Where are the SKODAS?

[mrx]

I recently saw a Red RS wagon in Perth, in Osborne Park actually. I fully expected it to turn into the dealership, but it didn't - so I think it was a "real" one.

[anthony]

The OCTAVIA looks to me very much like a rebadged BORA...
Is it based on the A4 Bora,or A5 Jetta.
For a few thousand more,do as I did and buy a jETTA.
Its what you really want in any event,with best resale in class.

[mrx]

The OCTAVIA looks to me very much like a rebadged BORA...
Is it based on the A4 Bora,or A5 Jetta.
For a few thousand more,do as I did and buy a jETTA.
Its what you really want in any event,with best resale in class.

Sure, let me know where I can buy a Jetta wagon in Australia and I'll buy one!!!

[rym]

I sort of agree with some of the sentiments on the pricing. I think a lower price that is further differentiated from Jetta pricings would have seen a healthier launch.

I think getting the brand built up gradually is the key... but, it was launched against the background of record new car sales in Oz. "Greed is good.." so they say.

In Europe, my Octavia Elegance Wagon competes with Mazda 3 and Toyota Corollas on pricing. In fact, a 1.8 VVTI Corolla wagon is one thousand pounds more expensive than the Octavia Wagon.

So, we are rare as hen's teeth.

It would take a long time to convert the Holden and Ford fans, which happens to be the greatest market base here. We love our BIG cars here in Oz. Just look at the crowd around Holden and Ford stands at Motor shows.

Well, I hope to see a fellow Octavian on the road soon.

[Frufru]

Free onroads

"The only Skoda in the village"?
We really wanted a diesel wagon but decided the price was too high (with the spec we wanted) for the risk involved and distance to a dealer. I really thought Skoda would launch with good deals. Free on-roads or discounted extras package as a minimum, but it didn't happen. Bought something else in the interim and hope they are around in a year or two to get one then. Yes, I know I'm part of the problem if they do fail, but it's not my fault they screwed up the pricing.

There were free Skoda on-roads here in WA in February (that made me to buy them).

[rym]

The free on roads were for the 07 plate run out. The other thing that jabs you in the eye from this "junior value for money brand from VW" is the pricing for accessories and extras...

Well, I hope there's enough of people out there that recognise the fundamental quality of this car. Go easy with your options and it will be a reasonable $.

It's a quality product with a great drive train and if we Aussies can ditch the American dream and get over the bigger is better mentality... you will soon see more such appropriate sized family cars on the road.

[CO2]

The problem is that Skoda dealers try and position them like they are VW's.

I tried to buy a RS and and they negotiated very little even on 07 plated cars.

Hence why no one is buying them as they are asking too much for them and the major x factor with them is depreciation.

Sure they are good cars but i think their pricing is out of whack.

I ended up buying a fully option 2006 Jetta (with body kit) for a bargain at an auction but these are selling second hand for $35K to $40K.

To buy a fully loaded RS came to $50K which is too risky and too exxy for what it is.

Im really happy with the Jetta as it not only goes as good as an RS but looks better too.

good luck to the Skoda owners i hope depreciation works as well as the VW's(what the dealers were telling me)

Exactly right....! Skoda launch prices are far too expensive...!

I am in the market to buy a replacement new small / medium car this year and after reading the UK car reviews on Skoda I eagerly awaited their launch here in OZ, especially after reading the Weisner pre-launch sales blurb about them supposedly being priced to directly compete with the "cheaper japanese and asian brands". With the OZ$ near US$ parity, I'm sure I wasn't the only prospective OZ buyer to be very, very sadly disappointed, to see them in fact launched at equivalent VW model prices.

Another interesting thing I've noticed is that VW have stopped advertising their actual vehicle prices in our local newspaper adds. Go figure.....??

[anthony]

What we need is a REASONABLY priced compact VW wagon.
I am sure it would be popular.
Europe gets the Mexican made Golf Variant,Mexico calls it the Bora wagon,and it is going to be called the Jetta Sports wagon in America and Canada.
Looks more modern than the Octavia wagon,and much sportier and upmarket.

[Frufru]

Pricing

Exactly right....! Skoda launch prices are far too expensive...!

I am in the market to buy a replacement new small / medium car this year and after reading the UK car reviews on Skoda I eagerly awaited their launch here in OZ, especially after reading the Weisner pre-launch sales blurb about them supposedly being priced to directly compete with the "cheaper japanese and asian brands". With the OZ$ near US$ parity, I'm sure I wasn't the only prospective OZ buyer to be very, very sadly disappointed, to see them in fact launched at equivalent VW model prices.

I dont think that parity of OZ$ with US$ has anything to do with it. Euro actually appreciated in comparison with OZ$ by about 10%.
Talking about Jetta being much better than Octavia... In my opinion they are very, very similar cars. I dont see any reason to see Jetta being better in 'objective' sense. Just some people may like Jetta more I guess. I looked at the pricing and really there was always at least 5 grands difference between Skoda and VW with the same engine and comparably equipped car. In my opinion this is what you pay for badge, nothing else.

Other point...Comparing price for 2006 car and 2008 car is not very smart. 2008 will always be much more costly. That may suggest that it is better to buy second hand car than new one I guess, not more than that.

On the other hand pricing for Skodas I think came from VW not wanting to have their prices undercut for Golfs and so on. Have no idea why. Golfs are selling like hotcakes and the same could be said about other models.

[gregozedobe]

Europe gets the Mexican made Golf Variant,Mexico calls it the Bora wagon,and it is going to be called the Jetta Sports wagon in America and Canada.
Looks more modern than the Octavia wagon,and much sportier and upmarket.

Good to see different opinions being aired.

Golf, Jetta, Octavia, Passatt are all based on the Golf V platform (with minor variations in the mechanicals such as engine responsiveness, suspension tuning, wheel/tyre sizes etc) so there isn't as much difference between them as some people think.

VWA have been talking about the Golf/Jetta wagon for Australia for years, but I don't see any signs of it being imported here any time soon.

Looks are a very subjective thing (I don't mind the restrained looks of the Octavia wagon myself, but that is my personal preference), so it depends on what your priorities and preferences are. You can truthfully say "I like the look of car X over car Y", but that doesn't mean car X actually IS better looking / more modern / sportier and upmarket because there is no way of objectively measuring looks. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder (but I will admit that sometimes there is a broad consensus on cars that are truly ugly or outstandingly pretty).

However measurements aren't subjective - the Octavia wagon is WAY roomier than the Bora/Golf/Jetta wagons, in fact I think it has more useable room than the Passatt wagon (deeper load area). I think the Octavia wagon (and the hatch) has more boot volume than anything else of a similar size, including Jetta boots for those who think "theirs is the biggest"

As far as prices go, if you want to compare Golf, Jetta and Octavia prices you first need to take into consideration standard/optional equipment levels and costs, then also factor in the available discounts off the RRPs. AFAIK Golfs seem to be pretty easy to get discounts from dealers, but Octavias seem much harder to negotiate a really good deal on.

Plus certain models are only available as manuals (eg Octavia RS), while others are DSG only (eg Jetta 2.0TFSI ?), so this impacts on both price and desirability (I'm a rusted-on manual enthusiast, but I don't have to drive in heavy traffic ).

Comparing prices of secondhand vehicles with new ones is also a bit tricky, as different people place different values on intangibles such as a full new car warranty, being the only person to drive a car, knowing the full history of a car, being able to specify precisely what you want (model, colour, engine, transmission, options) run in and maintained the way you want etc. Certainly the depreciation on a new car is ferocious, and you can save a lot by buying secondhand.

All in all, you look at what is available, and at what price. If you find something you like at a price you are willing to pay then you can buy it, if not, don't. I have ordered an Octavia RS wagon because I liked it. Going on the Australia wide sales figures, so far not too many people agree with my choice.

[rym]

People Power gives Octavia the Gong @ Auto Express.

http://www.nextcar.com.au/n.skoda.2008.driverpower.08mar.html

Obviously, the "spot the a Skoda game" isn't a very popular in UK, they already have plenty of numbers to make their vote count.

Is there such quality and ownership surveys in Oz? Yes, there is but only the car companies get the results. We don't get to see it.

[mrx]

Maybe they are actually selling some?! My wife went for a test drive in the 1.8TFSI wagon & RS wagon yesterday (I couldn't go because I'm stuck at work all weekend). According to the sales people there are already about 30 on the road in WA, and 130 on order (4 month wait). Of course, there's no way of knowing if that's really an accurate figure or not. When my wife was there they signed two people up, and she had to wait for ages because there were so many test drives going on that they had to go and borrow a set of plates from the VW dealership down the road! (So they certainly seem to be busy.)

In terms of the sales experience, she explained that she's used to driving a GTI, so they didn't need to explain the features. So they basically just gave her both sets of keys & said come back when you've had enough. Gotta love being given free reign! Also, no pressure to buy when she came back. Total contrast to VW, where they look down their noses at you, and Subaru where you get the full on, "HI I'M TOM! AND YOU ARE?"

[Golf Loon]

We were looking at buying a second hand Audi or Passat Wagon, 9-10 years old for $17k. According to the Skoda Ads we could have a new TDI wagon for 29k on the road. Went and tested them. I drove the 1.9TDI and would have had to have had the 2L, add some leather and on road costs and its $35-$38k.

The dealer was keen to sell me one, but I pointed out that he did not know what was gonna happen with resale values in a year. He could not move on the price and I have issues with buying a brand new car. If the resales get slammed, I`ll probably buy a year old or ex demo model down the track.

I thought the fit and finish was excellent, particularly on the top of the range ones. Nice to see that the Octavia sedan is actually a hatchback and that they are selling manual wagons. A hard thing to find in a Passat or Audi in Oz.

We ultimately bought a cheap Audi A4 manual wagon which has taken all its depreciation, although I`d trade it for a secondhand Octavia as and when.

I hope Skoda do well, but I cant help thinking how much better they would go if the price was $5-8k less per unit.

[mrx]

We were looking at buying a second hand Audi or Passat Wagon, 9-10 years old for $17k. According to the Skoda Ads we could have a new TDI wagon for 29k on the road. Went and tested them. I drove the 1.9TDI and would have had to have had the 2L, add some leather and on road costs and its $35-$38k.

The dealer was keen to sell me one, but I pointed out that he did not know what was gonna happen with resale values in a year. He could not move on the price and I have issues with buying a brand new car. If the resales get slammed, I`ll probably buy a year old or ex demo model down the track.

I thought the fit and finish was excellent, particularly on the top of the range ones. Nice to see that the Octavia sedan is actually a hatchback and that they are selling manual wagons. A hard thing to find in a Passat or Audi in Oz.

We ultimately bought a cheap Audi A4 manual wagon which has taken all its depreciation, although I`d trade it for a secondhand Octavia as and when.

I hope Skoda do well, but I cant help thinking how much better they would go if the price was $5-8k less per unit.

Agreed. If they were offering them drive away at the RRP it would almost be too hard to pass up. At the current price level I'm left waiting to see what the new Subaru Forester XT and VW Tiguan are like (similar pricing, performance, and may still suit our space requirements) before making a decision. By the time we've made up our minds we'll know if Skoda is staying in Australia for the long haul or not, and what the resale is like! (read as, we're not rushing into this)

[gregozedobe]

If the resales get slammed, I`ll probably buy a year old or ex demo model down the track.

I We ultimately bought a cheap Audi A4 manual wagon which has taken all its depreciation, although I`d trade it for a secondhand Octavia as and when.

I have a feeling that Skodas aren't currently being purchased by people who intend to turn them over in 12-18 months or so, unknown s'hand values being one significant reason. If I wanted to keep a car for a short time I would only consider models with very good s'hand prices.

Certainly I tend to only buy new cars that I think I will be keeping for a long time (I hate the initial slug of depreciation, so keep them for long enough to amortize it over 5-10 years).

It will be interesting to see how it all pans out over the next few years.