Right, just a small thing, the strange mirror movements - yes that is intentional - for your convenience I think!!!

TPS is actually owned by VAG and its outlet to supply the non-VAG garage trade with all VAG marque genuine parts. Unfortunately its very existance means that VAG has stopped the parts place of one marque ordering another VAG marques parts. This causes me problems as up until TPS appeared on the scene my local VW Van Centre could order in any VAG part that I could supply a part number for - now VAG central ignores the order of any part that is not used by the ordering dealer's marque!

I'm a B5 Passat person so I don't have nice things like the lights under the mirrors, but is one not the indicator and the other the puddle light - or at least a light that comes on when you unlock the car?

I suppose the mirror thing is pretty handy. I had a Skoda Superb 1.8T Comfort before with only 13k miles on the clock. It was immaculate and had all keys books and everything. Then it started getting car park dings and some S***T drove up the side of it when i had it parked. So I sold the car at a loss. Had numerous cars since then. I used to be strictly Honda but when I got my 04 plate accord executive tourer I was less than impressed after owning the superb the Honda just did not feel in the same league.

My old Superb had the lights under the mirrors and they used to come on when you unlock the car. They do not function on this car I have bought. I would liekto know if anyone else is having the same trouble or happens to know where the wiring is for them. When i took the mirror covers off teh wires that lead to them are sealed in rubber so I am hoping that the fault is with the wiring in the door or in the passanger footwell.

As for the parking sensors I am fed up with them now. Had the bumper off and looked at the wiring and cleaned all the sensors. Could not see any problem with the wiring or the sensors. Maybe its a problem with the control box.

There are alot of really nice touches in the superb. I especially like the interior lighting. The green lighting of the air vents. The lights behind the door handles is nice touch and the lights in the footwells. I like the chrome like plastic they use for the air vents. They should have used this on the doors and the centre console instead of the cheapy looking wood or grey plastic thats on most cars. The comfort models have the chrome like plastic on the door trim looks nice.

Parking sensors, have you been keeping an eye on other threads that seem to be quite active on this subject?

Read the other articles on rear parking sensors. Most say just replace them.

I have a different fault though so not sure. I will ask my Skoda garage to take a look at them. Just leaving all my wiring out untill they have looked over the car and done the service so they dont charge me for lifting the carpets. I found about 6 sets of wires in totall that needed patching up. Can anyone tell me if there are any connectors in the wiring in the rear passanger side?. I noticed that there is alot of wires connected in the front passanger side where Skoda have clamped all the wires and put them inside a rubber gromit thingy. These are where the wires had been corroded straight through. Had to take the rubber off and snip the wires then tie them up and tape them.

I suppose lights on wing mirrors and rear parking sensors are 2 minor things. I managed to get all other electrics working including the interior monitoring sensors.

Parking sensors are coming up no signal or short to ground intermittant so there might be a loose wire or something i just can't find it.

Does anyone know if there is a test I can do with VAG COM for the lights under the wing mirrors. I tried the central convenience module tests but these only test the adjustment of the mirrors and interior lights etc.

HI all, got my email from Skoda this morning for supplying and fitting all my parts and I must admit I was totally shocked.

They quoted me £929.52 but said they could discount it to £785.21?.. This is an insane amount of money.

They originally quoted me £412 supply and fit for Cambelt, water pump and v-belt. The other parts were £96 including VAT. THis comes to around £500. Surely they cant want £200 for fitting pollen filter air filter spark plugs and few other serviceable parts?.

Anyways I have decided to source all the parts myself and with the money I save will get all new discs and pads all round and 4 new tyres and still have change of £785.

I will just have to live without parking sensors or lights under wing mirrors.

Does anyone know if most garages will be able to straighten my steering wheel?. When the wheels are straight the steering wheel sits off to the left. Can this be done using VAG COM to measure the angle of the wheel?.

On Superb, you need to perform toe and "raised toe" adjustment, check with your local tyre specialist if they have any clue. But given the car's condition, I'd shell out another stlg100 and did full wheel alignment check, caster, camber, toe and raised toe.

Because if it has skewed steering angle, either it has been in an accident that noone told you about (as in hitting a kerb sideways at speed, which happened to me in the Octavia), or it has a bush or a balljoint worn out, possibly several (Superb's front suspension has lots of balljoints).

Of course, all this costs even more money, but my first impression after you described the car's condition was that you got a neglected car full of problems, which will require lots of money if repaired at garages. Right now, you may be driving a twisted front subframe. To give you an idea of costs possible, hitting a kerb sideways at <30mph speed (because some idiot parked unlit car on a dark road after a sharp bend) in the Octavia cost me a wheel (it survived the impact with tyre still at pressure, but went out of shape). lower suspension arm (bent arm and cracked bush), wheel bearing (only started giving trouble after a month or so), and fitting a caster/camber alignment kit to even out camber on front tyres (because front subframe mounting shifted permanently by ~5mm, not possible to correct on the subframe bolts). And I did replace only what I could clearly see is broken.

Hi thanks for the info. Will have it checked over. I dont think it has been in an accident as the car steers straight as a an arrow just the steering wheel sits off to the left?. The front left track rod end is getting replaced and the front left brake pad is worn pretty heavy and the disc is warped it may just be this thats causing the wheel to sit off?. I heard there is a steering angle sensor behind the steering wheel?. Will get it all checked over though. I think that the rear tyres used to be on the front and the insides wore away to nothing so they placed the rear tyres on the front as the tread is even on them. I have seen this on alot of cars. My brother had his accord lowered and the wheels were totall bald on insides after few months.

Will keep you all updated on costs and that. Will post some pictures soon. The car is running very smooth and now that the water and electrical problems have been sorted I am just going to have to shell out about 5-600 to get it all sorted. So will still be a cheap car. Under £3000 for a 2.8 v6 elegance is a good price. If I have any dosh left I might even get it fully valeted. That would be nice as the previous owner was a smoker and nothing worse than a car that smells of smoke if you have given up.

Latest update on the superb. After a shopping trip with the wife and baby the wife has asked me to sell hte car and get an estate or an MPV. There was ample room inside the car for the car seat and us but with the pram in the boot some of the shopping had to come into the car beside us as well.

They should definately have released an estate version of the superb. I think its a shame that VAG have to limit the likes of Skoda and Seat. For sure if an Estate superb was released it would have pretty much taken all sales from the passat estate. I mean who is going to buy a passat over a superb apart from a badge snob. The Superb is a far better car. It would have also made alot more sense than the A6 as it was better equiped and less expensive. In fact you would struggle to find any car as well equiped for the money. In my case definately. For £2400 I got an 02 superb 2.8 elegance with 81k miles. There is nothing in this price range comes close. Renault laguna or mondeo?. I had a £12,000 Honda Accord executive 2.2 CTDI and the Skoda is more comfy, quieter and generally a nicer place to be.

Anyway I am pretty sure my wife wont let me keep the car. So it looks like MPV is way to go. Been looking at VW sharan, Seat Alhambra and Ford Galaxy. All pretty much the same car. Was half thinking about Espace, citroen C8 but put off by reliabilty and electrics.

Its a shame Skoda hasnt released an MPV yet. Would be handy with the galaxy having swivel front seats and a huge boot. THing is some estates have big boots too but with the MPV you have the height as well and can take the middle row of seats out and its pretty much a van. Another short time with the Superb. I only had my last superb about 6 months. Had this one a few weeks. I can never make my mind up. I bet after the superb is gone I will want another 1.

I think my ultimate Skoda would be the new Superb Estate with either the RS6 engine and drivetrain or VWs 5lts v10 TDI. That I would love to see.

Well, if it is just family use and the boot space you need and you're not 6'5" tall like myself, then Mk 2. Octavia is the way to go. Even in hatchback version the boot space is 25% bigger and a lot more accessible than Superb, and if you need more the estate version has even more.

We used to carry a double-buggy and the weekly shopping in our Mk I Octavia hatchback, and more recently a set of 2 kids' bikes (24in wheels ones!), inside the boot, with tailgate closed. Not to mention the number of trips the car has seen to Ikea, and long trips across Europe.

Being based on MkV chassis, Mk II Octavia is also a very comfortable car, and the 1.9TDI PD diesel uses fuel only on weekends

I can see 3 reasons for preferring old Superb and/or new Audi A6 over the current Mk2 Octavia:

1. Very tall driver can still have full-sized passenger sitting behind him/her in Superb or A6. Believe it or not, this was the main reasons why we had to buy Superb to replace Mk1 Octy for long drives.

2. Top speed is higher and comfort at top speed is higher for Superb and A6. Only makes difference to me because I drive 12hr+ trips, large parts of them across Germany.

3.(Audi A6 only) Brand image and full-time Quattro if you care about them, and 80-l fuel tank for range.

For anything else, Octavia wins. Keep in mind a sensibly equipped A6 (3.0quattro) will cost you double the Octavia's price.

For used cars, Mondeo is another good choice, if you like Fords. Personally, I am occassionally driven in one and would not buy it over the Mk2 Octavia.

Thanks for replies. Have been out driving the superb and i have spoken to the wife and decided that i want to keep it. I was full of regret when i sold the last one and i know i would be the same if i sold this one.

So I have been browsing the web and have decided to go for a few minor modifications.

I am going to get myself a set of Eibach springs for the car which lower it 40mm i think. Please give me feedback if anyone has previously lowered car and recommends alternative springs or shocks as well. After being in a crash last month its bad enough driving round corners but I have heard that all VWs have rubbish handling on standard springs. My mate has a golf estate 2001 and he used eibachs cos he said when he was driving with the original springs the back end had a tendancy to slide. says miles better now.

Also looking at getting a set of 225/35 19" Audi RS8 alloys for the car. Think this would make it look immaculate.

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I was also thinking about changing all the interior bulbs for the instruments to blue like in the passat as think it looks nicer. Audi and seat are red or orange I beleive. May consider red. Dunno if the bulbs for the fuel trip computer thingy can be changed or if this would need to be left orange?.

Any feedback or recommendations or opinions please let me know.

Edited 24 June, 200916 yr by DGW
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Eibachs lower too much - you'll lose the comfort. Also, on heavy cars (TDI models) they sag after just couple of years / 30k miles - tested on the Octavia. My advice is do not buy them.

Bigger wheels/lower profile tyres will also spoil your ride comfort and in particular the Audi tyres will make your tyre bill larger than your car bill very quickly.

Plus officially these tyres are wrong for the car - you have the allowed sizes listed on fuel cap.

OK, ignore the above if you care only about the looks. If you do care about driving quality and value for money, from my experience it is best to buy sport springs for the Superb at a stealer and put Bilstein Sport B6 monotube shock absorbers all round. That's what I've been driving for the last 50k miles, and it is a very good setup in all conditions, miles better than stock, while still as comfortable.