The Skoda Octavia – as driven by taxi drivers

I HAVEN’T travelled in many taxis recently, but last week I was keeping a close eye on them.

After hearing anecdotal evidence that the Skoda Octavia is one of the most popular cars used by taxi drivers I wanted to see if it was true. My research is not very scientific, but after a week watching taxis, it looks like the Octavia and Toyota Avensis are the most popular vehicles for Irish taxi drivers.

That’s definitely a good recommendation if you want a car that is comfortable, spacious, frugal and will, as they say, go forever.

Skoda has really blossomed since being taken over by the VW group and recently they produced their 15-millionth car. Now that’s some progress for a company that in the eighties was the butt of various jokes.

Naturally the third generation of the Octavia bears no resemblance to their first model produced back in 1959. This new version is lighter, greener and more spacious than the model is replaces. It’s the latest car in the VW group built on the MQB platform, which is the same as Audi and Golf.

Externally there are no huge changes and it probably wouldn’t win any prizes on looks alone. However, when you sit in you will notice the extra space, especially for back seat passengers, who told me they were impressed with the leg space available. The boot space has also been increased, to an awesome 590 litres which is the best in its class.

Black is the dominant interior colour, which I suppose is a good colour for taxi drivers, as it doesn’t show up dirt from constantly ferrying passengers. A white roof does brighten up the interior decor. The radio controls are typical VW, while I also liked the little clip on the windscreen which holds parking tickets – the ones you get from the machine. A simple idea, but very handy.

Naturally the Octavia is a smooth car to travel in. And with stop-start technology it’s not heavy on diesel; it’s estimated that you could get over 70 miles per gallon in a combined urban/rural drive. Road tax on the model I drove is only

?¬180. As with the Skoda Rapid there is an ice scraper tucked away near the fuel cap. It doubles as a magnifying glass and hopefully you will only have reason to use it if you forget your glasses, not for scraping ice or snow.

Prices start at

?¬18,995 for the 1.2 litre petrol version. There are three different editions: Active, Ambition and Elegance.

I drove the 1.6 litre diesel Ambition version, which will cost you

?¬24,545. There is plenty of variety for buyers as the new Octavia is also available in 1.4 and 1.8 petrol plus 2.0 diesel. And when the time comes to trade in, it’s good to know that the Octavia is near the top of the pile in residual values.