iperry

Hi, There is no switch fix for the superb unfortunately (at least according to my dealership and Skoda UK who acknowledged the fix exists for other models). The total bill for the gearlever replacement was to be an eye watering £900. That said, two, possibly helpful, points: 1. Because our car is under 5 years old and has a full service history, Skoda UK offered to cover 40% of the bill. 2. Most importantly though, the repair is technically unnecessary. Provided you are seeing exactly the message I originally posted the total impact of the fault is that you will periodically see the warning message. It does not in any way affect the drivability, safety or MOT status of the vehicle. Ultimately it is simply the car saying: 'I have two switches that detect when I'm in Park (one is in the gearbox itself and one in the lever). Occasionally, these switches momentarily disagree with each other (it's always the one in the lever at fault if you are seeing the message in question). As a result, please be totally sure you have left the car in Park when you exit the vehicle because I'm not going to be 100% sure and so might not warn you if you forget to put the lever into 'park' before leaving the vehicle.' Because the switch in the gearbox is the one that actually determines the functionality of the gearbox when driving, the one in the gear lever does nothing. Only when the car is stationary and the engine switched off is the switch in the lever actually used and, even then, only to check that you've left the car in P before exiting the vehicle. So, it's up to you, but the 'unofficial' advice to me from the dealership and Skoda UK representative was simply to ignore the warning and live with it. In most cases it only occurs infrequently and does not deteriorate over time. Hopefully that is helpful.

Thanks. Mentioned this to the dealer but they say the TPI does not apply to the Superb and I need the full (£867) job done. Skoda have offered 20% goodwill because the car is over 5 years. However, the car is not actually over 5 years yet so I may argue that point with them and see if I can get a bit more. All that said, the dealer (western edinburgh) were really good and fitted us in at short notice and provided a courtesy car. I paid £96 all in for the check which, while not ideal, has at least been able to tell me that the car is fine to drive. Question is, if I can't get a bigger discount, whether I bother with the repair. It's intermittent, does not affect safety, is not an MOT fail..... ta for peoples comments.

Dealer reckons a full gear selector unit required £867 plus VAT. OldBoyScout, can you provide any details on your comment copied below, even just point out the post (I can't find one): 'around early 2020 Skoda released a new fix which just requires a new micro switch costing around £50 and up to one hour of labour' Thanks, Ivan

In our case we've seen the message twice in the lats two days and nothing before that. It occurs randomly, generally within a couple of minutes of setting off. I actually took the car to the dealership this afternoon and saw no error message on route. Worth highlighting that the car is running fine. We'll see what the dealer says but really interesting to hear that there may be a simple fix to the micro switch. Gut feel, based on the fact that everything is running fine, is that our issue is just this switch. Cheers.

It's a 65 plate 2.0 TSI 280ps. 44k miles with gearbox serviced at 33k. I guess the important thing is interpretation of the message: 1. Do not drive or 2. Do not leave car in any gear other than P Lot's a chat about this issue on the forum but mainly to do with how to get Skoda to pay for some of the repair. I guess I'm curious about how badly it actually needs to be repaired (at least in the short term). Ta.

Got the dreaded message below today: 'Error: Workshop! Only leave vehicle in position P' There are clearly two interpretations of this ,message: 1. The car must be left in P to the exclusion of all other possibilities (ie, don't drive) 2. When leaving the car, you must leave it in P (well, fine, I'll just take that is unnecessary advice) I've done the usual internet trawl and it seems that this error generally does not indicate an actual gearbox failure but instead a gearbox selector failure. Basically some switch in the actual selector (gearstick) stops working properly and the car is not 100% confident whether it is in P or not. So, it makes a point of reminding you to leave it in P when you leave the car. If it is this selector issue I gather the expense is astronomical (obviously, cause it's related to the bl**dy DSG) but do I actually need it fixed? Or, at least do I need to fix it urgently? Sure it's annoying, but as lng as the actual cogs and bearing etc can keep turning without issue, the car is surely drivable. Anyone been through this particular pantomime before? Ta, iep

I'm 90% sure they don't fit Iridium as standard. Seems that they are the territory of the modder. Looks like 'double platinum' is the factory fit. Got a set from eBay arriving today so I'll do the service at the weekend. As far as I can tell, it should be a fairly easy job provided I can figure out how to get the coil packs out . iperry

Yeah, suspect they'll be fine but I'm the sort of fool that does oil changes at 5k intervals (at home). Apparently they are due at 40k. It's a medium fancy engine, DIY it's not too expensive (£37 posted) iperry

ohh, and the Iridium plugs seem to be about £30 each and are for 'racing cars'. I might try one in the lawn mower. iperry

It's these sort of small wins that keep me going

Looks like the Germans are one step ahead. UK sites don't seem to be particularly aware of the 280ps variant (what a sleeper) https://www.autoteiledirekt.de/automarke/ersatzteile-skoda/superb-kombi-3v5/115239/10251/zundkerze.html Appears to confirm the 280ps should have the same plugs as the GolfR/Cupra. Cheers, iperry

Yeah, will probably need to follow that path. FYI, even a part of the major service they want £100 for the plug change. With the car falling outside of warranty soon I'll get the dealer to do the big stuff like DSG and Haldex servicing but move over to a local garage/DIY for general servicing. Cheers, iperry

Ta for this. I did have a swatch at these alternatives but found a few caveats attached based on engine variant and wasn't sure if they might apply to differences between Golf/Cupra and Skoda. Both Golf and Cupra seem to require the same part from NGK. o, that's probably encouraging. PLFER7A8EG 94833 That said, there is some chat elsewhere about NGK iridium plugs for the 280ps but I don't know if those are really for modded engines (or are a simple mod in themselves). FYI, I'm looking into this because the dealer wanted £130 to change the plugs and that is insane since a set of the plugs above can be had for £30 if you shop around. Cheers, iperry

As title says, having trouble finding correct spark plug for our 280ps.

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