Hello eveyone!

After 20+ years as a BMW owner and enthusiast, I'm currently considering swapping my 5-series for a Superb.

I only use my car nowadays for A-road and motorway journeys and comfort, low cost of ownership and reliability are a priority - along with good dealer service as this is the single most thing that is making me move away from BMW.

The Superb has caught my eye as it seems to be getting some fantastic reviews against much more expensive rivals and looks like it will fit the bill. My current thoughts are that I want the 2.0TDI CR 170 engine with the DSG gearbox and it seems to make financial sense to go for the Elegance spec, given the level of equipment you get for the money - just adding xenons and leather to a BMW would cost more! The only option I'd want is metallic paint. Any comments on the spec? Anything essential that I've missed?

At the moment I'm browsing for prices and it seems that they are a few used/demonstrators out there in the spec I'm after, but they do seem quite pricey considering what it looks like I could buy a new car for from someone like carquake. What are Skoda dealers like on discounting?

I popped into my local dealer on Saturday and I'm awaiting a call back for a test-drive in their 2.0TDI CR 170 Estate. It'll be interesting to see how it drives.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can offer!

Richard

not much discount on the estate as it's brand new... i've got an order in now for a TDi CR 170 4x4 estate, i've added metallic paint, heated windscreen, heated washers, music interface, sunset glass and a Spare Wheel! - oo, and the funny front parking sensor's that allow the car to "park" it'self. (never been demo'd this yet...!)

been advised of a 3 month wait tho... i did get a better deal from a dealer 90 miles away, rather than the local's.

Al.

There seems to be a lot of people experiencing extended delivery times on here for new vehicles. I guess that would go some way to explain the pricing of available ex-demo cars.

I've got a 1.8 Elegance twin-door on order. Added met paint, sound system, space saver spare, rear sun blinds and auto dim rear view mirror. Got this discounted to £20,687. I just asked the dealer if he would match the Drive the Deal price and he did straight away. Ordered it just before Christmas and expecting delivery in 10 days.

Thanks for the replies.

Good to hear that you got a price-match on drivethedeal. This does make the current approved used stock look expensive. Then again, a 3 month wait for delivery isn't too clever.

These cars are all made to order then I take it, rather than there being any new stock available?

Hi, i've just picked up my 2.0 TDi 170CR 4X4 Elegance, had it just a week and loving it, i was lucky that the dealer had already placed an order for my car so i only had to wait a couple of weeks, i think the only thing i would have added at the time of order would have been a space saver wheel (although i have now got one on order) & auto dimming rear mirror, everything else i wanted was included. Dealer fitted luxury mats for free and i've since bought the netting system for the boot.

I became a Skoda owner last year when i bought a new Octavia VRS which i loved, but i'm doing much higher mileage and wanted something a little bit more bigger and more comfortable From a reliability point of view i can't fault Skoda, service has been pretty good - i've got two very good local dealers.Up until last year i'd always driven Volvo's, but i wouldn't go back. I had a good look round at comparable cars when i decided to change up from the Octavia, but the Superb offers such value for money, with what i've saved on buying say a Merc or BMW i'm going to buy myself a weekend sports car. Good luck with your choice, Cheers

Don't be a potential owner, become and owner, you won't regret it, nothing and I mean nothing can beat a Superb for value for money, and the only thing that can outdo it possibly costs 3x as much, i.e 7's and S class.

Edited 9 March, 201016 yr by Supurbia

The Superb "is" what it says on the tin "Superb"!! I think this is the best car I have owned so far. The only reservation I am having is the car is packed with up to date electronic gadgets and is very high tech and a lot of the dealers are still "low tech" and thrive by chasing the "grey pound" ie , the old codgers in their poverty spec motors who rarely do more than 40mph and are too deaf to hear a rattle and squeak.

BMW and Merc dealers train their mechanics to a higher degree and frequently send them on many courses on new technology.

I will probably trade in my Superb in approx 3 years time but I wonder how confident the owners who intend to keep their car for 8 years or so must feel.

In the future cars will become scrap due to electrical faults more than mechanical failure and I fear that there will be several Skoda's on that scrapheap!!

My neighbor has that spec , but on a saloon in black, It really is superb with cream tan leather . His second one, company car<his last one had 125000 on clock and still looked like new> My brother in law got a 5 series 2.3 on a 57 plate a few months back nice car but £28500 used . The skoda was £18500 ex demo 3 months old

Thanks for the replies.

I'm still waiting for the call for a test drive...

Interesting comments on the dealers. I have to admit to being a bit cynical about the reviews Skoda dealers get, thinking it's more to do with people having low expectations than truly great service. I'll be pleased to eat my words though. Don't believe everything you hear about BMW/Merc being able to deal with new technology better though. Most of the time they don't even get the basics right in my experience. It will be interesting to see if Skoda inherit all the usual electrical gremlins in the electronics they are borrowing from VW.

One interesting thing I've read is that Skoda were expecting to see lots of mid-range petrol and diesel engined SE cars, yet it seems to be the TDI CR 170 engine in Elegance spec that is the most popular choice and that there are a lot of people 'trading down' from premium German badges. I don't think you can really compare the Superb to a 7-series or S-Class (except on rear legroom), but I think it holds its ground very well against the BMW 5-series, Merc E-class and Audi A6 when you consider that these cars are all £10K+ more expensive before you start adding satnav, adaptive xenons, heated leather etc. The five series is a fair bit more hi-tech though, with stuff like all alloy suspension and world-leading diesel engines. Whether it makes such a difference to the driving experience remains to be seen.

Coming from a 535d I think it's a shame that Skoda don't get a better diesel engine than the CD 170. Whilst it's a great engine, there is gap that could be filled by a 3.0 TDI, but maybe this would take too much business away from VW/Audi. The 2.0 CR is probably a better choice anyway as is the 520d, but it didn't stop me buying a 535d!

Edited 9 March, 201016 yr by milesr3

Don't believe everything you hear about BMW/Merc being able to deal with new technology better though. Most of the time they don't even get the basics right in my experience.

Seconded

It's dealer by dealer you need to compare rather than brand by brand. Although even at that, there's a world of difference between Douglas Park's BMW Glasgow (brilliant!) and Douglas Park's BMW Hamilton (not as brilliant)

Fingers crossed Douglas Park's Skoda Hamilton take after Glasgow BMW :yes:

I agree with what you say that the level of competence varies from dealer to dealer. Sadly it points to it always being a bit of a gamble.

Interesting comments on the dealers. I have to admit to being a bit cynical about the reviews Skoda dealers get, thinking it's more to do with people having low expectations than truly great service.

I think you're right there. Took me a while to find a decent dealer (who've unfortunately gone bust now). Not much better than VAG dealers in my opinion.

I got the call from my local dealer and had a test drive yesterday in a CR170 estate with the DSG gearbox. I have to say that the car really exceeded my expectations.

The route was a mixture of town, bumpy country road and dual-carriageway. I was really impressed with the DSG gearbox - gear changes are very quick and smooth and if I wasn't looking at the tacho I wouldn't have known the car had changed gear. The ride quality was very good as well, even on 18" wheels. Quite firm but not to the point of being crashy like a colleague's Audi A4 is yet not floaty or under-damped. The steering had a nice weight and good feel of the road and noise levels were on a par with my 535d, which is very quiet indeed. I had a test drive in a Jag XF a couple of weeks ago and in many ways I think the Superb is a better car.

The only nagging doubt I had was that it felt a little sluggish. I took it up to around 80mph on the dual carriageway and it didn't feel particularly responsive up here and I was using quite a lot of throttle. I guess the way that the gearbox shuffles up the gears as quickly as possible to optimise economy doesn't help and it's probably a little unfair coming from my current car, which is pretty mental after a remap. It would be great if they did the superb with a 3 litre diesel, or even the 4.2V8 but I can't imagine this will ever happen.

Anyway, the Superb is certainly at the top of my list as a possible replacement for my 535d. I think I'm going to bide my time a little bit though as nearly-new prices are very high IMO, driven mostly by the lead-time and unavailability of new cars. Even my local dealer has had to source a used car to put in their showroom as they couldn't get a new one fast enough. They did confirm that production of the Superb has been increased and I can only see this leading to better pricing and maybe even some good offers in a few months. They were also not willing to discount a new car, although there are other dealers nearby who will.