If somebody had told me 10 years ago....

C'mon a lot of now respectable brands had a few somewhat, no frills, basic, poverty pack models in their past, some were good in their day and some were truly awful on any day you could care to mention.
Ford's model T and Prefect, Renault's 4, VW's Beetle, Citroen's 2CV, BMW's Isetta to name a few.

The fact is that they move upmarket as the local economy and market place improves, as there is always someone else in a developing country to undercut you on the price of your budget models

Maybe this will help john.....

:bust:

:beer: Thanks Andy

Generally....Those who criticize modern Skoda cars are those who have never owned one.

I had an 03 plate diesel Octavia, got up to 250k and was still passing MOT without the slightest sucking of tooth. I got rid when the clutch went, my mechanic bought it off me.
Damn fine car.

Well, after a 300 mile round trip up to Cleveland I have to admit to being mightily impressed. Good cruiser, light controls and very comfy. Around 60mpg too.

I'll see how it stacks against the Mondeo in mid June. I can possibly afford more options with the Skoda. We'll see.......

The saga of demo cars continues: I now have a Volvo V40 on trial till Tuesday. The demo is fully loaded: full leather, adaptive cruise, blind spot info system, park assist etc.
First modern Volvo I've driven, and it's very impressive. Sheffield and back today, around 125 miles round. Very comfy, quiet and smooth.

Because the resale value after lease is higher than a Skoda it's not that much dearer.

I have pathological hatred of Volvo drivers, because their car is effectively a tank they seem to drive in a manner that takes advantage of the knowledge that they will come off best in any collision situation. I loathe Volvos.
Audi drivers are just a few hoarse power behind on the 'I'm the car in front' shouting match. Pun intended.

I cringe for them every time they bulldoze their way into my lane without indicating.

Utter pinpricks.

And breathe...

I sorta share your views, but the V40 is Focus sized rather than lumbering barge dimensions.

My pet blind prejudice is BMW drivers, who believe they have the god given right to move from the slip road to lane 3 without indicating or using mirrors. Whilst doing either 95 or 40.

But not all drivers are stereotypes: I'm sure, in fact I know that some MG drivers are useless and irresponsible. If you don't believe me, take to the M1 after any MG event at Silverstone.

Lucky for me I drive a merc as all mercedes drivers are courteous
Surely you won't take the Skoda in preference to a Volvo :broon:

Nope. The Volvo is ahead on points. I've driven lots of Mondeos so unless the Titanium estate knocks it out the park it may well be a Volvo.

Or.... I may decide on something else following a garage test drive!