You know what I laugh at anybody who laughs at Skoda's they are snobs. My uncle used to have a brand new BMW 750i he now drives a Skoda Fabria and has done nearly 100,000 miles in it, in that time nothing as gone with it at all.
Skoda's are apparantly better built than VWs, they are not as flash but they are much cheaper. Skodas use the latest VW technology before they end up in Polos and Golfs this allows Skoda to have a very long life span for its products, this why the Fabria is still one of the best small cars even though its a 5 year old design.
I personaly love the Skoda image. If you want cars to laugh at look in the direction of Lada or Peruda, or even Kia. Kia's may look good but they still have horrible chassis and engines, at least Skoda's have the latest in chasis and engine design so its only realy the body work that dosn't always look flash. Skoda's are coventional cars, they are for people who want a good car without the flashy image.