Picked up my 11 reg Skoda on 01 December last and have since covered five thousand miles. Seems like time for a report.
It replaced my trusty 160kmiles 05 1.9D Berlingo which I'd have happily held onto had it not had a mysterious and potentially v. expensive power steering fault. That made it a bit of a distress purchase. Competition between the Roomie and C3 picasso should have been a three way with a Peugeot Bipper Teepee but local dealers had none in stock.
So far though it's fitted the bill of mixing a 14 mile round trip commute 3 days a week with assorted longer assignments really well. Engine is VAG's EA185 1.6D/90PS. SE trim gives a full length glass roof which makes the cabin light and airy. Once I'd got seat height and steering reach sorted it's comfortable over extended periods and, unlike Mrs B's Berlingo, doesn't aggravate my pinned left hip by inadequate thigh support.
Controls fall easily to hand and any problems I've had (nearly breaking the indicator stalk to turn the lights off) are due to adapting from 25yrs of PSA models rather than intrinsic faults in the Skoda. Heating, ventilation etc are fine whether on dark frozen mornings or summer's heat in last few days.
Performance? Good enough for me. It's no sports coupe but handles fine on twisty A/B roads and has enough poke to overtake on the A5 or to move seamlessly between M/way lanes. According to Fuellog app on phone it's averaging 48.6mpg which seems OK given the mixed usage.
Comfort wise it's only really a four seater with a perch in the middle at the back but we've had it five up occasionally without complaint. Main L&R rear seats have a bit of rake/reach adjustment and all three tumble or remove completely to increase loadspace. Not a proper estate as there's a lip to the boot but no trouble taking bags of garden waste to the tip.
It's been back to dealer twice for problems. First was to rectify faulty electric rear windows, new control unit foc without quibble. Second was a single instance of rough running and misfiring in last few yards of a half mile round trip to village shop. Cured by turn it off and on again and garage subsequently applied a software update. No re-currence.
Hopefully it will give me another five years at least.
And like the Enrico the Berlingo it has a name; Fritz. Part based on registration including FR11 and a Z and partly recognising it's German heritage.
|
