New Octavia Prices (from Czech Auto)

[King]

u must be super old...

the only skoda i know of is from JTA onward.......

i thought lada is skoda

[Koolaba]

Dear bro Pisces69,

 

I offer my apologies unreservedly if I have misconstrued any component in your posts in any sense. Please do not have the misunderstanding if my replies to you seem like personal attacks against you.

 

I believe you will agree with me that some form of qualification and quantification of the contents in the posts do help readers in forming a better picture what one is trying to say. Don't you agree that terms like now, recent are relative and subjective to individual interpretation?

 

Back to our discussion. Once again, I hope you are not offended by the following points that I will be pointing out.

 

I believe it will be rather unfair to condemn anything, be it a person or a thing, to have a poor outlook or performance in the future, given its bleak or unsuccessful past. Looking forward to what the future holds is the key, not dwelling on the past. You should have come across success stories of individuals who performed poorly during their school days but excelled in leaps and bounds as they progress in life.

 

Likewise for cars. I agree that Skodas of the past were unreliable and quality was dubious. Compared to other European marques, it came as no surprise if Skoda was considered a joke, as what most cynics suggested.

 

Fast forward era from mid 1990s to now. The achievements, quality and reliability of current Skodas are complemented by accolades in several motoring reviews and surveys. The Skoda of today are definitely different from the Skodas of the past. On a more serious note, several motoring journals have remarked that Skoda vehicles have become very worthy opponents to their siblings from VW, given their value for money, reliability and quality. For example, in some motoring reviews, the Octavia II and Superb have been reported to be better than the Golf V and B5 Passat respectively, in terms of overall build quality and quality of materials.

 

A testament of the reliability of current day Skoda is best represented by this report:

http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/top10.ht...128339010848601

 

In a very similar light is another Korean car maker which has earned my respect - Hyundai. In the era of Pony, Stellar, Excel, Hyundais did not bode well with the notion of trouble-free motoring. Very few people would have regarded the first generation of Hyundais to be cars built with quality in mind. The Hyundais, then, were regarded to have the quality which was worse than Japanese cars which were launched decades before them.

 

Look of Hyundais of today. The build quality has improved to the extent which can better the likes of Japanese brands. In my opinion, the quality current NF Sonata has reached a level that puts the Thai-built Toyota Camry and Honda Accord to shame.

 

Last but not least, I believe it is paramount to maintain a certain level of objectivity in order to crate an environment in the forum which is conducive for sharing of information. In addition, it will be detrimental to general convivial spirit of the forum if one asserts assumptions in an irrational manner.

 

Like other Skoda lovers, I do hope that more motorists will learn to appreciate this brand, for the quality and value the Skoda brand presents. Why would I have any interest in running a Skoda dealership when I am making my strides in my career?

 

Cheers!

Edited July 12, 2006 by Koolaba

[Koolaba]

Hi,

 

The Classic trim from UK is specified for the Octavia II sold there. From my visit to the Skoda plant in Mlada Boleslav, Skoda distributors have the option to specify the equipment level for the cars. In Singapore, I doubt a car without rear power windows, remote central locking will sell in the mid $70k range. The trip computer is standard in the Octavia Tour. I stand corrected that it will be available in the Octavia II too.

 

A visit to CA when the Octavia II arrives will remove any doubts on the equipment level.

[King]

sound so formal

[Miles]

i think it is more likely that classic octavia ii brought in will be without rear power window. central locking there should be, but probably without remote locking, or it will be locally fitted.

i remember octy i classic from JTA did not have multi fuction trip computer... i think it will be the same for octy ii.

 

classic trim in europe are for those who cannot afford it or who dont need all these but just want the bare bone car.

[Vit4wd]

I know that it is your passion for Skodas that you are doing this, no monetary benefits for you at all

[Pisces69]

Hi Koolaba,

 

If u had read my post, u wud have realised my critisism of Skodas were of the early Skodas built without the help of VW. These were like 20 - 30 years ago when we 1st saw this brand in SG.

 

My uncle had a Skoda which he sold at a big loss after much fustrations. This is my 1st encounter with the brand.

 

Abt 10 years on they again re-surfaced together with the Lada Samara. Again they died a natural death due to reliability issues. I had a couple of frens who bought the Lada (but not Skoda as it was not as popular as the Lada) at that time & also had many problems with the car.

 

The above Skodas were made by Eastern Block countries with outdated machinery & technology.

 

Then came the VW Skodas. I read the feedback about the difference in quality of these cars due to VW's imput of equipment & technology. Very different from the earlier Skodas.

 

I did mention that these Skodas will have a better chance of survival bcos of VW support but still it will take some time for Skoda to get over the stigma of their earlier "reputation".

 

As we all know, A good reputation takes years to build up but only a very short time to destroy.

 

In fact, I feel the Skoda which was being sold at about the same price of the Altis was a very good bargain if a consumer was looking for that kind of car.

 

At no time in my post did I critisize the VW Skodas. In fact, if I wanted to change my car & the price of a Skoda was right at that time, it wud definately be one of the cars in consideration.

 

Hyundai is also known to me as I owned a "89 Excel Auto which gave me 10 years of good solid trouble free motoring. It left a very good impression on me of Hyundai.

 

Maybe you misunderstood my earlier post, but I did feel your reply was rather harsh considering you did not first try to clarify the points which you did not fully understand. As you now know, my introduction to Skoda was long b4 yours.

 

Cheers.

[Pisces69]

u must be super old...

the only skoda i know of is from JTA onward.......

i thought lada is skoda

==========================

 

Hahaha. Dont say like that lah.

 

Ohhhh..... I'm feeling a little sleepy. Maybe it's time for my nap.

 

 

And BTW, Lada is Russian & Skoda is Czech in the past.

Edited July 13, 2006 by Pisces69

[Mach]

Well, 20-30 years ago those skoda cars were very unreliable. There were lots of skoda jokes then. You are right about it. But not the last 10 years. There was dramatic changes in quality and reliability of skoda car in recent years and they have scooped some best european car awards, best in in JD Power customer satisfaction award and top 10 in reliability survey and etc. In fact Skoda brand is now very popular in Europe. The comment from Koolaba does have some facts in it.Cheers

 

I have no experience with new Skodas but I beg to differ that old Skodas were unreliable. We had a 1990 Rapid 136 Coupe in my family for over 8 years from new and the car was a perfectly reliable daily runner, even going upcountry to Malaysia several times. Never failed to start or left us stranded by side of the road. Only breakdown in all that time was the throttle cable which was probably a design weakness arising from the rear engine.

 

It was a gem compared to my neighbour's Lada Samara, bought at the same time, he seemed to have myriad mechanical problems with the car and could always see him trying to get started in the mornings.

[Pisces69]

Bro,

 

My uncles Skoda of the '80's cud never start in the morning. He was always late for work. That's why he sold it. Either that or get the sack.

 

The Lada Samara had many who cannot engage reverse gear. My frens had to b towed to WS but problem kept coming back.

 

I think buying a Eastern Block made car was like buying the lottery in those days.

 

Sometimes u get a winner & sometimes u dont.

 

I did know a guy who managed to change many many parts in his Lada to Mitsibishi & Fiat parts & seems he resolved many of the problems. He did say the car is very stable at 120km/h on the MY highway though.

[Pisces69]

Thinking back, maybe the good cars were those made on the days just b4 payday.

 

Cos the workers didn't have enough $$ to buy liquor & had to go to work sober.

[Try_conti]

I like dat

[Mach]

actually I think the old Skodas were built by convict labour. Probably no liquor for them.

[Try_conti]

or those sent to exile by the KGB

 

Jokes aside, I think the current built are pretty good.

 

Pop the bonnet & compare what you see in there vs those Thai made toyotas & you'll know what I mean.

[Pisces69]

Hahaha. I think the convict were paid in vodka bottles.

[Pisces69]

The Skodas were so bad in those days that if somebody gave u 1, he didn't like u.

[Pisces69]

The Skodas were so unreliable that the mechanics wud wait outside the factory to repair them as they broke down upon leaving the factory.

Edited July 13, 2006 by Pisces69

[Carstyle]

In the past, some would rather buy a 2nd hand car than a Skoda, but the situation has completely turned around. By collaboratiig with VW, and a very effective marketing campaign by a British firm, Skoda has taken a big leap forward. This is also possible due to the fact that the original philosophy of Skoda has always been to produce good cars (it started as a bicycle company).

 

The current skoda buyer is one who thinks he is a smart buyer and looks down on those who buy expensive West European cars. In fact, the marketing of Skoda has been so successful that VW is regretting a little.

 

The situation in Singapore is slightly tainted by the fact that Skoda seems over priced and comes with less features than the competitors.

Edited July 13, 2006 by Carstyle