ARWEN

Update after 7 months of ownership. That time of year again, time to get the winter tyres swapped over, so I rang the dealer to book the car in and guess what? The dealer tried to deny that they had agreed to swap the tyres each year as long as I had the car, it was only ever meant to a one off offer on their part. (Faxed over a copy of my letter of complaint and their MD's written reply agreeing to this work. End Of Problem!) The car is a dream, it does exactly what it says on the tin and more. I'm getting an average of 67.2 mpg most of the time in the UK driving mainly on A roads, but during my trips across Europe on German autobahns, I have registered 71.4 mpg on a 1080 mile journey, each way, 2160 miles in total. I drive using the auto cruise control set at 75, so im not driving too slowly. Only concern with the cruise is it has a tendency to get "snowed over" quite easily, which stops it working, but that aside its great to use and the auto emergency braking has got me out of trouble a couple of times already. I cant really fault this car at all. Its better than the Volvo and BMW estates I've had before, especially the driving position and comfort levels on my long trips is the best I have known by far. I am one very satisfied customer at the moment

LOL, you started off asking about All Weathers and you were getting them as standard you said. Now you mention Snow Tyres which are the best to fit obviously for Winter and Snow, but you were going to run 'All Weathers' if the car had come with them. Well who wouldn't? Its a no brainer surely? I will run the ContoEco 5s for 10 months of the year and the Dunlop winter tyres for 2 months when needed.

"Run the CrossClimates all the time, and the other tyres can be stored. " Im feeling like ive had a really good result in getting proper winter tyres supplied, rather than all weather. I only need snow tyres twice a a year for approx two months in total for when I drive across Europe, so I dont really want to suffer loss of fuel consumption / poorer CO2 emmissions for the other 10 months.

Damn.....I hadn't thought about that?

UPDATE After another visit to the dealers showroom on Saturday, today I received several calls from the sales manager and they have agreed to supply and fit a set of Dunlop Winter Sport 5, hopefully on Thursday 24 hours before I travel. They assure me that there will be no nasty computer "errors" popping up, and the costs for changing over each winter sesason will be covered by them, who will store the tyres during the summer has yet to be discuused but inst a major issue either way. What a shame it has taken until the last minute for someone at the dealer to genuinely address my concerns and take ownership of the problem. My contact with customer services at Skoda head office were "pleasant" enough but their final decession (to avoid responsibility and refer the issue back to the dealer) is shocking in my opinion. The dealer has come good at the end and I am extreamly grateful for that, but for a mainstream manufacturer like Skoda to refuse to acknowledge a potential major safety and legal hazard is almost bordering on criminal. How many UK families have driven to the slopes on skiing trips this year believing that their "all weather" tyres were perfectly safe and legal? I hope nothing more serious comes to light regarding this, and that Skoda will get their act together and deal with the problem before someone is seriously injured while driving in European winter conditions. Ive avoided naming my dealership until now, but given their last minute "saving of the day" I am now happy to do so. I cannot recommend their sales customer service higher than 4/10 due to poor response to calls and emails. But they are choosing to accept responsibility for what is ultimately Skoda's mistake, does show them in a decent light and that they have a genuine interest in customet satisfaction and care. So I will give Bristos Skoda. Ipswich. an overall score of 7/10 after todays good efforts. Hopefully now I can just get on and enjoy my new car and my trip across Europe. Many thanks to everyone who replied and offered some good advice and opinions.

They were offered as Standard on GreenlIne spec. I did not pay extra

"What they are called is utterly irrelevant to the law". You are wrong in saying that Huskoda. Regulations such as the consumer rights act 2015 or Trades Description Act basically say that a description given by a seller must be acurate and easily understood by an "average" buyer. I think describing a summer tyre as an all weather tyre certainly falls into that catagory dont you? Imagine the problem if an "average" buyer bought on the understanding that they were getting all weather tyres and then having an accident in Europe? No insurance cover. Car impounded. Fines. Cost of fitting suitable tyres. Im no lawyer but citizens advice think there is a clear and serious issue here.

So Skoda describing tyres as all weather and then supplying a tyre which the manufactureres themselves describe as a summer model, is not misrepresenting the facts? Lost in translation hardly covers that I think?

I had already checked that "all weather" tyres are legal in Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, where we are heading. I never expected winter tyres at any point, all weathers would be legal and fine for my needs.

Update and warning to others. Skoda Superb III 1.6D Greenline Estate Last week my car arrived fitted with Continental EcoConti 5 tyres which (according to Skoda) are classed as "all weather tyres". All weather tyres is the term they use in the Skoda printed brochures and also on their website. Unfortunately Continentals official website states (and ive also had this confirmed by email through their technical department) that the manufacturer considers and classifies these tyres as "summer" tyres. I specificaly told the salesman at the time of placing the order that I needed to drive across Europe, including through the Alps, and that intended to leave almost immediatley after the car was delivered. He checked the Skoda brochure in front of me and my wife and read the webpage print which out I showed him, and he confirmed that the car would indeed be delivered fitted with "all weather" tyres. The dealer is now not interested at all and refers me to Skoda head office as its their problem. (Although he has offred to sell me set of winter wheels and tyres at cost) I contacted Skoda head office and after much backwards and forwards discussion over the past 7 days, Skoda tell me today that the tyres fitted to my vehicle are the correct ones as they are: "a tyre that is suitable for all weather conditions.............. in the UK" and as thats all that is required under UK law, they will be taking no futher action and tell me to revert to the dealer if I am still not satisfied. To be clear, these tyres are NOT legal for winter driving conditions across Europe. Ive had very poor service from the dealer throughout the sale, such as not replying to emails (2x) and (5x) telephone calls. I had to go to the dealer showroom in person last week to get any response from them at all and even then I had to wait around for nearly an hour to be dealt with. Now, with only seven days before I must depart, I still have no answers, no one is taking responsibility or willing to help, and Im left feeling very dissapointed with the whole situation. I did everything I could to determine which tyres would be fitted to the car before I placed the order and then again once it had arrived and yet now im left having to pay out another £600 - £700 - £800 which I really cannot afford. I should explain that I am registred disabled and travel accross Europe for specialised medical treatment that I cannot get in the UK. Ive done this trip many times over the past 12 years so I know the issues around winter driving in Europe and I picked this car as it seemed ideally suited for my needs, including being fitted with a suitable set of tyres. Moral of the story; Dont assume that the so called "all weather" tyres fitted to your Skoda will be winter legal in Europe, because they are NOT, they are only legal for use in the UK winter conditions, as we have less strict demands here it would seem and maybe a different type of snow????????

Update and warning to others. Skoda Superb III 1.6D Greenline Estate Last week my car arrived fitted with Continental EcoConti 5 tyres which (according to Skoda) are classed as "all weather tyres". All weather tyres is the term they use in the Skoda printed brochures and also on their website. Unfortunately Continentals official website states (and ive also had this confirmed by email through their technical department) that the manufacturer considers and classifies these tyres as "summer" tyres. I specificaly told the salesman at the time of placing the order that I needed to drive across Europe, including through the Alps, and that intended to leave almost immediatley after the car was delivered. He checked the Skoda brochure in front of me and my wife and read the webpage print which out I showed him, and he confirmed that the car would indeed be delivered fitted with "all weather" tyres. The dealer is now not interested at all and refers me to Skoda head office as its their problem. (Although he has offred to sell me set of winter wheels and tyres at cost) I contacted Skoda head office and after much backwards and forwards discussion over the past 7 days, Skoda tell me today that the tyres fitted to my vehicle are the correct ones as they are: "a tyre that is suitable for all weather conditions.............. in the UK" and as thats all that is required under UK law, they will be taking no futher action and tell me to revert to the dealer if I am still not satisfied. To be clear, these tyres are NOT legal for winter driving conditions across Europe. Ive had very poor service from the dealer throughout the sale, such as not replying to emails (2x) and (5x) telephone calls. I had to go to the dealer showroom in person last week to get any response from them at all and even then I had to wait around for nearly an hour to be dealt with. Now, with only seven days before I must depart, I still have no answers, no one is taking responsibility or willing to help, and Im left feeling very dissapointed with the whole situation. I did everything I could to determine which tyres would be fitted to the car before I placed the order and then again once it had arrived and yet now im left having to pay out another £600 - £700 - £800 which I really cannot afford. I should explain that I am registred disabled and travel accross Europe for specialised medical treatment that I cannot get in the UK. Ive done this trip many times over the past 12 years so I know the issues around winter driving in Europe and I picked this car as it seemed ideally suited for my needs, including being fitted with a suitable set of tyres. Moral of the story; Dont assume that the so called "all weather" tyres fitted to your Skoda will be winter legal in Europe, because they are NOT, they are only legal for use in the UK winter conditions, as we have less strict demands here it would seem and maybe a different type of snow????????

Update. Today we have it confirmed that our 1.6 Greenline Estate is in fact fitted with Continental Contieco 5 tyres. These are classed as summer tyres and not "all weather" tyres after all as given in the Skoda spec sheet. Oh well....... Now off to source a set of winter rims and tyres.

Change that date from 15th Feb, it should have read 8th Feb. Now just struggling nto get a quick handover date from dealer.

Also just heard from dealers that our car has arrived with them, four weeks earlier than expected. (Ordered 7th Dec, arrived at dealer 15th Feb 10 weeks to the day. :-) Its a standard "off the shelf" SEL 1.6 Greenline Estate in metalic silver, with no extras added, but even so im quite impressed.

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