Skoda Octavia Scout: month 2

Arrived: May 2008
List price (including options): £20,240
Average economy: 40.4mpg

The Skoda Octavia Scout has been -

Stretching its legs on a couple of lengthy motorway journeys of late. The first was a trip of to Le Mans for the annual 24 Hours extravaganza, where we met up with fellow Yahoo! long term reporters Shane and Kyle. My trip from Perthshire took me to Reigate via the Lake District on the first leg south, and on the second day to France through the Channel Tunnel and on to La Sarthe for the race. Like the others, camping was the order of the day and the Scout's boot coped easily with tent, deck chair, clothes and muddy boots. The return leg was a doodle as I managed to miss the crush leaving the circuit and ambled up the peage with the cruise control set at the French legal limit of 130km/h to make it to my Boulogne overnight stop. Another day, another long motorway trip as I collected my wife in London and headed home. All in, 1,700 miles in four days and the Scout shrugged it off with ease.

We're loving the -

The front seats. After the trip to Le Mans, an early start was required a few days later to have me at a mid-morning meeting in Birmingham. Dragging myself from a warm bed was made marginally easier thanks to the Skoda's superb seats. All the way to France and back and then during the return trip to Brum, not so much as an ache, creak or twinge - and this is from someone who suffers from a bad back. The trip home from Birmingham was frustrated by the M6 being closed south of Manchester, so a cross-country jaunt over the Peak District to the M1 also showed up how easily the Scout shifts from motorway cruiser to back road rouser. Throughout all of these long distance hi-jinks, the other element of comfort that has left a deep sense of satisfactions is the Octavia's stereo. With an MP3 connection as standard and my iPod plugged in, the speakers belt out my questionable choice in music with clarity and more than enough volume for my delicate ears. This is an important point when covering plenty of miles, which I'm more than grateful for after hearing of Kyle's woes with the Mazda's speakers.

But not so impressed by -

There's something loose underneath the dash. Even more frustrating is it's an intermittent problem as whatever is rolling around free must sometimes become lodged and ceases its campaign of torture. Whatever it is, it's easily upset by back road bumps that cause it to jump into life. A trip to the local dealership will hopefully cure this under warranty and be the first test of Skoda's service network that I've encountered since taking possession of the Octavia Scout's keys.

We're looking forward to -

Believe it or not, some towing. New house means lots of rubbish to cart to the dump and a recent session of garden clearing has left me with a pile of refuse too big and filthy to put inside the Skoda. So, it will be a first time test of the Scout's optional tow bar pack and only the third time I've dabbled with the black art of reverse parking with a trailer. Still, it will be worth it to be able to see the back garden again. If all goes well with the trailer, I may even be brave enough to make use of a borrowed caravan to head off on holiday later this year.

Alisdair Suttie