There is a very real likelihood that I will be made redundant in 2022. I’ll deal with the details of that in a different post, but it has got me looking at my finances in a different way. For example, my YouTube channel would live on phone I buy just because they look interesting and I want to play with them. That has stopped over the last few months.
I then looked at my current car. Much as I love the Mustang, an imported V8 is not a car I should be driving around when trying to be frugal!
Whatever happens next year, one thing I know is I wont be working just 2 miles down the road. (You can afford 13mpg when you’re only doing 2,000 miles a year) There’s a good chance I could be commuting a reasonable distance with whatever job I take next and also, if I’m going to have some time off, I’d like to take the bike places and cycle in some different scenery. For this, I really need something nice and big that I can throw the bike into the back of.
So, a little bit of research later and I ended on a Skoda Superb Estate. I looked at Electric Vehicles, but they’re quite expensive still and often can be quite small too. The Skoda Superb Estate ticks a lot of boxes, lots of nice tech and features and LOADS of space in the back.
I test drove a few and even had a deposit down on a 2016 2L Estate, but before I could get the AA to come and do an independent check, the people at Quality Part X in Dunstable called to let me know they’d found a fault themselves and it was no longer for sale!
I did at least know exactly what I wanted, an Estate with the Technology package, which ensured Adaptive Cruise Control, Android Auto and some other features.
I set up alerts on various sites and within a few days another Skoda Superb Estate Technology had come on the market, reasonably close by in Luton. The only down side to this one was it was only 1.6L, but on the plus side, it was a Greenline Technology, which meant it was just that little bit more economical than most. I drove up to check it out and was happy enough with the performance of the 1.6L and actually loved the blue/green paint job, so another deposit went down!
The next day I cycled over to V12 Sports and Classics in Luton, put the bike in the boot and drove it home!
I’ve been driving it for a week now and have to say, I’m really pleased with it. I watched a few video reviews before and a couple of them made bold claims about it being the best car on the market and I think I understand why they might make such a bold claim.
The Good
There are plenty of things to like about the car –
- Android Auto
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- Comfort and ease of driving
- Parking sensors front and back
- Fuel economy around 65mpg
- Good sounding stereo
- Size of the boot
- Incredible amount of cabin space, especially the back seats
- Colour (it’s hard to capture the blue/green look in a photo)
- Generally how it looks
Then, the attention to detail is really impressive. Things like –
- The lights under the wing mirrors, doors, in the rear footwells
- The boot lights are removable and magnetic, so can be placed anywhere
- Various compartments hidden around the car
- Umbrellas in the front doors!
The Bad
I honestly can’t think of much wrong with this car. Clearly it’s not a performance car with a 0-60 of around 11 seconds, but I’m fine with that. Also, it’s quite a large car, but with the light steering, tight turning circle and sensors front and back, it’s actually quite easy to manoeuvre and park.
As you might expect from me, one of the first things I wanted to do was check the maps and firmware were up to date. This could be listed in the ‘bad’ column, as it’s not as easy as you would think it should be. I can connect my phone, why can the infotainment system not use my connection to auto update? Instead, I had to use forums and others assistance to get the software and follow a list of instructions to update to the most recent software.
Conclusion
I actually look forward to driving it at the moment and the thought that it’s not costing me £2 to drive to the shops and back is really nice. (By my calculations, every 4,000 miles I’ll save £1,000 in fuel!)
It’s a comfortable car with plenty of driving aids and gadgets and with the boot space it has, it’s more practical than anything I’ve ever owned before.
All in all I’m really pleased with my new Skoda Superb Estate.