Colin170CR

I saw this day coming & switched from diesel to a petrol 280 L&K 4 two years ago. Also because my annual mileage was going to drop dramatically when I packed up working. Let's face it no one drives a diesel out of choice. Smelly, noisy, diesel is more expensive than petrol (in UK) & the modern diesels have got very complicated to the point where it's marginal whether it's cheaper to run a diesel if you do a less than 25-30k miles pa. New petrol cars won't be around for much longer either but I'll not be switching from petrol to electric until the prices become more sensible & a 400 mile range was the norm rather than the exception. Actually I would be more interested in a hydrogen powered car but this tech has seemed to have stalled in recent years & there are only the grand total of 13 places to fill up with hydrogen in the whole of the UK! Looks like we are all being railroaded down the electric route whether we like it or not

I'm not sure even an online video of a car would convince me. When I bought my car it was advertised by two different car dealerships on Autotrader - 1 in Bournemouth & 1 in Glasgow. Same car, same reg, same pictures. I wasn't sure if I was going to drive north or south to view it until I spoke to the Bournemouth Dealer. It turned out that the Glasgow car listing on Autotrader was a fake & was taken down!! I got the Bournemouth dealer sales guy to face time me & show me that the car was physically at his location on his mobile. Only then did I agree to drive down to have a look at it & I refused his offer of an online deposit to "reserve the car because it was rarer than hen's teeth" - that old chestnut. It was probably rare but I detest that sort of sales tactic. Also the tactic they employ when it comes to price / discount where they have to go have a word with their manager. I told my guy he'll get one chance to offer me a discount for cash & one chance to give me a decent trade in on my old 175,000 mile 10Reg S2 Superb Estate 170 Diesel or, I would walk away. It worked. I got a discount for cash, decent trade in, a free refurb for the Alloys, free replacement door umbrellas which had gone missing as had the front & rear seat mats - which they also like to use a a deal sweetener. Grrrrr That said he did get me on gap insurance. I agree with the power. Not for blasting everywhere at illegal speeds but good for getting onto roundabouts & joining motorways smartly without any fuss & for safe overtaking. The 4 x 4 system makes this possible. Without it the car would just spin the front wheels - like the lesser powered 2WD 190 / 220 petrol & diesels do. Parking - you get used to the size fairly quickly. I just use the rear sensors & mirrors for reverse parking & I don't look over my shoulder at all. My L&K has park Assist but I don't use it. It also has lane assist - turned it off because it meddles to much. 280/272's drink from the 99RON pump (or should do for best performance) so fuel consumption & fuel cost won't make it the cheapest thing to run. If that's what you need then a 1.5TSi petrol or diesel is what you need to look at. Tesco Momentum 99RON is my normal choice of fuel from the socially distanced "pay at pump" equipped Tesco near me. Interestingly the local / nearer Esso has nothing more than 95RON fuel & Shell V Power is more expensive. Approx £75 to fill up with under a 1/4 tank showing on the fuel gauge & 560 miles on the trip. These days I don't look too closely at my fuel receipts as it would only depress me. 280/272's are not as rare as everyone makes out. I just did a search on Autotrader & there 19 estate/hatch 280 / 272 4 x 4's on there from £16k to £36k. 1 in Bedford is going for £18.5k is a 2017 Sportline estate with "Skoda fitted" 330bhp remap. 65k on the clock though so may not be what you are looking for. Good luck with your purchase.

The addiction clinic doctor will see you now! Have you ever added up how much all that lot cost? If it were me I don't think I want to do that calculation. Hats off to you though for your dedication & for not going over the top - you might be getting close though. I like the roof. Might be a way of covering up the scratches I have on mine instead of a re-paint. Mine's black already so a contrasting colour perhaps. That said I don't want to turn it into a cop car . I assume you are planning to keep the car

Check you haven't got any stones trapped between the pad & disc. I had this on a previous car after driving on a new loose gravel road finish - the type where they spray the road with tar & throw on a load of loose grit! Windscreen replacement companies love these new road surfaces! Failing that I'd get it checked by the dealer under warranty.

That Marshall's vehicle description is all over the place. 218BHP for a 272? Makes you wonder how much else is not described correctly. "Cut n past" errors from another advert most likely. At least the pics show twin exhausts which confirm it's a 272 - assuming the pics are of the car on sale . Buying remotely without being able to see it in the flesh definitely has it's drawbacks. I would want to have a detailed conversation & viewing before & shelled out that sort of money. As others have said 36mpg is feasible if you drive like a nun! But what's the point of buying a car like this is your not going to use the performance. Figure 25-28mpg as nearer the day to day average - especially if you are a regular user of Sport mode on the DSG. Personally I would want a rear wiper, which is std on the estate, but since I have no experience of the hatch Superb I can't say for sure whether it's a must have. I would also want a proper spare wheel or a space saver as a minimum. As well as the boot the rear seat / legroom in the Superb is huge in these cars which is why they should not be compare to 3 series BMW, C class Mercs or any other compact exec models. 5 series / E-Class is the size we are talking about here & even then the Superb has them all beaten on boot space. It took me at least 6 months to find my 2016 280 L&K (now 360bhp) when it had 25k on the clock at 2.5yrs old. 1 owner from new for £23K & I had to travel 150miles to Bournemouth (twice) to view & to collect it. L&K spec means it has all the bells & whistles some of which I don't use or need but was missing a pan roof which I did want. Even then mine car was not perfect. Curbed alloys needed refurbishing (which dealer did at no extra cost) & after purchasing I found some small scratches on the roof which I will get sorted at some point but I can live with them for now. In all other respects it's a clean car for a lot less than it's original new price. Best car I've owned to date &, in 280/272 guise, the ultimate under the radar sleeper which does not attract too much attention.

To be fair a 280/272 is more than enough for day to day use but, a 280 with a Stage 1 Revo (other makes are available) it is a hoot. The extra 80hp & torque really makes itself felt, especially in sport mode where IMO the acceleration via the 6 speed DSG is bordering on savage! 4 x 4 definitely needed to tame all that power & avoids wheel spin. God knows what stage 2 / 3 must feel like. Other experiences with my 280 - Fuel recirculation canister replacement @ 40k. Unlike some other Superb / Passat owners I had no physical fuel leak but a strong smell of fuel outside at the rear of the car. Just out of warranty as well doh! Got it done at the same as the Revo stg 1. Fuel consumption. Best I've got is circa 36mpg on motorway trips. Current with short local journeys is around 23-25mpg. Using 99RON. Not done a DSG re-map. Not sure if the benefits are that great, unless it gets rids of the inherent DSG jerky-ness at low speed. Keep an eye on the tyre wear. I goy my car with 25k on the clock so not sure whether it had original tyres on it but at 35k the tread on my rears looked fine from the side of the car but when it went up on the ramp for a service the inside tyre tread was down to the canvass & one tyre had a slow puncture! This is a known problem on many VAG models using the same chassis - rear wheel / tyre camber. I had a 4 wheel alignment done to try & overcome this adverse tyre wear but since then I've done no mileage to see if its made any difference. 280 has active exhaust flaps. As far as I know the 272 does not. Exhaust note is relatively quiet which suits the Superb 280/272 "Sleeper" image. 280 or 272 they are both really quick & practical - especially in estate form. If you see one you'll have to be quick because they don't hang around. Sportline's seem to be more common than L&K models.

IMO a heated front screen is now a "must have" on any car - at least in northern Europe. More so than a heated steering wheel (put some gloves on). Cruise control? - jury is out. I have used it a couple of times in 10 years on 2 cars but that's all. Heated front seats, I have never used the drivers side heated seat. My wife & daughter regularly use the passenger & rear heated seated seats to toast their rear end's as soon as the weather gets a bit chilly.

I agree with most what's been said above. I think modern cars do have too much tech - or is it just me getting older & not being able to get my head around all the tech? Probably a bit of both. I mentioned recently in another thread that my last S2 Superb Elegance CR170 & my current S3 L&K Superb 280 both had / have Park Assist - the thing that turns the steering wheel & parallel parks the car for you. I've never used this on either car & have never felt the need to use it either. I would have much preferred a Panoramic Roof instead but since I bought both cars 2nd hand I didn't have a choice & Park assist was a standard fit on both of them - why? I started driving in 1972. I passed my test in my instructors Mk1 Escort & my first car was a 1964 HA Viva hand-me-down from my dad to get me off the 2 wheel death trap I had been riding prior to that. That HA Viva had a heater but that was about it - no power steering, no electric windows, manual choke (women drivers used to pull out the choke to hang their handbags on it - old Jasper Carrot joke ), terrible headlights, no reversing lights, drum brakes all round & no power assistance. I spent most of my GM apprentice wages on adding fogs, heated rear window kit, disc & servo brakes from Brabham Viva I found in a junk yard, new alloys, new twin choke carb etc etc. I then got rid of the HA Viva & got an 1969 HB Viva GT which had the 2litre twin carb engine from the Victor VX4/90, I added a race exhaust, stage 2 head, twin Webbers, high lift cam, neg camber wishbones, alloys, decent cassette radio etc etc. Even with that lot the the HB was still a very basic car as they all were in those days. Then followed a string of mostly instantly forgettable company cars which had increasing levels of kit as the years rolled on - MkII Ford Escort Estate, FE Victor Estate, CF Bedford works van (which only had 3 gears!), BL Maxi, Dolomite, Cortina's, Mk I & II Cavaliers, Vauxhall Carlton & Belmont, Rover 400, Citroen Xantia, Pug 406, Black Alpha 156 with red leather (loved this car), Renault Scenic, Mondeo. Then some privately owned - Audi A6 1.9tdi estate, previously mentioned S2 Superb & current S3 Superb. Every car came with more & more kit & I think my current Superb has more than enough tech on it for my little brain to coupe with which is why it will probably be the last car I will have for everyday use. Being an avid watcher of the TV series Bangers & Cash I'm seriously considering an old classic car that I could tinker with to use in the summer months & that would actually fit in my single garage - who can actually get their daily driver in a standard single garage these days . Fact is that even with all the safety kit in the world fitted if the driver is a knob they will still have accidents. Just like the idiot I came across today who went straight on in front of me at a mini roundabout that I was turning right on with his mobile in his ear. I've a good mind to check my dash cam to see if I got him & his reg on camera & post it to the local plod. Enough ranting I think.

Ditto 2 cars here as well. Mine's black as well which are a pain to keep clean so hats off for braving the cold. Make sure the doors don't freeze up Snow forecasted for my area tomorrow & I have a grocery collection booked in.

It sounds to me that you do have a power drain issue which is highlighted by the lack of use, so that tracker sounds like it could be the culprit if it's still active. It might be worth having a good look to find the tracker or, perhaps employ an auto electrician to have a look & disable it - cheaper than the tracker company engineer I suspect. As you say trackers are normally well hidden so it may take a bit of digging to find it. I found this online which might help https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/how-to-find-a-tracker-hidden-in-your-car I had a power drain issue on an old X reg Alpha 156. The alarm kept going off when the battery dropped below a certain voltage. A check on the battery terminals with a meter confirmed that something was taking more than normal current when the car was switched off. I looked all over the car for days. Eventually I found the problem which turned out to be a boot light which was not turning off. It took me days to find it (light in the fridge scenario) & then only when I dropped the ski flap at night did I find the light was still on. Like you, the SS worked fine on my 2016 280 when I first got the car a couple of years ago. Then I was using it every day on an 80 mile daily commute. However, I have since retired from work & together with covid my mileage has reduced dramatically & the SS stopped working, except for one long distance trip I made in between lockdowns when it came back to life briefly. There are some threads on this forum about battery life. I also think that features like KESSY don't help with battery life when the car is not used for long periods of time. Good luck with your search for the tracker.

If it was replaced last year I suspect your battery is OK - just low due to inactivity. My 280 battery was dead this morning after standing for 8 days with the dash cam turned on - doh. This is the 2nd time this has happened. Last time was during lockdown 1 when it stood for 2 weeks - with the dash cam on. Obviously I didn't learn my lesson! After a 1 min boosted charge it started but & my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree with just about every warning sign & message. I drove it for a few hundred yds & then pulled over. Turned the engine off, crossed my fingers, & started it up again. All the errors disappeared. The SS on my car hasn't worked for quite a while indicating a low state of battery charge. This could be because of all the inactivity & short local journeys or, the battery is on it's way out after 4 years. Looks like I might need to investigate getting a new battery & local specialist to re-code the car.

I'm not sure if it's possible to retrofit this option. Even it it was possible it sounds like it would be very expensive to do - new sensors / wiring, new or different steering rack, coding? I had "Park Assist" on my old S2 Superb Combi Elegance & it is also on my current 280 L&K. I've never used it or felt the need to use it on either car. I don't trust automated driving aids & prefer to keep control of the car myself. Similar for "Lane Assist" on my current L&K - it's turned off. However, Blind Spot monitoring function is useful & is turned on. I appreciate there may be valid reasons why you would like this option on your car but I can easily live without it. I would have preferred a Pan Roof in place of the Park Assist but since I didn't buy the car new I didn't get the choice.

There are quite a few threads on here about exhausts for 280's, 220's & some with pics. https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/475703-exhaust-options-for-sportline-280/ From memory the exhaust is in sections. I have no experience / knowledge about the flap coding so hopefully someone who's done an exhaust change on a 280 will jump in.

Agreed. 280/272 is way to go if you want a petrol & don't plan to do mega mileage - life's too short! My 280 L&K is the first 4WD car I've had & is so planted. Even now with 360bhp I can't spin the wheels in the dry & even in the wet it's nigh on impossible to loose traction if you have to drive "smartly". Only downside is the fuel consumption & the fact that it drinks from the 99RON pump. What the hell, I'm not doing much mileage at present & fuel prices are the lowest they've been for a while. The grin factor is worth it.

At least your bumper protector fits. Mine was not so successful, stainless steel version from Amazon which does not stay stuck down.

That sounds like a right royal pain. Keep us posted & any pics would be good as well. What numbers will the stg 2 produce?

Snap. I got followed by flashing blue lights on a dual carriageway after touching 70-ish overtaking some lorries. I turned off at the next roundabout, boys in blue followed me & stuck religiously to the 30mph limit, blue lights went out behind but they still followed me for another half mile before turning off (enough time I reckon for them to check the number plate & insurance). Phew. BTW, a stage 1 remap makes a huge difference.

For that mileage forget diesel & go petrol. 20ltr 190 or blow the budget 280/272 petrol. Estate for max boot space & best looks.

My wife also has a 500 - in baby blue. Like yours it scrubs up OK. But TBH I avoid driving it, mainly cos it's a manual & requires the use of my left leg (knackered knee), but also because that 1.2 engine (69hp I think) can't pull the skin of a rice pudding. Now, an Abath 500 would be a different proposition! We are thinking about changing it at some point for a newer used car of similar size but this time with 4 doors so it won't be another 500. I have looked at small electric cars but TBH they are stupid money so the environment will have to wait until prices reduce dramatically before dip my toe in that particular pond. It also looks like Skoda have no plans for a small electric now they've killed off the Citigo - why did they do that? Even then I'm not sure an electric will make economic sense since my wife only does around 3-4k a year so the cost to change vs the run cost savings of an electric just don't stack up. Chances are we will keep her 500 for a while longer & avoid any cost.

I'm with you on the 280 becoming collectable. Well I would say that wouldn't I . 280's are in demand & don't hang around very long when they do come up for sale. For me it's the fact that it is a bit of "wolf in sheep's clothing" with no obvious go faster frippery adorning it. Even the exhausts are tucked away & muted. It is a very quick car, even more so now mine has a Stg 1 Revo remap. Overtaking is effortless & it will haul huge amounts of stuff. Ideal for my camping & fishing gear & with 4WD it can handle inclement weather with ease & a bit of mild off roading when needed. My 280 will probably be the last car I own. For the money I paid for it at just over 2 years old there is nothing out there that comes close. Electric cars are stupid money for what they are - £25-30k for a supermini size electric car is nuts. I might have a look at a used one for my wife when the prices drop but TBH she doesn't do enough mileage to warrant the running cost saving. No, I'm quite happy with what I've got & barring it being nicked or an insurance right off, my 280 will be with me for quite some time to come.

Thanks for all the info / advice. Starting the sat nav update at the start of a journey would be nice but I've not been & will not be going anywhere for a long enough trip anytime soon Best I have manged recently is a couple of trips for click & collect groceries & today a flue jab at the health centre neither of which are more than 5 miles away. Hey ho its done now so I guess I have no excuse not to start the decorating. Oh look the Rugby has just started so I can postpone the painting I love procrastination.......

Interesting. I was only getting between 1.2 to 2.1mb/sec or less during the download from the Skoda website + the freezes / drop outs & restarts which is why it took 5hrs +. Just tested my line test download speed for my Vodaphone Superfast connection which is in excess of 35mb/sec - see below. So, I can only deduce that the week link in my chain is my aging laptop processor. This has now prompted me to make the switch to my new Azus laptop which I bought earlier this year but I have not yet managed to make the switch to yet. I might need to get my son involved in that as the thought of transferring all the stuff over is a bit daunting.

I seem to remember an advert recently that Direct line are offering rebates for unused annual mileage on their policies. It's probably a double edged sword for those that go over their declared mileage who have to pay extra - one pays for the other? Also, DL premiums are not the lowest either - certainly not for existing customers. As always best deals are for new customers which is why I ditched them & every other insurer who tries to increase my insurance premium when the value of the car is decreasing My MOT is due next month & I bet there's not much more than 4,000 extra miles on it since last Dec. I declared 10k annual mileage on my insurance. No refund with LV I suspect but maybe worth asking the question.

Sat Nav update. After driving "off road" due to new roads & layout changes that have caught me out on the odd occasion, I decided to update my on-board factory fitted sat nav. I did see some pre loaded Sat Nav updated SD cards on Amazon & elsewhere for around £38 but I decided to download my own copy for free from the Skoda portal - VIN number required. What a pain that was 1st I had to buy a 64GB SD card because none that I already had were big enough. A 32GB SD would have done the job but for not much more I went for the 64GB (£11) & it can be used for music etc afterwards. Then the download. OMG, even with a fast fibre connection the 26GB Zip file download took ages. The Skoda website warns of up to 8hrs download time which I managed in around 5hrs but it was like watching paint dry. Not helped by the regular connection drop outs & re-starts. Switching to a physical LAN connection instead of WiFi helped a bit but I suspect my aging Tosh Satellite C670D laptop (originally with win 7 - now with Win 10 which slows it up dramatically) is partly to blame due to its pedestrian processor speed. The the upload to the car via the SD card was equally painful (around 4 hrs) &, because the ignition has to be on, caused low battery warning messages which meant I had to run the engine to keep it going. I later switched over to a high boost battery charger to avoid running the engine - more faffing about in the pouring rain Finally after the upload was complete the whole infotainment system turns itself off for around 60mins while it sorts itself out - marvellous. I can now see the attraction of buying a pre-loaded SD card to cut out the download hassle albeit the upload is still a pain. God knows what a dealer would charge for this long winded process so for that reason alone the hassle was worth the effort. Someone please tell me that sat nav tech / update procedure has moved on from this archaic process on my 66 reg Superb. Even my 15 year old old stad alone Tom Tom & more recent Garmin sat nav were less painless to do update than this. I guess being able to plug them directly into a PC helps a lot. Thankfully this process won't need to be done again for quite a while.

Good luck with the recovery. Yes the electrical assistance is the reason I bought the bikes + the softer ride compared to our old non-suspension bikes. I think I might be close on your heels for a hip &/ or knee replacement. Both my knee's are shot from ancient football injuries which prompted a switch to an auto gearbox a few years ago. HIps are not too great either. Can't lay on either side in bed for too long before the pain sets in & bending down to tie a shoe lace is not easy either. Walking on the flat is OK-ish but I can't do hills. Cycling is an attempted to strengthen the knee cartilage & stave off an op for a while longer. Fingers crossed!