Jim28270

From memory when I bought my SEL exec, you could only order the TSR if you also spaced lane assist, otherwise there is no camera for it. Obviously the cost of lane assist is higher, because that includes the hardware. I thought I had heard of people coding TSR on a car with lane assist but not the other way around. Maybe your dealer ordered an invalid combination of options?

Doesn't this just illustrate the hypocrisy of the car manufacturers? They are happy to turn a blind eye to broker sales when they have mounting stocks of poor selling models. But the rules change when the same thing happens on a new model with a waiting list.

I agree. At least three brokers have been mentioned on this forum and, at times, the other two were even cheaper than NCD. These brokers may well have been diverting fleet sales to private customers but there's no reason to believe that they were doing it in ways that were illegal. Setting aside speculation as to whether contracts have been broken, I tend to think that the root cause of all this is excessive discounting on fleet sales by Skoda. Last summer, before the car had even launched, there were some incredibly good personal leasing terms available (see http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/skoda-superb-new-model-2-0-tdi-se-business-edition-5dr-24-month-lease-8k-miles-year-2254003). These sorts of terms would only usually be available on slow moving models at the end of their production run. This meant that the brokers were able to offer much larger than usual discounts on a brand new model. The inevitable result was higher broker sales and, in the eyes of Skoda, too many private buyers being diverted away from the traditional dealer route.

For those on fixed intervals, Skoda are now offering the first two services for £279: http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/default/ That's much better value than the old service plan which wasn't really any cheaper than buying the services individually. I'll be taking the new plan but just need to find a "participating" dealer. Seems that some of the dealers aren't keen.

It's possible that the supplying dealer has a lot to answer for. We don't know whether any agreement has been breached but, if it has, it could either be the one between Skoda and the dealer (which is a separate business) or the one between the dealer and NCD. Either way, the supplying dealer would likely be implicated to some extent. It is in theory possible, although not very plausible, that Skoda, and even NCD, were completely in the clear. The fact that Skoda has been able to cancel the orders would suggest that an agreement it had with the supplying dealer may have been breached. I doubt it would have had any direct agreement with NCD. It's unlikely we'll ever get to the truth of the matter. One thing which seems beyond doubt however is that the end customers have acted in good faith. That is what makes Skodas initial response so poor.

I expect Skoda UK deserve as much blame in all this as NCD. Most of the car manufacturers, and definitely Skoda, tacitly accept broker sales. They cater for a section of the market who do not need and are not prepared to pay for the full franchised dealer service. If Skoda prevented these sales, the customers would turn to other brands. I suspect that what happened here is that the NCD deal became a victim of its own success. This forum, and may be others, probably played a part in that. NCD provided a great service with huge discounts and word got around. For every user posting here to say that they bought through NCD, there are probably dozens of others who remain silent. Presumably Skoda decided that too many private customers were being diverted from the dealer network and pulled the plug. The supplying dealer is probably most to blame, for not managing the sales volumes within sensible levels. When all the fuss has died down in a few weeks time, the whole process will start again. Possibly with smaller discounts.

I gave the inside its first really proper clean at the weekend. Personally I find the carpets a bit of a nightmare to hoover. Stuff seems to get trapped in the fibres and won't come out. The most annoying bit was trying to hoover between the front seat rails and the plastic trims on the door sills. The gap is slightly too narrow to fit the wand tool into but still wide enough to collect loads of dust. Anyone have any tips for getting to these areas? I'm thinking along the lines of an improvised tool for the hoover.

Thanks Gizmo. Would the servicing dealer do this? I'm thinking that I don't mind having the first service after 10k as long as at that point it can be switched over to variable intervals. Otherwise I guess it'll be a VCDS job.

My vehicle was supplied by NCD in December. Great service but I've just noticed that it seems to be set to 10k service intervals rather than the longer variable intervals. I've done about 4.6k miles and the service menu says an oil change is due in another 4.6k. Does anyone know what the procedure is to get the car back onto extended intervals? Is there a cut off mileage for changing back? The supplying dealer is a long way from me, so could I expect another dealer to do whatever's needed? Likely cost? Thanks. Jim

Torque curves for both engines were previously on this thread (see post 2). http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/359450-ea288-20tdi-150-vs-190/?hl=%2Btorque+%2B150+%2B190 But the link seems to be broken. The comments basically confirm that the 190 lags behind at low revs.

I too had a good experience with NCD. As well as the top discount, they seem to be able to source the vehicles very quickly - mine took 13 weeks from order to delivery in December. Reading others experiences, I get the impression that a lot of dealers mess around by delaying placing orders to manipulate their figures.

Are all stations the same? Mine's been faultless for the two months I've had the car. First car DAB and really impressed.

I get the impression that the manufacturer service plans are being marketed as providing convenience rather than value for money. The cost of the individual fixed price services making up the nearly new two service plan (one minor, one major) is £40 less than the plan price. It's good to hear that dealers are undercutting the manufacturer prices, even if it is only for their own customers.

I'm usually pretty cynical about this sort of thing but I've noticed that my 150 tdi seems to be returning about 4 or 5 mpg more on bog standard Esso diesel compared to the Tesco equivalent (after two tanks of each, alternating). I've just filled up with Shell diesel and I'm getting consumption figures closer to the Tesco fuel. Overall, I'm getting anything between about 40 mpg on my 5 mile commute to 63 mpg on a long motorway run at 65 mph. Long term average currently at 48 mpg after 2.5k miles.

My SIII has exactly the same issue. The difference in the two videos is quite noticeable and mine's exactly like yours, L4wrence. Seems like there may be a fault affecting a fair proportion of the production. Mine doesn't have the heated jets - not sure whether that is relevant.

Here you go, the prestige ones are on top. You can see the difference in pile height around the clips, which are identical.

Has anyone compared the real mpg measured at the pump to the trip computer mpg? Presumably the trip computer is inaccurate but hopefully in a consistent way (tankfull to tankfull and car to car).

No, I've swapped them over. The prestige ones are nicer. I'm planning on keeping the car for a good few years so I expect the spares will get used eventually.

It's not a build quality issue as such, but I have found that the carpet quality in the Superb III is really poor. It's a sort of non-woven fabric consisting of black fluff stuck to a backing layer. It's a nightmare to hoover and does not wear well at all (I've had it in much cheaper, smaller cars). My previous Mondeos and the current Passat all have proper woven carpets which are much better. This is just about the only aspect of the car where I would say that Scoda has gone too far in saving cost.

I ordered the prestige ones from SS before the car arrived only to find that the dealer had given me a set of the standard carpet mats. The only differences as far as I can tell are the prestige ones have a silver edging and the pile is quite a bit deeper. Both come with the branding, have clips to secure them in place and fit perfectly.

Thanks. Have just ordered the Prestige ones fron Superskoda. 70 euros delivered.

Thanks for the pointers. I just wondered what the difference is between these and the ones you can order as a factory option. The factory ones are £80 which is more than the others.

Hi, I've ordered an SEL Exec have been thinking about floor mats for when it arrives. Does anyone know what the differences are between the floor mats which can be added as a factory option (standard on the L&K) and the ones from the accessory brochure? The option ones seem not of have the "superb" logo, which I actually prefer, but I wondered whether they are also made from better quality material given their higher cost. Assuming there are differences, does anyone know whether the ones from the option list can be ordered as a spare part by the dealer? Or do they have to be speced on the order? Thanks.

The list also has the 120 PS engine with a "7F" box so I think the "F" must refer to the auto/DSG and the "A" refers to the manual. It's not exactly clear though. And there do seem to be two lists doing the rounds, one with the 1.4 petrol engines and one with these diesels.

Looks like this is the list of affected cars. Skoda is at the bottom. http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/manufacturer-news/2015/11/12/volkswagen-co2-emissions-currently-under-review/page/2