI diesels, are economical to run and environmentally friendly in terms of carbon emissions – the GreenLine doesn’t incur any road tax with its 99g/km emissions and fuel consumption of 74.3 mpg. Selling on may present a few problems as, in reality, it’s not the most desirable of cars – but with it’s excellent reliability track record, once you own it you may well just want to hang on to it!

Reviewed by cars2buy