COTY 2016 Best Family Car Under $30K: Skoda Octavia
Slick Czech mid-sizer named top sub-$30,000 family car in carsales.com.au Carsales Car of the Year for 2016There is no doubt the Skoda Octavia measures up well against the Carsales Car of the Year criteria.
It’s outstanding value, very practical, has a good safety story to tell and drives neatly.
The Octavia can achieve all that because it is a thoroughly modern example of parts bin engineering and the benefits of economy of scale.
It taps into the Volkswagen Group inventory of bits including the MQB architecture it shares with Volkswagen's latest Golf as well as a range of frugal and smooth turbocharged engines.
In this latest update introduced just months ago, important safety gear including adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking have become standard across the range.
That makes the entry-level Ambition wagon, which we tested at Carsales Car of the Year, an almost impossible combination to match for any other medium-sized family load lugger, as we detailed here recently.
That doesn’t mean we couldn’t pick fault in the Octavia. The optional seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is a mixed blessing because of the laggy way it accelerates from standstill, and there is a level of steering rack rattle to be found.
In the end, however, it was the excellence of others rather than the Octavia’s issues that stopped it from claiming even higher honours in the CCOTY finals.
But as an accomplished family car priced under $30,000, this year there' no better than the Octavia.
Skoda Ocatavia 2016 Review
Skoda Octavia 2016 Road Test
The carsales.com.au Car of the Year winners are:
2016 carsales.com.au Car of the Year category winners:
Best First Car: Skoda Fabia
Best City Car: Audi A3 Sportback e-tron
Best Family Car Under $30K: Skoda Octavia
Best Family Car Over $30K: Mazda6
Best Green Car: BMW i3 ReX
Best Offroad 4x4: Ford Ranger
Best Performance Car Under $100K: Ford Focus RS
Best Performance Car Over $100K: Porsche 911 Carrera S
Best Prestige Car Under $100K: Audi A4
Best Prestige Car Over $100K: Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Best SUV Under $50K: Mazda CX-9
Best SUV Over $50K: Audi Q7
Best Tradie vehicle: Ford Ranger
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