Overview

Should you buy one?

Yes. The Skoda Octavia Estate is so impressively fit for purpose, making it one of the very best estate cars. This fourth-generation version is even more on-point than its predecessors because of its bang up-to-date driver assistance and safety tech, not to mention the improved interior quality. The 2024 facelift only builds on that well-established base by updating areas that needed it, such as the infotainment system.

A Volkswagen Golf is still more refined and quiet on the move, but the Octavia is substantially more practical and better value for money. We think the two cars are now level pegging in terms of all-round ability. It’s the Skoda you choose for value and ease of use, while the Golf is marginally more technical inside and has an arguably more desirable image, although that’s surely less of an issue these days.

The Ford Focus Estate stills appeals for its highly engaging driving experience, the Peugeot 308SW for its style, the Kia Ceed Sportswagon and Toyota Corolla Touring Sports for their long warranties. But really it’s between the Skoda and Volkswagen.

What’s new?

It’s been around a while now, but the Skoda Octavia Estate is among the very best estate cars on sale, which also makes it one of our favourite family cars. It’s relatively compact on the outside – which helps when parking – but substantially more spacious inside than all its rivals. In fact, the Octavia Estate’s boot is bigger than that of many much bigger wagons. Put simply, if you need a car that can carry five and their luggage with the minimum of fuss, this is where you should start looking.

An Octavia Estate has been available alongside its hatchback sibling ever since the model was launched in the UK in 1998, and its always been noted for its space and practicality. The current, fourth generation version was launched in 2020 and updated in 2024 with sharpened styling, extra standard equipment and a revised model range.

We have a lot of experience of this car at Parkers. As well as testing multiple versions of the facelifted Octavia Estate, we’ve also spent extended periods living with the pre-facelift car. That includes a six-month long-term test of a 1.5-litre petrol model that focused on assessing how practical this load lugger is for families with young children. You can read more about how we test cars at Parkers.

The Octavia Estate line-up mirrors that of the hatchback. The engine range was rejigged with the facelift and now includes a single petrol and diesel engine, though both are available with two horsepower ratings. The 150hp petrol and diesel models are our top choices, though the rumoured return of the plug-in hybrid may be worth waiting. Likewise, the updated high-performance vRS version, which is due to arrive in the UK in late 2024.

There are three standard trim levels: SE Technology, SE L and Sportline. That’s a slight revision to the pre-facelift line-up – Sportline reappears and the most basic SE variant disappears. Standard equipment is upgraded across the board. All models now have LED headlights, 13.0-inch infotainment screen, 10.0-inch digital instrument cluster and more powerful wireless phone charging to go with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity.

Click through the following pages to read everything you need to know about the Skoda Octavia Estate. We cover its practicality, how much it costs to run, what it’s like to live with, how it feels to drive. They you can read our verdict to find out whether we recommend buying one.