Skoda Octavia Estate SE L 1.5 TSI – long-term review

A few years ago I ran a Skoda Octavia vRS estate for six months and was pleasantly surprised by the experience. It looked good, had more than enough performance, handled well and was a wonderfully practical family car. Skoda, as it turned out, was now a purveyor of Very Good Cars.

That experience also gave me a benchmark for the all-new Octavia which was delivered to us in the autumn. Ours is the SE L First Edition, which was the range topping model until Skoda launched the vRS version in November. Damn.

Whilst the vRS’s sporting trim really makes the Octavia look a bit special, our more standard version remains a subtley handsome car, and comes well equipped with LED headlights, 10” satnav display, cruise control, leather steering wheel and microsuede upholstery. Our test car came with options totalling £4,425, the significant items being an upgrade to 18” alloy wheels (£340), head up display (£595), metallic paint (£595), full matrix LED headlights (£1,575) and a ‘virtual pedal’ which allows you to open the boot by placing your foot under the rear bumper (£825). When the car isn't moving, obviously.

Personally, I would probably save myself a bit of cash on both the latter feature and the matrix LED lights as neither are likely to contribute significantly to resale value. The matrix LEDs are front and rear and do have benefits such as auto-dimming and light modes which adapt for differing driving and weather conditions but at sixteen hundred quid they represent more than 5 per cent of the total list price of our car, which is crazy. I'd sooner spend that on the first year's fuel.

I’ve done almost 2,000 miles in the Octavia and although I live in London, a lot of those have been on motorways. Whilst the driving experience won’t set your pulse racing, it’s definitely a stable and comfortable motorway cruiser and effortlessly delivers around 40 mpg, which is remarkably close to the manufacturer’s figure which is rarely the case.

The cabin offers great space, is neatly laid out and I really like the microsuede seat coverings which offer a great alternative to leather. In fact, if it wasn’t for the leather steering wheel and gear knob, I reckon our car could claim to be vegan friendly. So our Octavia is proving to be a capable family car and I’m enjoying a number of its clever and fun features – more of which you'll read about soon...