Scotty and the others; what are your opinions on Škoda ?
In the family we've had an '86 105 L; ;'03 Fabia; '98 Octavia; '98 Felicia; '01 Fabia; '08 Fabia; '07 Octavia and a '22 Fabia.
They've been THE MOST reliable cars we've had. All of them were bought new except for the 80s model.
They are really comfortable cars; ride very well; have great interior room and great gas mileage.
My uncle's automatic DSG '07 Octavia with 301;000 km is STILL ON THE ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION.
How come they are so good when they are just a cheaper version of VW cars built on the same platform?
I do not having anything against VW, they're nice to drive - but the reality is that Skoda's quality is going downhill fast.
In the past it has been alright, but the days of the 1.9 TDI and 1.6 MPI are long gone.
A family member of mine owns a '17 Rapid. It burns 1.5 quarts per 1k miles, the DSG shifts funny - it has only 80k miles.
A friend of mine drives a last gen Seat Ibiza, the check engine light comes on 2-3 times between oil changes.
All owners of new VW/Skoda/SEAT tell me the same story - fun to drive, cheap to buy used, but so unreliable!
New ones are alright for the first 100,000km (60k miles) and afterwards they age like milk.
Most VAGs reviewed by Scotty are complex, "higher millage", equipped with their current technology - these breakdown a lot.
The same thing is true about newer Škodas, They just aren't built good enough.
Replace the engine oil VERY frequently, these TSI nightmares have the worst piston rings in the industry!
Also, have you seen how low quality is the chassis and body for the new Octavia?
(The Octavia was originally the "a poor man's Jetta", so a "poor man's" version of a cheap car)
It looks nice for people who aren't familiar with cars, but the body seams and paint are worse than any Chinese car.
VW group isn't in a great shape - they're $198,000,000,000 in debt, more than any other group / company in the world.
Their current shape and cars reminds me of 2010s PSA's petrol cars, or 2000s Renault.
Toyota, Honda and others are also at a low point, but they haven't went THAT low.
