I should start by saying that when the LS3 is on song and the corners beckon, I really don't care. The car is great.
I have the SSV Redline Wagon (VFII, May build 2016)
BUT
The car is 7 years newer and double the price, compared to the Skoda Octavia it replaced. It feels like in many senses, it has gone backwards compared to the Skoda I had. Heres my list of disappointments. Most of which I had sussed out before I ponied up. Worth noting that I negotiated really hard to feel better about some of the shortcomings listed below.
- (1) My link. Crap as. How to take something simple and make it complicated. Eg, if I am listening to bluetooth, and come back to the car after going to the shops? It puts the radio on. I WAS LISTENING TO BLUETHOOTH. Not hard. Also you can't pause music. WTF? This is just one example. The whole thing is a disappointment. But the navigation is surprisingly ok.
- (2) Hard plastics. REALLY HARD PLASTICS. On the door trim, right next to the suede, on the door sills even.
- (3) WAGON: 6 Speaker stereo, stolen from the Evoke. AWFUL SOUND. You sell this thing for 65k and put the cheapest chinese speakers you can find? I should be refunded the difference to the 9 speaker BOSE system.
- (4) WAGON: Sunroof deleted. This is a 2k option on lower spec cars. Yet you charge me 2k over the redline Sedan to not get the sunroof. Gimmie my 2k back.
- (5) Centre Console. Feels like it would blow away in the breeze, the flimsiest piece of plastic I ever did encounter. Also, the release / locking latch to the console bin is the worst tactile experience you will encounter, short of what ensues after 'slipping on the soap' in the prison showers.
- (6) Cabin oddment storage. A real strong point in the Skoda. A real weak point in the VFII.
- (7) Hyperactive warning alarms. OMG, WTF? This car thinks everything is about to kill you and beeps at you all the time. My wife's 25k Polo has the same tech and only very rarely mis-fires on the warning alarm. My car thinks any car it sees in the street is about to crash into me. Seriously, awful calibration. Holden should have fixed this on the VFII. Embarrasing. I just turn it off and maybe one day, it won't save my life as a result.
- (8) Convenience features: A Skoda strong point. Why aren't the mirrors heated? I just gave you 65k? Rear view mirror, should be electrochromatic. I just gave you 65k. Passenger mirror should move down when in reverse. I just gave you 65k. (I didn't give you 65k but that's your RRP on drive away).
On this last point, I think Holden were to keen to differentiate the Calais from the Redline. As a result they software crippled and otherwise withheld features which you should get in any 65k car. Rather than looking at the market they just looked at their own product line in isolation. Poor move.
Would I buy this car again? Yes, I would. But I feel Holden has taken some shortcuts with their last ever car.