Some long term impressions of '12 L&K 170 DSG Combi

[smiffy64]

I have always promised myself that I will do a review of my Superb L&K combi, 170 BHP DSG so here goes.

 

Before we start, it's the magnetic brown paint with brown leather interior. I was not too convinced I was doing the right thing when purchasing the car since it looked like the most boring SKODA Superb advert on Ad Trader. I was not even too convinced I would even consider buying it before I went to see it on a whim. However, seeing the car 'in the metal' and doing a test drive changed my mind. Especially since I looked at Audi A6's and seen what I wasn't getting for my money.

 

Anyways, it is just about to tick over 30k miles, and it's been to the dealer to get some issues looked at five times, which is five times more than my previous Passat which had almost 100k on it before I part exchanged. More on the issues below.

 

Now I know there is not such a thing as the perfect car, but mine has had some issues which I am going to list in order of annoyance. 1 for slightly annoying and 5 for being serious and I think should be fixed under warranty. Some of these have been mentioned by me in other posts.

 

4: The steering wheel is slightly off centre and the car consequently pulls to the left as it seems to try to centre the wheel. I give this a 4 in my annoyance scale. I am not saying  that I have to drive constantly keeping a tight grip of the wheel, it's just that I know it is there.

 

4: The Air Con makes a wheezy grinding noise sometimes. This has been looked at twice by two dealers and has supposedly had the condenser and the valve seals fixed, but it still does it. I get the impression that the system just leaks and I am being 'panned off' with any old bullsh*t just to keep me quiet at least until the warranty expires. 

 

4: The magnetic brown paint seems to be very soft. I have more chips, even rashes, on the bonnet in the 14 months I have had this car than the five years I had my silver Passat. I have had to buy a  'CHIPEX' kit and I always seem to be having to use it.

 

3: All four wheel hubs are very rusty and as you can imagine on a brown car, this just does not look good at all.

 

3: The dashboard creaks and squeaks annoyingly and changes in intensity with the outside temperature...ARRGGHH! Depending on my mood this varies in annoyance from 2 - 4. But it seems to be getting worse.

 

I have mentioned all of the above to the dealer as I feel they are quality issues. I have had four courtesy cars in the 14 months of ownership and they have fixed none of it. Twice I have wasted my time only to be told that they could not find the faults. (the creaking dash and the wheezy air-con) and had to bring the car back when the noises reappeared due to the temperature.

But I feel this is not good enough. I have been patronised on occasion, as if I have been perceived to have had petty issues that are not worth complaining about. E.g. 'All Skoda's pull to the left...sir'.... Boll*cks!

 

But c'mon, this is supposedly the best car that Skoda make and is reflected in the new price of 32K

 

Yes it is a very nice car, but these issues are tainting my ownership experience to the point I will be seriously considering buying something else the next time.

 

So my personal marks out of ten?

 

Driving experience 7

 

Practicality 9

 

Driver satisfaction 8

 

Quality 5

 

Dealership experience 3

 

 

Some other stuff I have not bothered the dealer with is rattling  speakers in what is meant to be a HI-FI upgrade....really!

 

All that said though, I do not think I have had such an emotional connection to any car I have had, and I have had a few.

 

All electrics and major mechanicals are other wise perfect. I also realise that my Superb is much more advanced and complicated than any other car I have had. So I may come around to 'loving' the car a bit more as I plan to keep it to at least 100K miles.

 

 

[Laurie61]

Interesting report, if there is a fault with the steering I would think it would show up in a tracking check ? My car is also approaching 12 months on the family fleet, so far no significant issues. I have noticed a small variation in steering assistance when driving about in wet weather and the boot lights went off with the tailgate open once. The car has no squeak's or rattles so far although I have only put about 5,500 miles on the clock.     

[Superb170]

I can identify with the off centre steering wheel and pulling to the left. I had the tracking done again today and although it was off by a good bit it still pulls to the left.

Creaking dash and and noisy speakers, yes can be an issue at times. I've driven other cars though the odd time and the panels all respond to heat changes.

On balance I would probably buy again but Skoda need to up their game that little but more as we are paying a decent price for a car that is bordering on A6 territory in price terms. The value for money gap is narrowing just that bit too much and hopefully Skoda do something special with the next generation.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[smiffy64]

 The value for money gap is narrowing just that bit too much and hopefully Skoda do something special with the next generation.

 

 

Yes I agree. If Skoda expect to keep the loyal fan base that is obviously represented very well in this forum, they need to 'keep their finger on the pulse', 'keep their eye on the ball' etc. etc.

 

I know it helps that they are first in the car ownership surveys for this year (and some previous years), but if they do want to make cars within the 'not so budget brand' territory, then they need to keep justifying it with exceptional quality and after sales service. I realise that the owner surveys confirm that they do, and I will be looking at the next gen Superb with optimism and excitement the same as everyone else on here. But if my car pi$$es me off any more, I for one may reconsider.  

[Hedgecutter]

I get the air con rattle, and sometimes it occurs without air con, like a pinking sound, but vanishes with a grating noise when you turn on air con. My dash also rattles, but so did my Legacy after a year. My current Skoda dealer used to be the local Subaru dealer as well, and I wouldn't have high expectations of them finding any fault, or dealing with warranty claims, as they failed to do anything with the Subaru, when it had corrosion. It`s worth noting that if your tracking is set at 0, no toe, it will always follow the camber of the road, to the left. A good tech should be able to balance this out and centre your steering wheel. It is common knowledge amongst geometry specialists that even prestige marques often leave the factory with poor alignment. My 4x4 combi skips about all over the road at speeds under 60, so I am just about to have my alignment checked at Christchurch Tyres, who are normally very good. I went to the Wheel Alignment Centre in Southampton a while back, who are owned by Supertracker, and had a rubbish alignment on my Impreza, with different toe in opposite directions on the rear. It`s all down to the tech, and how fussy they are.

[Hedgecutter]

Sorry, I forgot, what rating did you give the queasy brown interior

[smiffy64]

Sorry, I forgot, what rating did you give the queasy brown interior

 

I like it actually so it's a 10.

It is not as bad as you may think as the brown and black with chromed highlights make it look very classy IMO.

[Huwcymru]

Mine is a 12 plate, ( November reg ) on 16000 miles, I'm glad to say I can't identify with any of the problems in the first post. I was unhappy with the tyre wear on the original Contis and fuel consumption (140 DSG 4x4) has disappointed although the recent addition of a Racechip seems to have made quite a difference in torque and economy.