D-Cunningham

Greetings. I saw this in yesterday's Guardian. It give a positive spin on the Enyaq, as part of an article about getting from Lands End to the top of Scotland, with all those related infrastructure issues! https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/28/leading-the-charge-can-i-make-it-from-lands-end-to-john-ogroats-in-an-electric-car

You may find that you're setting a trend. There are lots of people teetering on the brink of going electric, I suspect. Many will have concerns over real-world range and the availability of charging points when on longer journeys. I'd bet that you get enquiries from other Forum members, once the Enyaq arrives and you've got used to it. My Karoq is only a year old but when I comer to swap it I'm hoping that the electric car infrastructure will be rather more comprehensive than it is now. The Enyaq will be on my shortlist. Best of luck with the new car.

I'm 5'7" so I'll keep out of the chat about size! My buying experience might interest you. I've used Marshall in Oxford to buy my Superb as well as my Karoq. I've found them to be very good - thorough and professional. It was my experience when buying the Superb that gave me the confidence to trade it in, at a decent price, and to buy the Karoq based only on its pictures on the Marshall website. The handover was done using their Covid-compliant safety regime, which impressed me. I'm happy with the outcome. The message I'm giving is - make sure that you're confident in the franchise dealer that you're working with and a "sold unseen" purchase should be fine. Marshall have impressed me in that regard. As a PS, I helped my stepson to find a Fabia recently down in Harlow. He too got a cracking deal, trading in a CitiGo at a good price and getting his Fabia at a bargain price. Once again, just now Marshall seem content to make selling their cars a priority, rather than making the maximum surplus on each car they sell. Just a thought.

Last month, I dropped from an L&K Superb to a Sportline Karoq. It’s the same 2 litre engine and the kit is almost the same due to getting added extras on the Karoq like heated seats and windscreen. My biggest surprise was the reduced mpg on the Karoq due to the 4x4. The Superb was really efficient, giving around 40 mpg both in local driving and motorways. I knew that I’d take some mpg hit because the car before the Superb was a 1.4 Tiguan with 4x4, which was really disappointing on fuel and spun the front wheels during acceleration. It was comfortable to drive, but hardly a fun experience. The Karoq’s bigger engine is much better for me and, as others have noted, there’s reassurance in knowing that the 4x4 will help in poor road conditions. I’d suggest that you go for the bigger engine. As an extra thought, I tend to buy nearly new cars and don’t use PCP deals. I’ve found that you can get attractive prices on ex-demo and similar vehicles. I also found that my local dealer, Marshalls, is keen to pull in cash in these hard times and therefore would rather be extra competitive on price, rather than having cars hanging around for ages. I was pleased with my trade-in price for the Superb. I also waited a while and monitored the Karoq's price. When they took £1500 off, that made my decision for me and I took the plunge on the Karoq. So far, I've been impressed at how really easy it is to drive compared to the limo-length Superb, even though I loved the Superb!

On the motorway, you're out of luck if its doing 2000rpm at 70mph. 7th gear is nice and high. On a recent motorway trip, where I was flexibly interpreting the speed limit, I still got over 40mpg. I love motorway driving in my L&K. The comfort/economy balance is great.

I have the Facelift model. I believe that you can't select driving mode and keep it after you've turned off the engine. It's a case of having to engage your chosen mode each time you start the car. I'd like to be contradicted but this is what I understand to be how the Superb is now set up.

I've got the 190 TSI. I tried the 272 as part of my search for a Superb. Of course you can tell the difference between 190 and 272 when you put your foot down hard. However, in regular driving, I'm quite happy with my 190. Moreover, because it's two wheel drive and not four, I'm able to avoid any possible Haldex problems in the future. Enjoy your new car.

I'm 68 and bought the top of the range L&K just before New Year. As people will know, it has all the bells and whistles that Skoda provide, in spades. It took me a while to read the manual and figure out what I might like to change from what my extremely helpful sales guy at Marshalls had set up for me at handover. Now that I know what the car can do, I'm a fan of all the tech stuff because it lets me concentrate on being an observant driver. Why? Because that's pretty much all that's left for me to do. The car is set up to slide through the DSG box, stop at junctions/red lights, etc while I just wait until it's time to go and press gently on the accelerator. If I want, it will handle lane assist, but I prefer to look after that myself. The camera is a big help when reversing. The blind spot detector is great at avoiding accidents too. The automatic dimming lights are a wonder to behold in night driving. I love all this kit. The one thing that I do find a bit irritating (maybe I fling my arms round wildly while driving!) is the 'sweep' function on the central console - the one that allows you to control your music tracks by waving your hand in an appropriate direction, for instance. I'm cack handed enough to be halfway through a track, then involuntarily wave my hand and find myself back at the start of the track, or on to the next track. Is that cause for throwing a major strop? No. I just sift through the Settings and turn it off. And if that is the worst part of the 'driver assistance' offered by Skoda, I'm one very contented L&K owner. Most people who've been in my car and have been shown the equipment marvel at how helpful it is. There's not a soul who's wanted, to coin a phrase, "take back control". I leave all that fuss and bother to the car. It seems to know very well how to make my driving experience as relaxed and as safe as it can be. Modern technology - I'm an old codger who's all for it!

However, if you do decide that the "LifeShine" product will do, try getting it for free. In my case, I didn't even have to ask, before they informed me that it would be part of the deal. When I bought my L&K last December, Marshalls bundled it in for nothing, just to make sure that they got the sale. I don't think that dealers are having it any easier than they were back in December. So if I were you, and you can keep a straight face while you're asking them, just politely suggest that they add it at no cost to you. I'm here to vouch that it is possible, in these tough times for dealers.

I bow to your greater knowledge. Might you know this one that we saw when we visited the Skoda museum in the Czech Republic

On the subject of old Citroens, here's one that I saw back in 2015 while on holiday in the Beaujolais area of France outside our hotel. It was one of those "this looks so eccentric, I'll take a snap of it" moments.

You seem to be much like I was last December. I really wanted a nearly new L&K but couldn't find one in my price range. In fact, there weren't many around at all. By contrast, I could have had any number of Sportline Plus at an attractive price that I could afford. I knew that the L&K had all the 'toys' that I was interested in, and I had had an L&K Octavia a few years ago so I knew about all the things that came as standard. What should I do? Cave in and get a Sportline Plus before Christmas? Or just keep scanning the main used car sites for an L&K? Out of the blue an L&K that I'd rules out dipped in price by £2000, bringing it within budget. I test drove it, made a mental note of the galaxy of features that it had, and went for it. It was a New Year present, instead of a Christmas present. One thing that I would add is to make sure you get a car with the latest 7 speed DSG gearbox. It cruises in 7th at low, low revs, giving you a surprisingly high mpg on a run. As for the features, I'm sold on the automatic dipping headlights, which I don't think come as standard on the Sportline Plus. My wife loves them for night driving and so do I. You'll find out at the test drive about all the other great features that, in my view, put the L&K in the category of "just wait until the right one comes along", compared to the readily available Sportline Plus. I'm just glad that other contributors who are L&K owners are saying similar things to me about waiting, so that you don't think that I'm too biased - because I'm a very satisfied recent addition to this Superb L&K club.

My vote goes to Mitchell's as well. I've got a friend who travels from the other side of Manchester to buy their car and have it serviced at Mitchell's. Never heard a bad word about them.

I recently bought a nearly new L&K 190 TSI, facelift model. I test drove a number of options, including a 272 Sportline Plus, pre-facelift. The difference in performance was noticeable. I suppose too that there's a psychological comfort from knowing that the 4x4 would kick in if you got stressed in a manoeuvre. However, I ended up weighing my options in this way. How often would I really need a 4x4 car? How many boy racers would I really want to burn off in a 272 stealth car? How much did I want a facelift 2020 Superb over a pre-facelift 2019 one? The list of standard kit on the L&K was also impressive - heated windscreen, heated steering wheel, four heated and ventilated seats, automatic dipping high beam (a firm favourite for my wife). In the end it turned on driver convenience vs raw speed, especially as there were just so few facelift L&K cars around in my price range. If you're fine about a pre-facelift car and are happy to dip your own headlights!, there are bargains to be had among the Sportline/Sportline Plus used cars, definitely including 272 ones. I was surprised at the price difference between those and the few L&K cars that I came across. I strongly recommend giving a 272 a run round the block with your local dealer. Then try to stop yourself from thinking about fuel bills and expense. Instead, lick your lips at all those silly boys in their Fiestas that you're going to sting. I went for comfort but I'd happily have gone for comfort plus pace if there'd been something around in my price range. Hope this helps.

And finally, here we are. Too many bells and whistles to mention. Just 190 but L&K through and through! I'll be spending the next few days learning how to navigate this spaceship.

If the prices for diesel Superbs are similar to where I live, you'll have got yourself bargain. My dealership had diesel Superbs for sale at prices well below those of equivalent petrol cars.

Yes, Border cars are now gone. They had a number of franchises. My brother in law has a Mitsubishi from them. His problem now is that the nearest Mitsubishi franchise is either across the border in Scotland or he'd have to travel down into Lancashire. I think that he'll just swap brands when it's time to change his car.

I don't know about Johnson's, but I do know about Mitchell's. I've bought a car from them for my daughter a few years ago. I was impressed enough with them to recommend them to a friend of mine who lives a good hour's drive away in Greater Manchester. She has now bought three cars from them and is so chuffed with them that she wouldn't go anywhere else for her motoring needs.

Choices, choices............. and compromises! Here is an update on my quest for a nearly new 272 L&K within the budget that I had set for myself. For the money I had available, there was just one 272 L&K Superb available. By the time I had got in touch with the dealer, it had been sold. This left me with a difficult choice – do I go for the 190 L&K (with all the toys) or do I step down to a 272 Sportline Plus (within the budget but minus all the toys)? My mind was made up for me when I discovered on the dealer‘s website that, overnight, another of its branches had reduced the price of a facelifted 190 L&K by a full £2000, thereby taking it from ‘too much money’ to ‘within budget’. I got back in touch, organised a test drive and was offered an improved trade-in price. I had taken a friend with me to sit in the back while I test drove it. He was knocked out by the comfort in the back and I was impressed by all the kit available to the driver. In all, this represented the best compromise, and so I’ve agreed to buy it. It should be ready to collect either later this week or definitely before Christmas. Yes, I would have liked a facelifted or even pre-facelift 272 L&K, but the money would not stretch that far. Within my budget, there weren’t even any pre-facelift L&K cars on sale. Anyway, I console myself with the fact that the 190 is far from sluggish. So, I’ll take on the chin the loss of power from not buying the 272 and replace it with the extra spec that you get with the facelifted 190. I’ll post some pictures in due course.

I'm also interested in an L&K specification Superb. That's mainly because of the added comfort/features you get only on that spec. I've wanted to find an L&K 272 car but I've found that there seems to be less flexibility from dealers on this model in the range compared to the L&K 190 cars. This has caused me to spread my search away from 272 and towards a 190, which would be more likely to fall into my price range. On the question of dealer flexibility, from my initial conversations over price and after my recent searches of dealer websites, I've noticed that prices have been falling. In some cases, the amount that's been sliced off has exceeded £2000 - and this just happens overnight! In the case of Sportline Plus 272 models, the prices there have come down really quite steeply. Maybe it's because dealers simply have more of those that they need to sell. However, if potential buyers were willing to accept the reduced spec that they'd get on the 272 Sportline, for example, then there seem to be bargains to be had. I'm sticking out for an L&K, for the reasons I've already mentioned. But, if price is the more important factor, and you've got to have the power of a 272, I'd recommend potential buyers to check out the relative bargains to be had from a Sportline Plus 272.

Since my last posting I have visited my local dealer and tried out two nearly new cars that he had in stock. One was a facelifted 190 SEL DSG hatchback and the other was a 272 Sportline Plus estate. The SEL did have some interesting features, including virtual dashboard, ventilated leather seats and matrix lights, which included the automatic high beam dipping function (others among you will know the specific name for it). However, when I tried the 272 Sportline Plus, the difference in performance was stark. It just seemed so much more commanding. I was reminded of some of the remarks from my earlier posting made on here by some of you, about whether to go for a 272 over a 190! There's also the psychological benefit of knowing that you have four wheel drive to keep you that little tighter to the tarmac and to cut your chances of spinning your front wheels. The Sportline Plus did lack the automatic dipping function, which was a pity. My wife and I are keen to have as many aids as possible on our replacement car, including using the latest technology when night driving, so that we don’t have to fiddle about manually dipping the lights. Others may think that this is a minor matter, but I find night driving a pain and would rather be able to focus solely on my driving. The result was that the dealer drew a blank in terms of cars in stock being available for me. So, I have asked the dealer to look me out an L&K. I’m hoping that by choosing a 272 L&K, I can have more bits of luxury/driver assistance than with either the facelifted SEL or any Sportline Plus. It certainly will have the auto dipping function, for example. It may not be a facelift model but it's highly unlikely that there's going to be one of those available in L&K livery in my price range. So that’s my update so far. I’ll let you know more once the dealer has had a chance to search round for an L&K (probably hatchback rather than estate) that matches our budget.

I don't want to cause more friction between 'lazy drivers' and 'technology', but here's my two penneth. My wife has a mid-range VW Tiguan with this feature and she swears by it. She reckons that if you're driving at night, especially on country roads and/or roads that you're not familiar with, then your main job is to concentrate on driving well. That's partly why she has the DSG box as well. In my experience, as a passenger in the car when this system is turned on, I have yet to see an oncoming driver get annoyed with her over having her lights on full beam. However, I have been dazzled by oncoming drivers who have failed to dip, maybe because they were changing gear and/or reaching for the dip switch. So, this is only my personal experience, but I'm on the side of any technology that gives you more time to concentrate on the critical thing in your car - driving it as well as you can.

I am really grateful for every one of your comments. I was particularly taken by the remarks about FWD. As a younger person, I had an Octavia vRS for a year and noticed how it could spin the front wheels quite easily. I moved from that to an Octavia L&K diesel and felt more of that armchair experience. My armchair life has continued in the Superb Elegance Mk2. I think I’m maybe ready to accept more cosseting from an L&K Superb, although I appreciate the positive remarks that some of you have offered about the comfort of the Sportline seats. Therefore, I have identified hereabouts several likely candidates - Sportline Plus and L&K - for me to try. I am tending towards the L&K, even though it’s a bit more expensive. I think they come in 235/45/19 tyres as against 235/40/19 for the Sportline Plus. I’ll only know if it makes any difference to the ride by trying them both. Another thing that I’ve noticed is just the quantity of nearly new Superbs that are around just now. I’m guessing that it reflects the wider reduction in consumer spending across the country on big budget items. There also seems to be a trend among dealers of slicing a few hundred pounds off the asking price between the initial sale offer and later in the sales period, presumably as stocks of these cars pile up. In theory, this should be a good time to do business for anyone who’s after a nearly new Superb, often with just a few thousand miles on the clock. As a relative novice, I do wonder whether some of these cars have just been registered by Skoda HQ and used casually by HQ staff as runabouts. If anyone has more information on the likely history of these nearly new cars, then I for one would be fascinated to know more. For me, the next few days will be taken up in testing out both versions of the Superb. Once done, I will be reporting back on how your very welcome advice has helped me to weigh up my buying options. Thank you again.

At the age of 68, I’m reflecting on my car options. I’ve had three Superbs, all diesel and automatic, and I want to change to petrol. My options are the 190 petrol or the 4x4 280. I know that the only way to find out for sure is to go and test one, but I’m seeking your practical experience to guide me before doing that. I have plenty of dealers that I can visit. My local ones are in Oxford and Aylesbury but there are plenty of others within an hour’s drive. My questions are about the factors that might improve driver comfort, including tyres. Which models might make the driving more comfortable? Should I avoid the low profile tyres on the Sportline range, for example, and go for 18 inch ones? Should I choose one with seating that is more adjustable for lumbar support or will all of the seats in the range be comfortable enough? Given my age, how easy is it to get in and out? I ask the last question because you will appreciate that today’s popular choice of vehicle is the SUV and Skoda do have the Kodiaq, if I wanted to keep driving a bigger car. They are seriously more expensive, though, as the next examples of current Superbs on sale will show. Marshalls, Bedford – 2019 Sportline Plus, 3500 miles, £23990 Robert Eardley, Stoke – 2018 SEL Executive, 4800 miles, £23000 Meadens, Brockenhurst - 2019 Sportline Plus, 2700 miles, £24,295 Admittedly, a truer price for a nearly new 280 is closer to £27000. However, the 190 petrol Kodiaqs tend to be nearer to £30000 for a similar specification. So my questions really are - Do I join the Superb 280 community? Or do I opt for the Superb 190, which many argue is quite fast enough, and would be quite a bit cheaper? Or do I join the growing tribe of drivers who are opting for an SUV? In my case that SUV would have to be the Kodiaq, which gets the same rave reviews as the Superb. What choices! Thank you for reading this. I hope you can help me.

I've used Black Circles for years. I have always been happy with the price, and I've not been disappointed by competence of the local firms that they use to fit their tyres.