Skoda review: 500,000 miles up and still motoring

Declan Colley gets behind the wheel of 2002 Škoda Octavia which has clocked up more than half a million miles as a taxi.

THE Skoda Octavia has been an iconic car for the Czech outfit since it was launched in 1996 and one of the reasons for this special status is the very reason why this week I am driving a version of the car which has clocked up a remarkable half-a-million miles during a lifetime spent — largely — as a taxi in Co Clare.

Now it is not very often we would even be offered such a car for test purposes but when the owner wrote to Skoda to tell them he wished to off-load his 500,000 mile Octavia, the company decided to buy.