Couldn’t bring myself to drive a beamer. You know what they say about the difference between a BMW and a hedgehog? ‘s true…

How very helpful 😯 [/quote]

Sorry Iain, should have put a winking smiley at the end of that one, was meant as a tongue-in-cheek response to all the BMW-luvvin’ Skoda haterz out there* 😀

For reference: I’ve got a shagged-out 53 plate 1.2 petrol Fabia, and it does what I need it to, gets me from A to B with people, bikes, kayaks and whathavyer in the back/on the top. I’d love a Superb, and loved driving one when I got given it as a courtesy car. Didn’t do much in the way of mileage in it – was a work day so only the commute, sadly – but it was very smooth, very nice, had more toys than I’d ever need/want, and went quite quickly. I think they’re grand, and I think there’s a lot of, imho undeserved, brand snobbery against Skoda. I don’t know whether you would, in your own words, ‘regret’ the change, that’s entirely up to you, your driving and whether you spend all your time thinking “I wish I’d stuck with the Bimmer”. I don’t think there’s any physical reason why you would, but then to me a car’s just a car…

*I was serious about the ‘couldn’t bring myself to drive a beamer’ comment, though. None of the ones round here seem to have working indicators… 😉

Some good views, thanks all. Will get a test drive and take it from there, cheers

I went from 3 BMWs in succession to 3 Skodas … You get what you pay for , there are clearly cost saving elements to Skoda. But not all Skodas are equal some are more premium than others.

So maybe comparing the model of car would be more useful.

^^^ indeed, as I did in my OP…. 🙂

Not sure of the savings versus a BMW but there probably are some to be had, have you had a look at that new Ford Mondeo that is not called a Mondeo? Looks bloody lovely and will drive very well, I think it’s called a Vignale.

Here you go this is the one.

@Renton – couldn’t be certain it’s the latest one – did they facelift it? It looks current shape, but didn’t have the massive wheels they have these days.

Own a Superb and have driven umpteen 5s and other germanica.
The Superb is unbeatable for space, value and practicality in the large estate sector. Refinement is good for the money, interior leather and plastics don’t scream economy class. The 4 cylinder VAG tdi is adequate. Where the 5 is worth the extra is in far superior chassis dynamics and a belting straight 6 bringing lower NVH.
If you want to cruise autobahns at 120 mph or enjoy the A82 and A87 from Balloch to Kyle, the Superb is capable but the 5 is an absolute joy, arguably better than an E class and far more communicative than an A6. Thing is, for ordinary driving, the Superb is nice enough, relaxing even but the 5 can frustrate as its lofty capabilities don’t reveal themselves until licence losing speeds.
What’s your priority, VFM or NVH?

You’ll struggle to find someone who prefers a Superb over a 5 series if it was a straight choice. The bigger question is whether the money you save will be worth it

You’d have to pay me to own and drive a BMW, I really don’t like them at all, horrible styling, useless in snow, and many that I see appear to be driven by total knobs.
Taxi drivers use Skodas for very good reasons, the same reasons that the Police and paramedics use them; they’re reliable, comfy if you’re spending hours in the things, and they’re cheaper in the first place.
The paramed who came out to see my dad a while back loves his, but his has been de-restricted and remapped, and it goes like the clappers. I think it’s a VRS 4×4 estate underneath all the reflective gubbins.
Would I have a Superb? No, but I have zero need for that amount of space; if I did, though, I’d be more than happy to drive one, although, TBH, I do prefer the Octavia styling, it’s just a bit crisper and sharper.
It is a fact that the original Superb, back between the wars, was on a par with Rolls and Cadillac for luxury, was the equivalent to a £100,000 modern car.

Can only reiterate what has been said above. Different cars, different markets. The superb is a vfm big car, the BMW is a luxury sporty car.

My cousin went from a BMW 3 series to a Superb and loves it, but he doesn’t enjoy driving cars and has a growing family.

VAG are dull to drive. I looked at an Octavia and 3 Series, the Octavia was OK in every way, but that was just it, it was ok and dull….

VAG are dull to drive. I looked at an Octavia and 3 Series, the Octavia was OK in every way, but that was just it, it was ok and dull….

Most of my memories of driving in the UK was dull, so very dull due to the amount of traffic everywhere. Now thats replaced with open roads and massive speeding fines so that keeps everyone a bit more calm.

Having driven older Octavias, perfectly nice places to sit in traffic, the better thing was the transit, such a nice driving position and you could let it chug along in 2nd on the M60 morning and night with very little input and it had a proper cup holder in the right place 😉

I wouldn’t call this plasticky…..

I would, looks like a sea of plastic!

I wouldn’t call THIS plasticky… 😉

Oooooh, that original Superb has a certain appeal…

@P-Jay … The newer 2013 onwards Octavia vrs has the same multilink suspension as the Golf gti. It’s a really good chassis.

There is slightly more road noise but they reckon that’s down to the shite oe tyres they fit from New.

I went from a 330Ci to an Octavia Estate, the main things I noticed was getting used to front-wheel drive again (didn’t take long) and turbo lag (the BMW had a lot more torque at low revs, I found with the Octavia I’d need to concentrate on my gears a bit more at junctions/roundabouts as flooring it to fit into a gap doesn’t work the same way :p ). Inside I went from leather to cloth but it’s as comfortable, if not more so than the BMW was. The main reason I switched was to have something that can carry a couple of bikes and I don’t mind getting dirty inside and out so it’s served it’s purpose.

It’s pretty dull to drive but then 99% of legal road driving is anyway, I didn’t used to go out ragging my BMW down country lanes at 60+mph.

Another thing to consider if you get a skoda is that bitterly defending it’s ‘abilities’ to the death against any criticism appears to be part of the deal (see above :wink:).

Before you explode from indignation, consider this…..why don’t we get the same level of belligerence from SEAT owners, after all it is basically the same car :roll:.

I went from an Audi A4 3 ltr Tdi Quattro, which in terms of fit and finish was much better than my BMW 330d, to a Superb II so whilst not a direct comparison to a BMW 5 series the following may be relevant.

All the parts that you touch are almost as good quality as the Audi and better finished than the 330d was. The parts that are further out of direct sight such as the seat surrounds, internals of the glove compartment etc. are as good as the BMW but not as nice as the Audi.the quality of the learher in the Audi was better than either the Superb or the BMW but the last two are similar.
The Superb has better steering feel than the Audi but not as good as the BMW. The control weights are very similar otherwise. The Audi has the best brake feel.
I had the BMW for one year. Whilst good to drive it was already getting rattly in the interior and it was very cramped for rear seat passengers. It was also the only vehicle I have ever been abused about owning on a pertol station forecourt simply for being a BMW
I kept the Audi for four years and at 60000 miles was mostly free of interior rattles other than a realy annoying squeak in the dash which I never got rid of
The Skoda is now three and a half years old and apart from the well known squeak from an air vent that disapears when the interior warms up it is rattle free.
To sum up, the Skoda is cheaper to buy and run, it is at least as well put together if with lower grade materials in the areas you don’t see, has been as reliable as the others and had depreciated far less in real terms. The interior is hugely practical and it is agreat long distance cruiser.
The only thing I miss from the others are the 6 cylider motors
Would I buy another over a BMW given a free choice? Yes, mostly because the way I use my vehicles now it is a better option size wise. If you had asked me the question 10 years ago no, but then the cars have moved on since then

jimw – really useful info, thanks for taking the time. Will definitely get a test drive as part of the process now, cheers

When I last changed my car I drove the 520d,, Audi A6 Avant, Merc E Class Estate, Volvo V70, Mazda 6 and ended up getting a Superb Hatch (well, it’s a sort of saloon/hatch fancy boot lid thing but you get the idea).

All the above were between 2 and 4 years old and had Auto boxes.

The BMW and Audi were OK but I found the ride to be very harsh round town, was OK at motorway speeds though. The salesmen were a utter tools (different people, both at main dealers).

Merc was very nice, quiet, smooth, salesman was OK. Car wasn’t worth (to me) the running costs or the higher initial purchase price.

The Volvo was nice but didn’t do it for me.

Mazda was OK, felt rather choppy on the road but lacked rear legroom.

Superb was half the price of the Merc, BMW or Audi to buy and around 40% cheaper to insure, is quiet, has loads of room inside, is comfortable and I can easily get around 48mpg (calculated on Fuelly), servicing at my local independent VAG garage is reasonably priced, I really like the DSG box and I also like that most people simply don’t get what a good car it is. 😉

EDIT, have done 28k miles in 15 months in it and still would choose it over the others that I test drove it against

FWIW, I went the other way a few years ago – a 2006 Octavia vRS to a 2006 330i estate.

In every single respect was the BMW better IMHO. Build quality being the big one.

Before you explode from indignation, consider this…..why don’t we get the same level of belligerence from SEAT owners, after all it is basically the same car.

Because SEAT don’t get the same level of belligerence from everyone else as Skoda do? For whatever reason I’ve never heard anyone say, to paraphrase wwaswas, “I’ve never been able to bring myself to get within 6ft of a SEAT”… 😉

😆 at those getting all emotional at the whole BMW vs skoda thing.
It’s a car. If you like nice cars, get the BMW. If you don’t, get a Skoda, or a Peugeot or something. If you want something in between, get a Ford or a VW.

I would agree with some of the comments about different cars/markets.

The 5 series is still a bit “sporty”, but whether you actually want or need that (and if you do, whether you would be better spending the money saved on a Superb on an actual sports car) and whether you’re going to go for a big engine that will actually really be sporty is probably key.

Not entirely relevant, but comparing my mate’s quite highly spec’d 318d to my poverty spec Octavia, the Octavia is huge inside by comparison (I think there’s far less differenc between Superb and 5 series) but unsurprisingly his has nicer (and much sportier/more supportive) seats. Also, it has a lot of options for things like ESP which you don’t get on mine (but do to some extent on higher spec ones). ICE and fit/finish/nvh level is pretty similar (if anything Octavia is a bit more refined), BMW engines are a little more exciting than the VAG ones.

Yes, just get a Seat.

It seems to me that VAG deliberately style their range according to price, so the Skodas always look a bit nasty, to varying degrees. Even the front of the Yeti is a bit off.

Seats seem to bypass this.

Before you explode from indignation, consider this…..why don’t we get the same level of belligerence from SEAT owners, after all it is basically the same car :roll:.

You can go get knotted… 😉

/start professional car review

Mrs_OAB’s ickle Seat Estate is teh shizzle, if underpowered.

/end professional car review

Because SEAT don’t get the same level of belligerence from everyone else as Skoda do? For whatever reason I’ve never heard anyone say, to paraphrase wwaswas, “I’ve never been able to bring myself to get within 6ft of a SEAT”…

It’s funny as (apart from the odd person) the people who seem to have the most problem about owning a Skoda are Skoda owners. The rest of us simply see them as crushingly competent if not a little dull, much like most of their competition.

The 5 series is only “sporty ” if you buy the m sport version.

The rest of them look dull.

Superb is a lot bigger than a 5series.

None of my mates 5 series have been sporty, and not a great ride at all. They were older models, but that is not an excuse, good handling cars are not a new thing.

His second hand Lexus LS400 was nice though and a good sound system.

^^^ a fair point renton. Mine is a 13 plate 520d and if I go for Superb it will be the 150bhp 4×4 SEL version.

The 5 series is only “sporty ” if you buy the m sport version.

The rest of them look dull.

Ah so it is looks over substance for you then 😕

BM’s of old, the ride was relatively harsher if you compare to a Merc etc. This either attracted (if you like a drivers car) or put people off (if you want a dull soft car) .

Newer ones are softer riding until you push on with them, and then they handle way better than a VAG, even non M-Sport

It seems to me that VAG deliberately style their range according to price

Of course they do, why else do you think they’d have three brands selling essentially the same cars? They are differently equipped though. So Audis get more tech, more options (air suspension etc), more upmarket engines (the 3.0 TDI), more sound insulation and so on, Skoda are the cheaper ones with less of that stuff. Also they come differently set up, I think Seat are a bit ‘sportier’ and VW more ‘family orientated’. However much trickles down and the Superb seems to be the most notable anomaly in terms of kit/niceness per £.

As an aside to the main debate, those discussing Octavia build quality to BMW et al, the Superb is different. I have had a number of Octavia’s as courtesy cars whilst mine is in for servicing.

Yes, all manufacturers seem to build their bigger cars to a higher spec cos they are more expensive.

Taxi drivers use Skodas for very good reasons, the same reasons that the Police and paramedics use them;

Yep and the reason is that Skoda give big discounts to those buyers as they are great advertising for the brand. Wife used to do fleet sales for Skoda….

jimw – Member
As an aside to the main debate, those discussing Octavia build quality to BMW et al, the Superb is different. I have had a number of Octavia’s as courtesy cars whilst mine is in for servicing.

I guess because more people have Octavias. I can well believe the Superb is significantly nicer having test driven a Rapide (as they didn’t initially have the engine I was after available for a test in the Octavia) then test driven the Octavia. I also imagine the 5 series is a bit more refined and a bit less sporty than the 3 series.

footflaps – Member

Taxi drivers use Skodas for very good reasons, the same reasons that the Police and paramedics use them;

Yep and the reason is that Skoda give big discounts to those buyers as they are great advertising for the brand. Wife used to do fleet sales for Skoda….

All Manufactures offer large fleet discounts and would give their back teeth to provide the fleet for any of the emergency services, Skoda aren’t alone in that at all.

Perhaps a better question is why so few of them use Vauxhall or Ford considering their fleet prices are about half RRP for the likes of the big rental companies.

When it boils down to it, I doubt there’s much tangible between an Octavia and a Superb – ones bigger, ones smaller – I would bet if you bought the right/wrong one you could have a ‘plusher’ Octavia and a more ‘utilitarian’ Superb.

You can’t really have a ‘sporty’ Superb, no massive wheels, blacked out trim and stiff spring, but you can get a fast one – they used to make a V6 4×4, now they make a 2.0T 4X4, I’ve just read it’s a bit boaty if you’re trying to recreate the Italian Job, but very fast in between the bends. They say the new VRS Octavia, despite looking like a Transformer in stealth mode isn’t quite a ‘sharp’ as the last one, but is nicer over-all, but it’s only down to how thay specced them – they’re based on the same one-size-fits-all chassis VAG uses in pretty much everything these days.

So balls to it, I’m going to get an Octavia VRS 230 estate, a bit like when I got my Exeo – I would have preferred an A4 Avant (I don’t care what people think about Audis) not because it’s a Skoda really, but because it’s £26k which means lower tax and my Boss won’t go that funny colour he goes when I ask him for loads of money for something, I’m sure the A4 will have nicer buttons and that cool LCD virtual dash thing they do, but they start at £36 for a slower petrol one and if you want that dash it’s £40k and I’m not paying BIK on £40k.

Perhaps a better question is why so few of them use Vauxhall or Ford considering their fleet prices are about half RRP for the likes of the big rental companies.

I read somewhere that Ford and Vauxhall are poor for fleet vehicles because of low resale value at the end of the lease. The lease cost is essentially new price subtract 2nd hand value (plus some admin cost/profit) divided by the number of months the lease runs for.

P-Jay I really like my VRS220 mate ….

Really prefer it to the Mondeo x sport I had before.

There is no way the engine is only putting out 220bhp, it feels much stronger.

hooli – Member

Perhaps a better question is why so few of them use Vauxhall or Ford considering their fleet prices are about half RRP for the likes of the big rental companies.

I read somewhere that Ford and Vauxhall are poor for fleet vehicles because of low resale value at the end of the lease. The lease cost is essentially new price subtract 2nd hand value (plus some admin cost/profit) divided by the number of months the lease runs for.

They work well for Hire Fleets, back in 2009 Enterprise were buying new Mondeos and Foci/Focuseses for £12k and £9k running them for 3 months and selling them off for what they paid for them as ‘ex demo’ via a Car Supermarket.

It should work for the Police/Ambulance service too, they buy new and run them for 5-6 even more years, maintain them in-house and only get rid when they’re to expensive to maintain anymore – 200k miles or more sometimes – yeah a 5 series will be worth more than a Mondeo at 200k miles, but it’s only marginal – £2k v £1k maybe – even with a massive discount a BMW is going to cost a LOT more than a Mondeo. It would be cheaper to buy a Mondeo at £12k and feed it into a crusher at the end rather than buy a BMW for even £16k and sell it for £2k at the end – unless they’re prone to too many faults or some other reason.

I’m not a fan of Ford after a bad personal experience but it’s hardly a fair comparison, 1 knackered shitty 10 year old Mondeo which represented a tough time for me financially – but one fact which I know to be absolutely true – my 11 plate, 60k mile Exeo drives exactly like it did when it was new, it looks exactly like it did new bar a few scratches and a bit of wear on the drivers seat – whereas my Bosses very expensive, absolute top of the range 14 plate S-Max Titanium X Sport whatyoucallit 30k car seems to be deteriorating by the day – in fairness his kids are worse than mine for destroying cars.