Like me Dave, you do have to check out cars before deciding which is why i have a 50 mile test drive or 2 hours whichever i want. Car dealers are mostly obliging except Renault and VW who for some reason, say that its not possible to have more than 30 minutes trial. I had a new Renault in 2005 but it leaked water through the roof, applied the braking when i went around sharp corners and then an indicator lamp failed requiring removal of front wheel and wheel arch and removing an access hatch to fit which takes about 90 minutes. AA man took about the same time in an independent test on replacing these lamps.
Skoda is really a VW and if you peel off the Skoda badge on the rocker cover, you will find VW underneath. The sticker is fitted at the Skoda factory after VW send the engines out. Badge is stuck using double sided tape.
Skoda make a very good sports version of the Octavia hence the police use it as a pursuit vehicle