Donbrig

Undecided actually as I noticed that rust is already forming on the other spring and that seems to kill them quickly. Saying that, another repair makes the case for a new car with the wife more persuasive and if that works, it will definitely be just the one (sacrilege for this forum but had a shot of the new Peugeot 508SW estate recently and really taken by it).

Just to update this to give other owners a real world experience. To follow up on my original post, back in 2018 it was the nearside (passenger) side front coil spring that had broken and this was replaced on its own in Aug 2018. The original offside (driver) side front coil spring has now broken exactly two years (and 20000 miles) later - so nearly 82000 miles on that spring. In my case wheel bearings have been much more unreliable, all them have needed replacing in the last year.

In case anyone is curious about replacing in pairs or not, had the driver side rear wheel bearing fail in Aug 2018 at c.65k miles; this was replaced on its own. The passenger side rear wheel bearing has just failed and been replaced at 78k miles. Expected the bearings to last longer, mechanic mentioned that the bearings are a common fault he sees with VAG cars.

Initially had 18" wheels but moved to 16" in the first winter of ownership and been on them since then - a big improvement in mpg and more comfortable ride on the roads round here. Until May this year ran Continental Wintercontact ts 850 tyres all year round (climate in rural Aberdeenshire not that warm and roads invariably wet) and that worked perfectly for my circumstances. Found the ts850 to be great tyres, quiet and good handling in all weather - last set lasted 21k miles. Now on Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 tyres as got them through a special deal that made them nearly 50% cheaper than replacement ts860's. So far, seem okay - no real difference seen in handling/noise in summer conditions, the real test will come when the first snow and ice appears around here.

I drive mainly poor quality rural roads and my average MPG is 50-53mpg (calculated via a calculator, pump receipt and record of mileage from last fuelling). Running on 16" wheels fitted with Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 tyres and a manual gearbox. I got duped into getting the emission fix two years ago but to be honest not noticed any effect on the car performance (mpg etc).

Had my car in the local garage yesterday (a independent) and was talking with the owner and amongst other things he commented that he had a Audi (62 reg) in a couple of weeks ago with a failed Sachs clutch that had started to eat the gearbox (in this case, caught before it had pierced the gearbox). It does seem to be this c.2011-2013 period when the duff clutches were installed in VAG manual transmission cars - here is another forum discussing the same issue, this time for VW Passats - link Not that you will find Skoda UK will ever acknowledge that there is a problem. In my experience, they have a ostrich attitude to the issue and in my case basically told me to take them to court with independent engineering evidence that there is a issue if I wanted full compensation (read previous comments in this thread for more details if desired).

Headed out of the drive this morning only to hear a "boing", a clatter and a wife informing me that "this c****y car has broken down again, you are NEVER buying another Skoda". And right enough, another item to add to the extensive list of broken parts on my Superb - this time a coil spring (remains found on the ground shown below). Which coil spring it is, is a mystery as examining all four coils shows no obvious damage and the car is not listing in any particular direction. Not going to risk the 20mile drive to the nearest garage (a pleasure of living in rural Aberdeenshire) so will call out Skoda Assistance tomorrow for recovery. Anyway, getting to the point, should the coil springs be replaced as a pair or not? Has anyone had one replaced recently and if so, what did you pay? - curious to see how charges vary round the country. Reading up on the internet there doesn't seem to be any consensus on what is the best course of action as there are good arguments for and against replacing as a pair so curious to hear what the preference is for Skoda. Certainly when my wife's 10yr old VW Golf had a broken coil last year (the only breakdown it has ever had!), the garage recommended only replacing them as they break and we have not noticed any problem with the handling with the Golf in the past year with the mix of old and new coil springs on the same axle. For background, the Superb is now on 62k miles (12reg) and the roads round here are not the best quality (mind you, are there any parts of the UK with decent roads these days).

Well, garage came back and they have diagnosed that a faulty rear wheel bearing is making the noise. Also found the front brakes need replacing which doesn't surprise me going by the MOT advisory earlier this year which mentioned the discs were badly scored (mind you, pretty poor that the front brakes are needing replacing after just over 20k miles/25months). When asked about replacing the bearings in pairs the garage said there was no need. Their view was to wait until there was an issue with the other bearing as replacing now gave no real cost benefit as they didn't get any part discount for buying two hubs instead of one and it would take basically the same amount of labour time to replace the other bearing. Get the car back on Monday so we'll see if things are all okay when I give it a drive. Really get feeling this machine is jinxed going by the amount of mechanical issues there have been over the last few years!

Many thanks to everyone for their quick replies - this forum is really helpful. I checked the heatshield this morning and its solid as far as I can tell. Driving this morning I am leaning towards there being an issue with the wheel bearing - turning the car towards the right definitely makes the drone quieter. Insurance company not being co-operative and refusing to do another inspection so I've got the car in for an inspection with my local garage tomorrow - going by them, failing wheel bearings is a common fault that they see in VAG cars. If it's the wheel bearing it's going to be fun trying to get that linked to the shunt. How long should the bearings last anyway and should they be replaced in pairs?

Two weeks ago I got shunted in the rear by another driver whilst I waited to enter a roundabout. It was a fair old whack but the only visible damage was a slightly crumpled bumper (the other car, Skoda Citigo, looked untouched). Drove 2 miles back home and during that time passengers at the back commented they could hear a droning noise from underneath them they didn't recall before. So, tell the insurance company about the incident etc and they recover the vehicle to a repair shop via a lo-loader (thankfully other party had insurance so no cost incurred on my part). The repair shop inspect and supposedly road-test the car and they diagnosed that all that was wrong was the bumper - which was duly repaired and I picked the car up today. Driving 20 miles home just now, the car feels normal - no vibration etc. But that droning sound can be heard - not loud, but definitely noticeable especially at above 40mph; pretty imperceptible below 30mph. Going to tackle the insurance company about getting another inspection done on the car but interested to hear opinions on what it could be. Note, I'm one of the Sach's clutch victims so the Gearbox & Clutch was replaced in 2016 and the Dual Mass Flywheel in Nov 2017. Car now on 61000 miles.

The Sachs clutch scandal continues to claim victims - pity this poor sod with a bill of £5327 for his Audi - link. To follow up on my case, in short SUK continue to point blankly deny that there is any issue with the Sachs Clutch even when Motorcodes agreed with me that there were too many incidents being reported for it to be just a case of "normal wear and tear" and that my case should be reconsidered. SUK response was basically, if you believe there is a case, we'll see you in court and you better have some independent engineering analysis to back up your allegation. That I could not pursue based on advice I got from the CAB as I made the mistake of accepting out of ignorance their goodwill offer of a "donation" to the cost of the gearbox replacement at the end of 2016 (still leaving me over £1k out of pocket). Apparently though, if VAG are forced to do a recall on the Sachs clutch due to safety there is then an opportunity for compensation - this is the site where people should report the issue and the clutch failure can be dangerous with at least one report of a Audi losing the clutch and gearbox whilst travelling at high speed on the motorway.

As a victim of the infamous Sachs Clutch scandal my Superb has been by far the worst car I have ever owned in terms of ownership cost. It's now coming up to 6 years old and has just passed 60k miles. In that time it has had all of the following replaced Gearbox Clutch Dual Mass Flywheel Brakes due to caliper seizing on motorway And this is a car that had its servicing done in the local dealer as per the recommended schedule (so add in the recommended timing belt replacement etc). Going forward I will be getting rid of the car when the warranty on the Gearbox/Clutch/DMF repair runs out in a few months and heading to another non-VAG brand. What has been really depressing is the arrogant and dismissive attitude of Skoda. They have point blankly denied that there is any issue with the Sachs Clutch even when Motorcodes agreed with me that there were too many incidents being reported for it to be just a case of "normal wear and tear" and that my case should be reconsidered. Their response was basically, if you believe there is a case, we'll see you in court and you better have some independent engineering analysis to back up your allegation. That I could not pursue based on advice I got from the CAB as I made the mistake of accepting out of ignorance their goodwill offer of a "donation" to the cost of the gearbox replacement at the end of 2016 (still leaving me over £1k out of pocket). Apparently though, if VAG are forced to do a recall on the Sachs clutch due to safety there is then an opportunity for compensation - this is the site where people should report the issue and the clutch failure can be dangerous with at least one report of a Audi losing the clutch and gearbox whilst travelling at high speed on the motorway. As silver1011 mentioned, at least Skoda parts are cheaper than Audi - sympathies to the poor sod reporting on the Audi forum that his bill for the Sachs clutch is £5327 - link

Had another discussion with SUK and they are in full denial mode with the end result that I am now forced to put the case to the motor ombudsman. I have also supplied various media outlets a full dossier of the case and given them permission to press on with the story using me as an example if they desire. I will also give my local trading standards office a visit in the coming days. Basically, this is the line that I got told verbally today - awaiting full written response of the same from SUK. As far as they are concerned there is no manufacturing issue with the clutch and the consumer is not entitled to a full refund of the repair - basically, just be lucky you got any goodwill at all seeing as it was out of warranty. A full service history with Skoda seemed to help there. The technical document describing the problem (2039427/6) is not an admission that there is a manufacturing defect. They are adamant that there is no causal linkage between the gearbox/clutch failure and the subsequent failure of the flywheel 8750 miles later (at just 56K miles on the clock). Replacement of the flywheel is only required if there is direct evidence that the flywheel is damaged/failed at the time the clutch/gearbox is repaired, irrespective of the past history of the case (in my case my contention that the flywheel was used in a out of specification environment for 7 months when the clutch was failing between May thru Dec 2016). Indeed, there is no official guidance that the flywheel should even be examined when the clutch/gearbox is replaced - which leads to questions about the technical competence of Skoda. SUK had the chance to redeem the situation this morning but its obvious that there is no focus on customer satisfaction these days. Their loss, was going to order a Golf this month for the Mrs but that is not happening now and obviously the Superb replacement is not coming now from VAG. They are nice cars but the attitude of the company stinks and I will not give my hard earned money to that kind of corporation. Last comment - if you know anyone that has had this issue in the past get them to post it on this forum to provide further evidence to the media/ombudsman that there is a significant issue out there as SUK are in full denial mode.

Thanks Hoverurb. In the end the flywheel was bust and this has been replaced - told the gearbox mount was not loose after all (hmm...). Now in negotiation with Skoda UK to get compensation, a tale of woe for another thread - Sachs clutch eats gearbox and bank balance

I would change the battery - impression I get is that Skoda fitted the Superb with as cheap a battery as they could get away with and you are lucky if you get 3 or 4 years service out of them. In my case (2012 Elegance Estate) the original fitted was a Banner 70aH. It really was not fit for the job especially when you have extras like a heated windscreen. Getting it to start last winter was decidedly dodgy so replaced the Banner with a Platinum Prestige Plus battery (part number = B096SPPLA, CCA:720, 75aH). Paid £100.95 at National Tyres (offer on at time) fully fitted - has made a massive difference in the starting and pleased with it so far (5yr warranty so will outlive my ownership of the car).