It’s funny that you can say “they don’t make them like this anymore” about a late 90s car from the Czech Republic, but it’s true, and the car in question is the first generation Skoda Octavia, the first major new model to be released after the all-important tie-up with VW of 1990.
The car driven in the video below is a 2002 car that’s done over 500,000 miles or 804,672 km, having spent most of its life ferrying people around in Irish towns as a taxi; it was bought back by a dealer and is now a press car.
In spite of its age, though, it still drives nicely, still passes emissions tests, is still economical and just as comfortable as it was known to be. The only things that don’t work on this rather brown example are a few of the button-operated functions like the heated mirrors, as well as untruthful gauges.
Yet if you factor in the range of models you can get (hatch, estate, front-wheel drive, all-wheel drive wagon or hot vRS) and the ridiculously low price these change hands for nowadays, it’s an unbeatable proposition.
All you need to look out for if you want to get yourself into one of these is for it not to have been overly-abused (and obviously not totaled once in its life, repaired and now actually composed of two different cars welded together – it happens…).
Check out the full video review of the car below.
By Andrei Nedelea
VIDEO