A Lot of 4×4 For Your Money with the Skoda Octavia Estate

The Skoda Octavia Estate is an excellent family car. The company has shed their negative image of yesteryear and are sporting a completely revolutionised brand, and products. Their cars nowadays are worlds apart from models a decade or two ago, and the Octavia both looks great, performs well, and is cheap to buy and run.

There are a couple of different engine choices, the most economical of which being the 1.6 diesel that offers an exceptional 73mpg! This isn’t a small car either, obviously it’s quite a large estate with plenty of room for passengers and luggage alike. When you consider that the car can be bought for just £23,000 you’ll see that this really is a cheap car to buy and to run, especially when many other four wheel drive cars are a lot more expensive. Be aware however that if it is specifically the four wheel drive aspect that interests you then only certain models contain this feature.

You wouldn’t want to be tackling the wilds of a proper muddy off-road track, as this is essentially a family car, however it does give you the versatility and adaptability of being able to cope with adverse conditions on the roads. The Octavia Estate also contains a vast array of features and technology that appears in more expensive vehicles of this class – such as USB ports, Bluetooth, leather seats and cruise control (some of which only in the ‘Elegance’ class).

The car has also scored 5 stars in the EuroNcap results, and so there are many aspects such as the safety, technological features, fuel economy and practicality that make this a great family car. One advanced safety feature includes the driver fatigue sensor that automatically detects when a driver is falling asleep, and an additional lane departure detection system for additional safety.

4×4 estates have the benefit that they look more akin to a regular family car as opposed to the high sided traditional four wheel drives such as the Discovery or the Honda CR-V.

What are Intensive Driving Courses?

There’s a new craze at the minute when it comes to learning to drive. As with everything modern, people want fast results, and learning to drive is no exception. Learner drivers are keen to get behind the wheel and finally hit the road as a fully fledged qualified driver. There are so many driving schools out there it can be a bit of a minefield choosing which one to go for. In terms of getting your licence as quickly as possible you can take up an intensive course of driving that will allow you to get on the road within as little as five days. Five days is really very quick, and you will appreciate the one to one relationship that you will develop with your driving instructor.

As this is a fairly ‘intense’ course with lots and lots of driving every day, you will get to know your instructor quite well, and they will know exactly what you are good at, and what you need to work on. Because of this, many schools offer guaranteed pass courses whereby they will ensure that you leave their school with a pass, and most of them don’t even charge any more if you need extra training. This additional reassurance is great for the cost-conscious, and many learner drivers would appreciate this extra level of security.

Ever wanted your own private jet?

When you think of private jets you think of fat cat bosses and rock star types ‘living it up’ trotting the globe in style. The price tag for purchasing your own kerosene guzzling beast isn’t for the faint hearted, however nowadays hiring or chartering jets has become much more common. Companies are trying to cut their executive travel budgets, and one way they have been doing this is chartering instead of purchasing outright.

Ever wondered just how much does a private jet cost? PrivateJetCosts.net outline the different prices you can expect to pay for hiring or purchasing a private jet. This lens will try to talk you through the different cost implications of hiring a private jet, and if you’ve not fallen over in a cold sweat, we will run through the expected costs of ownership as well.

Have a spare £3 million? One Direction do and they have hired a private jet to fly them around the world in speed and style for their recent world tour. Unlucky to their supporting act, who had to get the cross-channel ferry and tourbus!

Choosing a Family 8 Passenger Vehicle

When looking for a new family car there are tons of considerations to make. Firstly price is a deciding factor for most of us, so after setting your budget you can have a brief look around at what options are available within your price range. Whether this be a brand new model or a second-hand vehicle is your choice, but personally I feel you always get a lot better value by opting for a second-hand car.

The second consideration would be how big does it need to be? Do you have a large family that would certainly need a vehicle to carry 8 passengers, or do you have more conservative needs such as a 6 or 7 seater? Even if you definitely need a large version, there is still a lot of choice in the marketplace and there are vehicles to suit every taste and requirement. Many are 4WD cars, perfect for off-road. That brings me to my next point, which is that you should consider what weather and road conditions you expect to be travelling in. If you live in snowy Canada you may need a completely different beast to the sunny climes of Florida. Having four wheel drive and a centre differential would be more of a priority, whereas air conditioning and climate control is an obvious necessity in the Sunshine State.

Another highly important factor for family usage is safety. Most modern 8 seaters come with all of the latest technological gadgets to improve the level of safety, however care should be taken if purchasing a used auto to ensure it isn’t lacking in the safety department. Things like airbags, side airbags, anti-skid, anti-lock etc are essentials these days.