D-Cunningham

Greetings. I saw this in yesterday's Guardian. It give a positive spin on the Enyaq, as part of an article about getting from Lands End to the top of Scotland, with all those related infrastructure issues! https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/28/leading-the-charge-can-i-make-it-from-lands-end-to-john-ogroats-in-an-electric-car

You may find that you're setting a trend. There are lots of people teetering on the brink of going electric, I suspect. Many will have concerns over real-world range and the availability of charging points when on longer journeys. I'd bet that you get enquiries from other Forum members, once the Enyaq arrives and you've got used to it. My Karoq is only a year old but when I comer to swap it I'm hoping that the electric car infrastructure will be rather more comprehensive than it is now. The Enyaq will be on my shortlist. Best of luck with the new car.

I'm 5'7" so I'll keep out of the chat about size! My buying experience might interest you. I've used Marshall in Oxford to buy my Superb as well as my Karoq. I've found them to be very good - thorough and professional. It was my experience when buying the Superb that gave me the confidence to trade it in, at a decent price, and to buy the Karoq based only on its pictures on the Marshall website. The handover was done using their Covid-compliant safety regime, which impressed me. I'm happy with the outcome. The message I'm giving is - make sure that you're confident in the franchise dealer that you're working with and a "sold unseen" purchase should be fine. Marshall have impressed me in that regard. As a PS, I helped my stepson to find a Fabia recently down in Harlow. He too got a cracking deal, trading in a CitiGo at a good price and getting his Fabia at a bargain price. Once again, just now Marshall seem content to make selling their cars a priority, rather than making the maximum surplus on each car they sell. Just a thought.

Last month, I dropped from an L&K Superb to a Sportline Karoq. It’s the same 2 litre engine and the kit is almost the same due to getting added extras on the Karoq like heated seats and windscreen. My biggest surprise was the reduced mpg on the Karoq due to the 4x4. The Superb was really efficient, giving around 40 mpg both in local driving and motorways. I knew that I’d take some mpg hit because the car before the Superb was a 1.4 Tiguan with 4x4, which was really disappointing on fuel and spun the front wheels during acceleration. It was comfortable to drive, but hardly a fun experience. The Karoq’s bigger engine is much better for me and, as others have noted, there’s reassurance in knowing that the 4x4 will help in poor road conditions. I’d suggest that you go for the bigger engine. As an extra thought, I tend to buy nearly new cars and don’t use PCP deals. I’ve found that you can get attractive prices on ex-demo and similar vehicles. I also found that my local dealer, Marshalls, is keen to pull in cash in these hard times and therefore would rather be extra competitive on price, rather than having cars hanging around for ages. I was pleased with my trade-in price for the Superb. I also waited a while and monitored the Karoq's price. When they took £1500 off, that made my decision for me and I took the plunge on the Karoq. So far, I've been impressed at how really easy it is to drive compared to the limo-length Superb, even though I loved the Superb!

On the motorway, you're out of luck if its doing 2000rpm at 70mph. 7th gear is nice and high. On a recent motorway trip, where I was flexibly interpreting the speed limit, I still got over 40mpg. I love motorway driving in my L&K. The comfort/economy balance is great.

I have the Facelift model. I believe that you can't select driving mode and keep it after you've turned off the engine. It's a case of having to engage your chosen mode each time you start the car. I'd like to be contradicted but this is what I understand to be how the Superb is now set up.

I've got the 190 TSI. I tried the 272 as part of my search for a Superb. Of course you can tell the difference between 190 and 272 when you put your foot down hard. However, in regular driving, I'm quite happy with my 190. Moreover, because it's two wheel drive and not four, I'm able to avoid any possible Haldex problems in the future. Enjoy your new car.

I'm 68 and bought the top of the range L&K just before New Year. As people will know, it has all the bells and whistles that Skoda provide, in spades. It took me a while to read the manual and figure out what I might like to change from what my extremely helpful sales guy at Marshalls had set up for me at handover. Now that I know what the car can do, I'm a fan of all the tech stuff because it lets me concentrate on being an observant driver. Why? Because that's pretty much all that's left for me to do. The car is set up to slide through the DSG box, stop at junctions/red lights, etc while I just wait until it's time to go and press gently on the accelerator. If I want, it will handle lane assist, but I prefer to look after that myself. The camera is a big help when reversing. The blind spot detector is great at avoiding accidents too. The automatic dimming lights are a wonder to behold in night driving. I love all this kit. The one thing that I do find a bit irritating (maybe I fling my arms round wildly while driving!) is the 'sweep' function on the central console - the one that allows you to control your music tracks by waving your hand in an appropriate direction, for instance. I'm cack handed enough to be halfway through a track, then involuntarily wave my hand and find myself back at the start of the track, or on to the next track. Is that cause for throwing a major strop? No. I just sift through the Settings and turn it off. And if that is the worst part of the 'driver assistance' offered by Skoda, I'm one very contented L&K owner. Most people who've been in my car and have been shown the equipment marvel at how helpful it is. There's not a soul who's wanted, to coin a phrase, "take back control". I leave all that fuss and bother to the car. It seems to know very well how to make my driving experience as relaxed and as safe as it can be. Modern technology - I'm an old codger who's all for it!

However, if you do decide that the "LifeShine" product will do, try getting it for free. In my case, I didn't even have to ask, before they informed me that it would be part of the deal. When I bought my L&K last December, Marshalls bundled it in for nothing, just to make sure that they got the sale. I don't think that dealers are having it any easier than they were back in December. So if I were you, and you can keep a straight face while you're asking them, just politely suggest that they add it at no cost to you. I'm here to vouch that it is possible, in these tough times for dealers.

I bow to your greater knowledge. Might you know this one that we saw when we visited the Skoda museum in the Czech Republic

On the subject of old Citroens, here's one that I saw back in 2015 while on holiday in the Beaujolais area of France outside our hotel. It was one of those "this looks so eccentric, I'll take a snap of it" moments.

You seem to be much like I was last December. I really wanted a nearly new L&K but couldn't find one in my price range. In fact, there weren't many around at all. By contrast, I could have had any number of Sportline Plus at an attractive price that I could afford. I knew that the L&K had all the 'toys' that I was interested in, and I had had an L&K Octavia a few years ago so I knew about all the things that came as standard. What should I do? Cave in and get a Sportline Plus before Christmas? Or just keep scanning the main used car sites for an L&K? Out of the blue an L&K that I'd rules out dipped in price by £2000, bringing it within budget. I test drove it, made a mental note of the galaxy of features that it had, and went for it. It was a New Year present, instead of a Christmas present. One thing that I would add is to make sure you get a car with the latest 7 speed DSG gearbox. It cruises in 7th at low, low revs, giving you a surprisingly high mpg on a run. As for the features, I'm sold on the automatic dipping headlights, which I don't think come as standard on the Sportline Plus. My wife loves them for night driving and so do I. You'll find out at the test drive about all the other great features that, in my view, put the L&K in the category of "just wait until the right one comes along", compared to the readily available Sportline Plus. I'm just glad that other contributors who are L&K owners are saying similar things to me about waiting, so that you don't think that I'm too biased - because I'm a very satisfied recent addition to this Superb L&K club.

My vote goes to Mitchell's as well. I've got a friend who travels from the other side of Manchester to buy their car and have it serviced at Mitchell's. Never heard a bad word about them.

I recently bought a nearly new L&K 190 TSI, facelift model. I test drove a number of options, including a 272 Sportline Plus, pre-facelift. The difference in performance was noticeable. I suppose too that there's a psychological comfort from knowing that the 4x4 would kick in if you got stressed in a manoeuvre. However, I ended up weighing my options in this way. How often would I really need a 4x4 car? How many boy racers would I really want to burn off in a 272 stealth car? How much did I want a facelift 2020 Superb over a pre-facelift 2019 one? The list of standard kit on the L&K was also impressive - heated windscreen, heated steering wheel, four heated and ventilated seats, automatic dipping high beam (a firm favourite for my wife). In the end it turned on driver convenience vs raw speed, especially as there were just so few facelift L&K cars around in my price range. If you're fine about a pre-facelift car and are happy to dip your own headlights!, there are bargains to be had among the Sportline/Sportline Plus used cars, definitely including 272 ones. I was surprised at the price difference between those and the few L&K cars that I came across. I strongly recommend giving a 272 a run round the block with your local dealer. Then try to stop yourself from thinking about fuel bills and expense. Instead, lick your lips at all those silly boys in their Fiestas that you're going to sting. I went for comfort but I'd happily have gone for comfort plus pace if there'd been something around in my price range. Hope this helps.

And finally, here we are. Too many bells and whistles to mention. Just 190 but L&K through and through! I'll be spending the next few days learning how to navigate this spaceship.