I have a Octavia 2.0 TDI VRS. No issues carrying two bikes and two lots of kit inside. The car doesn't run that low to the ground. No daft sideskirts to worry about.

Check out briskoda.net a very active UK skoda forum.

Have had a hatchback vrs for 6 years, yeah it's a bit low at the front but it's not really that big an issue, superb car to drive and has been ultra reliable. Have managed to get three people and three dh bikes in it too.

Have had a Civic Type-R as a company car during this time, and in all honesty preferred my old vrs to the brand new type-r. Wasn't at all unhappy to give it back and start driving the vrs again.

Interesting info – so what do you reckon is the most reliable?

The diesels are ultra reliable. The 130hp is the pick of them but of course the most expensive.

1.8T Fragile? You are having a laugh aren't you??

Not fragile, no, but the most fragile of the range. Check out Honest John's summary page, most of the common faults relate to the 1.8T.

The 4×4 is a great car though. If you've got deep enough pockets you can run them 400+hp!!

The 1.9TDI are of course spot on. Stupidly I sold my Altea TDI far too soon. A quirky yet lovely vehicle 🙁

FWIW I was after a 1.8T Octy estate a couple of years ago, couldn't find one and ended up with a 1.8T Passat instead. Can't directly compare the two, but apart from being a bit bargelike (although not bad for a big car) I can't really fault the Passat.