Arianne

That's so funny 😅. Welcome to 1998: booming bass and maximum volume. Honestly, there are so many factors that affect music playback quality in the hostile acoustic environment that is a car cabin. But let's take just one: Digital Signal Processing (DSP). I understand this because I depend heavily upon this in my compromised Lounge which isn't great for my home audio. The result is that I have a setup that asks me to configure my speakers to enable the DSP (Sony in my case) to my default seating position for an optimal listening experience. Outside of this zone, the sound is noticeably less satisfying. DSP determines many things such as soundstage, timing of when the sound arrives to your ear, environmental acoustics, crossover control between the sub, woofers and tweeters etc. The Canton system has been specifically designed for the Superb's cabin. DSP is just one of several design enhancements. An afternoon at Halfords under one of their awnings having the door speakers exchanged, plus a sub added to the spare wheel well in the boot doesn't seem to touch the sides in all truth. So, being a music lover and whilst reluctantly accepting the compromised nature of car cabins and ambient noise, as well as my aging ears, I would take a punt on the Canton system over the stock option. But, if I had bought a used Superb without the Canton installation, I would seriously consider a specialist car hi-fi installer. Halfords isn't captured by that description. BTW, Moby sound engineering and production has been brick walled by the Loudness Wars, sadly. I love his music but the record label and studio destroyed it. Oasis, good but repetitive. Blur, interesting. Late 1990s / early 2000s. Very Blaupunkt 😅. Best wishes.

I asked ChatGPT because I thought your question was interesting and I wanted to know myself. Shown below is its answer. Hope it helps! Yes — but I would word it carefully. The Superb’s Canton system is a genuine Canton-branded / Canton-developed OEM system, not merely Škoda sticking a random badge on the dashboard. Canton’s own automotive page specifically lists Škoda vehicles and says the system is tuned for Škoda interiors, and Canton has a dedicated Superb page describing the Superb system as having 15 tuned speakers and 725 watts. � � Canton Canton However, with OEM car audio, “Canton system” does not necessarily mean every individual speaker is hand-built in Canton’s hi-fi factory in Germany. The usual model is: Canton designs/tunes/specifies the system with Škoda; the amplifier/DSP/speaker layout is engineered to a target; components are manufactured through automotive supply chains; the finished system is sold as Canton-branded. Škoda’s own wording for the Superb says the optional Canton system uses high-performance speakers, including door speakers, a centre speaker and a subwoofer, with system output quoted by Škoda as 610 W on the older material; Canton’s current page gives the newer Superb figure as 15 speakers / 725 W. � � Škoda Auto Canton So the honest answer is: It is genuinely a Canton-developed and Canton-branded system, but I would not assume the individual speaker drivers are boutique Canton domestic hi-fi units. They are almost certainly automotive OEM components built to Canton/Škoda specification. For your purposes, the practical question is not “are the cones made by Canton?” but: Has the whole system been properly tuned for the Superb cabin? And on that, yes — that is the value of the Canton upgrade. It gives you a dedicated amplifier/DSP, extra speakers, a subwoofer, and cabin-specific tuning rather than simply louder standard speakers

Update from our dealer who pings me a message on the 1st of each month with a progress report: the car has been built and is in transit to the UK. Result! Let's hope this one doesn’t suffer from the Christmas lights on the dashboard issue. Really looking forward to getting the car now. Best wishes.

Has anyone recently used a pressure washer on the car? Although our Superb isnt due for collection until September, we had issues with the rear camera on our Velar because of water ingress - over zealous pressure washing. Dealer replaced it under warranty. I guess Skoda would do the same if necessary. Best wishes.

@Rigor , that is all infuriating. It seems as if modern cars are 'computers on wheels' and the dealers struggle, for many reasons, to understand what is going on. I hope you get this solved soon or choose to let go of the car as both the suspension and the fuel gauge are difficult to cope with. When we owned our Volvo XC60, our only car procured through Personal Contract Purchase (PCP), it came with Volvo's brand new 'engine architecture' which is marketing speak for a fresh engine design. Our car would trip into limp mode due to a design fault affecting thousands of cars. For 2.5yrs Volvo had no fix. Then, six months before our PCP ended, they fixed it. Sort of. Performance was blunted but at least it didn't trip into safe mode unexpectedly. And that was a Volvo. So called, bullet proof Volvo. The only saving grace was that our local Volvo dealer was excellent. Still is actually. Anyway, all the best with your Superb 🫣

@philsmith I am sorry to hear about your experience with your Superb. A competent dealer makes all the difference, whatever marque. Our supplying Land Rover dealer was great at the outset in 2017 but then lost all of the good people, becoming so incompetent that I dreaded any contact with them - "technician says it might help if you lay a blanket over the engine block at night to help retain the heat for the startup routine in the morning". That was their recommendation in the absence of an available diesel glow plug control unit, due to supply chain issues when JLR screwed up their UK parts' distribution centres because of an efficiency drive. Own goal there! Did our Velar V6 D300 start in the Italian ski resort of Madesimo? Yes, after almost 15mins turnover and a near flat battery. That's a £71k product in 2017 money. I guess what I am saying is that our collective experience is all too common. Your post made me watch a YouTube video of the Jaecoo 8 Executive. Flippin' hec, it looks pretty good outside and the interior fit out is generally impressive too. As per usual, the reviewer was at the Jaecoo launch event and, as many other journalists have already stated about the resultant journalistic output, it wasn't the most rigorous or objective of reviews. Nonetheless, Jaecoo is a market disruptor and, if I was a current European or Japanese manufacturer I would be very worried. Would I buy one? Goodness, no. Would I lease one? I might over the same period as the full manufacturer's warranty (by which I mean, discounting the long headline warranty duration and instead focusing on the core, non wear & tear element). So, three or four years then. As a lease, the majority of the risk sits with the lease company for what is a new entrant into the UK. I say majority of the risk because.... a lot hinges upon the dealer network and parts supply. Sound familiar? If there are issues, serious issues, then some of the risk still sits with the driver under a lease agreement. The lease looked pretty decent though. 36mths, 12mth initial payment and 15k miles per annum was coming out at £500 per month after a £6k initial payment. So, £24k over the three years then. Why am I not ready for this? A few things. First, despite your personal experience with your latest Skoda, I am not yet ready for a jump into the unknown with Jaecoo. Not yet. Like you, from what I read, I have a low tolerance of faff and I really do worry that there's still a mountain of 'unknown unknowns' with these Chinese challenger manufacturers here in the UK and Europe. I just don't have the risk appetite for them yet, even on lease. I am a late adopter, not an early one or innovator. Second, I am also not yet ready for a 1.5 Chinese engine hauling a large SUV around when the battery is exhausted. China is great at battery technology but less so with ICE. Nor am I ready for the soft, relaxed ride on the Scottish Borders' fast twisty roads where we live. Straight line? Yes, providing it doesn't wander in lane on the motorway like some of the others. Cornering? High centre of gravity, the mass shifts in the turn. Not nice. Been there with the Velar and, despite all the electronic wizardry that JLR threw at it, an SUV is still an SUV. And Jaecoo isn't renowned for it's handling, feedback and steering yet. There's just too much mental baggage for a leap to Jaecoo yet. But, on first sight, the Jaecoo 8 appears interesting when specced thoughtfully (paintwork, interior configuration etc). I hope you enjoy yours and I congratulate you on being an early adopter. Jaecoo are throwing a lot at the UK market and, since the Chinese domestic consumer market is having a tough time at present and they don't have access / easy access to the US or EU marketplace, I get the business strategy here. They're new here but they're not new in China. Finally, being the last of the Boomers or the first of GenX, I still prefer to buy and own stuff. I don't enjoy lease or PCP, having tried the latter once. A Jaecoo 8, any Jaecoo, only makes sense with a lease or PCP for me right now. I'm not yet ready for that model of funding our cars. Meanwhile, I await delivery of our Superb and hope that I have a good experience otherwise I may just throw in the towel, join you and move to the lease / disposable / white goods approach to family transport that has become so popular these days. Best wishes and thanks for taking the time to let us all know. Possibly a tricky pill for some here to swallow but I guess we all know that it's important to listen to the full range of feedback, not just the happy-clappy stories. Arianne

@Novichok Thanks for your post. It's actually reassuring. I am hoping the next one will be okay. I am not expecting perfection and Mrs A and I have discussed the fact that we will need to learn some of the characteristics of the new car upon arrival. I was an HR&OD guy prior to hanging up my boots, learning & development falling within the remit of my team. So I understand that excitement and novelty is often followed by frustration as our brains try to absorb what's new into our unconscious routines and driving habits. I'm glad that you have enjoyed your car. Long may that continue. I'll be back in touch when I have some news of sufficient interest for forum members. Meanwhile, since I don't.....I will revert to radio silence! Best wishes.

Still basking in the 'anticipation' of eventually having one of my own 😅 The car we ordered arrived at the dealership in late-February and we were scheduled to collect her (yes, a she) in early-March. There was a software issue with the ADAS and the dealer hoped to correct it by taking a download before collection. But the download failed and the dealer needed to seek remote support from the factory. The collection date was deferred and, once Mrs A had spoken to next door's wife over the hedge in the front garden, she informed me that she didn't want to accept the car because it was faulty. That's the power of a brief chat with the neighbour! So we met with the Sales Manager and explained that we wanted the Superb 265PS TSI L&K Estate, just not that particular unit. The Sales Manager was apologetic and, because we have been in Italy for a few months, we agreed that the next car would be scheduled for 1 September delivery. Identical specification and they are honouring the original price which we negotiated with them (we had previously shown them the Drive the Deal & Carwow offers and they chose to almost match them - and being a local dealership it had value for us to not chase the rock bottom offer by a couple of hundred quid). Whether this was a good thing or not, I don't really know. We didn't really need the new car through the summer but she is crucial for the winter period due to our skiing in the Austrian Tyrol etc. Our RR Velar has been sold privately back in February, thank goodness! We are both very much looking forward to eventually owning a Superb, it's just proved rather tricky to get hold of the one we want! I promise to let you and the forum know how it goes when we do become the owners of the new car. Meanwhile, we are enjoying life in our Mercedes SLC200 cabriolet hard-top roadster grand tourer. Best wishes.

Sadly, my new Superb didn't even make it from dealer PDI to collection because of an ADAS software fault and delays in the dealer being able to take the update for a software flash. However, I have a suspicion this was more to do with that specific unit rather than a universal problem - at least that is my hope because I have another on order for September. FWIW, the dealer sold our unregistered, rejected car within a couple of weeks for more than the deal we have agreed - something I need to bear in mind when the next one arrives! Having said all this, it seems like our friends from Romania have trouble free cars, which is encouraging 🏆. Here's hoping!

@Busa-Boy Thanks, that was funny. Honestly, we have come to accept that this is the world of buying cars. We rejected our Jaguar F-Pace V6 3.0d (Heidi) after two weeks due to a design fault for which Jaguar had no fix or diagnosis of the fault at the time. We have experienced smaller, but very annoying, issues with other new cars we have owned down through the years. The dealership makes a huge difference when things go wrong. My aunt in Germany had a goat when I was a child. On my first visit, being just a small child, I was touched by the affection which her goat displayed. I didn't then realise that goats will follow anyone who gives them food. The following year I visited my aunt again and I asked her where the goat was. Oddly, the goat was also called Rosie. My aunt told me to accompany her and she led me to the chest freezer in the cellar. She opened the lid and introduced me to Rosie, albeit in pieces! Putting aside something slightly strange with German and Austrian culture, especially regarding cellars......they always say that you should never give names to animals that are not being kept as pets etc. I think maybe the same applies to cars, especially naming them before collection. You get emotionally attached. To be honest, this is true of virtually every car we have owned since we view them as more than just mechanical, but as part of our family and an asset to our experiences, especially on long journeys and holidays. In bad weather and snow, they can protect you and the family. The key is knowing when to decouple. There is a point when the emotion needs to be supplanted by logic, rationale and accounting. Usually that happens after a few years of ownership when they begin to show signs of age and unreliability. In this case, Rosie's case, we needed to make that decision even before the collection date! Will we name our next car? Yes, and we have five months to find a new name. Life is for living and I am smiling as I finish typing this post. Providing we don't get hit with supply-chain bottlenecks triggered by any prolonged conflict in the Middle East, or we suffer a second dodgy delivery off the transporter, it should work out okay. I will keep this thread alive through to the eventual outcome. Sorry that the remote parking and audio settings tests are also delayed by five months 😅. Best wishes.

Well, that USB stick shown above looks like it'll be the only part of our new Skoda Superb that we will own for another five months! We met with the Sales Manager at the dealership this afternoon for what was probably one of the best discussions one can have in these circumstances, ironically. In fairness to the dealership, they were profusely apologetic for the fact that the car has arrived with an ADAS issue, that the software update isn't working and that they have not been able to achieve a resolution yet. After discussion it was agreed that we will unwind this order and start again with an identical order in every way for a 1 September 2026 collection. We didn't want to accept a car which, elegant as she is, was faulty even before we collected her. It may be that, once the software is updated, everything will be just fine but I would feel like a complete twot if I accepted this particular car and then she displayed ADAS related faults repeatedly thereafter - issues with the global communication gateway module, the integrity of the AGM battery after a severe discharge or an underlying sensor / hardware / wiring / microprocessor issue. We are about to return to Italy for six weeks and so, if I accepted the car now (assuming a miraculous fix) I would have just a few days of my 30 day rejection window to fully test her prior to our departure. If I accept her on our return from Italy in May, I do get the full 30 days but I have still got the anxiety and that is not what a new car purchase should normally entail. It would take six months of seamless reliability for me to disassociate this problem with the car while Mrs A told me yesterday that it would take a whopping five years (crikey, I better never let her down then!). This followed the dreaded chat with the neighbour when she told Mrs A, "you wouldn't accept the car now, would you?". And that was that! We have another car, our SLC200. We use that as our daily drive and for our Italian jaunts with the exception of our Winter skiing trip. So, if there is an upside, I get to keep my £47k for another five months which will generate around £150 interest per month, we get a car that will be six months younger, hopefully no faults, no anxiety, a rerun of a proper 'new car' buyer's journey and a strengthened relationship with the dealership for the long-term (they're a smaller, family and privately owned franchise as I wanted to avoid the big car dealership groups like Arnold Clark or Lloyd Group). Our son says we are mad ordering an identical replacement. But I disagree. The only alternatives are the MB E-Class (£85k), BMW 5 Series (£85k), both with huge complexity and associated high maintenance costs, the Audi A6 Avant £60k+) with its smaller interior, faux quality and higher maintenance too or the Subaru Outback (back to 2010 anyone?). I can see the thread on this forum about the buggy ADAS software from the 2024 launch cars + 12mths, but this seems to have been sorted and that thread has now become much quieter since 2026 began. The ADAS software is clearly still fragile but I think it reads as fairly stable now? So I am hoping that our L&K Superb, or as Chat GPT / Gemini calls them "a computer on wheels", should be okay at the second attempt. Sad, but true! Patience is a wonderful thing. Bye, bye Rosie! Best wishes to everyone and thank you for your advice and opinions so far.

Sadly folks, collection has been delayed 😥. The dealership warned me at the weekend that they were struggling with a software update for the driver assistance suite. They had hoped that they would resolve it today but sadly, it was not to be. The dealer has now logged a request for assistance from the Skoda factory team. It's somewhat unnerving but we are trying to be patient and collaborate with our dealer since this is usually the best approach. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions then please feel free to post. Best wishes. PS. The only part of Rosie, our new Superb, that we do actually possess is this newly acquired 256GB USB-C stick which arrived on Saturday from Amazon! Now we just need the car into which we can plug it in 😅

If we were based in Africa we wouldn't need to adjust our headlamp sensors, at least from most African countries 😅. But you are right, the UK is part of the continent of Europe, geographically speaking. The rest is complicated, as any two people heavily committed to a relationship will tell you 🙃. Moving on 😉

Hmm. I know, it's frustrating rather than life changing. If nobody else gets back to you sooner, I will test the system with our car which we are collecting on Monday, hopefully. It could be at the Skoda end or possibly at the permissions end of your phone (assume from your post that you are Apple? I am Samsung S25+ Android but Mrs A is Apple 16+, so I can test both). Your £50k statement made me smile. Our RR Velar was £71k back in 2017 and the ICT Pro software interface was glitchy for ages until the eventually got to about the tenth 'over the air update'. Anyway, maybe someone will get to you first with the answer but, if not, I promise to try and replicate the functionality next week. Should be fun, or not! Best wishes. PS. I have found ChatGPT Pro (not the free version but the enhanced subscription version) a bit hit and miss with any advice about software settings. Worth a go but often not definitive. Hope for us humans yet then!