Skoda Felicia 1.3 Review

Overall Rating

. Reliable
. Easy DIY servicing
. Good load carrying ability
. Sturdy with good paintwork

. Mediocre performance and only fair economy
. Poor ventilation

The Skoda Felicia 1.3LXi is a practical and reliable car, but not for those who seek excitement. I also own a Honda Jazz, and it's interesting to compare them. Considering its image and older design, you might think the Skoda would compare poorly - but not so. The Honda has advantages in performance, economy, ventilation and refinement, but the Skoda is better in certain other areas.

Starting from the outside, this sturdily built Skoda has excellent paintwork (mine is silver) and after 6 years there is absolutely no sign of rust, in fact it still looks new. Inside, the doors are covered in a fabric similar to the seat coverings, which is wearing extremely well. The interior still retains a slight smell reminiscent of a carpet shop (the Honda smells of plastic). The dashboard is not up to the best standards but is pleasant and well laid out.

The controls are good, except for the light switches which are confusing. Skoda employs the best variable wiper delay system I have come across, where it remembers the delay period by example.

The interior space is average for its class, and the boot, which has the usual remote release, is particularly good, marred only by intruding suspension struts. The rear seats can be removed completely (not recommended for back sufferers!) which frees up a huge loading area - great for those trips to the recycling centre.

Ventilation is poor, although the car demists quickly, there never seems to be much outflow from the dash mounted face vents. Switching the fan speed to maximum gives a marginal increase in airflow at the expense of more noise. With this and stiff window winders the car can become stuffy. By contrast, the heater output is very good; warming up rapidly from cold it will keep the interior cosy on the coldest of days.

On the road the Skoda Felicia is pleasant to drive, with a light clutch and excellent gear change (not as positive as the Honda's but slightly lighter). The power assisted steering is not pin-sharp but the vehicle remains stable at all speeds, even in cross-winds. The handbrake is rather heavy and fitted with a coarse ratchet. The ride is quite good, being noticeably less harsh than the Honda's.

The engine is slightly lumpy at tick-over but smoothes off as soon as you pull away. As speed increases the engine gets louder and can sound harsh once taken above 4000 rpm (equivalent to 80mph in 5th gear). Performance is adequate, although acceleration is unremarkable. Economy is not particularly good either at around 34mpg (the Honda achieves 49mpg).

This particular model is fitted with the original Skoda designed all aluminium engine and gearbox (not VW), now up rated with multi-point fuel injection. Interestingly, under the auspices of VW, they removed the distributor and replaced it with a device that electronically switches the ignition between alternate pairs of cylinders. This means that a spark is wasted in whatever cylinder happens to be approaching the end of its exhaust stroke. Being a relatively simple engine it is still possible to carry out DIY servicing, with routine operations such as changing the oil and filters being straightforward.

Reliability has been very good. The only thing to have gone wrong is the hydraulic headlight aim mechanism, which leaked its fluid.

Members' Comments onalderny's Review

• mortonfirst on 12th Jan 2006

  I had a 98 Felicia 1.3 GLi, the one with power steering, until trading it in last October for a Fabia after 50 000 miles, and concur with everything in this review. Even my headlight aim system failed! Probably the most reliable car I've ever owned: in six years it only failed to start once: the battery was low and it turned out the thermostat was failing too. Great load carrier, (several camping trips with bikes on the roof) and we got 40mpg overall. There are still lots of these on the secondahand market at very low prices. Ours went to a friend whose daughter is learning to drive in it. Needless to say they like it and thought it well worth buying.