Skoda Octavia Estate - Reliability & safety

Skoda has an excellent customer satisfaction record, both for reliability and customer service. Its vehicles are also extremely safe, with a string of five-star Euro NCAP results for virtually all of its latest models. We'd expect no less for the latest Octavia, which has more safety features than the outgoing version.

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Skoda Octavia Estate reliability

The latest Octavia uses a combination of new and evolved parts, so there shouldn't be too many surprises when it comes to reliability. However, its 66th place finish in our 2022 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey is a little further down the 75-car list than we perhaps expected, given that the Skoda Kodiaq came fifth and the Karoq finished in 18th.

In our 2021 brand survey, Skoda dropped out of the top ten, and came in 12th place - a surprising fall from grace as it was previously a consistent high-scorer. 

Safety

Crash test experts at industry body Euro NCAP gave the Octavia the top five-star rating recently. It scored 92 per cent for adult protection and 88 per cent and 79 per cent in the child protection and safety assist categories, so it’s a very safe car - and there’s plenty of safety kit included too.

As part of significant technology upgrades, the new Octavia has an array of new safety systems. It’s one of the first models to get collision avoidance assist, which is operated via the car’s front cameras, monitoring the road ahead at a distance of up to 35 metres. The system can also intervene to avoid a potential collision if the driver fails to take action at speeds of up to 90mph.

Also featured is turn assist, which uses side-mounted cameras to monitor oncoming traffic for hazards including pedestrians and cyclists, automatically bringing the car to a halt if a hazard is detected. When stationary, the car’s exit warning system scans the road, sounding an alert if either the driver or passenger tries to open a door if a vehicle, pedestrian or cyclist is detected.