SKODA ELROQ

Do age-old stigmas still plague award-winning SUV?

- Pete Baiden [e-mail]

YOU know how it goes — you're outside washing your car when your neighbour arrives home. He wanders over and the usual small talk about the weather and what Joan from number 43 got up to last week begins. However, he knows I’m a motoring journalist, so it’s only a matter of time before the conversation ends up drifting towards cars.

He notices the lack of a test car on my driveway and says: “What are you getting next?” I reply and tell him I'm getting a Skoda Elroq, and then I see something: a slight look on his face that suggests something isn’t right. I ask what’s wrong and he says: “Ummm... I wouldn't want a Skoda. They haven't got the best reputation, have they?”

I’m genuinely stunned. Has he been living under a rock for the past 25 years? I thought the Czech brand had long since shaken off its cheap and cheerful past, mainly because nearly every Skoda I've driven since joining Auto Express has been great. I assured him that Skodas are really good these days, but he didn’t look convinced.