Hi

 

Juts joined the forum. Looking to buy a new family car and it looks like a Superb estate ticks all the boxes. But there are a few things that aren't clear having read the brochure and spoken to a local dealer.

 

Leather Interior - The Elegance and L&K spec both have leather, but is the L&K leather better quality?

Media Interface - What does this actually do over and above the built in bluetooth

Parking Assist - is this any good? All of the videos I could find online show it parking the car in very large spaces - can it park in a tight space, otherwise I can't really see the point

 

I'm weighing up the L&K vs elegance and can't quite work out if the extra is worth it.

Thanks in advance for any replies. 

 

S 

Hi

 

Juts joined the forum. Looking to buy a new family car and it looks like a Superb estate ticks all the boxes. But there are a few things that aren't clear having read the brochure and spoken to a local dealer.

 

Leather Interior - The Elegance and L&K spec both have leather, but is the L&K leather better quality?

Media Interface - What does this actually do over and above the built in bluetooth

Parking Assist - is this any good? All of the videos I could find online show it parking the car in very large spaces - can it park in a tight space, otherwise I can't really see the point

 

I'm weighing up the L&K vs elegance and can't quite work out if the extra is worth it.

Thanks in advance for any replies. 

 

S 

 

Leather - regardless of the spec, the leather is the same. Just different colour. In fact some of it, is fake leather

 

Media Interface - not exactly sure, but think it enables connection of iPod (or other MP3 player) to the stereo.

 

Park Assist - will now park in parking bays and parallel park. Some owners have never used it only to show people how it works.

Hi

 

Juts joined the forum. Looking to buy a new family car and it looks like a Superb estate ticks all the boxes. But there are a few things that aren't clear having read the brochure and spoken to a local dealer.

 

Leather Interior - The Elegance and L&K spec both have leather, but is the L&K leather better quality?

Media Interface - What does this actually do over and above the built in bluetooth

Parking Assist - is this any good? All of the videos I could find online show it parking the car in very large spaces - can it park in a tight space, otherwise I can't really see the point

 

I'm weighing up the L&K vs elegance and can't quite work out if the extra is worth it.

Thanks in advance for any replies. 

 

S 

 

Welcome to the forum! I have had an elegance and now an L&K and the leather is definitely softer in the L&K.  Most including myself will tell you that they don't use it, like Coops says you'll show off once but might never use it again.  I have used it twice between my two Superbs and I still haven't tried bay parking on the L&K!  It can park is a very tight space however, much tighter than anything you would attempt yourself!!

 

The elegance is a very well equipped car and will have most of what you need - what are moving from BTW?  So you will get bi-xenons, leather, sat nav, electric seats/mirrors etc.  Go to the car configurator on the Skoda UK website and spec both models and you will see the difference, which you may have done already!

 

If you go with the elegance you can choose black or ivory leather.  If you go L&K you get either brown or ivory.  Search this forum and you'll see lots of commentary on these colour choices but at the end of the day its down to personal preference.

 

AFAIK for UK models upgraded sound system, heated rear seats, sunset glass (slightly darkened glass from b-pillar back), park assist and ventilated seats are some of the L&K  features plus panoramic roof if you go for a combi.  There is a TV option as well  (I have an Irish spec model which is a bit different).  Electric  tailgate would be a useful on the combi too but you shouldn't have to add too many options.  Either way you're making a very good choice with the Superb whichever spec you decide on 

Not trying to persuade you away from Superb as it's a very good car, but you might want to also consider Audi A6 Avant Ultra SE or S Line (over £8000 off list) and/or a Mercedes E220 SE estate over (£7500 off list). If buying outright Audi was cheaper than Superb L&K (~£5000 off list). If using PCP both were cheaper than Superb even with 0% interest deals, due to better residuals.

If going for aSuperb, don't forget to add Hill Hold option. In my opinion, it should be standard.

IIRC the other benefit of MDI is that it charges phone and also means that steering controls work, so it's more of a complete handsfree experience for media and calls/texts than using bluetooth for both media and calls/texts.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks for all the quick responses. Forgot to mention that I'm looking at a petrol engine. There do seem to be some very good deals on the Audi range at the moment, but apart from the S6 and RS6 they don't seem to do petrol options any more. 

 

Current car is a 325i Sport, but need something bigger. 

Do you still need hill hold with an auto box? All the ones I've driven seem to 'hold' the car anyway as long as the gearbox is in drive.

 

S

Just checked on the A6 - you're not wrong. No petrol available in Avant form, only petrol available in saloon is the 2.0 TFSI Hybrid (245PS), tiptronic. And that's RRP of £43k

And I bet that if you equal the specification it might be at £50k plus!

Go on go for the 3.6V6 if you're looking for petrol . Yes the petrols models are not widely catered for these days especially at the top end of the market. There are a few guys on some of the threads here with 1.8tsi superbs and they seem very happy with them.

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Do you still need hill hold with an auto box? All the ones I've driven seem to 'hold' the car anyway as long as the gearbox is in drive.

 

 

Superb has no 'auto' box option, either manual or DSG, which is robotized manual box with two clutches. So apparently it does roll back. But in reality is does happen only on very steep inclines and for me personally it was never a problem. On normal hills car does not roll back as it has enough torque to move car forward even on idle (I am talking about 350 Nm diesel version). 

Hi welcome, have a look at page two. Elegance or L&K stated by Graham Butcher. I have posted my opinion there amongst others. You will find most of questions may have been answered somewhere on this site.

And I bet that if you equal the specification it might be at £50k plus!

May have been true a few years ago, but now Audi, BMW and Merc seem yo spec ok on standard. For Merc which I ordered it was better than Elegance in spec as standard. Of course I added a few extras though.

I've done those calculations before versus the A6/520d/e220 etc and there is still a nice of gap there allowing for residuals which I might add are not that much different relatively speaking (here in Ireland at least). I'm talking a straight purchase here and not lease or PCP.

For example €37k for an L&K which is going to be worth approx 17 to 18k in three years. That's against €53k to 55k for say an A6 in equivalent spec. That will be worth €25k max in three years so I reckon you are forking an €7k to €8k assuming you change every three years. That's on top of the extra €15k or so to get into a premium brand in the first place. Now That's the sensible part of me thinking, but if I could afford it I'd probably go with an A6 (bi-turbo ) I agree that the spec is improving on the Mercs and Beemers now as well with leather and xenons etc coming in across most of those ranges .

Never an easy decision!

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I can't remember all of the figures, as it was a few months ago now, but A6 ultra auto 2TDI Avant was the cheapest here in UK at less than £27K. I went for an e220 AMG sport auto in the end. It comes with every my elegance has plus some items like park assist, powered tailgate etc as standard. With some extras it worked out about £11 more a month than Superb 4x4 L&K to a similar spec. It was less if I picked the SE.

Out of all three the A6 was the worse specified, if I remember correctly, but also the cheapest so you could add options.

All no good for OP if he's looking for a petrol. As I said before Superb makes an excellent choice and the 1.8 or 3.6 seem to get very good reviews on here by owners.

Cheers

Steve

I can't remember all of the figures, as it was a few months ago now, but A6 ultra auto 2TDI Avant was the cheapest here in UK at less than £27K. I went for an e220 AMG sport auto in the end. It comes with every my elegance has plus some items like park assist, powered tailgate etc as standard. With some extras it worked out about £11 more a month than Superb 4x4 L&K to a similar spec. It was less if I picked the SE.

Out of all three the A6 was the worse specified, if I remember correctly, but also the cheapest so you could add options.

All no good for OP if he's looking for a petrol. As I said before Superb makes an excellent choice and the 1.8 or 3.6 seem to get very good reviews on here by owners.

Cheers

Steve

But the Skoda still retails at much less than the Audi or Mercedes . And IMO you need to compare like for like.

Neither the Audi or Mercedes you list have 4x4. 

 

The cheapest A6 Quattro is £38,000 and as far as I know you cant get the E220 in 4x4.

Edited 21 June, 201412 yr by ruffday

Had a look at the L&K vs Elegance thread, although I may be more undecided on spec than ever. For me, the L&K looks like good value in terms of the included options, but I'd prefer black leather and different wheels. I do like brown leather, but combined with black carpets and a beige roof lining it means there are a lot of different colours inside the car. I do like the beige leather, but not sure how practical that would be.

I was looking at the V6s, although I would consider the 1.8. I was hoping to find a used example at a decent price, but (like Audi, BMW and Mercedes) there don't seem to be any petrol models out there, just loads of diesels.

I did see a white v6, but it's up for 4k less than a new one, which doesn't seem like good value.

But the Skoda still retails at much less than the Audi or Mercedes .

Read the posts above, the Audi A6 Avant is available for less than the superb L&K with the discounts readily available. The prices are new ordering from UK dealers, so no funny prices. If you buy on PCP, both the A6 Avant auto and E class auto estate are both less than the L&K even without 4x4

And IMO you need to compare like for like.

Neither the Audi or Mercedes you list have 4x4. 

 

The cheapest A6 Quattro is £38,000 and as far as I know you cant get the E220 in 4x4.

So what, my last post was in reference to what I ordered. If I had ordered another Superb I would spec it with 4x4 again. It's a valid comparison for as that's what I would have ordered.

As stated if I'd gone for the Merc SE it would have been less per month than L&K with or without 4x4, so in that respect in the earlier posts it's a valid alternative to look at. Back on topic as all of this is irrelevant as the OP wants a petrol.

I do like the beige leather, but not sure how practical that would be.

The beige leather is proving to be resilient, so you shouldn't have any worries there if you go down this route

I did see a white v6, but it's up for 4k less than a new one, which doesn't seem like good value.

Especially if you are not buying outright, as current 0% deals on new will outweigh any saving against higher APR on used. If buying on PCP you should still get £2-3K off list even on 0% offer.

Edited 21 June, 201412 yr by stevehg

Before I ordered my car in June 2012, I'd been thinking of finding an Elegance ex demo to save a bit of cash, but I wanted one with sunset privacy glass and the audio upgrade.  Then I noted they were offering VAT free and zero finance over 2 years on new cars, so it wasn't worth buying a demo for, in some cases, more than the new price! 

 

With the savings, I could stretch to a L&K, after a bit of haggling and knocking a bit more off and including a set of mudflaps FOC.  I'm quite happy with the colours inside and the extra equipment, though some I've hardly used, like the park assist or rear seat heaters.  I'm glad I've got the TV as when we go shopping, SWMBO likes to trawl through the rails of shops like T K Maxx and she is more relaxed if I'm sat in the car keeping myself entertained!

 

Another benefit is that I've heard the L&K holds its value slightly better, though I'm not sure if thsi is true.

The L&K would probably be the most sought after as it's not as common as the other versions so I'd imagine it would be easier for a dealer to sell it used as it's essentially a fully loaded car. Extras don't usually hold much value however so not sure how much more value it would hold, maybe a little but it would certainly sell quicker IMO. Having said that the mid range models would probably hold their value the best of all especially the GL with a decent spec. Maybe that differs a bit in the UK but it's certainly the case over here.

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Thanks or all the help so far. 

 

I'm also a bit confused about the ivory leather interior on the L&K. There seem to be pictures of a lot of different configurations on the web, but am I right in thinking that the UK spec is:

 

Black Carpets

Ivory Leather Seats

Ivory/Beige Headlining

Black Dashboard

 

I've seen a few pictures with Ivory Carpets and Brown dashboards.

 

Thanks again.

S

The Park Assist seems to split people here. I have found it works very well, and the tighter the space the better it works. As another poster mentioned, it gets me into spaces that I wouldn't usually go for - and in one manoeuvre. However, I guess it's no more use than confetti if you rarely have the need to parallel park e.g. you have a driveway and shop at Tesco or Sainsbury.

Note I have the non-FL Superb, so only have the parallel park feature.

Either way, I would recommend getting the front sensors as it just makes life easier and less anxious when shunting around.

Thanks or all the help so far. 

 

I'm also a bit confused about the ivory leather interior on the L&K. There seem to be pictures of a lot of different configurations on the web, but am I right in thinking that the UK spec is:

 

Black Carpets

Ivory Leather Seats

Ivory/Beige Headlining

Black Dashboard

 

I've seen a few pictures with Ivory Carpets and Brown dashboards.

 

Thanks again.

S

 

Mine arrived at the dealer on Wednesday, I opted for the brown interior, which I will have to agree with others on here is a lot darker than pictures show, including this picture of mine... 

 

 

The dash is the same dark brown as the seats and steering wheel, but as I say the pictures do not do it justice, is is a very dark brown

 

Stu

The Park Assist seems to split people here. I have found it works very well, and the tighter the space the better it works. As another poster mentioned, it gets me into spaces that I wouldn't usually go for - and in one manoeuvre.

The only problem then is if you're parked tight into a space and the cars next to you don't have much room, there's more chance of them knocking into you if they leave before you.  However, you can usually judge the risk from the age/condition of the cars next to you.

The only problem then is if you're parked tight into a space and the cars next to you don't have much room, there's more chance of them knocking into you if they leave before you. However, you can usually judge the risk from the age/condition of the cars next to you.

As I wrote in my post, I'm talking about the parallel park feature seeming to work better when the space is tight.

I thought it worth mentioning because the OP is correct when saying the YouTube videos show the car going into big spaces.

Edited 22 June, 201412 yr by Jules Tohpipi

Thanks or all the help so far. 

 

I'm also a bit confused about the ivory leather interior on the L&K. There seem to be pictures of a lot of different configurations on the web, but am I right in thinking that the UK spec is:

 

Black Carpets

Ivory Leather Seats

Ivory/Beige Headlining

Black Dashboard

 

I've seen a few pictures with Ivory Carpets and Brown dashboards.

 

Thanks again.

S

I have ivory with black carpets and it looks fine I think.  I was worried that the black would take from the look but its not even noticeable, in fact most people don't realise it until you point out that the carpets are black.  The parcel shelf is black as well BTW.  I would describe the dash an steering wheel as more of a cappuccino colour.  The headlining is ivory also.  The black dash that you've seen with the ivory would probably be the elegance spec. I've tried to take some pics but the photo quality doesn't do the colours any justice.

 

A dealer also told me that it more difficult to sell a second hand model with ivory carpets as they get very dirty and never clean very well, unless somebody has taken great care to look after them.  Maybe one of the other guys on here can confirm the black only carpets for the UK market (it is black only now in Ireland AFAIK).