Problems with the Superb II

[LeeJGold]

Hello I have been having various problems with my 2009 170tdi DSG Elegance Twin Door with Ivory Leather seats and Columbus Sat Nav. 

 

I brought this approved car from a large Skoda dealer and it had 37000 on the clock. However, I beginning to wonder if its done more miles than it says on the clock. In hindsight when I now look at the car it may have signs of higher mileage. Its now done 64k with full service history.

 

I was once an employee of VW so this has been the 6th superb I have owned, although this one was third hand when I brought it, but all the others were company cars and new. This is the only one that has given me problems.

 

The problems are:

 

1. The leather seats on the drivers side at purchase had already worn badly on the seat bolsters which look cracked and the leather colour had changed on the seat base looking darker and shiny, now at 64k it looks really bad. I took the car to Furniture Clinic and they have told me the issue is dye transfer from jeans which gets into the seat base. The premature wear is the constant squashing as you enter and exit. They can fix both front seats for around £220. With 37k on the clock at purchase surely they should not have looked like this and even at 64k this looks poor quality unless the car has been clocked? Does anyone know where you can get a seat base or complete seat from a breakers yard? I have searched the web but nothing comes up.
2. When I got the car, the foot rest you put your left foot on has the knobbly parts worn smooth. Again with 37k I would not have expected this. Has anyone had a similar level or ware?
3. The mats on the drivers side at purchase had worn threadbare? Again this is unusual as I had new mats made and have done a further 23k and they are not worn at all.
4. On day after purchase the battery died and needed replacing. Would this be true of a car with 37k? 
5. The seatbelts looked grey and dirty at purchase with slight fraying on the edges, surely not consistent with 37k or 64k. Has anyone else noticed this? Is there a way to clean seat belts without taking them out?
6. There is an annoying rattle/squeak coming from around the steering column, which has only just occurred in last month. I have had a little play around and If you look at the right and left storks for the lights and windscreen wipers there is a cowling that wraps round them covering the steering column. Now on mine the left stork had a problem where the cowling was rubbing against the storks collet causing a sort of rattle and squeak as the car travelled over certain types of road, usually the type where the road surface had broken up a bit causing the car to vibrate rapidly. Sometimes its there all the time and sometimes would go away for a while then come back with a vengeance. Its driven me insane. However, I may have fixed this by packing it out with foam. Did this by removing the top part of the cowling and putting a thing piece of foam in there around the stork and then replacing the cowling. Has anyone else come across this?
7. Squeaking rear seats. This appears to be coming from the centre arm rest where the leather rubs when its in an upright position. Have put a bit of material between the lower section and the seat which stopped the squeak here. The other one comes from the off side seat base rubbing against the plastic it sits in. This is worse if someone sits on the seat. Again a bit of material seems to fix this. Has anyone else experience this?
8. I have noticed that the seat lumber support can sometime inflate/deflate and move up/down on its own whilst driving. Anyone else had this problem?
9. Tyre pressure warning light keeps coming on but tyres are all OK any ideas why? Dealers could not find anything wrong.
10. I get a light bulb warning light comes on intermittently says check rear o/s side lights but all are OK. Any ideas why and what to check? Often happens if I open twin door tailgate or if its been damp or raining. Dealers cannot find anything either.
11. Columbus sat nav locked up one day with less than a year of ownership and failed to restart. Dealer replaced head unit on warranty thank god as cost £2300 plus a software CD for £199. However, when I got car back I had lost the ability to use steering wheel controls. Back it went again and they fixed that bit but then it came back with only two settings on the climate control working freezing cold and boiling hot. Back it went and dealer claimed they could not fix it but then after the second time it came back all working but they did not know why. Then just recently, same problem occurred, only freezing cold and boiling hot. Took it to another dealer who confirmed fault with 1hrs labour charge but could not fix it. Wanted to strip it out and charge a further £300-400 to investigate. When I got the car back I tried the fix to recalibrate flap motors found on forum and it worked. Surely the dealers should have done this first? Has anyone else had this issue if so how did you fix it?
12. Can anyone tell me how to remove the chrome smile from around the air dam as I had a little bump and damaged it. The air dam I repaired but could not figure out how to remove the smile to replace it. I found one on ebay but it says its for a 2008 model, would this still fit my own 2009 car?
13. Tyres saw-toothing on rear of the car. Got them replaced and the tyre place said I needed a 4 wheel alignment. What a mistake that was, they totally fu%^ed it up, not once by 4 times. Car was all over the shop pulling to left and right etc. Eventually had to take to a skoda dealer who charged a further £150 to do the same thing. They also fu%$ed it up too and took 3 attempts to get it right. All toll that cost £200 to get my wheels aligned when they were already aligned before a well known tyre place put them out. However, this car seems to eat tyres, this is the 3rd set, what with pot hole damage and 30k miles they seem to ware quick. Car no longer pulls left/right and breaks in straight line so looks like its be reset again ok. Anyone else had this?
14. Occasionally there is a very slight knocking which seems to be coming from under the car. I don't think its suspension related or driveshaft. I wondered if this could be the exhaust mountings perishing and allowing the exhaust to knock against the underside. I had a similar sound when I brought the car which was actually the rear parcel shelf with the sun blind in. Dealer fixed this but I suppose it could have worn on the brackets again.     
15. The lock on the fuel flap failed when I was over 100 miles from home with no fuel. The part was covered on the warranty but AA had to get thing open to get me home and broke the flap catch.
16. O/S wing mirror indicator repeater bulb has failed and the lens has cracked. Now why would the lens crack when its not been hit? Dealer is going to charge me £69 to fix it.
17. When I was looking for the rattle in the steering column I noticed that there appears to be a missing piece of trim from under the foot well that covers all the heating and ventilation tubs and steering column and electrics. I presume this would be some felt or something. Should there be something there to hide all that stuff or is it me be pedantic?  

I think the sheer number of faults are excessive as seem to support that the car may have been clocked. I have no other evidence but now having owned it for a year and half its looking more like its done a lot more miles with all the problems its having. Any help or advice gratefully received. Car still has another year of extended warranty to run but the skoda extended warranty does not cover head units or interior trim, diagnostics or leather seats so I need to do a bit of DIY homework first.

 

 

[ruffday]

IMHO non of these faults indicate it has been clocked,

The worn seat and footrest could just be down to the previous owner not looking after it.

Leather seats do need cleaning and treating to keep them looking good more so with light colours.

Is there much wear on the steering wheel and pedal rubbers.

[Danny 57]

I agree with ruffday.

[LeeJGold]

The peddle rubbers were ok but I guess they could have been replaced easily. Steering wheel is a bit shiny too.

[Superb170]

I've read through your post a couple of times and I have to agree with ruffday and Danny, it sounds more like a car that has been badly looked after more than a clocked model. Was it a company it leased car because those issues appear to be more consistent with that kind of car. I've driven brand new Skodas with the noise around the steering wheel which seems to be a common issue. The wear on the seats can appear after a couple of years of neglect. The mats will Always wear out in a few years and the leather must be looked after it else it will show signs of wear and tear from an early stage.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mannyo]

Get someone to read the engine ECU with VCDS, it has the cars actual mileage (in KMS) and unlike the dashpod display cannot be altered.

To be fair, I sold my 2008 Superb MK2 with 44K miles on it, and the seat bolsters showed signs of wear. If like me the previous owner was short then when they get in/out they are always rubbing their clothes against the bolster. Shiny steering wheel can be easily cured by cleaning it with a decent leather cleaner, the shine is caused by skin oils being absorbed and on the surface of the leather. My Audi had a shiny wheel, but looks as good as new now after several deep cleans.

Different people drive differently, so they do different things with their feet so mats can wear through easily. My current A8 with 135K miles on it has the carpet mat worn through, but my previous one with 192K miles on it the mats were fine.

[Coops]

Looks like a poorly maintained and looked after vehicle to me - mine has done over 80k in 3 years but I've looked after it and in some places it is starting to look tired but on the whole is OK.

 

My mats went through in about 40k miles. The right hand drivers seat bolster is slightly creased but nothing major.

[JakeBlade]

Most of them look like problems that other owners have had on this forum, and doesn't necessarily point to a clocked car.  Just that you have been unfortunate enough to have more than your fair share.

 

You could do as Mannyo suggests above and get someone with VCDS to scan your ECU for the actual distance.  If this is different to what is on the odometer then you have all the ammunition you need to throw your keys back at the dealer.

 

Some possible quick wins for you from your list:

 

9.  It could be that the default setting for the TPMS was never reset to 2.2 bar (from 3.0 bar) at the pre-delivery inspection.  This happened to mine which was going off frequently.  They hooked it up to the computer and the problem was sorted.

 

16. Is a DIY fix for a lot less than £69 if you are feeling brave enough.  Wing mirror indicators are available here: http://www.superskoda.com/Skoda/SUPERB-II/Lights/ and there is a guide on the forum on how to dismantle the wing mirror.  I remember seeing it somewhere in Wayne's thread.  I will dig it out link it here for you.

 

EDIT: link for the mirror lens fix (#1359): http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/262973-i-found-my-superb-shes-called-audrey/?p=3687738

Edited 28 October, 2014 by JakeBlade

[numskull]

OK.... My Superb is a 2011 Elegance with 27k....I'm the second owner. Here goes...

1. Normal - my driver Seat is already showing signs of wear; without doubt the quality of the leather is not as good at the MK1.
2. Normal - The knobbly bits are wearing down on mine too...
3. Normal - The MK1 OEM mats are pretty rubbish. The Fine quality ones for the MK2 seem even worse. On my MK1, they too were shot at 60k.
4. Normal. Batteries are a lottery. My wife's 11 y/o Focus battery finally gave up after 10 years. The 1y/o Octavia I had 2 replaced (under warranty) in 3 years. My sons 07 Punto was just replaced and my MK1 gave up after 8 years and 115k.
5. Normal. Mine on my MK1 (I presume yours are beige?) were filthy after 60k and they're very hard to clean properly too...
6. Normal. I have an annoying rattle and squeak somewhere under the dash too on the drivers side, and sometimes, I don't! I think temperature has a lot to do with it.
7. Normal. Mine squeaked too, so I applied some leather polish and hey presto, it stopped. I also had the annoying door lock and door rubber squeaks too. All cured with tips from this great forum! 
8. Nope - not had that one, but I'm a bit stumped on how the darn thing works properly anyway!
9. Normal (or not unusual). Mine came on, pressures were fine and as suggested elsewhere, it needed to be reset. No more issues to date.
10. Agree - odd that one..
11. Not normal but not unusual. If you look on this forum, many people have had numerous issues with the Columbus unit. Great that you have a new one though!
12. Body damage so not a fault as such.
13. Seems to be normal'ish but I'd be annoyed if mine destroyed tyres. In 118k on my MK1, I've had three sets (plus an offside front replacement by the dealership after they kerbed it!)
14. Not "normal" but doubt its unusual
15. Not "normal" but its a known weakness and bloody annoying 
16. Normal - bulbs and LED's fail...at any time!
17. Could be missing, but you need to check with another car to be sure.

So, just to put this into perspective, your car is five years old, with three drivers and covered 64k. As others have said, it sounds like it wasn't particularly well cared for by the first and second owner/drivers and having managed a fleet of 3000 cars, I can contest that some drivers really don't give a damn. So, TBH Lee, all I can see is these are primarily age, known problem related.

 

Cheers... Rob

 

PS - do you like the car?  

[LeeJGold]

Thanks chaps makes me feel a bit better, I guess next time I buy one I will look harder but at the time I had just been made redundant and lost my company car so needed one real quick. I am slowly sorting out the issues, not sure if its worth getting the seats sorted at £200 give age but I may do the air dam smile as I have sorted the dent in the air dam ok. Can anyone tell me how to remove the smile, is it a simple job?

[Coops]

... but I may do the air dam smile as I have sorted the dent in the air dam ok. Can anyone tell me how to remove the smile, is it a simple job?

 

Never touched it myself but looking at the diagrams on the parts, it doesn't show up any additional screws which would secure it so I would assume that it is merely clipped in?

[silver1011]

Did the car come with a service book?

 

I appreciate the books can be forged but does it have dealer stamps in it from new? A quick phone call to each of the dealers to cross-check the mileage should allow for some confidence on the mileage.

[JakeBlade]

The mileage from the last 4 or so MOTs should also be shown on the MOT paper document.

[LeeJGold]

Yes it had a service book with all the stamps from new to 37k from Skoda. I have since had it serviced again with skoda. Its only had two MOTs since I had it and I did one of them and the other was done by the dealer I purchased it from. I think a phone call to the servicing dealers and the previous owners would be worth the price of a call.

[peterposh]

It could have been clocked a few times, just before MOTs and servicing is advantageous . There's no way to know unless you've owned the car from new. If not happy with car why not sell it and get something else?

[jimbof]

I bought my Edition 100 MK1 with 38,000 on the clock, and at those miles it had noticeable wear to the bolster and one side of the seat base creased, and the door pull looked like someone was opening the door with a claw, not a hand.  I've done 90,000 miles in it now myself (128K total), replaced the pull when I got it, and none of the problems have got any worse.  There are just people out there who don't deserve to own cars.

 

My little brother just bought a Passat B6 which still has a mint interior at 170,000 miles - quite unbelievable.  

 

I give the leather a wipe with a cleaner every few months.  I had thought about taking it somewhere to be refinished - but it is a pretty involved process (they basically strip all the old finish off, and re-finish the seat in the car).  To be honest, I was more worried that such a finish applied wouldn't be long lived, and might actually degrade quicker.  I'm glad I didn't do anything with it.  Also, there can be colour matching issues if you don't get both seats done.

 

Thinking about it - if you haven't had the car since new, perhaps it has had an attempt to fix some other seat issues.    The special edition 100 mats lasted 120,000 for me on the driver side - I've just replaced that one mat via TPS.  The rest still look new.  Don't make em like they used to... :p