I'm a taxi driver currently using an 03 plate 1.9 TDi 130 bhp Classic Superb (manual). I bought it new from the local dealer and I've been quite pleased with it over the last five years. But it's time for a change and I'm quite happy to stick with a Superb for my next car.

I've been fancying an auto box this time though. I know the fuel consuption might be a little higher but that could be a good tradeoff seeing as I'm in the car for eight hours plus each shift. :p What are the Tiptronic gearboxes like? Will they take a lot of getting used to? I've never driven an auto before.

I've got my eye on a 20K miles 56 plate 2.5 V6 Elegance. Top of the range and fully loaded. BUT... "dum dum dum"... what's this like compared to the 1.9 TDi I'm used to? Of course I'm gonna cover quite high mileages. Is it 80K miles for the cam belt change? (My current TDi is 60K). I already know the road tax is gonna cost me £210 per year instead of my current £145. I'm just wondering if the overall running costs of the 2.5 are gonna make it unviable in the long run. :confused:

Now I'm no cabbie, but i thought the whole idea of owning a taxi was to make money?

If so then why would you pick a workhorse that is going to cost you more to run and service than a 1.9 would?

Now if the 1.9 was a dog i could understand it, but it is the beat engine for the Superb (especially as a Taxi), OK i see the benefit of an auto box over a manual when you spend so long behind the wheel in traffic (even when it is going to cost more to run) but a V6?

I wouldn't do it. The V6 engine is a dog in terms of efficiency and maintenance costs. Mating this engine to a torque-converter autobox and then running it in town would mean that you will use twice as much fuel as the 130 manual. The autobox in the Superb is not the most trouble-free example of its type anyway and the torque of the V6 does not do it any favours. The energy wasted in it has to go somewhere... (clue, something gets hot). It's not a happy marriage - long term anyway.

If you must have an auto (I sympathise, given your job) buying a Japanese car with a basic torque converter box, preferably without electronic control would be the way to go. VAG developed the DSG autos to overcome the problems the old torque converter autos have when mated to high torque diesels.

As it is, the manual 130 PS diesel Superb was, in my view the best model they ever made. I'm still impressed with the efficiency of mine. The later 4 cyl diesels are less good.

Assuming you've covered a high mileage in your old car, what has gone wrong with it?

rotodiesel.

Assuming you've covered a high mileage in your old car, what has gone wrong with it?

Not too much really. I have had two clutches fitted with the second one needing a new flywheel also. The pulley on the alternator has seized twice, but this is hardly an expensive repair. I only mention it because it's happened twice.

I did have a really annoying problem I lived with for about ten months or so though. Once the engine got up to temperature and I had to switch off for a few minutes (say to get fuel) I couldn't restart the car without trying for anything from 6 to 20 times. I had the car in the dealership twice to look for the problem... to no avail. Then one night I accidentally put £10 of unleaded in the tank!!! :eek: I knew what I'd done as soon as I put the nozzle back and saw it was green. I had to move the car to the end of the forecourt and then came back next day armed with a new fuel filter and a home made syphoning kit. Once the job was done the car fired up first time... and the starting problem disappeared instantly! Piece of inadvertant luck or just a sh!t dealership?!

So yeah.. pretty happy overall with the car so hence my desire to get another. I think I will take on board both of your advice and steer clear of the 2.5 then. Looking at a 4000 mile manual ex demonstrator on an 07 plate now... 2.0 TDi Comfort 140 bhp. I did fancy an auto but I'm not exactly ****ed off with the manual. I can live with it for sure.

Edited 3 March, 200917 yr by DBrown67

for town work is it not advisable to avoid one with a dpf, hence go for the 1.9, 130 again? the 2.5 isn't useless, but really not fit for purpose as a taxi

for town work is it not advisable to avoid one with a dpf, hence go for the 1.9, 130 again? the 2.5 isn't useless, but really not fit for purpose as a taxi

dpf? I'm sorry I'm not as technical as you guys. :confused: Although it did puzzle me slightly as to why an 07 plate Superb would have a 2.0 140 bhp engine when my dealership bumph only lists the 1.9 engine in 100 and 130 bhp variants for that year.

dpf? I'm sorry I'm not as technical as you guys. :confused: Although it did puzzle me slightly as to why an 07 plate Superb would have a 2.0 140 bhp engine when my dealership bumph only lists the 1.9 engine in 100 and 130 bhp variants for that year.

The DPF is a diesel particulate filter, and it's a pain in the ****. There's loads on here about it if you search for DPF

I cab a 1.9 Auto, she returns overall a shade under 30mpg, I suspect the 2.5 auto would struggle to return 23-25 overall using it as a cab, if you are a long distance cabby it could still be a goer as I would think you will still see 40mpg as long as you don't go urban too often, against it is the cambelt cost, I could never understand why Skoda ditched the 130 auto option and kept the 2.5, it's a no brainer really, the 2.5 isn't really any faster, uses more fuel and cost more to service, as the Superb was essentially a cabbies dream on wheels it would've made more sense to delete the 2.5's imo.

Well thanks for all the advice guys. I really do appreciate it. I decided to eek out one more year from my current car... and maybe go for the new shape in 9 to 12 months time. I might be able to get a year old+ one by then when prices come down. Can't stretch to a Superb II right now that's for certain.

Never knew about those problems with the 2.0 140 bhp lump. Glad I read up on this site. Thanks again anyway!

the 2.5 isn't really any faster.

I usually try to ignore slagging off the 2.5TDI, but that's one point I have direct experience of.

The 2.5TDI is considerably faster than the 130PD whale, in fact I routinely drive at 130mph-140mph actual speed (GPS) for hours at a time (e.g. Germany, A2 autobahn at night). And you still get useful acceleration at 120mph - 130mph.

130PD simply cannot do it, it struggles at 130mph, and flooring it at 120mph produces little response.

For a taxi, though, 130PD is perfect.

2.5TDI was an engine intended to be used on Autobahn at speeds well above 70mph. That is the reason why in the UK there is limited use for it. But it does have its uses, in my case it provided 50k miles of happy motoring so far. Not to mention that I paid stlg20k for my car at a time where equivalent Audi was stlg35k. I still intend to get an Audi A6 3.0TDI quattro 6-spd manual as a next car, but not for a good few years.

In the meantime, I am hoping to cover 120k-150k in the Superb, which at the speeds I am driving means fuel expenditure of stlg13k-stlg15k, another 2 grand or so in tyres, stlg1k - stlg2k in other service parts (brake discs/pads, shock absorbers, oil, filters, etc) and another grand or so in road tax. So total spend including the purchase price of the car will be stlg37k-stlg40k. Against this, the cost of belt service is insiginificant.

In any case, I am doing the belt myself when the time comes next year, will still probably cost stlg350 in parts (I prefer genuine VW parts for this particular job) .

The so called "special tools" are readily available from Sealey, Laser and others, and the detailed TB change manuals are in several places on Internet. I would use a mechanic, but sadly my experience so far is that at best the mechanic fixes one problem and produces the next one (happened 3 times with 3 different workshops so far), at worst the car comes back with "could not locate the problem" tag and an "investigation charge" to pay.

Edited 4 March, 200917 yr by Bigw2069
fixed quote

I usually try to ignore slagging off the 2.5TDI, but that's one point I have direct experience of.

The 2.5TDI is considerably faster than the 130PD whale, in fact I routinely drive at 130mph-140mph actual speed (GPS) for hours at a time (e.g. Germany, A2 autobahn at night). And you still get useful acceleration at 120mph - 130mph.

130PD simply cannot do it, it struggles at 130mph, and flooring it at 120mph produces little response.

For a taxi, though, 130PD is perfect.

2.5TDI was an engine intended to be used on Autobahn at speeds well above 70mph. That is the reason why in the UK there is limited use for it. But it does have its uses, in my case it provided 50k miles of happy motoring so far. Not to mention that I paid stlg20k for my car at a time where equivalent Audi was stlg35k. I still intend to get an Audi A6 3.0TDI quattro 6-spd manual as a next car, but not for a good few years.

In the meantime, I am hoping to cover 120k-150k in the Superb, which at the speeds I am driving means fuel expenditure of stlg13k-stlg15k, another 2 grand or so in tyres, stlg1k - stlg2k in other service parts (brake discs/pads, shock absorbers, oil, filters, etc) and another grand or so in road tax. So total spend including the purchase price of the car will be stlg37k-stlg40k. Against this, the cost of belt service is insiginificant.

In any case, I am doing the belt myself when the time comes next year, will still probably cost stlg350 in parts (I prefer genuine VW parts for this particular job) .

The so called "special tools" are readily available from Sealey, Laser and others, and the detailed TB change manuals are in several places on Internet. I would use a mechanic, but sadly my experience so far is that at best the mechanic fixes one problem and produces the next one (happened 3 times with 3 different workshops so far), at worst the car comes back with "could not locate the problem" tag and an "investigation charge" to pay.

LOL, I'm not slating it, I'm just saying how I see things, I was going to buy a brand new one 2 yrs ago until I found the 1.9 auto option had been taken off the menu, as for speed I doubt the OP is considering if the car can do 130mph all day or how fast it can get there, the 0-60 times aren't far apart in real world terms and overall I feel the 1.9 is a better option and quite adequate to live with.

As for the belt, unless you are very good mechanically it's a bad idea to mess with it, it needs timing up properly and there are a few reasons someone could make a mistake and destroy a very expensive engine, so myself I'd only entrust the work to a VW dealer or someone I know knows how to confidently do one.

But like I said, I'm not a 2.5 hater, it's just that for a cab it's not an option compared with a 1.9, which is a really Superb engine, forgive the pun

...which is a really Superb engine...

Seriously though Diesel makes a great point about speed. If you need that kind of speed then it's by far the best option.

im also a taxi driver, i have a 1.9 tdi 130bhp auto superb and i must say the gearbox is great! as for the fuel consumption its crap! i get 30-33mpg urban which for a diesel is shocking, if i was you i would stick to the car that you`ve already got.i bought my superb with 77k miles and currently it has 132k miles. the only problems i`ve had with it is the alternator belt snapped at 110k and i have had 7 cv boots in 18 months!!!! apart from that it is a lovely car

Edited 9 March, 200917 yr by cullo1

im also a taxi driver, i have a 1.9 tdi 130bhp auto superb and i must say the gearbox is great! as for the fuel consumption its crap! i get 30-33mpg urban which for a diesel is shocking, if i was you i would stick to the car that you`ve already got.i bought my superb with 77k miles and currently it has 132k miles. the only problems i`ve had with it is the alternator belt snapped at 110k and i have had 7 cv boots in 18 months!!!! apart from that it is a lovely car

As I posted above, I have decided to try and get another 9-12 months out of the car. It has to come off the road after 8 years anyway due to Leeds council regulations, so this will be into it's 7th year. As I type this it is in the workshop for cam belt change, engine service, two new tyres and rear brake pads. Road tax and taxi plate are both due end of March with MOT in April. So you can see I'm spending a bit now and committing myself to another years ownership.

Mine has been a good car really. The engine is still running sweet and I've no problems with the gearbox. CV boots have gone on mine also... I've had to replace about 4 of them. The pulley on the alternator has seized twice too (causes the belt to squeal and jump on steering full lock) and I was told that this is a common problem too. Though relatively cheap to fix. I did have a bad spate of trouble with bulbs blowing all the time, (headlamp and brake lamp) though the dealership swapped out some loom or other under warranty. Since then the bulb failures have been kinda normal.

I reckon my next car will be the new Mark II Superb in 1.9 TDi 105 format. Keeps me away from ****ty DPF faults. Though I wonder why they don't offer 130 bhp output on that engine?

Because if you fuel a 1.9 engine to give 130PS it won't meet Euro V particulate requirements without a DPF.

A torque convertor box on a high torque diesel is a disaster in terms of efficiency as the performance/emissions figures show. Hence the DSG.

rotodiesel.