Skoda Scout

[dickm]

Get the impression that there are quite a few Octavia estate owners on the forum. Any of you have the 4x4 Scout version and if so, any warnings about them? They seem to be the only vehicle on the market that fits my particular niche (decent load length and ground clearance, not too many electronic gizmos and not ludicrously expensive).
Or suggestions for anything else that might do the job (secondhand, of course )

 

[Claymore]

what about the Volvo 4x4 estates? don't know what sort of prices they go for but they seem pretty big.

 

[DiscoStu]

Well I'd say a Discovery but that might not fit in your budget. However they are the best vehicle in the world and that's an end to that conversation!


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[dickm]

Thanks, guys. I always used to have Volvos, but their 4x4 versions are all that bit too big (and the shortest, the XC60 looks HIDEOUS!). I'm sure your Disco has been fine, Stu, but I've seen too many dead and dying ones round here (plus don't have the oil well to feed one)

 

[DiscoStu]

My Disco is a Discovery 3, it's done 180,000 miles now! No major problems. (Touch wood) I take mine off road so I go through pads and discs more than most, and things like wheel bearings, calipers and CV joints all take a bit of a battering, but I love it. It's part of the family. My best ever mpg was around 33mpg. My worst was 0.6mpg (yes there is a zero and a decimal before that figure - got a photo somewhere). That was a day spent off road doing winch training so the engine was on all day but all of the distance was vertical!

I love the way I can be off roading, then drive onto tarmac and be wafting along with my heated seat etc. I can be transporting my family and all their camping kit, or 7 adults or I can make it completely flat and use it like a transit van. The other advantage of a flat load bed is that I can sleep in the back and even at 6'2" I can sleep fully stretched out.

We went to IKEA recently and inside the car we fitted:

2x sofa beds (2 seater sofa beds)
1 X 2meter long X 1m wide wardrobe
2 X 6 drawer chest of drawers
1 X 3 drawer chest
1 X 3 drawer bedside table size set of drawers.

Plus the usual IKEA extras including meatballs and chocolate spread! It was tight but it all went inside and with two adults in.

I might by another one but I am intending to keep this one forever.

And IKEA shopping:

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[biskit]

You've sold the Disco 3 to me on those merits Stu I'd go out and buy one tomorrow :!: Hang on a minute :roll: I've got one in the garage.

 

[DiscoStu]

Lol! I know you have. Sorry I did take this thread off topic. I've actually got back from a Land Rover meeting! Oh and you know I said touch wood - I need a new battery!


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[loftyhermes]

What about the XC70, the 4 wheel drive version of the V 70 estate.

 

[dickm]

Yes, that's the nearest alternative it seems. But it's that bit bigger again than the Skoda. Trouble is every model seems to grow in length and complexity with each passing year. Who wants electronic parking brake, push button starting, built-in satnav that doesn't know where the roads are in Aberdeenshire etc, etc?
Harrumph!

 

[DiscoStu]

I've got a mate with a Skoda yeti and he really rates it.


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[custard]

I keep an eye on which estates have the longest load beds and the Octavia keeps getting mentioned. Surprisingly car manufacturers don't usually publish load bed length or width information, only the load volume. I appreciate that load length is ambivalent (as you don't know how far the front seats are pushed forward) but it would still be useful to get min/max load length data.

 

[adidat]

Why do skodas have heated rear glass?

to keep your hands warm wehn your pushing it!

Bad dum tish!! :lol: :lol: :roll: :roll:

adidat

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My friend had a Discovery - he quite liked it, but he said he had to get shot of it before it bankrupted him. He paid the road tax and the insurance on his next vehicle with the monetary difference in the fuel consumption between the two.

 

[DiscoStu]

Yep, 3 tons of vehicle is never going to be cheap to run. Add to that a winch, raised air intake and a roof rack and you're it's not cheap. We used to have two cars, the Discovery and a Jaguar. I used the Jag for my daily commute and MrsStu would use the Disco for ferrying the children about. At one point the disco was in for some body work and we hired my wife a small car for a week. In that week she did 200 miles and never really went anywhere. I was amazed I though she did about 25 miles a week. So I soon calculated the fuel and realised I could lease her a small car and fuel it for less than the disco, so she now has a Fiat 500 and the Disco is our weekend / family car.


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[dickm]

+1for the annoyance at nobody publishing load lengths. And why, oh why, do so many manufacturers have folding mechs that DON'T leave a flat floor (includes the Yeti!)?

 

[porker]

Got an Octavia Estate (not the Scout) bought new at end of 2011. 1.8l petrol - it is the wife's car and does mostly short runs which is why I didn't get a diesel due to DPF issues on short runs. No problems with it really. It's only got 25k on it now and apart from some roll bar bushes its not need anything in 5 years. It's basically a golf underpinning. It's no 5 series (my car) but I'd buy another and would now probably consider a Scout as I now live in a rural area and sometimes get a bit stuck when it snows. Heard that Dual mass flywheels can affect it with higher miles but plenty of cars fall into that category.

 

[mailee]

Estate cars are getting smaller especially the Volvos. I have owned a fleet of them from the 240 upwards and the latest offering is a good 18" shorter. I loved the 740 estate I had years ago as it would take anything in the back. (Was a bit of a push for an 8x4 sheet) but when the 'V' series came out they were around 6" shorter. I ended up with an 850 T5 estate although again it was shorter than the 7 series and then went on to a transit van for more space. I loved my Volvo's though and would have another if it wasn't for all the electronics on them now.