Superb I Buyers Guide

[Heckler]

A couple of questions... if I can find a lower spec model with the right engine/mileage

 

How easy would it be to retrofit leather and get the heated seats functional (front & rear)... I can live without satnav because I have a smart phone and a tablet I can use. Hooking those up in the car wouldn't be too big a deal, just pull the dash to hide wiring and mount a bracket sticking out above the vents. But would still like it to have phone connectivity for obvious reasons.

[jimbof]

None of the mk 1's have factory Bluetooth. A few had a hardwired Nokia kit installed which gave phone book access from the display in the instrument panel. I use a TH Bury Crystal kit which is a bit like a Parrot (but better in my opinion.

Kufatec do a retrofit heated seats kit for B5 Passat, I think just for the front seats. I don't know how many Superbs had the heated rears, I know my edition 100 does. Or you could butcher a car at a scappy for the loom. Not sure I would have the patience for the job.

If you get a memory seat for the driver's bear in mind it has a control unit of its own; I don't know if this is difficult to get working. The memory function does clever things with the mirrors in reverse etc - far too clever for its own good...

I personally think you might be better with a different vehicle if mobility getting in / out is a problem. The doors are huge in the back, but the opening is still quite low. I would have thought some sort of MPV might be better.

[Heckler]

None of the mk 1's have factory Bluetooth. A few had a hardwired Nokia kit installed which gave phone book access from the display in the instrument panel. I use a TH Bury Crystal kit which is a bit like a Parrot (but better in my opinion.

Kufatec do a retrofit heated seats kit for B5 Passat, I think just for the front seats. I don't know how many Superbs had the heated rears, I know my edition 100 does. Or you could butcher a car at a scappy for the loom. Not sure I would have the patience for the job.

If you get a memory seat for the driver's bear in mind it has a control unit of its own; I don't know if this is difficult to get working. The memory function does clever things with the mirrors in reverse etc - far too clever for its own good...

I personally think you might be better with a different vehicle if mobility getting in / out is a problem. The doors are huge in the back, but the opening is still quite low. I would have thought some sort of MPV might be better.

 

 

Cheers, I have considered an MPV... but it's far too big for my daily use. I use it once or twice a week taking the folks out and about... but the rest of the time it's just me in it pootling about town running errands and so forth. I'm gonna have to compromise somewhere... I'll know when I find the right car.

[rotodiesel]

The Mk 1 Superb is not a town car. It's just too long to park easily in most available spaces - no easier than an MPV.

 

It's king on the motorway and for towing, but I use a much smaller vehicle in town.

 

rotodiesel.

[Heckler]

The Mk 1 Superb is not a town car. It's just too long to park easily in most available spaces - no easier than an MPV.

 

It's king on the motorway and for towing, but I use a much smaller vehicle in town.

 

rotodiesel.

 

The days when I could afford to have 2 cars ended almost 10yrs ago... I had a little diesel runabout for winter and running around, and a nice V6 coupe for summer and weekends which would get garaged from Oct 1st to April 1st. Fuel cost jumping as they did put paid to that.

[ericsuperbee]

Best of luck with looking at an Accord Estate. After I couldn't afford an Audi A6 2.5TDI replacement I bought a 2.2D Accord Estate - and hated it.............. It proved to be very cramped, the plastics rattled, the ICE was rubbish and it took 10 miles to get any heat out of the heater in winter. Most I ever got was 42mpg on a run.

Traded it in after 6 months for my 1st 06/06 V6TDI Elegance demonstrator and never regretted a moment of it. Certainly not the cheapest car to run / maintain but gives so much pleasure especially on M.way driving that it's worth it. After 7 years I had the opportunity to buy an 07/07 facelift with 40k on the clock - so now have 9 years of 'Superb' motoring under my belt. Most mpg I have recorded on a run is 45.1, normally around 42.

[dieselV6]

Stop bashing the manual V6 TDI!    :p

 

I've had one for over 9 years now 138k miles on the clock, aside from Bilstein B6 shocks, EBC Yellow brakes and 3 CV boots it required only DIY servicing incl timing belts (next belt change this month).  The car still comfortably does 140mph sustained on autobahn (last 2 trips I was in a hurry, so I checked it very thoroughly  ).  And believe me, once you spend some time driving a 6-cyl, every 4-cyl will appear to you tractor-like and underpowered in Superb-sized car. 

 

As an aside, while I like my Superb very much and intend to keep it at least for 15 years / 200k+ miles in total, it is not a car that I would buy used, no matter what engine. The reasons are water ingress (was it stopped in time by the previous owner?) and a lot of galvanic as well as "regular" corrosion around engine and suspension that is making repairs difficult (if left untreated, a can of zinc spray per service on average is about enough to prevent). For example, a couple of weeks ago while replacing rear brake discs and pads I noticed that rear bump stops rotted out and split. Local GSF had them in stock, I had spare rear suspension bolts and actually wanted also to replace top shock mounts for some time, so the job should be simple enough, right? Wrong, despite zinc protection for past ~6 years and plenty of PlusGas used, I still had to cut one of the lower shock absorber mounting nuts with a Dremel as it would not otherwise let go. I doubt I'd even get to turn the bottom shock absorber nuts had they not been protected.