Never driven a diesel vRS but in terms of ST TDCI vs petrol vRS, the Octavia p*sses all over the Mondeo in every way I can think of. Apart from fuel economy – that was excellent in the Mondeo.

Another plus side I forgot to mention, when your Mondeo does go wrong, you may have to deal with the local Ford dealership which if they’re anything like the ones in and around Halifax/Huddersfield/Bradford, is marginally more painful than slowly pushing a javelin through one ear and out the other whilst drinking Fosters.

My only knowledge of the local Skoda dealers was when we were looking at getting a Fabia vRS a few years back who bent over backwards to try and find the right car for us. Not had go anywhere near a garage with the Octy yet in nearly a year of ownership.

Not quite a straight comparison then.

I hope you don’t need a dealer and if you do avoid DM Keith who own most of the Skoda dealerships in West Yorkshire as that is who my brother has complained about numerous times. He also had the Fabia VRS before but the blue SE edition whic he got from Lightfoot now also DM Keith.

I’ve not driven the VRS petrol so can’t really comment on how that compares so I’ll take you’re word for it. Petrol bills and my mileages would leave me sleepless.

Ford dealers are pretty crap but never needed one and luckily more than capable of fixing most items myself.

Its why we got a petrol. I used to have a 120 mile a day round trip commute. Thats gone down to 15 minutes on the train and a 6k annual mileage on the car so petrol bills and economy don’t bother me in the slightest anymore.

My local dealers are DM Keith and my past experiences with them have been good. Lightcliffe (when they were Skoda and now they’re Nissan/VW authorised repair centre) are very poor though. Never go near them with a bargepole!

D.M.Keith have completely lost the plot these days. They used to be okay but in recent years they have gone severely downhill, at least the Bradford branch has. If you want a Skoda dealer there is a place in Colne that is good and has good customer service.

An alternative would be to look for a specced up elegance and remap it.

They are cheaper to buy than a vrs and have a higher standard spec, rear parking sensors, diping rear view mirror etc etc. Mine has heated leather and was about 75% of the cost of a vrs with much lower spec. Took a trip to revo dealer and now it has 190bhp, so is faster than a vrs anyway. Also a more understated on the road

My Octy was bought and serviced at the place in Colne until I bought it from Perrys down the road when it was traded in.

Doesn’t buying an Elegance and mapping it just leave you with something thats a bit (ie, not noticeable) quicker than a normal dizzle Octy vRS in a straight line but leave you with its wobbly ‘old man target audience’ suspension in the corners etc? Not having a pop, just intrigued?