Skoda Owner 3 month update...

[TasMan]

Update - Door Rattle Continues !

Taking the advice of others I wrapped some tape round the door latch at the same time as the glovebox taping.

I was rewarded with silence for most of the day but the rattle came back eventually.  Checking the tape it seems to quickly wear through and allows the metallic clunking to continue.  Tried it a couple of times but same result, silence for a while then back to usual.  I will take this up with the dealers I think.  I am sure I have seen cars with the door latches having a hard plastic centre core to avoid the direct metal contact.  I may give some duct tape a go as that may last longer but don't think it will be a long term solution.  Anyone else have this problem ?  Cheers

[chimaera]

I wonder if there are any bump stops in the door opening that you can adjust to secure it more firmly? I know the boot has them.

[TasMan]

1 minute ago, chimaera said:

I wonder if there are any bump stops in the door opening that you can adjust to secure it more firmly? I know the boot has them.

Will check that out, didn't think to check that, will have a look later, cheers....!  Pleased I sorted the glovebox noise as that was driving me nuts lol !!

[TasMan]

A couple more updates for anyone who might be interested, will post each item separate...

I finally cured the door rattle myself, after further investigations by the dealer which included packing the lock with white grease etc - unfortunately this didn't work and the noise continued.  Thanks to this forum I happened to find a thread talking about the seat belt rattling off the seat base and had a bit of a lightbulb moment....  Driving along, I shoved a piece of cloth down between the seat base and the belt.....I was rewarded with complete silence!!  All along the 'door rattle' has in fact been the seat belt clip gently tapping off the seat base, couldn't believe it!  Of course, it only happens when someone is sitting and belted in, therefore the clip rattles against the seat...

Having already had the wiring loom tape I wrapped a couple of turns round the plastic clip and the noise has disappeared.  I finally have a squeak and rattle free cabin which is a joy to be in !! :-)

 

[TasMan]

Next on the list which I hadn't mentioned before was the rear quarter chrome window trims.  I had noticed when I got the car in November signs of staining on the trim.  Had a go at cleaning/polishing to no avail.  I kept reading on here about the issues with this trim set and the chrome discolouring and having seen another Superb in the flesh with this trim almost turned white I wasn't happy to leave it while under warranty.  The dealer was excellent in reviewing the issue and confirming the fault.  I now have a new pair of rear trims fitted, which of course involves the complete replacement of the rear quarter windows.  The trims now all match as they should with no signs of staining.  The pics below are 'before' where you can compare the staining to the trim on the rear door which is unblemished.  I am very happy these have been changed over and even further impressed with the manner in which the dealer sorted the problem with no hassles whatsoever....

 

[TasMan]

Ok, so the final update is a general one.  Had my first oil change service last week, thrown in with the deal, no issues there.  I have ordered up an OE air filter and pollen filter to do these myself, for the price of the parts and minimal labour it is pretty cheap that these aren't done at every oil change service....

Anyway, I had reported several times dissatisfaction with the brakes, checked each time and no issues found.  At this service I got the brake fluid changed, and while I was hoping for a difference in braking feel there was none to report...!  I can only conclude that the 4x4 brakes are adequate but not 'superb'....(sorry...!)

I have had three courtesy cars in recent months, Rapid, Fabia and Octavia, and the brakes on all these are hugely different to the Superb, stopping a train comes to mind.  Fair enough these were low mileage new cars but I would expect a similar response to a car which had only done 18k when I got it.

Anyway, I am now looking at the options for pad/disc upgrades, the Black Diamond route keeps popping up as a good upgrade so I will update further if/when I go down that route.  Hopefully that will bring about the improvement I would like.

Thats about it for the moment.....Thanks

5/6/17 - Picked up a couple of Mann air filters this morning, reserved two while Eurocarparts had a 60% sale on at the weekend, just nipped out on my lunch break and changed the filter over, less than 10 mins, job done, first new air filter in 24600 miles... Spare will sit on the shelf till needed :-)

Edited 5 June, 2017 by TasMan

[TasMan]

OK, time for a further update on my Skoda experience to date, coming up on 9 months now, hope I'm not boring you!

Emissions Update

I had previously asked the dealer about the emissions fix but kept being told no further details were available.  Since the oil change service about 6 weeks ago I have been noticing the cooling fans staying on a few times after stopping.  Typically I am driving 17 miles each way to work and I hadn't been aware of this until the last month or so.  Anyway, I finally got round to sticking my VIN number into the Skoda website and was very surprised to find the big green tick stating my car had already been updated !   At first I was very angry as I figured this perhaps happened at the recent service and I had not been informed or asked to agree to this.  The car was in at the dealer for its first MOT yesterday (pass, no issues), and whilst there I asked to confirm the date of the update.  Turns out this was applied late October 2016, before I got the car....!  I calmed down at this point but it got me thinking, I have had 9 months running, approx. 8000 miles and if the 'fix' has already been applied I have been none the wiser to the performance pre-fix !  So far there have been no disasters with EGR or DPF failures, and the MPG was put down to the car being 4x4, and I have already commented that I was happy with the performance!

Anyway, I still have a few months to run on the Warranty that came with the deal and I am still thinking about a remap.  In theory I should notice a considerable difference in performance going from a 'fix map' to a 'remap' which is food for thought.

 

Also has got me thinking about whether to investigate an extended warranty, but unsure how a re-map may affect the validity of this....?

 

Other stuff - have recently treated the car to a polish and will be following on with a couple of wax coats in the next week or so.  A couple of stone chips have been dealt with and the wheels have been washed, polished and 'sealed' with wheel sealer which I will top up every so often.  Tyres have been gel'd and she is looking very nice at the moment.....strangely I have had a few folk looking at the car as it passes, must be the shiny tyres lol ! 

Pending upgrades - finish off the interior LED lighting, look into updating the bulbs for the sidelights/DRLs (combined bulb I believe) and headlights, consider further a brake upgrade, and remap. 

Anyway, that's about it for the moment, happy motoring continues!....Cheers

[Rooted]

Best hang fire on the Remap as that can be done later, seemingly now VW Group / Skoda will cover you for 2 years since The Fix was applied.

 

Best not make that Void by remapping if there is the chance of some premature failure due to VW Group removing the Defeat Device.

[TasMan]

Thanks for that, I wasn't aware of this, definitely don't want to void anything going forward!  Would you happen to have any weblink to this info ?  I will have a search also. 

When I bought my car I was told the warranty would be up at the end of July but as I bought the car in November as an Approved Used Car the dealer has given me an extension to November as an 'All Component Cover'.  I am assuming the manufacturer's warranty still finishes in July, but this extension is by a third party....  In any case the extra two years for 'The Fix' certainly gives comfort for those who have, or get the emissions fix...  Cheers Dave

[TasMan]

22 hours ago, TasMan said:

Thanks for that, I wasn't aware of this, definitely don't want to void anything going forward!  Would you happen to have any weblink to this info ?  I will have a search also. 

 

 

Found it..... The Trust Building Measure.....!?

http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/dieselinfo/trust-building-measure/

[lfc958]

I have KESSY in my Yeti which does lock / unlock plus start / stop. 

You mentioned about fumbling for keys to open rear doors I am curious if it is only the start/stop version, if this is the case then I understand.

otherwise you don't need keys to open rear doors, you just unlock the whole car from either front door by just touching inside the door handle.

 

With ref to the tape on the door retainer , i had similar on my Octy and the service department were able to adjust the lock / retainer so didnt need to do this. 

 

 

 

[TasMan]

14 hours ago, lfc958 said:

I have KESSY in my Yeti which does lock / unlock plus start / stop. 

You mentioned about fumbling for keys to open rear doors I am curious if it is only the start/stop version

 

Thanks for that, I have sort of cured the key fumbling.  I have now set up via the MFD to open one side of the car at a time via touching the door, rather than just the drivers door.  What is annoying is that when I have been driving, I have the doors set to auto lock when moving but when I stop the car and get out, the back door is locked so I either have to press the unlock button on the door, or press the fob.  Only happens after driving, otherwise when I go up to the car when fully locked, I can open one side at a time.  Boot has never been a problem but it is a real annoyance if you start the car and forget something and want to open the boot as it won't open without turning off the engine....  I must read the manual again in detail, to date I have never tried to lock the car via KESSY, always just use the good old fob....! 

The tape on the door retainer didn't come to anything in my case, as you may have read further on the source of the noise was a plastic clip on the seat belt!  Most frustrating but the cabin has been silent ever since I sorted the various niggles with wiring loom tape... 

[lfc958]

If you can find some one with VAG COM / VCDS and they should be able to switch off the Anti Hijack of you so desire.

 

My Octy had anti hijack, and of you wanted to just let someone out and continue journey then i had to use the unlock button, however if i had finished my journey then opening the drivers door from the inside would unlock all doors. Your rear door not unlocking when stopping and getting out sounds like the anti hijack is not fully disenaging.( i had this function disabled )

 

My Yeti is the same with the boot not opening while engine is running, I believe it is to stop someone opening when stationary to nick stuff out, have you tried using the small unlock button inside the car to do this ?  IIRC that works.

 

I have got used to KESSY and love it, I can leave the keys in my pocket and unlock the car, open the boot, start the car all without using the buttons ( my anti hijack is off ). 

If as i suspect you have the same Full KESSY - you should have a small indent on the outside of the door handle on both front doors, to lock the car just swipe the hand over the indent while touching the handle and I get a satisfying clunk and indicator flash and beep that it has locked.

As you have found just grab the handle as normal to open the door and it unlocks, you probably have also found that you can open the boot while car still locked ( with keys in pocket) and when you close the boot it re locks itself.

On the Yeti - If you do put the keys down inside the boot then it will not close/lock ( i experimented & had spare close by just in case    ), I have also found that if the driver gets out before passenger, provided the passenger door is open the driver can swipe the handle to lock the car and it will not fully lock and set alarm till passenger closes their door. ( if you swipe to lock before the passenger opens thier door you lock them in  - I did this to SWMBO by accident who wasnt best pleased).

Apolgies if you already knee this

[TasMan]

Thanks lfc958, yep, all that detail is the same as my car, going to try the keyless locking soon....maybe am a bit old school and like pressing the fob lol !  Going to have another read over the manual on Kessy and a few other things, every day a school day.....!

 

Regarding remap consideration, definitely off the cards for a while now that I have read into the 'Trust Building Measure'....I would be foolish to void that when I still have over a year to go.

 

Cheers Dave

[TasMan]

Thought I would add an update to this thread, sorry for dredging up, if I could work out how to change the title I would…

Car had its 40,000 mile service this week, done 33,500 approx.  Oil, filter, pollen filter done, and Haldex oil was overdue so that was done.

At the service last year I recall being advised the Haldex oil wasn’t needed due to the mileage, however I later found out this should have been done at 3 years so I insisted it was now done.

No other issues apart from advisory on the front brakes being scored which is a further reason for a brake upgrade.

Tyre wear was noted as advisory…

Car had new rears fitted as part of the deal, and new fronts about 1000 miles later - Bridgestone RE050s all round, been a great tyre.

Rears now 3mm, fronts now 4mm with a mileage of 15000 and 14000 respectively.

Bit of a tyre muncher these 4x4 Superbs…..I will run them for a bit longer, probably get another 2 – 3 months out them, will keep a close eye on the wear.

When I get the next set fitted, I’m looking at getting a 4 wheel alignment done, a local garage has Hunter 3D alignment equipment which sounds like money well spent.

The annoying glove box creak is back, probably needs another go with fresh wiring loom tape to isolate, may be the cold weather making it worse.

Apart from that, now done 15K miles in 16 months and it’s the only car I have had that I actually look forward getting into every time!

Occasional updates will continue…

Dave

[TasMan]

Well, the interior LED's I bought from Ebay about a year ago are showing themselves up as a poor choice, a couple have started to fail (flickering or not coming on) so will be looking at buying some replacements.  I bought an 'interior kit' originally so will have a look for individual LEDs this time, might get a better quality that way and a few spares to hand. 

Keeping an eye on what I thought was an oil leak after the recent service.  Lots of drips on the driveway but it might have been an oil spill at the service as a return visit to the dealer revealed no apparent leaks.  Sounds like careless filling of oil, or overspill when the filter was removed which then gathered in the undertray.  I was told that the oil filter housings are bad for leaking but so far seems ok.

Have had a local independent price me for changing the discs/pads all round so I think I will go down that route when I am ready to change, and I now know what to budget for.  Was hoping for some Easter deals on Black Diamond but no such luck.  I haven't found any offers at all on BD stuff, the cheapest appears to be DC Performance Ltd, so looks like a case of shopping around for the best deal when I am ready.  Unfortunately tyres are coming up for replacement so will need to see how that pans out with the bank balance!   Cheers just now...