Independent Reviews of ŠKODA New and Used Cars

The fourth generation ŠKODA Octavia vRS follows a well-established routine. Why mess with a winning formula? Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

So. How to sum up? Does it matter that the Fabia isn’t as technologically new as other VW Group superminis from the 2018-2021 period? Probably not. We can’t imagine the average buyer really cares what platform their small car rides on, though this ŠKODA’s more elderly underpinnings are slightly betrayed by ride quality on poorer surfaces and the fact that its Volkswagen Group cousins from this period can offer more boot space. True, there are certainly more stylish and sharper-handling cars you could choose in this class - but most of them will cost you quite a lot more. If instead, you focus on the things you’re actually going to most need in a supermini of this kind - ease of use, low running costs, practicality - it becomes clear that the MK3 Fabia in this post-2018 form can emphatically tick a lot of those boxes. It’s a car in this class that you can’t ignore if you’re looking at a supermini made in the 2018-2021 period. It may not be the small runabout you’d ideally dreamed of owning. But it could very well be the one you actually need.

The Octavia name - based on the latin for ‘eight’ - is an almost inseparable part of ŠKODA’s history, dating all the way back to 1959 when it arrived to designate the eighth design produced by the Czech brand following World War II. In modern era guise, Octavias have sold prolifically, enough, if placed end-to-end, to fill three lanes of the complete M25. Many of those sales of course, date back to a time when this was a slightly smaller and certainly much less sophisticated car. But in 2017, buyers were offered this very different kind of Octavia - one able to deliver an almost Golf-like air of quality. The technology on offer certainly matches that of a Golf though, perhaps inevitably, from new an awful lot of it was either optional or only found right near the top of the range. Ultimately, this is one of those instances where much changed, but much also remained the same. Many will continue to choose an Octavia for exactly the same reasons that people have always bought into this model line: solid build, sensible pricing and, most significant of all, more interior space than any other Focus or Golf-segment rival can offer. To that practical perspective, this improved third generation design added a welcome bit of polish. By 2017, it was no longer the cheapest choice you could make in this class but arguably, it remained one of the very cleverest. The same holds true for the used car buyer.

ŠKODA is these days very serious about SUVs and the core of the company’s Crossover range is found with this mid-sized Qashqai-class Karoq model, here usefully improved and smarter looking. As before, it gets all the latest Volkswagen Group engineering, now including the brand’s latest TDI ‘Twin Dosing’ technology, plus there’s a hi-tech MQB chassis and cutting-edge safety and infotainment features. Everything in fact, that you’d want from a modern family-sized SUV of this kind. True, some of the rivals it has to face are larger, more hi-tech or more efficient. Most of them are pricier too though and it’s that very affordability that’ll keep this ŠKODA in the frame for customers who want a more interesting and flexible alternative to yet another Qashqai clone in this class. It’s a car that transcends lifestyle snobbery. A family car that doesn’t shout ‘family’. And a Crossover you could be genuinely pleased to own.

Jonathan Crouch finds in ŠKODA’s improved Kodiaq vRS all the car he might ever need….