A sad Superb tale

[Richf]

A Sad Superb tale

 

Just over 5 years and 10 months ago, our Superb arrived at the dealers two months after we ordered it. It was the Elegance model with the 170 CR engine , good standard spec but we added

 

Metallic Paint

Park Assist

Heater washers

10 speaker upgrade

CD changer in boot

Heated front and rear seats

Auto dim rear mirror

Mats and Flaps

 

The day we picked it up at the dealers

 

 

 

It was intended to be my car and the main family car replacing my Mercedes E Class Estate  (My wife had a VRS PD170 Octavia hatch) and after a year or so of me doing very little mileage in it the wife and I swapped as her 4 year old car had 60k on it and was rising quickly. It soon transpired that this temporary arrangement was going to become permanent and she wasn't giving it back!

 

So it was used on the daily commute for her along the busy M4 corridor , mpg has never been great used like this and it does 41-44mpg on the mfd, fair bit of queuing involved in the mornings.

 

So that's how things have stayed , we frequently have our summer holidays on the continent so the Superb has visited France 5 times and driven to Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany , it will often return 50+ mpg on the continent with 49mpg fill to fill the best I have got. The worst on one trip was 4.3 mpg after a long queue in France!

 

So whats gone wrong ?

 

Looking back through my files I see at 35k we had a breakdown when the DPF pressure sensor failed and my wife had a blow out on the motorway a couple of years back.

 

My wife's commute changed and she now drives a lot of country lanes , potholes and the poor road surface wrote off 2 of the 18" Luna alloys as well as numerous tyres , I did fit a set of 5 spoke Audi replica's figuring they would be less likely to buckle like the Lunas but we still wrote off tyres , a change to a set of 17" Octavia wheels has stopped that and the Falken ZE914 tyres have been excellent almost as good as my regular Goodyear Eagle F1's and only £302 a set.

 

 

 

The wife has ensured through clumsy parking that the bumpers have regularly received a repaint and its kept well detailed so the paint is excellent

 

I replaced the front discs and pads myself at about 71,000 miles , still wear left but upon driving the car the brakes just didn't feel right and for what they cost from ECP it was a no brainer . The Pagid brakes are a big improvement over stock , lots more initial bite and an easy DIY job

 

 

The fan on the climate control failed at about the same mileage, an expensive fix £235 from Skoda but an easy DIY job also

 

At about 65k it started to do regens a lot more often , the mpg dropped and so did performance we had it remapped and the DPF deleted, the insurers classed it as a modified exhaust and with the remap charged an extra few £££ . It sails through the mot just fine and is better on fuel as well as performance.   

 

When we first got the car I used to joke it was haunted , you would get in first thing in the morning and the passenger seat would be fully reclined , a software update cured this though.

 

It has a few "quirks", the fuel filler flap occasionally sticks and requires the locks to be cycled a few times before opening, also the Columbus occasionally reboots or just refuses to come on and the alarm has always been very sensitive , its been altered but still goes off randomly once a month or so , no fault codes and cant find anything wrong , maybe it is haunted

 

I think to be honest that's been it , the rest of it has been maintenance really , 7  services in 6 years, tyres every other year and a couple of batteries.

 

All in all an excellent car and a very nice way to cover 86,000 miles

 

But tomorrow she will be traded in, I kind of feel like I'm putting a dog down but its just that time , hope someone else will enjoy it as much as we have   

[Superb170]

I wouldn't say that's a sad tale, I was expecting to see a Superb written off something like that when I saw the title!  Sounds like you enjoyed the last few years of ownership and there will always be some issues.  You have obviously given it some attention over the years so, as you say, someone else can enjoy it now.  Are you moving away from Skoda??

[Richf]

It does make a change from all the tales of woe

The wife is moving away so the Superb is bring traded for a Prius , I however will go back to having the family car so have an Octavia Estate on order , petrol though

[Coops]

Interesting contrast to mine Richf, now on 92k my 140CR has never missed a beat and the issues you speak of have not featured at all.

 

However it does look in good nick and you've looked after it well, someone will enjoy it from now on.

[silver1011]

Great review!

 

My climate control fan has started an on/off rotational squeaking noise, I wonder if these are a weak point, we have two Toureg's at work and the fans on them have also failed.

 

Quick question on the front pads and discs, were these an easy DIY? I've changed them before on my old Peugeot 306 but have heard re-wind tools being mentioned for the Superb. I didn't need one of these on the old Pug. Was the Superb relatively straight forward?

 

I quite like the Octavia L&K alloys on the Superb, they look smart.

 

Interesting on the DPF-delete with regards to you insurer, I will be running my Superb until it die's (currently on 65K), I'm hoping to get as close to 250,000 miles out of it as I can (another 5 years @ 30K/year), so I'll be expecting EGR, DPF, DMF and turbo etc.

 

My boss has a 14 plate race blue MkIII Octavia estate (1.6 4x4) and the neighbour has just pulled up in his brand new dark red 15 plate 1.6 diesel estate. Good looking cars!

[Richf]

Yes very easy to change the pads and discs about 1 hours work and no special tools needed

[psycholist]

Only the rear calipers need a wind back tool, but it's handy to have just because it's easier than using pliers/clamps to push the piston back. If you're really stuck you can wind the rear calipers back with the tips of a needlenose pliers, but less than €20 or possibly even €10 on the likes of ebay should get you the right tool.

[Jigger72]

I know how you feel :(

 

I recently traded my 2005 Mark I Superb, and after 4 years of ownership and about 35,000 miles (I don't commute in it), cambelt/waterpump change, new clutch and DMF, remap, lowered on Eibach springs, reversing sensors shot, new bumper and headlight after some knob reversed into it while it was parked, new window motor, new reverse switch, 4 new tyres, serviced every year, new CV gators every 8 months (or so it seemed), driven all over France and the UK with our two kids, I felt a pang when I drove away in my new Mazda 6 estate and left the old girl behind.

 

I took one last pic while I was at the Mazda dealer:

 

 

I still don't know if I did the right thing. I hope she's happy with her new family