I have a 2.0 Octavia Elegance Hatch, which I've owned for approx 7 months now. It's the 4th Skoda I've owned, and more than any other, this one has convinced me that I'll only ever own Skoda cars in the future.
It isn't the engine I wanted (I initially wanted the 1.9 TDi but couldn't find one in my price range). However, I've found the 2.0 petrol engine very reliable and reasonably economical (I do approx 250 miles a week in my commute to work, averaging 40.5 MPG over the week).
The car is comfortable, cruises nicely and happily on the motorways and is responsive enough to pull you out of trouble if needed. The only thing I personally would improve (and this still doesn't irritate me enough to class it as a bad point) is I'd like the suspension to be a bit stiffer. That though, is because I'm still a girl-racer at heart.