SurreyJohn

A lot of posters have concentrated on the rim size without discussing the comfort factor of the chosen tyres. As tyres vary in firmness might not be comparing like with like You can specify sporty summer tyres (tend to be firmer, and often very hard in cold weather), or go for comfort tyres (more pliable sidewalls), or Eco (low rolling resistance) tyres which are generally hard/firm. All the summer tyres will be much harder in cooler months (and useless on a snowy hill). If you want softer tyres then generally all season will be better (it’s debatable / marginal when temperatures above about +15c), but at current seasonal temperatures they are going to provide a softer more comfortable ride. Regarding DCC it is an electronically controlled adaptive shock absorber, thus can damp the secondary form of suspension (the springs which absorb big bumps), it can do nothing to change how effective the rubber tyre walls absorb little imperfections in road surface. Quite simply if tyres have absorbed the ripples the springs don’t move anyway.

It was there yesterday evening on autotrader, still there https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?sort=price-asc&postcode=sn139rx&radius=1500&make=SKODA&model=SUPERB&year-from=2020&fuel-type=Hybrid – Petrol%2FElectric Plug-in&fuel-type=Petrol But if you can live with slightly smaller car, I also spotted Skoda Slough seems to have some brand new Octavia hybrids at nearly £5.8k off https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?sort=price-asc&postcode=sn139rx&radius=1500&make=SKODA&model=OCTAVIA&year-from=2021&fuel-type=Hybrid – Petrol%2FElectric&fuel-type=Hybrid – Petrol%2FElectric Plug-in

The car you found is worth a look at. I suspect you will have to compromise a bit with your £10,000 budget and accept a mileage nearer 60k miles. If you would prefer a much lower mileage (30-40k miles) then going to need nearer £11k for a 2017 facelift model. You could also search for a lower mileage car that is couple of years older to meet your £10k, but not that good an idea, as the relatively small price saving of £1k (vs a potential 11k budget) has too many downsides (when a car reaches 5-6 years old other parts tend to need renewing) so likely to eat into your £1k saved, and car is still 2 years older. I think you will really find a 2017 facelift 1.4 tsi petrol will be a good car

The only way to look at this is to estimate whole life costs New you can specify the 5 year warranty, can service it annually, and expect it to last as you care for it fully. If it is a simpler spec there is less to go wrong Nearly new (especially if talking approaching 2 years old), is bit more of a lottery as to how much care first owner took. You don’t really know if they thrashed or damaged or shortened the life of it. If you aim to keep 12 years don’t want some seriously expensive part failing when 7-10 years old. High spec cars can get expensive to fix as they have more motorised items, sensors, fancy electronics etc, and parts that are not cheap But then it also comes down to prices, discounts etc. The motor trade has some bonkers situations that either work against you, or sometimes work in your favour. There can sometimes (usually about 8 or 9 weeks into a Quarter) be a sale or extra £x off which makes new a good deal. Conversely I have seen pre-reg and low mileage that are listed only £2k less than discounted new, but at a much higher interest rate so end up costing £1k more over 3 years ..... doh ! end up paying more and get shorter remaining warranty. Pre registered can be weird, I once nearly bought a BMW but dealer wouldn’t give me £2k off, it was unregistered and on site, I walked away, but following fortnight same car (identical options) was parked at front with a big sticker saying managers special pre reg £5k off. A different salesman offered it as a bargain, but when I told him they could have sold it to me in previous month and made more profit his face was a picture. Presumably they got a big volume bonus for selling it to themselves rather than selling to a customer in same month (which has always baffled me). If it was me, I would try the new route, get what you want. But when you have the lowest possible price (using carwow or a broker) compare it to what is available nearly new (don’t just use Skoda used cars on their website) try autotrader, motors, and car supermarket websites. A few hours of internet searches could save you hundreds. It appears you can get current 70reg SE tech spec under £20k, as per this example https://www.lookers.co.uk/skoda/nearly-new-car/skoda/superb/1-5-tsi-se-technology-5dr/id/310414

Yes, in the real world there are plenty of country roads which get muddy water when it rains. Moving the wheels outwards increases the likelihood of getting muddy splashes along the sides. ..... of course if you like muddy look, moving them out helps, although if that was your aim, throwing a bucket of muddy water over the car would achieve similar effect.

Yes I agree it is still a very practical car, it is actually nicer to sit in the back than our newer car (windows are much bigger, and there is the big glass roof) Ours has done 42k miles, it is a September 2012 registered 1.2tsi DSG, but in last 18 months has needed a number of replacements (both drive gaiters split, and needed replacing to pass mot), new tyres as 2 were worn treads, and other 2 on back were cracking as 7 years old, so we went for all seasons (handy in recent cold weather), tailgate wiring loop failed, blower resister needed replacing (fan only working on 4) Having recently moved to a country area, realised headlights are poor, so changed to nightbreakers (surprisingly hard bulbs to change). About to commence some house renovation, so will keep it for a while as it is very handy to carry things

Could easily be early 2022 by time it hits showrooms, the Kodiaq was introduced about year earlier and they are still selling pre facelift versions of that. Regarding hybrid, it is probably determined by when they can build enough battery packs

Pirelli P7 Cinturato seem to wear very slowly, however they are very summer biased, and get hard and grip poorly in cold rain (below about +10c) Pirelli have just launched a new all season tyre, Cinturato all season SF2, (snowflake2) as with any brand of all season much better suited to all year use in UK. However as a general warning, when an all season is added to the range, it tends to result in latest version of the summer tyre being optimised for more summer like temperatures nearer +10 to +40c. Therefore latest summer tyres are poor choice for UK nowadays, as unsuitable for colder weather. Confusingly Pirelli also make a P7 winter tyre so be careful with which ones you order, if you stick with Pirelli @Danoid as we are now second half February, my suggestion is to put note on your calendar to change the tyres to all seasons in August / September when stocks are plentiful and prices usually cheaper. Recent cold weather has killed stock and price offers. My personal suggestion is either Goodyear vector 4season generation3 (G3) or Continental all season contact. If your tyre are unusual size then Vredestein Quatrac Pro.

Just had an email, Skoda are doing 0% APR for 9 days Plus upto £1000 off Haven’t checkered all the details, but seems can also order online

Sorry not aware of a video for mk3. Hopefully someone can find you one But I did similar change on our Roomster, and part was nearer £6 from an online e-bay motor factor, the whole unit is about diameter of jam jar lid

It seems the VW group is giving the option of CNG (compressed natural gas) engine with small back up petrol tank. It is 66Kw or 90PS so bit less powerful. However although it has been introduced (on many small VW group models) into Europe, hasn’t come to UK (although would be more useful to those trying to reduce fuel bills). I suspect UK will be stuck with just the 1 litre petrol, at least initially

Skoda have issued a silhouette of Fabia mk 4 https://www.skoda-storyboard.com/en/fabia/from-first-to-fourth-the-new-fabia-has-a-lot-to-live-up-to/ Judging by the first released images of its silhouette, the fourth generation of the popular FABIA model will have reworked proportions and will offer state-of-the-art technologies, improved safety and even a bigger boot. The new FABIA is built on the Volkswagen Group’s MQB-A0 platform for small cars with transversely mounted front engines. This platform has allowed the fourth-generation FABIA to grow in all directions. Although ŠKODA will not fully unveil the new FABIA until spring, we already know that its luggage space will be 50 litres bigger than its predecessor’s. A stiffer body and a modern array of safety and assistance systems will enhance the driving experience and both active and passive safety.

Currently the 2litre tsi is only in Sportline trim and is a hefty £4125 more than the 1.5tsi DSG It also weighs a hefty 2150 kg which is 220kg more than 1.5tsi and obviously the 4wd system adds weight. Do you really want to carry around the equivalent of 9 25kg sacks of cement as extra weight. Yes the grip is better than 2wd but you could buy a winter wheels set for a fraction of the extra £4125 https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/c63f4efb-a760-4a48-931f-baad88d42aa6 Just to put it in perspective at 2150kg it exceeds the 2tonne limit in London’s Rotherhithe tunnel

Looking at the (long) list in first post, I wonder why didn’t include anything from Lexus, or as it includes secondhand cars, Infinity (Nissan’s posh brand no longer sold in UK). Might be just me, but from the list not sure if the aim is to buy a 4 seat grand tourer, or a 5 seat family car Does seem to be an obsession with cars from a manufacturer headquartered in Germany (regardless of which country the car is built in), is there some sort of badge snobbery which is a parameter in Ops choice

I don’t think there is a problem with the latest 1.5tsi Its true that when first introduced it had problem in low gear, and was relatively easy to stall, but the software has been altered since. Of course the Sportline is sporty looks with an good engine, but It’s also debatable if this is the best spec for normal family life, rather depends if family life is more going to a muddy park with kids bikes and a wet dog onboard, or if it is visiting granny with everyone wearing Sunday best.

Yes, really was that much, but that was pre lockdown on a SW London / Surrey border commute where traffic lights etc mean lots of speed changes Probably be lot less on an good cruising road

I can’t comment on the 1.5tsi, but the 1 litre tsi is much happier with super unleaded, it pulls much better at lower revs I actually did an experiment with my 1.0tsi DSG and found that around town commuting was getting about 11-13% better mileage with the 98 or 99 Ron fuel. Not sure why it makes such a big difference but must be how the mix works, allowing more leaner mix during coasting or under low load. Where I live pay about 10-11p extra per litre (about 9% more), so there is a net saving using super unleaded You might need to do own experiments to see if it pulls noticeably better depending on topography and busyness of your local roads.

I have recently heard of a variation of this, to permanently import a car into Ireland (and loads of people used to buy in UK) you now require a Speedo which displays in Km/h. If you have a mph only version won’t do, but seems a dual scale one is ok I must have missed the speech where Mr Farage explained these nuances that his leaving the EU would entail, or perhaps he was just selective in what he said

I don't think the 2wd versions have a snow mode, but the DSG is linked to the traction control and Cross diff lock (braking a spinning wheel) and seems to cope well, but obviously only when appropriate tyres are fitted. Now that low rolling resistance tyres are fitted people are discovering they are more useless than standard summer tyres in cold weather. Unfortunately buying winter and all season tyres in February is very difficult due to many being out of stock. It used to be possible to order winter wheels with tyres from Germany etc, and couriers only took 48 hours, but the Brexit twits closed that route as VAT and customs surcharges and extra paperwork made it unviable. Skoda Dealers don't even hold stocks of appropriate tyres so can't even pay more and have job done quickly there either. You might be lucky if you search the internet tyre companies but I suspect they will only offer what they have remaining in stock, but they will probably have removed any discounted price so might end up paying £200 extra for set of 4. If you have no luck, put a note in your diary for August-September when prices are lower

I think you need to upgrade to a Freedom member, then you can post in the for sale section, not in the individual models section which doesn’t allow sales ads

I suspect to claim successfully you would need to show you didn’t use alloys with summer tyres when roads had grit and salt. They are not fit for purpose because diamond cut are not designed for use in these circumstances. I suspect it would be an easier claim if you had asked dealer to change to all season tyres during delivery because they would have collaborated in using the wheels this way. But as already stated trying a warranty to claim for stone/grit/salt damage is going to be tough unless you can demonstrate a manufacturing defect to get them to agree.

Countdown is 30 days, day zero is overdue for service (and will show as service now) Ideally you should book car in to be serviced between countdown day 7 and 1 (which is the week over 1 year (days 366-372)

DCC is controlled damping (the shock absorber bit), it isn’t different springs

£30 per month is over £400 per year Adding £400 per year is rather more than nominal

Regarding the tow bar, I think you will find the cost is considerably more for a MY21 car because it has locked down electrical system and requires specialist coding equipment. Some tow bar fitters will have to out source this (as won’t be able to do it) so will need to add the extra cost incurred. The L&K (and high spec versions) have also sorts of safety and proximity sensors to can’t bodge the coding