GabrielSyme

Hi there, Thanks very much for such a detailed reply, sorry it took me a couple of weeks to acknowledge. Before seeing your reply, I spoke to some mechanics who were advising that this is the reality of owning an older 4x4 model - that things start to sag and they eat tires. Like you, they advised its a topic which could grow arms and legs and be very costly. It was clear that - without some specific scope or instruction from me - they were not keen to get tangled up in this, which I can appreciate (busy). I had hoped they might be able to assess the condition and advise what replacement parts might improve the situation, if not make it perfect. So I am not really sure what to do now - I went for cheaper tires last time as I was aware of this problem and they have only lasted just over a year and about 8,000 miles which is rubbish. All the wear is on the inside edges, is this inevitable with these models or would something like new ball joints aleviate it? I don't have the experience / know how to do any work myself unfortunately, so if its not the kind of task a garage would relish, do I just need to suck it up and replace the tires annually? Thanks for any advice Cheers Edit - another issue I noticed a few times (not common, very intermittent) is an occasional clunking noise when accelerating at low speed 10-20 mpg, I suspected that was connected to a failing ball joint or saggy suspension too.

Hi all, I have a 2011 170 Combi 4x4, approaching 108 k miles. I find I go through tires too quickly, as they tend to run on their inner shoulders. When I had my last alignment done, I was advised the control arms were showing signs of wear and obv the bushes were softening due to age. Can anyone please advise me what parts should be replaced (front and rear) to allow a good alignment and help prevent this premature tire wear? The mentioned control arms (there is upper and lower arms I believe). Is it worthwhile looking at poly bushes? Would appreciate a steer to any supplier / kits too. As a general question, is it worth rotating the tires on a 4x4 model to prolong tire life? Although she is getting on a bit, I am fond of the old bus and it does what my family needs - so im not in a rush to get rid. It passed its MOT last month, with only advisories on tires. Of the 108 k miles, about 96k are mine and I would like to burst the 100 k at least lol Thanks a lot for any advice Cheers

Many thanks guys. I could see how its meant to work, but couldnt make it do anything. Embarrassing. It might be faulty, but then im looking for any excuse lol. Fortunately a young german couple stopped to help and saved us. They didnt have a jack, but went away and came back with a trolley jack! Will definately swot up on the jack now. We had driven to a restaurant but it was full, and we were looking for something else when disaster struck. What a night. Thanks again chaps!

Hi all Emergency here, currently got a burst tire in rural germany with 2 hungry kids. The jack is not like anything ive ever seen before and I cant get it to work.im used to the usual scissor type jacks. Any help greatly appreciated.

@@Offski @ Hi guys Just wanted to say thanks for advising me to hold off with getting the dealer to "fix" my car. In the end I cancelled my appt, saying I had heard credible reports about negative outcomes for the EA 189 engine, and they accepted this without question or comment. I think there were some other who advised me too, but I cant remember who - but thanks to you all anyway! Cheers guys.

Sad news indeed - I only knew him for "where do you go to (my lovely)" but what a song!

Hi Rustynuts Thanks for posting mate, I will drop you a PM!

Hi all, I have read a few threads of a similar type, but wonder if anyone can help with this specifically: I put my radio on today and found the language had switched to german. My radio still works, whereas others seem to have lost sound too. I tried to put it back to english via the system menu. It seemed to work at first, as a screen came up "loading desired language" with a progress bar. In the background the language had already changed to english. But it just sat like that for a bit and then said "desired language could not be loaded" and then switched back to german. I then tried a factory setting reset, with the exact same sequence and outcome regarding the language. I tried a soft reboot which had no effect. I read on some threads that a firmware update can help. I tried to access the secret menu to find out what firmware I had. A thread said turn on the unit without key in ignition and hold setup button for 15 seconds, to access secret menu. But I only get a radio test screen coming up - apparently this can happen if the car hasnt been locked for long enough, so will try again later. For a test, I tried to load other languages but with the same result as english - ie changes to the language in background but then reverts back to german after a pause and a seeming failure to load. So my plan is to try to access secret menu again later (after a period of being locked). If it works, what info do I need from it? I saw screen shots of it and it didnt say "firmware" anywhere? What else might you advise? Thanks for any help guys. Would an independent ICE specialist be able to help me if, as I suspect, I don't manage to fix it?

Hi thanks a lot, you make the point very clearly. I'm not sure what to do now, I thought this was just a formality. The letter says its been verified that there is no negative impact on "engine performance" - does that not indicate that the power / torque profiles are as before? The letter letter also says over 285,000* vehicles have been updated so far, surely if there were negative outcomes that would have been flagged up by now? (*presumably that figure refers various VAG models?)

An interesting point I had not considered tbh. Have people experienced trouble after the work has been done, I haven't heard anything? The car does run well just now, but I had thought we were obliged to have the work done given we are charged our road tax based on emissions. The letter I received says independent testing authorities confirm there is no effect on power, economy etc as a result of the update.

Thanks Offski, im waiting on the dealer calling me back to book the car in for its emissions service so will mention it then. Cheers

Cheers guys!

Hi there, Recently I noticed that the Skoda Badge in the centre of one of my alloys has come off - Boo! Hiss! (Don't know how or where it happened.) Are these cheap / easy to replace? Bearing in mind its the older Skoda badge on my car. Can you get them individually or do you need to buy a set of four? And is the dealership the only place to source them? Thanks a million!

Dear all, I have had my Superb Kombi a year now and its been brilliant. The only low point in this year was some dope crashing into the passenger side of my car, damaging both the doors (fixed under his insurance). The insurance body-shop did a good repair. But when I collected the car there was a hissing noise (wind noise) from the rear passenger door, above 50 mph. So I took it back and after various adjustments they managed to fix this (I've since learned, from here, that this was an issue with Superbs). I am sure the body-shop said the rear passenger door is a completely new door. Since we have got into winter, I have noticed that the rear passenger door inner-seal is always wet along the top of the door. When I open the door, there seems to be an inner and outer seal running along the top of the window, with a drain gulley in between. The inner seal is always damp and I ran my finger along the drain gulley and it had some muck in it. Comparing visually with the rear door on the drivers side, there doesn't seem to be any obvious difference and they feel the same if you run your finger along them externally. Could this be down to: (i) incorrectly fitted seal? or (ii) the door being mis-aligned as a result of the body-shops efforts to fix the hissing air issue? As it happens, I just got my official letter in asking to take the car to the dealer for its emissions rectification. I was thinking of asking them to look the door seal over at the same time - good idea? Thanks for any advice!

Hi all, I've had my Superb II Kombi about 2.5 months now and love it. We like it so much we have decided to take it on our summer holiday! So it will be a drive from Glasgow to Newcastle, ferry to Amsterdam, then a drive from Amsterdam to NW Germany (lower Saxony). Car gets a decent run every work day (about 70 miles all in) but looking forward to this trip. Id appreciate any advice on these, as we will be carrying a lot of luggage and "stuff" (we have a baby daughter, who requires masses of stuff to be carried around with her at all times). 1) can you get a cargo barrier or something to divide the luggage area from the passenger area? If you had a bump, might not bags or cases fly from the boot into the passenger area? 2) I seem to have 'things' installed my boot, (2nd hand car) which you can apparently use to secure luggage, but not looked into it yet (too busy enJoying driving the car) - are these are good? Surely it just stops luggage moving about the boot floor, but not taking off? 3) I have a liftable boot floor, under which resides the spare wheel. The 'things' from (2) above seem attached to the liftable floor, on some kind of rails. Could these rails be used to bungee cord stuff down? 4) Do my boot features as above preclude me using a boot liner or tray? Thanks for any help!