Skoda Octavia or Volvo V50

rando · 19 July 2009 at 7:48PM

My company car (VW Touran 1.9 Diesel) is up for renewal in September and I need to order its replacement within the next couple of weeks. Now subject to a couple of test drives I think I have narrowed it down to a choice between :
Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI Elegance and Volvo V50 1.6 Drive Stop/Start in SE trim.
Having worked out all the running costs over the 4 years we have to keep the company cars the Volvo comes out about £20 month more (this calculation includes company car tax & fuel consumption). Basically I want a decent car with low CO2 emissions so that the tax(Benefit in Kind) is cheaper and good MPG as I do about 20k miles year.
Does anyone own either of the particular models I am considering and if so any plus or minus points about the cars would be welcome.
Or is there a car that I have missed in my search ?

movingforward2010 · 19 July 2009 at 7:56PM

well i see loads of octavias used as taxis and police cars this seems to indicate to me that they are a reliable solid car. personally i wouldnt say no to the VRS

mollypoppy · 19 July 2009 at 8:04PM

I'd go for a V50 better looking car far more superior in quality to a skoda. I know skoda is made by volkswagan but there is still has a big stigma. I would not have one. The V50 is a better driving car. I would also say better fuel ecomony with the start/stop. We have just ordered a S40 basically same except V50 estate version. 73mpg probably more if doing long motorway journeys.

anewman · 19 July 2009 at 8:48PM

mollypoppy wrote: »

I'd go for a V50 better looking car far more superior in quality to a skoda. I know skoda is made by volkswagan but there is still has a big stigma. I would not have one. The V50 is a better driving car. I would also say better fuel ecomony with the start/stop. We have just ordered a S40 basically same except V50 estate version. 73mpg probably more if doing long motorway journeys.

Skodas are built by Skoda in Mlada Boleslav Czech Republic. Many of the parts and design are based on VW, but they are put together slightly better than are the equivalent VW or Seat. The one big thing letting Skoda down at the moment is the VW design and parts - before 1995 VW made half decent cars, but cost cutting just makes them crap now compared to their previous counterparts. All VW have to rely on now is the brand's reputation from over 14 years ago - the same thing that makes people not want to buy Skoda now.

Volvo are owned by Ford now aren't they?! I think the Volvo V50 is a Ford Focus underneath.

goldspanners · 19 July 2009 at 9:05PM

mollypoppy wrote: »

I'd go for a V50 better looking car far more superior in quality to a skoda. I know skoda is made by volkswagan but there is still has a big stigma. I would not have one. The V50 is a better driving car. I would also say better fuel ecomony with the start/stop. We have just ordered a S40 basically same except V50 estate version. 73mpg probably more if doing long motorway journeys.

you think skodas have a stigma! have you never heard the term V neck volvo driver?

skoda any day of the week for me im afraid.

flyingscotno1 · 19 July 2009 at 10:08PM

goldspanners wrote: »

you think skodas have a stigma! have you never heard the term V neck volvo driver?

skoda any day of the week for me im afraid.

I tend to agree, the Octavia is a nice car- I drove the previous model for a couple of weeks and the Superbs are used as taxis here are nice. They always do well on the reliability and ownership tests so must be strong. I think the fact they tend to use the tried and tested VW parts- so VW have found all the problems first helps!

Volvo has a image problem too as mentioned the old square beige Volvo driver, that they have being attempting to change with R models. Skoda has it's image problem too of course but that was years ago- by the late 80's they were recovering. In a choice between Volvo and Skoda image really shouldn't come into it, IMHO they are both non premium products despite Volvo trying to push themselves into the Audi, BMW bracket.

I wouldn't say no to any, but I'd probably pick the Skoda over the Volvo simply as it seems to be the more reliable workhorse.

Inactive · 19 July 2009 at 11:44PM

Skoda Octavia gets my vote as well, reliable and well built car.

rando · 20 July 2009 at 10:05AM

mollypoppy wrote: »

I'd go for a V50 better looking car far more superior in quality to a skoda. I know skoda is made by volkswagan but there is still has a big stigma. I would not have one. The V50 is a better driving car. I would also say better fuel ecomony with the start/stop. We have just ordered a S40 basically same except V50 estate version. 73mpg probably more if doing long motorway journeys.

I wonder how achievable the quoted 73mpg will be. It would save me lots of money if I can get this figure. My journey to work is 32 miles of motorway and A/B roads so hopefully I will get good fuel consumption.
I know what you mean about Skoda having a stigma though as this is really putting the wife off me getting a Skoda.
Do you have a deleivery date for your S40 ?

rando · 20 July 2009 at 10:21AM

wxmlad wrote: »

well i see loads of octavias used as taxis and police cars this seems to indicate to me that they are a reliable solid car. personally i wouldnt say no to the VRS

I do like the VRS but for me the CO2 emissions make it expensive as a company car. At least with the Elegance trim I am looking at you seem to get all the goodies as standard.

AdrianHi · 20 July 2009 at 10:56AM

The only downside to the Skoda is somewhat bland styling inside and out, but that's getting better each new model that comes out.
Build quality, refinement all top notch and reliability virtually second to none. If I was going to buy something from the VAG group it would be a Skoda.

The Volvo V50 is a nice looking car and deserves to shed the old pipe and slippers image, it is a Ford Focus underneath, but since this is amoung the finest cars to drive this a good rather than a bad thing.

In my opinion:
Volvo better styling.
Skoda better realibility.
The on paper statistics mpg etc. you can check for yourself.
Neither car is a mistake, it needs a test drive to seperate them.
We have Skoda's in the extended family which virtually never go wrong, but styling is so uninspiring I'd find it hard to have one unless really needed to save cash and just wanted something dependable.

rando · 20 July 2009 at 11:46AM

AdrianHi wrote: »

The only downside to the Skoda is somewhat bland styling inside and out, but that's getting better each new model that comes out.
Build quality, refinement all top notch and reliability virtually second to none. If I was going to buy something from the VAG group it would be a Skoda.

The Volvo V50 is a nice looking car and deserves to shed the old pipe and slippers image, it is a Ford Focus underneath, but since this is amoung the finest cars to drive this a good rather than a bad thing.

In my opinion:
Volvo better styling.
Skoda better realibility.
The on paper statistics mpg etc. you can check for yourself.
Neither car is a mistake, it needs a test drive to seperate them.
We have Skoda's in the extended family which virtually never go wrong, but styling is so uninspiring I'd find it hard to have one unless really needed to save cash and just wanted something dependable.

Getting a test drive with the choice of engines is proving difficult. As both are fairly new i am struggling to find a dealer that has one. I have also tried to get one through the car leasing company that we use but again this is proving difficult.
As for the Skoda having unispiring styling then I probably won't have an issue with this as my current car is a VW Touran which is also extremely bland but it is practical and served its purpose with 2 young children.
I am going to pay another visit to the dealers to see if i can finally decide !

Skoda Octavia or Volvo V50

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