I’ve not read the self-help book about relationships, whatever it’s called – you know the one about Men Can’t do Heavy Lifting and Women Can’t Multi-task – but, I expect it must mention the Skoda Scout in there somewhere.
Driving my girlfriend and her two female friends up the A1 in the hissing rain was a multi-tasking experience that I won’t be rushing to have again. Although if I do, I shall endeavour to have the Octavia Scout with me.
The ladies were very much in a zone together, and I could barely understand the conversation. I tried to listen, but it seemed to my unsophisticated male ear that before anyone finished a sentence, the others chirped in with, “Oh yeaaaah!”
Which was met with a volley of, “Do you know what I mean...?”
I get that it was rhetorical (just) but I didn’t know what anyone meant, I was bordering on lost, in rush hour traffic, on a badly worn road surface in a twilight flash flood. The water wasn’t draining from the road and I just didn’t have the spare mental capacity to ask for an explanation.
Yet, despite these adverse conversational conditions I was really very calm and my version of the conversations was quite a surprise to my passengers when I relayed it the next day.
For which we can thank the Skoda Octavia Scout. It’s all-wheel-drive, chunky wheels, felt like they were ploughing through the flooded road so easily that I didn’t particularly need to slow down. The light steering still managing to give me the feedback I needed to trust that I knew what the car was doing. And while I am not a fan of cars that sit high, on nights like that, there is something to be said for the driving position and all-round visibility.
And it was quiet, the seats were supportive and the driving position superbly adjustable. The boot consumed a huge amount of luggage and the room in the back seats was adequate for adults too (once the head restraints had been wrestled to an adult’s height).
So, despite my shortcomings in understanding what people mean, we arrived at our destination, after three hours of motoring, all pretty relaxed and really quite fresh.
And that’s why all relationships need a Skoda in their lives.
What’s the market like?
Skodas are not cheap to buy new and many of the nearly new models seem to stay in the main dealer network (rather than escaping to supermarkets and independents like Fords and Vauxhalls and Renaults). Which means prices stay firm.
A new Skoda Octavia Scout 2.0 TDI with a reasonable spec is a thumping £25,000. A three year old version of the current shape is a more palatable £16,000 with 30,000 miles on the clock. But it’s still not a bargain.
The 1.8 TSI petrol is much cheaper. You can get one year old examples for under £18,000. But the engine is less capable, it doesn’t have the all-wheel-drive advantage and if you are going for that engine, you may as well have a standard Octavia rather than the jacked-up Scout and save even more.
Summary
A rugged family estate that you can be proud to be seen in – provided you didn’t overpay.