Superb vs Audi A6

[Hoverurb]

It's coming near time to change my trusty 2010 Elegance 170, How does the Superb Mk111 compare to the A6?  I'm only going to buy 2.0L 190 which is available in both, I'm considering  a 2 year old car.

[MartiniB]

one Škoda is enough, after few years i'll go back to Audi or Hyundai.

i accept model in it's first year of manufacturing can have some problems,
but can't agree to solve them by use my wallet
 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tired+skoda

[penguin17]

The A6 edges the Superb in most respects (not all!) but not enough to justify the price difference IMO.  The A6 was on my shopping list when I was looking and TBH the Superb just felt a better choice and I actually preferred it.   Money for a factory order Superb with the few options I wanted was around the same price as an A6 with a few K miles on the clock and not many extra's.   Very refined car though and no doubt a nice place to be when you're driving around.  I do like the ergonomics and aesthetics of the interior. 

 

The biggest problem I have with the A6 (well most Audi's) as I work with a bunch of muppets who feel that an Audi is the ultimate reflection of 'I've made it in life' and it's totally ruined the marque for me.   The 2nd biggest problem is said colleagues have all had multiple issues on their 1-3 year old Audi's, mainly electrical issues and sensor faults.  This is on A3's, A4's, A6's and a TT.  In the same time period I've had fault free Leon and Superb; I thought they were supposed to be the low end VAG brands? 

 

My brother had a 64 plate A6 Ultra 190 and rated it.  He's now driving an Octavia Scout with the same engine and said despite the obvious step down in quality/spec he actually prefers the Octavia.  He thinks it has a bit of character and does everything he wants it to. 

[Superb170]

14 hours ago, Hoverurb said:

It's coming near time to change my trusty 2010 Elegance 170, How does the Superb Mk111 compare to the A6?  I'm only going to buy 2.0L 190 which is available in both, I'm considering  a 2 year old car.

Maybe you've driven one already but don't discount the 150bhp engine (in the Superb anyway).  After the two previous 170s, the 150 is pretty much identical for power/torque.  When buying used, there might not be a huge difference in price between the 150 and 190 of course but just bear it in mind if you happen to see a really decent example of a 150.  With the new A6 model imminent and especially after the model is launched, prices will be impacted on what will then be the older A6 model and there will be some good deals to be had on used versions.

 

Obviously for a new car, the Superb still pips it overall as it does almost everything the A6 does minus the badge but the A6 is good value second hand as somebody else had taken the initial deprecation hit.  I'd certainly be tempted myself if I was going used. Would you go DSG/tiptronic in either?

Edited 7 July, 2017 by Superb170

[Nick_H]

Apart from the power plant I just preferred the look of the Superb. Yeah I've had a few niggles but I don't keep carping on about 'em ;-) and they have so far been sorted to my satisfaction. I would buy another.

[Coops]

1 hour ago, Nick_H said:

Apart from the power plant I just preferred the look of the Superb. Yeah I've had a few niggles but I don't keep carping on about 'em ;-) and they have so far been sorted to my satisfaction. I would buy another.

 

Just leave the moaning to MartiniB !!!

 

 

[penguin17]

1 hour ago, Coops said:

 

Just leave the moaning to MartiniB !!!

 

 

Groans more than his suspension, no? 

[Coops]

16 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

Groans more than his suspension, no? 

 

Indeed. 

[Speedman]

Having had my superb 6 months and then sat in an A6 at the weekend at goodwood, the interior is slightly better finished than the skoda but certainly it doesn't warrant the extra price - classic case of 'buying a badge' to me. The one thing that struck me was how much less rear legroom the Audi had.

[Hoverurb]

1 hour ago, Speedman said:

Having had my superb 6 months and then sat in an A6 at the weekend at goodwood, the interior is slightly better finished than the skoda but certainly it doesn't warrant the extra price - classic case of 'buying a badge' to me. The one thing that struck me was how much less rear legroom the Audi had.

Agree with the badge thing, I would not pay extra for it.  My last two Superbs were bought for a lot less than the equivalent spec Passat or Audi  A4/6. Looking at used prices here in Ireland now a good spec Superb is pretty much the same as an A6. 

[MartiniB]

11 hours ago, Speedman said:

extra price

when +30% then YES!
But in case A6 has it's last year on the production line before model change
there were so sweet offers - A6 1.8TSI S-Tronic, with almost same equipment to my ŠS3 Style, just 38 000e.
if i had know didn't spent 40 000e to Škoda one year earlier
 

[MChris]

My last car was an A6 Avant S Line DSG.  I had it from new.  A company car.  Fantastic motor.  I retired and bought an ex demo Superb estate DSG 190 BHP with 8K on the clock.  It is an SE L Executive. Apart from the badge (yes I am a snob) I consider my Skoda a better car.  It has more toys and is a dream to drive.  I have had no problems at all with it and although on a 15 plate I have done over 22K in the last year.  I like the silly little extras like the hooks in the boot for bags, the touch screen sat nav and on that subject I like the sat nav where it is on the Skoda unlike the thing that pops up on the A6 (which will one day refuse to pop up). Mine also has KESSY and the virtual pedal along with 19" wheels.  I prefer the Skoda any day (apart from the badge!)  When it comes to major items like the cam belt I am sure the bill will be less than the Audi where you tend to pay more for the name.  Just my opinion.

[Zenbasses]

I looked at the following cars and ended up buying the Superb.. 

 

• Audi A6 - Nice cabin,rear legroom was limited and the boot was very small. Not so much the width and depth but the height.. I couldn't fit my German Shepherd and Labrador cross in the boot with comfort... The boot profile tapers off too much.. So how do they make a mess of my rear window happily looking out?  Also difficult to find with a good spec the was in my price range... 
• Mercedes E-class Estate - huge boot but the interior quality was very poor compared with the Audi and Skoda... Really disappointed... Did not feel like the £40k car it was when new... Drove like a dream though. 
• Volvo V70 - lovely to sit in but again a cramped boot struck it off the list
• Mazda 6 tourer. - cheap plastics. Cramped interior and mediocre boot.. But lots of equipment and are reliable. 
• VW Passat - Same as the Skoda but smaller boot less legroom and the interior design wasnt to my tastes with the full length air vents and acres of black plastic. 
• Skoda Superb - huge boot, interior quality was better than all the rest aside from the A6 but the Superb had more features that you actually want such as Android Auto... Canton sound system and all the driver aides. Drives great apart the the throttle  reponse which for me is the biggest detraction... Hoping some coding will fix this in the future... I also find the interior black trim on the L&K is so soft it marks with a strong breeze... I have a cunning plan for this though. 

 

For the record I had a MK2 Elegance with L&K pack.... In Brunello Rosso with cream leather and pano roof. 

 

As much as I don't like to admit it... I really miss that car..... With the leather and the pano roof and all the options ticket it just felt 'special' when in sat in it... 

 

 

Edited 10 July, 2017 by Zenbasses

[Zenbasses]

Edited 10 July, 2017 by Zenbasses

[Hoverurb]

Drove a 2015 A6 190 Ultra S Line (Irish spec) today, Yes the power is there and the DSG worked well and yes it was nice to drive but no electric seats, no folding mirrors and some other bits missing like the rear time/temp display and the ski door that I have in my MK 11 Elegance. And of course the boot is smaller. Cant be that well built as my wife pulled off one of the seat adjustment levers!! I think its time to have a proper drive in a 190 Superb ......... the story continues.

[Zenbasses]

11 minutes ago, Hoverurb said:

Drove a 2015 A6 190 Ultra S Line (Irish spec) today, Yes the power is there and the DSG worked well and yes it was nice to drive but no electric seats, no folding mirrors and some other bits missing like the rear time/temp display and the ski door that I have in my MK 11 Elegance. And of course the boot is smaller. Cant be that well built as my wife pulled off one of the seat adjustment levers!! I think its time to have a proper drive in a 190 Superb ......... the story continues.

 If you have a Mk2  estate I would like to point out that the overall boot space that is usable is less in the mk3 than mk2. 

 

Seats up the mk3 wins hands down.. Seats down?.. Different story as the squabs don't lift up so the seats flat.. It was just a better use of usable space.... 

 

Example I purchased a new interior door for home.. Brought the new one in my mk2 with it totally laying flat.. Took the old one to tip over the weekend and it was at some funky angle with the mk3 to fit it in.... 

 

Capacity is often meaningless in real life situations 

Edited 10 July, 2017 by Zenbasses

[Bud]

@Zenbasses Jigsaw would sort that out

[Blindek]

8 hours ago, Zenbasses said:

I looked at the following cars and ended up buying the Superb.. 

 

• Audi A6 - Nice cabin,rear legroom was limited and the boot was very small. Not so much the width and depth but the height.. I couldn't fit my German Shepherd and Labrador cross in the boot with comfort... The boot profile tapers off too much.. So how do they make a mess of my rear window happily looking out?  Also difficult to find with a good spec the was in my price range... 
• Mercedes E-class Estate - huge boot but the interior quality was very poor compared with the Audi and Skoda... Really disappointed... Did not feel like the £40k car it was when new... Drove like a dream though. 
•  

 

 

 

Are talking about the latest E-Klass? I got a Company E with AMG Line, where the whole Dashboard is covered in Leather, got open cell wood (not shiny black plastik...), a nice 195HP Diesel engine that u almost don't hear, 2 huge 12" screens, and the fit and finish is perfekt, no stichig is misaligned, not like in the Skoda where they were drunk making the seat...

 

I am a Fan of the Superb, already got my second one (2015 S3 L&K, now a 2017 Sportline), but the new E-Klass, 5 series and the A6 are better made and always insulated. They do cost a lot more tho, like my E-K,ass is 78.000€ and the Superb 40.000€... is it worth the difference? For some yes for the other not, but most people (not all) who can afford a 80k Car wont look at a Skoda

[Superb170]

16 minutes ago, Blindek said:

 

Are talking about the latest E-Klass? I got a Company E with AMG Line, where the whole Dashboard is covered in Leather, got open cell wood (not shiny black plastik...), a nice 195HP Diesel engine that u almost don't hear, 2 huge 12" screens, and the fit and finish is perfekt, no stichig is misaligned, not like in the Skoda where they were drunk making the seat...

 

I am a Fan of the Superb, already got my second one (2015 S3 L&K, now a 2017 Sportline), but the new E-Klass, 5 series and the A6 are better made and always insulated. They do cost a lot more tho, like my E-K,ass is 78.000€ and the Superb 40.000€... is it worth the difference? For some yes for the other not, but most people (not all) who can afford a 80k Car wont look at a Skoda

I agree. There is a noticeable difference between the old and new E-Class. The old noisy 2.1 unit and build quality have been well addressed now plus base model spec is now generous (at in Ireland anyway).  When you look at the new Superb v older Merc, the Superb does come through well but it's probably not the fairest comparison.  This has been done a few times recently in the motoring press:

 

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mercedes/e-class/93960/used-mercedes-e-class-vs-new-skoda-superb

 

There have been discounts of up to 10% on new Mercs recently however is question what that will do to used car prices.  Even with the discounts, you're still talking about 10k more for a new  Merc however secondhand it might be tempting.

Edited 11 July, 2017 by Superb170

[IJWS15]

Have driven several Audis and my son has had several A6s (Mostly 190 ultra saloons, some with up to £10k of extras - did you know that at one stage sat nav was standard and there was an upgrade to it that cost an extra £3k over the standard sat nav) plus a few A5s and Q3s- but as a VW group employee he wasn't paying and only had each for 6 months.

 

Audi gets the new systems (e.g. my 2 month old SEL Exec has the stereo that was in the A6 four years ago) so Audi owners all experience the teething problems you get with all new systems.

 

VW/Skoda/Seat all get the same systems a year or so later (VW second then Seat/Skoda) so when you get a Skoda the systems (e.g. engine, sat nav, heating etc) has all been proved on Audi owners.

 

Now why would I pay more to act as a guinea pig for VAG group to test their new systems when I can get a car that is as good and that is more use because it has a hatch rather than a narrow boot opening (Yes - I ran a Passat saloon for 3 years and the boot opening is a pain in the ....).  Audis are at the wrong point on the bathtub curve, Skodas are at the flat spot - just look at the customer satisfaction figures.

 

VAG maintain the brand gap by only putting the bigger engines in Audis and having more options (We once spent four hours in an Audi dealer speccing up a new car for my wife (e.g. what colour leather would you like?  grey.  Which grey would you like? . . . . etc) - Why can't you get a Kodiak or a Superb or a Passat with a V6 - because it would hit Audi's sales figures too hard. 

 

 

[Blindek]

Because Skoda ist build in the MQB platform and not as the Audi MLB platform. Those build in the Motor differently and in the MQB the V6 doesn't fit just so easy. 

Modularer Querbaukasten and Modularer Längsbaukasten 

 

Also if you would have to many options in a Skoda, the price would go up to since you have to Produce more things, where if you keep the Options list lower you save costs. Look at the Japanese cars where you don't have that much Options 

 

Already now Skodas aren't cheap anymore and here in my Country you can get a Passat for the same price and VW also gives you Service Inclusive where Skoda doesn't... 

I did a comparison with a Astra ST vs. Octavia Combi, almost identical options and the Octavia was 5000€ more... that's a lot of money for a normal Family car.

 

Don't get me wrong, Skoda is a nice car but no where near cheap these days but still price is OK for what you get, and if you want more then you buy a Jag,Volvo,MB,BMW,Audi, but there the Sky is the limit  

[Zenbasses]

14 hours ago, Blindek said:

 

Are talking about the latest E-Klass? I got a Company E with AMG Line, where the whole Dashboard is covered in Leather, got open cell wood (not shiny black plastik...), a nice 195HP Diesel engine that u almost don't hear, 2 huge 12" screens, and the fit and finish is perfekt, no stichig is misaligned, not like in the Skoda where they were drunk making the seat...

 

I am a Fan of the Superb, already got my second one (2015 S3 L&K, now a 2017 Sportline), but the new E-Klass, 5 series and the A6 are better made and always insulated. They do cost a lot more tho, like my E-K,ass is 78.000€ and the Superb 40.000€... is it worth the difference? For some yes for the other not, but most people (not all) who can afford a 80k Car wont look at a Skoda

 

Hiya no its not the latest E-Class I am on about it is model year 2010 - 2015

 

I had a strict set of wants for my new car, and this included the engine being Euro 6 compliant...but my budget did not stretch beyond a 2014 Merc E-CLass Estate. that had the right spec and the right mileage. 

 

When I test drove the A6 is was a little bit quieter than the Superb but I did find the Superb to more forgiving over bumps, sleeping policemen etc etc...my main put off , as mentioned was the fact the boot was way behind that of the Superb and since I have dogs, and a younger daughter no other car I could find could throw A German Shepard and Labrador in the boot and put the push chair base and everything behind the front seat and still have enough room for everything else.....

 

 

 

[Blindek]

The A6 with Soundproof Glass and Air Suspension is a whole other thing to the DCC in the Superb, even tho it is superb for the price.

 

With all that room that you need i would buy a whole different car, but it's your money  

[IJWS15]

On 7/12/2017 at 13:50, Blindek said:

The A6 with Soundproof Glass and Air Suspension is a whole other thing to the DCC in the Superb, even tho it is superb for the price.

 

With all that room that you need i would buy a whole different car, but it's your money  

 

You can double the price of an 2.0 TDi A6 with extras and it will be a more attractive car than an S3 - and nearly three times the price.  Is it a valid comparison?

 

[skidpan]

On 7/11/2017 at 07:18, Blindek said:

I got a Company E with AMG Line, where the whole Dashboard is covered in Leather,

 

Are you sure its "real" leather. The standard fit on most Mercs today is a product they call "Artico" Leather and if you read the small print is actually plastic. On the C class estate we looked the only way to avoid sitting on sweaty plastic was to specify proper leather for another £1200 and even then it was only the seat centres that were changed. In the newish E class I rode in recently the seats were definitely Artico leather.