That's the verdict of 29,000 Auto Express readers, who have collectively decided that the Skoda Yeti is the outright winner of the magazine's Driver Power survey 2012, with the Superb MkII claiming the runner-up medal and the Octavia MkII in fourth place, just behind the Mercedes E-class MkIV in third. The Jaguar XF rounds off the top five.
www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/9197317/Skoda-Yeti-is-the-best-car-to-own.html
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>>Skoda Yeti is the best car to own<<
Ha! ~ unusual looks not for everyone, usual DSG hesitation.
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The photo in the piece is of the A5 in Nant Ffrancon/Ogwen Valley, I know that exact bit of road - one of my favourite bits of road, fun on the bike !
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When 20th place = 87.29% and and 10th = 88.41%, it would appear that just one person's vote is the difference. In most polls they usually quote a 3% margin of error - the whole thing is very suspect.
Last edited by: lancara on Fri 13 Apr 12 at 14:19
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Having once been a bit of an advocate for the brand, having yesterday collected my Octavia from the garage for the 3rd time this year and the 5th time in less than 30 months that it has been repaired under warranty, I can say that honestly doesn't reflect my opinion.
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My mechanic has the theory that Skoda owners are more likely to be the sort of people who fill in forms and are faithful to the marque because the dealers treat them well despite having the same VAG problems as the other brands.
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It almost looks as if those who responded to the survey deliberately gave a kicking to many of those cars that the motoring journalist praise so much.
Ford Mondeo - only 33rd out of a 100 cars
BMW 3 Series - 46th
Audi A1 - 55th
Ford Fiesta - 64th
VM Polo - 74th
Mini - 80th
Fiat 500 - 81st.
OTOH
Nissan Qashqai - 6th
Toyota Avensis - 20th
Vauxhall Insignia 21st
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I looked at a Fiesta. Anyone who rates it a top car in its class obviously believes back seat passengers should be under 10 years old or vertically challenged.
I followed an A1 - the first I have seen. Same comment.
When you compare the summary reviews, some of the demerits given to cars not chosen to be top of the class are clearly ones thought up to justify a decision. But then Motoring Journalist tend - with a few notable exceptions -to make a "bear of little brain" seem an intellectual genius by comparison.
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Would you care to enlighten us as to what has gone wrong with your Octavia, just out of curiosity?
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>> Would you care to enlighten us as to what has gone wrong with your Octavia,
>> just out of curiosity?
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breakdown diagnosed as throttle body failure but eventually traced to frayed loom - 3 1/2 days off the road
breakdown diagnosed as failure of some sort of actuator on the turbo but eventually diagnosed as turbo seizure - 3 weeks to fix
breakdown diagnosed as EGR failure - garage wanted to replace the EGR, but Skoda Warranty were insistent it was a software issue
breakdown diagnosed as EGR failure - this time they replaced the EGR
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Hmmm, not confidence-inspiring, don't blame you for losing faith. I had a good run out of mine but looking at it objectively, it wasn't the most reliable car I've owned, that was probably an old Megane, believe it or not. What I loved about my Octavia was the 1.9 tdi motor, the rest of the car was pretty average, in terms of build and durability.
Not sure about the Yeti, I don't think it does anything better than an Octavia estate, to be honest. But I'm not impressed with any of the current Cross-over style wagons, needlessly tall and heavy, with no obvious advantages.
Saw my first Evoque today, close up, takes bling-wagons to a new level, if nothing else!
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Taxi drivers love Octavias.....
I was once told by a delivery driver who was handing over the then new Yeti that, if it had a prestige badge on the front, it would easily command double the retail price because it was that good.
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>>Taxi drivers love Octavias.....
I noticed the other day that one of the big taxi firms around here who had a huge fleet of Octavias are now switching over to Citroen Berlingos.
I know they had a separate source for getting their Octavias but wondering if they maybe come now with DPF's which would be lethal for around town taxis?
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I hired an Octavia diesel estate three or four years back. Very nice car actually. Engine was pretty noisy though I seem to remember. Funny size too, the car I mean. Too small to get any serious amount of kit in. For all normal purposes though it was more than good.
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>>Funny size too<<
Similar to the Lancer estate then, which I prefer as I wouldn't want anything larger.
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Skoda - 1st, 2nd, and 4th in Auto Express Survey - Dog
