What car should I buy: family friendly sedan

[aslsw]

Drive have another in the "what car should I buy" series with a request for a family friendly sedan.

The Octavia misses out on the shortlist because it "falls foul to the premium-unleaded curse and isn’t remarkably roomy in the back."

Just for the record, a quick look at the specifications for roughly equivalent models (petrol, sedan, manual) published by the manufacturers shows that:

- the Octavia is around $170 in fuel than its nearest rival, taking into account the different price of fuel,
- the Octavia is pipped by the Mondeo for boot space but is otherwise nearly 10% bigger than it's nearest rival.

The verdict? The Mazda 6 wins against the Mondeo and Liberty.

[team_v]

Those reviews are useless.
I would have hte octavia over any of the other cars on the list.

Mondeo is auto only.
Liberty looks like someone crashed it with so many jagged lines.
Mazda 6 look bulbous and limits visibility.

Their issue with premium unleaded isn't warranted as normal unleaded will be phased out soon enough anyway.
Plus the premium unleaded should get you further on a tank which = less real cost.

[Jake02]

Best reason for buying an Octavia over most competitors: it has character!

Octavia is best because it has the least amount of faults in the mid-size saloon class. Mazda6s have alot of road noise, Mondeos have an awful petrol engine/use more petrol than a Commodore/no manual, Libertys are the ugliest car on sale today and have Toyota boringness applied, Jettas are bloody boring and come with less equipment than Octavias, Accord Euros are boring to drive and have very OTT styling. Octavias have NVH levels, are very well equipped, drive very well but also ride well, perform very well but don't use alot in petrol and are hugely practical (they're not huge on the outside unlike Mondeos but have similar interior space). All of that the journos don't even recognise!

Of course I'm a massive Skoda person but those are, I believe, the realities!

[K1W1]

You have all forgotten one important fact.

Compare the advertising spend in Fairfax media of Subaru, Mazda and Ford with that of Skoda.

[Antiplastix]

Hell,I d buy the Kia Rio in a flash, its got everything you need. Why bother with the expense of the Mazda ?

[brad]

I think that anybody that needs to write to a newspaper to find out what car they should buy would be incapable of choosing something as "out there" as a Skoda.

I don't consider the Skoda to be a competitor to the Mondeo (or the Mazda6) - both these cars are at least half a size bigger than an Octavia.

Fuel: It costs me $360 extra per year to put the 1780 litres 98ron in my car that propels me 26,500km. Big deal. So i go without 2 take away coffees every week.

They also (a few weeks back) mentioned high service costs & "European reliability". The Octy has been way cheaper to run than my Liberty & so far very reliable.

I guess it's better to at least get a mention rather than being totally passed over all the time (How many times do you see a SAAB in the list of choices?). What cracks me up is the number of people that want a reliable car & they throw an Alfa into the list of choices.

[BlackOctaviaRS]

If you weren't going for a Skoda (which, clearly, you should), have a look at the Hyundai i45

[bobski]

I'm surprised they didn't include the Suzuki Kizashi. It has been getting raved about by respectable media and is very reasonably priced with plenty of kit. (It'd certainly be on my to-try list if I was still looking)