Skoda Octavia review

What do the Skoda Octavia, the Apple iPhone and the Sony PlayStation have in common? Answer: they're the best-selling products from their respective brands. 

Indeed, the Octavia is a pivotal model for Skoda. Since its launch this family car has been appealing to anyone with a keen eye on practicality and value. 

Over the years, the Octavia has pushed steadily upmarket and it’s now so well regarded that it counts premium-brand cars including the Audi A3 and Mercedes A-Class among its rivals. It also competes with more mainstream models, ranging from the Ford Focus and Seat Leon to the Toyota Corolla and Vauxhall Astra.

To maintain that upward trajectory, mid-life updates introduced for 2024 have given it an advanced suite of driver tech, revised styling and a plusher interior.

So, how does the latest Skoda Octavia stack up against the best family cars? Read on to find out...

The Skoda Octavia's 148bhp diesel engine (badged 2.0 TDI 150PS) is an impressive performer, with a 0-62mph time of just 8.5 seconds. It pulls strongly from low revs, making it a great fit when you're travelling with a full car. That said, we wouldn’t rule out the cheaper TDI 116. It’s less urgent off the line but there’s still plenty of low-down shove to keep up with traffic.

As good as the 148bhp diesel is, our favourite engine is the 1.5-litre TSI 150 petrol, which is similarly quick. True, you need to make it work a bit harder, but it’s keen to do so and its six-speed manual gearbox is light and precise. The same engine is available with mild-hybrid tech, a seven-speed dual-clutch auto gearbox and slightly different name (TSI 150 e-Tec). Both versions sprint from 0-62mph in 8.5 seconds.

Below the TSI 150, there's the entry-level 1.5-litre TSI petrol engine with 114bhp and the same gearbox options. It’s slower to rev and doesn’t feel as sprightly when accelerating up to motorway speeds but it’s powerful enough for town driving. If none of those engines sound speedy enough, you’ll want to wait for the updated version of the Octavia vRS hot hatch.

Motorways are the Octavia’s natural habitat: it can waft along on its softly sprung suspension for mile after mile. The consequence of the soft set-up is that it feels a little floaty over crests when you turn off the motorway and on to a more demanding stretch of undulating road.

Potholes and sharp expansion joints can send jolts through the Octavia’s structure, and its body can take a moment to settle after a speed hump. It's rather like being in a small boat hitting a big wave, but for the most part it’s more comfortable than its direct family car rivals. The effect is reduced by the slightly firmer suspension fitted to Sportline models, but the Seat Leon and Toyota Corolla still have a better controlled ride.

An adaptive suspension system that allows you to stiffen or soften the ride is available as an option on SE L trim and above with the more powerful 148bhp engines. It's worth having because it allows you to dial out some of the float so you get extra composure over wavy crests (your passengers will thank you).

Despite the softness of its suspension, the Octavia is perfectly capable when it comes to corners. Its steering is precise and has plenty of reassuring weight, providing a good sense of connection to the front tyres.

The Sportline, with its 15mm lowered suspension, resists body lean a little better and its progressive steering set-up sharpens up its initial response.

The Octavia grips tenaciously through bends but leans more than a Ford Focus or Seat Leon, meaning that it ultimately doesn’t feel quite as agile. That’s not to say it’s ever anything less than stable and secure though.

Whichever engine you choose, you'll feel a slight buzz through the Octavia's seats at higher revs, but it’s far from irritating. While the 1.5-litre petrol is quite vocal when worked hard, it’s far from harsh and the diesel is smoother and quieter than the equivalent engines in most direct rivals.

Unfortunately, wind and road noise aren't as well isolated as they are in a Ford Focus and you can hear the suspension working away as it tries to smooth out broken surfaces and potholes.

When you lift off the accelerator pedal, automatic Octavias can coast out of gear to save fuel then re-engage drive when you put your foot down again. It all happens smoothly enough, but requires you to be on and off the brakes almost constantly in flowing traffic, which gets quite annoying.

"The Octavia’s soft suspension helps comfort, but when its floaty ride is mixed with a country road, it left some of my passengers feeling rather queasy." – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

The Skoda Octavia's steering wheel has lots of reach and rake adjustment, and the seat has a good range of movement, including adjustable lumbar support, so finding the right driving position is easy. For even more comfort, SE L and Sportline come with the option of a powered driver’s seat with a memory function (so you can save your favourite set-up).

Another feature that's standard across the range is an easy-to-read 10.3in digital driver's display that takes the place of conventional analogue dials. A head-up display that projects your speed and other information on to the windscreen is an option on SE L trim and above.

Unfortunately, the air-con controls are located in the infotainment touchscreen. True, the temperature icons are always on display at the bottom, but other climate functions are hidden in one of the menus. That can prove a distraction if you need to fine-tune the settings while driving.

The Octavia has large side windows and relatively slim windscreen pillars so looking forwards, left or right at junctions is easy. The view over your shoulder, meanwhile, isn’t quite as impressive, with large rear pillars limiting your visibility. What’s more, the long, high tail makes it harder to judge how much rear space you have when reversing.

Luckily, to help relieve parking worries, all versions come with front and rear sensors. A rear-view camera is standard on Sportline trim (it’s an option with other trims), while a system called Park Assist that will steer the car into a space is part of an expensive Assisted Drive Package Plus.

Bright LED headlights and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror are standard across the range, but they can be upgraded on Sportline trim at a cost to adaptive matrix LED headlights. The matrix lights are twice as bright as the standard units on full beam and automatically adjust the light pattern to avoid dazzling other drivers.

Helpfully, Skoda has positioned the 13.0in infotainment touchscreen in the Octavia high on the dashboard so you don’t have to take your eyes far from the road to see it. All models come with Bluetooth, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring, a DAB radio, built-in sat-nav and wireless phone-charging with a phone-cooling system.

The latest infotainment system’s graphics look sharp and it responds to inputs quickly enough. You can also add your most frequently used shortcuts to the top corner of the screen for convenience. However, some of the icons could be bigger to make them easier to aim for, and some of the functions (such as for the head-up display and massaging seats) can be difficult to locate in the menus, although you can use voice control to switch them on and off too.

Below the touchscreen there's a row of proper buttons that take you directly to some of the menu pages, including the drive modes, climate settings and the park-assist function. That said, the infotainment system in the BMW 1 Series has more logical menus and a physical dial controller between the front seats to make it much easier to use while driving.

Plush, squidgy plastics are present on the top and front of the Octavia's dashboard and above the armrests on the doors. There are some harder plastics lower down but they're pleasingly textured and everything feels solidly screwed together. SE L trim gets a faux-suede surface for part of the dashboard and a wider range of seating upholstery, lifting the ambience further.

The stalks behind the steering wheel feel good to use, as do the buttons on the steering wheel but the metal-effect scroll wheels on the spokes feel a little flimsy. Even so, the Octavia is as solid inside as the Toyota Corolla but a little plusher, and is miles ahead of the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra. All must bow down to the 1 Series for best in class quality though.

An eight-speaker audio system is standard and a 12-speaker Canton stereo upgrade is available as an option on non-mild hybrid versions.

"As a shorter driver, I found the touch-sensitive shortcut icons on the left hand side of the screen quite a stretch to reach." – Claire Evans, Consumer Editor

There’s plenty of space up front in the Skoda Octavia. A very tall driver will be able to get comfortable even with the optional head room-robbing panoramic glass roof fitted. Storage is better than in most rivals too: each door pocket can take a 1.5-litre bottle of water and the cooled glovebox is big enough to keep your lunch fresh.

Behind the gearlever are two fixed cupholders that will keep your coffee-to-go secure and, ingeniously, can grip drinks bottles tightly enough that you can twist off the cap with one hand. In front of the gear selector is a handy tray with two USB-C ports that’s big enough for a large mobile phone to sit next to your house keys and wallet or purse.

There’s also a large covered storage space under the front armrest for hiding electronic devices and other valuables. Like the glove box, it's cooled, so it's ideal for a second round of sandwiches.

The Octavia is pretty generous on rear-seat space. Even taller passengers will be able to lounge in comfort behind a tall driver with their seat pushed back and there’s loads of elbow room. The Ford Focus and Seat Leon offer even more rear space.

The middle rear-seat passenger has no choice but to place their feet on either side of the car’s raised central floor hump but the big footwells mean this isn’t too restrictive. The Octavia’s rear seat is surprisingly wide, making it a very comfortable car for three back-seat passengers to sit side by side in.

A central armrest with two cupholders is standard on all models and the rear door pockets are a decent size. Every model has a map pocket on the back of each front seat, along with a smaller smartphone pocket, plus sizeable rear door bins. An additional storage tray mounted on top of the centre transmission tunnel is optional as part of the Family Package.

In terms of its flexibility, the Octavia is pretty conventional by family car standards. The folding rear seats follow the usual 60/40 split arrangement (the Mercedes A-Class gets a more flexible 40/20/40 split).

We like the fact that they can be folded by levers in the boot so you don’t have to open a side door before loading that bulky flat-pack furniture you’ve just bought.

Unfortunately, though, the seats don’t lie completely flat when folded, and they leave an awkward step in the extended load area.

With 600 litres of storage, the Octavia’s boot is not only huge compared with similar-sized rivals but also beats most competitors from the class above. Its load area is longer and taller than in most comparably priced hatchbacks, and a squared-off shape. 

Indeed, our only demerit is that there’s quite a significant lip to negotiate when lifting heavy items in and out of it and there's no option of having an adjustable boot floor. If you need more boot space you might also want to consider the Skoda Octavia Estate (which does have an adjustable boot floor).

As standard, there’s a 12V socket, a couple of bag hooks and a couple of fenced-off areas that will stop your de-icer and other boot clutter sliding around. Options include a space-saver spare wheel that sits under the boot floor. An electric tailgate with hands-free gesture control is standard on SE L trim.

"The boot is huge, which meant I was occasionally having to reach far into the boot to retrieve items. A height-adjustable boot floor could help to organise some of my rarely-used cargo." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The entry-level price of a Skoda Octavia in SE Technology trim is very similar to a Vauxhall Astra, higher than for the equivalent Seat Leon but lower than for a Ford Focus or Toyota Corolla. A top-end SE L or Sportline Octavia will set you back much less than equivalent premium models, such as the Mercedes A-Class.

Skoda is usually generous with deposit contributions, so it’s fair to expect a monthly PCP finance rate that’s competitive with the Leon and undercuts the Astra. You could save even more if you get the best price through our Skoda deals page.

Official CO2 emissions are broadly in line with those of the Focus and Astra, although the hybrid Corolla and Honda Civic perform noticeably better. If you're looking for a company car that attracts low BIK tax you're likely to be better off with a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or electric car. At the time of writing, Skoda hasn’t confirmed whether an Octavia PHEV will join the range again.

Entry-level SE Technology trim comes with 16in alloy wheels, heated front seats, keyless ignition, dual-zone climate control and cruise control. It's available with the TSI 116 petrol engine, the 1.5 TSI e-Tec and the TDI diesels.

If you go for our recommended TSI 150 petrol engine, you have to step up to at least SE L trim (which is our pick of the range anyway). That gets you larger 17in alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, ambient lighting, keyless entry, a heated front windscreen and adaptive cruise control.

Sportline is a sportier equivalent to SE L and comes with 18in alloy wheels, a small black rear spoiler, sports front seats and aluminium pedals.

The Octavia performed poorly in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey, finishing down near the bottom of the 29 family cars polled. It was above the Audi A3 and the VW Golf but behind its other rivals.

In the manufacturer table, Skoda fared better, claiming 16th place out of the 32 included brands. Toyota did far better, claiming second place, but Skoda’s other rivals finished further down the table – Seat taking 18th, BMW 12th, Mercedes 24th and Ford 17th.

If things do go wrong, you’ve got a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty that can be extended to five years and 100,000 miles for a fee. Kia’s standard warranty is far more generous at seven years/100,000 miles, while the Corolla comes with a 10-year/100,000 mile warranty, provided you service at an approved centre each year.

The Octavia received the top five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, scoring fairly well in each of the tested areas. At first glance, the Octavia didn’t score as well at protecting adult occupants in the front and children in the rear as the Focus and Corolla but it’s impossible to directly compare results because those rivals were tested under less stringent conditions.

You’ll be happy to know that all Octavias come with plenty of standard safety kit, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assist, traffic-sign recognition and an e-call system that notifies the emergency services if you’re involved in an accident.

Blind-spot monitoring can be added to SE L trim as part of the Assisted Drive Package Plus to warn you of traffic approaching behind you.

"On our carefully controlled test route, I managed an impressive 48.5mpg in an Octavia with the 1.5-litre petrol engine. That's better than the 46.3mpg I achieved in a similar Seat Leon on the same route." – Neil Winn, Deputy Reviews Editor

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