Skoda Octavia

Over the past six years, the Auto Express Driver Power Survey has become the biggest and most influential car reliability and satisfaction survey around.

This year, tens of thousands of you responded to a questionnaire which looked at all the key factors of owning and running a car. Lexus, Honda and Toyota dominated the top 10. However, it was the name that you placed at number one that made the others sit up and take notice. Skoda has been threatening to break the Japanese giants’ dominance for a while now. The Czech firm’s reputation for value, solid build and reliability has always seen it up among more expensive, prestigious motors.

However, in the excellent Octavia it has finally been able to add performance and driving dynamics to the package, thanks in no small part to the excellent vRS range. On top of this you raved about its incredible versatility – the hatch has a boot big enough to shame many larger cars, while the estate is cavernous.

It was this strength in depth that sealed it a memorable victory. Scoring seven top 10 places in each of the 10 categories, the Octavia demonstrated remarkable consistency – and that’s what left you singing its praises.