Hi all

 

My wife and I are considering a new Superb estate to replace the current family bus, which is a 2008 Mondeo Estate. The Mondeo is not small by any means, but we're wanting something with even more room in it. The new Mondeo estate seems to have reduced in boot size, while the Superb/Passat have got bigger.

 

We have 2 kids, currently aged 5 & 7, and use the car for family holidays as well as day-to-day use. Annual mileage will be 10-12k.

At the moment, holidays are UK-based, and we always manage to fill the Mondeo boot right to capacity (so the load cover can still be pulled over, just), plus roofbox. Plus bags etc stuffed in the rear footwells and between the kids seats in the rear.

I expect over the next few years we will start driving abroad for camping holidays.

It's possible during the ownership of the car we could start towing a trailer, or even a caravan.

We live high up in the Derbyshire peak district, and our village does tend to get hit in winter, so the 4x4 option is good (I've had a 170 4x4 Yeti for a while now and it's convinced me 4wd is the way to go, not just for winter either).

 

We anticipate keeping it for 6-7 years..

 

At the moment we're considering the SE L Exec TDI 150 4x4 Estate.

 

With all the above in mind, can anyone recommend any specific options that would be of real use ?

Or any other suggestions (even for a different car).

 

Ta

 

 

Options that I'm currently thinking of:

 

Crew protection assist (anything that helps protect the family is a good thing - but can anyone confirm if this tightens rear belts, or just fronts ?)

Rear side airbags (for the kids in the back)

Rear view camera (had this on a hire car once, found it very useful)

Partition net rear screen (presume this is substantial enough so you can safely load up to the roofline in the rear ?) 

Rear sunblinds

Folding towbar

Rough road package (mainly for the slight extra ride height - every little helps when there's deep snow on roads round here)

Heated washer jets

Floor mats 

Variable boot floor (is this really useful or not ? )

Spare wheel

Heated front and rear seats

Fold flat front passenger seat (handy for getting long bits of timber etc)

Colour maxidot

Front and rear parking sensors

Heated screen (wife has had this on last two Fords, wouldn't be without it)

Hill hold control (can be handy - but could I just enable this with VCDS myself ?)

5 year warranty

Variable boot floor (is this really useful or not ? )

 

 

Personally I think the estate without it is pretty pointless as you only get a flat load area with the variable boot floor.

 

Have you looked at the L&K as most of your options are std on the L&K so may well work out better value.

Crew protection assist (anything that helps protect the family is a good thing - but can anyone confirm if this tightens rear belts, or just fronts ?)

 

Front only - two stage.

NCAP report (2013 Octavia, 2015 Superb)...

http://www.euroncap.com/en/ratings-rewards/euro-ncap-advanced-rewards/2013-skoda-crew-protect-assistant/#

Hi all

 

My wife and I are considering a new Superb estate to replace the current family bus, which is a 2008 Mondeo Estate. The Mondeo is not small by any means, but we're wanting something with even more room in it. The new Mondeo estate seems to have reduced in boot size, while the Superb/Passat have got bigger.

 

We have 2 kids, currently aged 5 & 7, and use the car for family holidays as well as day-to-day use. Annual mileage will be 10-12k.

At the moment, holidays are UK-based, and we always manage to fill the Mondeo boot right to capacity (so the load cover can still be pulled over, just), plus roofbox. Plus bags etc stuffed in the rear footwells and between the kids seats in the rear.

I expect over the next few years we will start driving abroad for camping holidays.

It's possible during the ownership of the car we could start towing a trailer, or even a caravan.

We live high up in the Derbyshire peak district, and our village does tend to get hit in winter, so the 4x4 option is good (I've had a 170 4x4 Yeti for a while now and it's convinced me 4wd is the way to go, not just for winter either).

 

We anticipate keeping it for 6-7 years..

 

At the moment we're considering the SE L Exec TDI 150 4x4 Estate.

 

With all the above in mind, can anyone recommend any specific options that would be of real use ?

Or any other suggestions (even for a different car).

 

Ta

We did the Mk 3 Mondy Wagon / Superb Estate comparison about 3 years ago, (Superb 2...), ended up keeping the Mondy & buying a twin-door.

 

Measure your Mondy boot, especially the available width between the wheel arches & the maximum load length, & take a tape measure to help compare when you viewhe Superb 3 before you spend the pennies, the Mk 3 Mondy is bigger than it looks!

 

Please don't be mislead by boot capacities in litres, it's actual dimensions that are important.

 

DC, 6 mondeo estates, Mks 1,2, & 3, still looking for a proper replacement!

If it helps for a real life comparison - I can fit twelve plastic 32-litre crates* into a Superb II estate with the rear seats up and still have room for small items behind the seats because of the rake, about 4" free to the rear door and about 2 to 3" below the cover.

*That's stacked two wide, three deep, two high.

And the Mk III is larger!

 

Also, a big deal is made about the rear seats not folding flat, particularly in video reviews.

What is never mentioned is that the rear seat squabs fold forward into the footwell allowing the rear seats to fold flat - however there is still a small lip where the seats hinge.

Have you looked at the L&K as most of your options are std on the L&K so may well work out better value.

 

Purely out of interest I did a comparison using Muddyboots’ selected options.

 

The SE L Exec option works out at £32,520 and the L&K at £34,840.

 

The L&K doesn't have the rough-road option and I can understand this may be a deal-breaker, but it does add Dynamic Chassis Control, electrically adjustable front seats, LED lighting plus package, Canton sound system, TV Tuner, Park assist, Lane assist and blind spot detection, tri-zone climate control, and virtual pedal.

 

So for the extra £2,320 you get an additional £5,500 of options included on top of your original choice.

 

What may be a bummer too is that if if black leather is your preference, the L&K only has brown or beige (but, IMHO, nicer wheels).

We did the Mk 3 Mondy Wagon / Superb Estate comparison about 3 years ago, (Superb 2...), ended up keeping the Mondy & buying a twin-door.

 

Measure your Mondy boot, especially the available width between the wheel arches & the maximum load length, & take a tape measure to help compare when you viewhe Superb 3 before you spend the pennies, the Mk 3 Mondy is bigger than it looks!

 

Please don't be mislead by boot capacities in litres, it's actual dimensions that are important.

 

DC, 6 mondeo estates, Mks 1,2, & 3, still looking for a proper replacement!

 

Thanks for that, I'll bear it in mind.

 

We'd be replacing our Mk4 with something newer though. If it were to be another Mondeo, it would be the new Mk5 - and while I agree width between arches, height up to load cover etc is important, it appears the Superb 3 estate has an extra 160 litres of boot space compared to the Mondeo Mk5 estate - which is quite a lot....

Purely out of interest I did a comparison using Muddyboots’ selected options.

 

The SE L Exec option works out at £32,520 and the L&K at £34,840.

 

The L&K doesn't have the rough-road option and I can understand this may be a deal-breaker, but it does add Dynamic Chassis Control, electrically adjustable front seats, LED lighting plus package, Canton sound system, TV Tuner, Park assist, Lane assist and blind spot detection, tri-zone climate control, and virtual pedal.

 

So for the extra £2,320 you get an additional £5,500 of options included on top of your original choice.

 

What may be a bummer too is that if if black leather is your preference, the L&K only has brown or beige (but, IMHO, nicer wheels).

Thanks for that, saved me doing it!

 

I know it's a personal thing, but the brown interior rules the L&K out for us. As well as the fact we're already looking at spending more than we want to...

 

Still no idea whether the rough road pack will actually be an option or not. The online brochure explicitly states it's only available with 16" or 17" wheels, and it wasn't originally in the configurator as an option on the SEL, but now is...

Thanks for that, I'll bear it in mind.

 

We'd be replacing our Mk4 with something newer though. If it were to be another Mondeo, it would be the new Mk5 - and while I agree width between arches, height up to load cover etc is important, it appears the Superb 3 estate has an extra 160 litres of boot space compared to the Mondeo Mk5 estate - which is quite a lot....

I had a drive in a Mk.3 Mondy estate a couple of weeks ago, one of the very rare 2.0 litre, 240 ps, Ecoboost engine a in a Titanium, mit the X-pack.

 

Not that impressed, felt "too big" to live with in town driving, (the "test route" was about 6 miles there & back on an A road), & the general control layout wasn't especially intuitive. Big load bay, not enough room in the rear seats. even compared with the Superb 2 or an Octy 3 & a "bulldozer" bonnet. 

 

Maybe I'm nowgetting too used to VAG cars, but we both find that some other brands are just too "busy" inside & might take too long to become

easy to live with.

 

'Tis annoying, we are both Ford Pensioners so we do get a little extra discount  on a new vehicle, but not enough to persuade us to spend the pennies!

(The sales guy did produce a very tempting quotation, & if the OTR price was to be the determining factor, then buying a new Superb would be out of the  running.)

 

HTH, DC.

I had a drive in a Mk.3 Mondy estate a couple of weeks ago, one of the very rare 2.0 litre, 240 ps, Ecoboost engine a in a Titanium, mit the X-pack.

 

Not that impressed, felt "too big" to live with in town driving, (the "test route" was about 6 miles there & back on an A road), & the general control layout wasn't especially intuitive. Big load bay, not enough room in the rear seats. even compared with the Superb 2 or an Octy 3 & a "bulldozer" bonnet. 

 

Maybe I'm now getting too used to VAG cars, but we both find that some other brands are just too "busy" inside & might take too long to become

easy to live with.

 

'Tis annoying, we are both Ford Pensioners so we do get a little extra discount  on a new vehicle, but not enough to persuade us to spend the pennies!

(The sales guy did produce a very tempting quotation, & if the OTR price was to be the determining factor, then buying a new Superb would be out of the  running.)

 

HTH, DC.

Correction, MK. 5 Mondeo Estate!!!!.