OP play a game.
Start unscrewing parts of your car or rooting around under the bonnet and see how long it takes you to find VW logos on things...
[example](https://youtu.be/cWbaCVSJMsg?si=fJOAZ1JFDJMbiUID)
Lots of the same parts underneath. To generalise: Where Skoda saves money to make the cars cheaper is on interior materials, the amount of sound deadening insulation, and simpler suspension components.
An example: About 12 years ago the Skoda version of the group 2L diesel came with no balance shafts, for example, leading to a cheaper to make, but more vibration prone, engine. I doubt this one's still the case today; the amount of diesel engines to group makes is way down, wouldn't make sense to manufacture lots of alternatives.
Just as a single point of reference.
If you have a mk3 / mk3.5 Octavia with digital climate control.
The controls are the same in:
2016 Golf,
2018 Tiguan,
2017 Scirocco,
2014 Touran,
2016 Beetle,
2017 Passat,
2020 Skoda Superb,
2021 Karoq,
2018 Kodiaq,
2019 Seat Tarraco,
2019 Leon,
2020 Areca,
All those years are just the first ones I saw that matched on autotrader.
If the VW group are anything, it’s good at making the same parts fit loads of their range.
Driving them there is a genuine difference between them, and often Audi will get the most powerful versions of the engine, or just a bigger engine, (eg 3.0 TDI). Audi also has proper quattro in A4 and above rather than the Haldex in A3 and VW / Skoda (it's more complex than that, but you can see what I'm saying)
They can be better build quality despite using a very high percentage of the same VW/Audi parts. It was certainly the case a while back that Skodas had higher reliability than SEATs for example due to quality of assembly at the plants. This was shown in several reliability studies at the time. Not particularly surprising as I remember when the Skoda plant was brand spanking new and they were producing lovely cars. I ran an Octavia for 9 years way back and the parts inside were all VW/Audi branded and the car was a Golf with a hatch. Only the interior dash was lower quality, as you might expect. Also remember that not all German cars are made in Germany any more so build quality is bound to vary.
Very similar, lots of shared components. Generally less sound deadening and nice feeling materials. Each of VW, Audi, Skoda and SEAT will tune vehicles to meet their own needs - e.g. suspension for ride and handling.
Ignore the shiny bits you can see, they are designed to look like Skoda
All the bits you can’t see are shared across the Golf, A3 and Leon. Starting with the underbody which the body shell sits on, the complete engine/gearbox power train, electronics, brakes and on and on the list goes
Saves a lot of money sharing parts across multiple models.
Mechanically, they are going to be very similar unless you look at high-end Audis. Even then, they will share some components.
I used to have a Polo (13 plate), one of my mates an A1(13 plate) and another mate had a Fabia (17 plate).
The Audi was leagues above the others on the interior, and just the overall finish of the car was to a higher standard.
The other thing we found was that the inside of the Fabia was basically made from the spare parts bin of the older Polo. All the switches were out of the Polo, but with different backlighting. There are benefits to this tbf, as by the time those parts get the the Skodas they've been tried and tested in other cars for a while, however it does leave them feeling a little outdated compared with the other 2 brands.
Basically, if you want a car to go A to B the Skodas are really decent value, but you do miss out on some of the finer touches the more expensive cars in the group offer.
The gap between Skoda/Seat and VW has closed a little recently tbf, and my recommendation nowadays would actually be to go for a Seat. Little bit of a finer finish than Skodas, but still good value, and they tend to look and feel a little sportier than either as well.
my superb and my dad's passat were built in the same factory... in the Czech Republic. mine has more kit but my dad's overall quality feels slightly better.
I've noticed the paint on the VWs and Audis are better than the skoda
I’ve had 2 vw passats, an A4 and currently in superb. All brand new cars I’ve had over the last ten years. The Audi had some nice features that I specd in but overall the vws and Skoda seem better cars. Drove better, more features for less money, faster etc.
Although the styling on Audis probably win the other cars in my experience are better buys.
I love my hybrid superb, it’s the best estate car I’ve had so far.
Although I’ve had a 330e touring for a loaner before and that was miles ahead
People love mentioning this connection but forget to include that the build quality, materials, comfort, sound deadening is much much worse than that of say Audi. Great amount of the mechanical bits are shared but they have to make them different enough somewhere.
I don’t downplay the value of a skoda tho either, hell I drive a seat, which must at least share a single nut with a bentley or a bugatti, but at least an audi, but for people looking for no bullshit no frills cars, seat and skoda are great. Same mechanical soundness as other simple VAG cars but so much cheaper
I’ve ditched my diesel 2020 audi A4 for a 2023 Skoda superb iv and it’s a big upgrade. Maybe the lower end Skodas don’t compete but the higher end ones drive better (don’t understeer half as badly), have better gearbox’s (6 speed vs the dumb 7 speed dsg in the Audi), adaptive cruise control which wasn’t even possible to add as an option when I ordered my audi, even though it came standard in my 2017 Passat.. the list goes on. The bowers and Wilkins audio system in the Audi was great but that’s about all it had going for it.
OP play a game. Start unscrewing parts of your car or rooting around under the bonnet and see how long it takes you to find VW logos on things... [example](https://youtu.be/cWbaCVSJMsg?si=fJOAZ1JFDJMbiUID)
Lots of the same parts underneath. To generalise: Where Skoda saves money to make the cars cheaper is on interior materials, the amount of sound deadening insulation, and simpler suspension components. An example: About 12 years ago the Skoda version of the group 2L diesel came with no balance shafts, for example, leading to a cheaper to make, but more vibration prone, engine. I doubt this one's still the case today; the amount of diesel engines to group makes is way down, wouldn't make sense to manufacture lots of alternatives.
It uses the MQB platform of the likes of the Golf and Audi A3
Just as a single point of reference. If you have a mk3 / mk3.5 Octavia with digital climate control. The controls are the same in: 2016 Golf, 2018 Tiguan, 2017 Scirocco, 2014 Touran, 2016 Beetle, 2017 Passat, 2020 Skoda Superb, 2021 Karoq, 2018 Kodiaq, 2019 Seat Tarraco, 2019 Leon, 2020 Areca, All those years are just the first ones I saw that matched on autotrader. If the VW group are anything, it’s good at making the same parts fit loads of their range.
Parts packaging is usually VW-Audi-SEAT-Skoda ... confuses Americans as the latter two brands aren't used there.
Driving them there is a genuine difference between them, and often Audi will get the most powerful versions of the engine, or just a bigger engine, (eg 3.0 TDI). Audi also has proper quattro in A4 and above rather than the Haldex in A3 and VW / Skoda (it's more complex than that, but you can see what I'm saying)
They can be better build quality despite using a very high percentage of the same VW/Audi parts. It was certainly the case a while back that Skodas had higher reliability than SEATs for example due to quality of assembly at the plants. This was shown in several reliability studies at the time. Not particularly surprising as I remember when the Skoda plant was brand spanking new and they were producing lovely cars. I ran an Octavia for 9 years way back and the parts inside were all VW/Audi branded and the car was a Golf with a hatch. Only the interior dash was lower quality, as you might expect. Also remember that not all German cars are made in Germany any more so build quality is bound to vary.
Very similar, lots of shared components. Generally less sound deadening and nice feeling materials. Each of VW, Audi, Skoda and SEAT will tune vehicles to meet their own needs - e.g. suspension for ride and handling.
Ignore the shiny bits you can see, they are designed to look like Skoda All the bits you can’t see are shared across the Golf, A3 and Leon. Starting with the underbody which the body shell sits on, the complete engine/gearbox power train, electronics, brakes and on and on the list goes Saves a lot of money sharing parts across multiple models.
I think the electric handbrake switches the same in every VW group car ever made. Ever.
A skoda is a cheap VW. A VW is a cheap Audi.
Mechanically, they are going to be very similar unless you look at high-end Audis. Even then, they will share some components. I used to have a Polo (13 plate), one of my mates an A1(13 plate) and another mate had a Fabia (17 plate). The Audi was leagues above the others on the interior, and just the overall finish of the car was to a higher standard. The other thing we found was that the inside of the Fabia was basically made from the spare parts bin of the older Polo. All the switches were out of the Polo, but with different backlighting. There are benefits to this tbf, as by the time those parts get the the Skodas they've been tried and tested in other cars for a while, however it does leave them feeling a little outdated compared with the other 2 brands. Basically, if you want a car to go A to B the Skodas are really decent value, but you do miss out on some of the finer touches the more expensive cars in the group offer. The gap between Skoda/Seat and VW has closed a little recently tbf, and my recommendation nowadays would actually be to go for a Seat. Little bit of a finer finish than Skodas, but still good value, and they tend to look and feel a little sportier than either as well.
my superb and my dad's passat were built in the same factory... in the Czech Republic. mine has more kit but my dad's overall quality feels slightly better. I've noticed the paint on the VWs and Audis are better than the skoda
I’ve had 2 vw passats, an A4 and currently in superb. All brand new cars I’ve had over the last ten years. The Audi had some nice features that I specd in but overall the vws and Skoda seem better cars. Drove better, more features for less money, faster etc. Although the styling on Audis probably win the other cars in my experience are better buys. I love my hybrid superb, it’s the best estate car I’ve had so far. Although I’ve had a 330e touring for a loaner before and that was miles ahead
Audi, Seat, Skoda and VW are all the same under the VAG company.
People love mentioning this connection but forget to include that the build quality, materials, comfort, sound deadening is much much worse than that of say Audi. Great amount of the mechanical bits are shared but they have to make them different enough somewhere.
It’s just a delusional talking point people use to convince themselves the cheap Skoda they bought is actually an Audi. Like the plague in here
I don’t downplay the value of a skoda tho either, hell I drive a seat, which must at least share a single nut with a bentley or a bugatti, but at least an audi, but for people looking for no bullshit no frills cars, seat and skoda are great. Same mechanical soundness as other simple VAG cars but so much cheaper
I’ve ditched my diesel 2020 audi A4 for a 2023 Skoda superb iv and it’s a big upgrade. Maybe the lower end Skodas don’t compete but the higher end ones drive better (don’t understeer half as badly), have better gearbox’s (6 speed vs the dumb 7 speed dsg in the Audi), adaptive cruise control which wasn’t even possible to add as an option when I ordered my audi, even though it came standard in my 2017 Passat.. the list goes on. The bowers and Wilkins audio system in the Audi was great but that’s about all it had going for it.
You're delusional thinking they're that different
Terminally online spreadsheet wankers out in force today.