Is this the reality with new Škodas?

[Puuriit]

I have a 2015 Superb 190 Diesel DSG (one of the early versions produced in May 2015) and I am honestly getting tired of regular visits to the dealership between normal services due to warranty related problems: 

 

A list of what has been done and what will be done:

 

1. Front doors chrome trim regluing x2 (had to be redone)
2. Replacement of front door inner seals
3. Replacement of bonnet pads which the bonnet sits on
4. Replacement of front left light unit (levelling stopped working)
5. Navigation head unit software upgrade (touchscreen stopped working in colder temperatures)
6. Replacement of front and rear wishbone bushes (knocking suspension)

 

Booked for:

 

1. Adblue issues - adblue system malfunctioning and stating I only have xxx km to drive before the engine refuses to start (tank is full)
2. Replacement of rear door inner seals (issue similar to front ones)
3. Bubbling paint on the rear right wheel arch (images sent to factory, no decision yet)
4. Bee inside the rear light (inside the hatch module which has no bulb opening etc. and needs to be replaced)

 

Is this the new reality with Škoda? I dont remember having problems like this with my previous Octavia 2 (2007) or Roomster (2011). If anything good can be found in this it is that the dealership has been treating me well and there have never been any rejections from their side. 

 

After all this I am still considering a new Škoda for my next car, I dont know what is wrong with me...

[skidpan]

We have had our Superb for 12 months next week and other than the service no dealer visits.

 

Hoping to order a Fabia for the wife tomorrow.

[BriskodaJeff]

Sorry to hear about the problems. It sounds like an early adopter issue to me - I've never had a list like that over the 3 Superbs I've had - 2 SII's and the current SIII which is a 190 TDI DSG like yours.

 

I have though been bitten by doing suppliers' beta testing for them when buying very early into tech. My car is too important to me to do that so I always make sure I'm buying a "mid-life" model where hopefully most / all of the bugs have been identified and fixed. Not much consolation to you, but if you are thinking about a replacement, the current crop seem pretty well sorted.

[MartiniB]

@Puuriit

translate 'škoda' in Google translate

in my signature you can read list of problems is larger, but most of them were rejected

and that list isn't full, i continued on Drive2.com, cause truth isn't welcome there on BS
https://www.drive2.com/r/skoda/480808189562978872/

[facet edge]

39 minutes ago, MartiniB said:

@Puuriit

translate 'škoda' in Google translate

in my signature you can read list of problems is larger, but most of them were rejected

and that list isn't full, i continued on Drive2.com, cause truth isn't welcome there on BS
https://www.drive2.com/r/skoda/480808189562978872/

Somehow I knew that you would pop up. If I was as disgruntled as you I would get rid of the car. Then maybe you would leave the forum as well and give us all a rest.

[freelunch]

My Sportline was the dealer's test drive model for three months before I bought it. I gave it a test drive and pushed it pretty hard. I'm sure all the other test drivers did the same. It had 1,700 miles on it.

 

I bought it January 2017 and, except for the annual service, it has not been back to the dealer and I have not had a single problem with it. I did buy a PedalBox for it and I've changed the wiper blades. I have not had to add oil. I topped up the coolant once the week after I brought it home. I wash it and wax it and periodically check the tyres. That's it.

 

I was in the market for a new Alfa Romeo Giulia, but decided not to buy the first year of a new model (like BriskodaJeff). I figured I'd drive the Škoda for three years, then look at the Alfa again. I don't think I'll bother now. I like this car.

[BriskodaJeff]

Same here @freelunch. I recognise there will always be the outlier - the "Friday" car - and sadly it seems MartiniB may have been on the receiving end of such a car. My sympathies to anyone put in that position including the OP. But to be clear - over 3 Superbs in 6 years I have had 1 DRL fail, fixed by Halfords for a fiver and 1 new set of wiper blades - £15 from memory (it was a year ago). And a tyre that split because of my carelessness. Other than that it has simply been dealer service at the appropriate date / mileage. Was I just lucky? Perhaps, but I believe my experience to be more common than those of Puurit and MartiniB and I would recommend @Puuriit looks at the latest offering with an open mind (but don't buy one of the new engines until they've been around for a year or two, or you may be in the same boat all over again!).

[mdpslm]

Hi there,

In Feb 2017 I bought a 2015 Superb 190 Diesel DSG L&K estate first registered here in Switzerland in Oct 15 which was a Skoda dealer manager's car. From your list the only one I've had done is the head unit software upgrade for same reason as you - dealer responded very quickly as touchscreen non-responsive at cold temperatures - which happens a lot here :-)

 

I have not had a single occurrence of it being non-responsive since the update to software version 0848 in Feb 2017 - I would be really interested to know what the software version was after your update please?

 

I agree with the others here, it sounds like you picked up a "Beta" early build version,  going back a few years when I worked at Denso in the UK the early build cars (Jag's, LR's & Volvo's) always required additional follow up attention and occasionally we were even required to support at dealers to get to the bottom of problems.

 

I hope your luck improves with the car or alternately perhaps you could  sell it on and use the funds to buy a later build Superb or any other motor you may fancy.

[MartiniB]

7 hours ago, facet edge said:

Then maybe you would leave the forum

not that fast

i have already paid €580 to bank each previous 24 months and have to do that another 24 months

btw. i love my Superb III, i hate Škoda's attitude to consumer who has paid €40 000

anyone have done more than me
https://www.drive2.com/users/martinib/#blog

 

[Puuriit]

The weirdest things keep happening to me - today I opened the sunglass tray/holder to get my glasses and instead it just crashed down on the central console...the plastic part that is supposed to keep it in place on the right side had broken off. It seems that every time I take the car in for warranty repair (rear door seals this week) I have something new for them to tackle 

 

 

 

[JackySi]

Don't want to post all over forum but I have about same issues as above. Except my dealer doesn't recognize/fix them. Been there for same issue over 4 times. Still there, each time waiting 2-4 weeks for another service. 

[philsmith]

Took delivery of my 280 in November 2015 so one of the early ones.

Now done 35K miles and I have had no vibrations, squeaks or rattles at all and the only problem was the cable that operates the remote back seat squab repeatedly coming adrift, a spot of evostick easily fixed that though.

[skidpan]

13 hours ago, Puuriit said:

The weirdest things keep happening to me - today I opened the sunglass tray/holder to get my glasses and instead it just crashed down on the central console...the plastic part that is supposed to keep it in place on the right side had broken off. It seems that every time I take the car in for warranty repair (rear door seals this week) I have something new for them to tackle 

 

I would suggest that has broken because its been abused. Its not a stressed part, press and it drops and push to relocate. To break it would need real effort.

[Q102]

Friend used to have a 190dsg VW Passat, think it was a 2015 model. No end of electrical gremlins, adblue issues.

He'd had 2 Passats prior to this and had no issues.

I can only assume, as said above, it was a early version of the new model Passat.

[Ootohere]

Now people are buying /leasing Skoda Diesels in 2017/18 and having no end of Ad-blue issues. Dealership Employees clueless and trying this and that and eventually replacing hardware or even cars bought back.   Obviously only small numbers, but then those getting useless help from Skoda / VW are likely to come to the Social Media or tell anyone that will listen.

What ever happened to Vorsprung Durch Technik.

[xman]

2 hours ago, skidpan said:

 

I would suggest that has broken because its been abused. Its not a stressed part, press and it drops and push to relocate. To break it would need real effort.

 

Plastics are not a VAG strong point. I had vanity mirrors in other car that the plastic frames kept splitting, took three replacements and a new design before they fixed it.

[BriskodaJeff]

And the famous winter creak from the SII air vents.

[skidpan]

1 hour ago, xman said:

 

Plastics are not a VAG strong point. I had vanity mirrors in other car that the plastic frames kept splitting, took three replacements and a new design before they fixed it.

 

This is our 6th VAG car and had no broken plastics yet. But to be honest we had had no broken plastics in other brands either. Probably because we are careful and look after the things we buy, but we do use them and don't molly coddle them.

[GaSelle]

Who wants a diesel anyway?

 

I did not have any malfunctions, strange sounds or rattles, things falling apart etc. in my two years of ownership. 

[xman]

40 minutes ago, skidpan said:

 

This is our 6th VAG car and had no broken plastics yet. But to be honest we had had no broken plastics in other brands either. Probably because we are careful and look after the things we buy, but we do use them and don't molly coddle them.

Your own experience is not necessarily the benchmark everyone experiences. I have had numerous vag vehicles since 1968 (which was a vw beetle 1300) and was a fanboi like you. Now in my later years, I take a more pragmatic view. Skoda are still good value for money. VAG are a business trying to make profit. There is little doubt that corners are cut from time to time. And their suppliers can pull the wool over their eyes like they did with camchains and many other bits.

The plastics in question were not subject to abuse, in fact the vanity mirrors were not moved from their position after dealer replacement, but still split after a week. Plastic coverings on arbs split with age as do stiff vacuum pipes. This is VAG.

 

From what I read you change your cars every 3 years or so. Any marque should be perfect over what is basically a warranty period. No surprise.

 

Members moan about MartiniB's posts, but he has a valid reason if he's less than happy having spent €40,000 on a car and having had experience of Skoda service in Poland I have seen the blatant arrogance they show to their customers. So I have sympathy.

 

So Skidpan, please tone down the fanboi in you and accept other peoples views as being in good faith. You are starting to sound like one of those bad Skoda dealers we encounter from time to time.

[skidpan]

xman

 

Do not take that attitude with me. I am stating facts which are just as valid as yours. If you are suggesting that people are only permitted to post bad news I suggest you go elsewhere as a forum like this is for happy as well as unhappy owners. We should all be allowed to post our views without being called a "fanboi".

 

For the record we have only just started changing cars every 3 years. The wifes Note which is soon to be replaced by a Fabia is the first that will have been on the drive for that relatively short period. One Golf was kept 7 1/2 years, another almost 7 years total mileage was obout 180,000  and neither of those had any issues with broken bits.

 

I suggest that if you wish to have me banned for being a satisfied owner you get a moderator to do it, you are simply a member like myself with no rights to insult me.

Edited 4 April, 2018 by skidpan

[GaSelle]

"Your own experience is not necessarily the benchmark everyone experiences."

 

You could argue, that the same can be said about "MartiniB"´s experiences and his sad jokes about "Skoda = damage" he keeps posting in thread after thread after thread after thread etc. Is he an "anti-fanboi" then?

Edited 4 April, 2018 by GaSelle

[BriskodaJeff]

I lurked here for a long time before joining, because I wanted to see what real owners in the real world were experiencing.  I found MartiniB's posts helpful and informative in exactly the same way I found those of members like Skidpan, though obviously for different reasons. I don't see Skidpan as a "fanboi" (hateful word) or MartiniB as a doom-monger. Both have valid views based on their individual experiences and I'm equally grateful to both for providing a balanced picture of what SIII Superb ownership is like. For the same reason, I post comments (good and bad) in the hope they will help existing and potential owners in the same way as you lot helped and continue to help me.

 

Now can we put the handbags away please?

[JackySi]

16 minutes ago, GaSelle said:

"Your own experience is not necessarily the benchmark everyone experiences."

 

You could argue, that the same can be said about "MartiniB"´s experiences and his sad jokes about "Skoda = damage" he keeps posting in thread after thread after thread after thread etc. Is he an "anti-fanboi" then?

People like him and me just want to be heard. We never mean any offense against fan boys. We just have our horrible experience. More you talk about it more people see it. Simple.

[Puuriit]

5 hours ago, skidpan said:

 

I would suggest that has broken because its been abused. Its not a stressed part, press and it drops and push to relocate. To break it would need real effort.

 

If you call a light push on the button to open it an abuse, then I am guilty. Other then that, it has not had any abuse and I am the only person who has had the pleasure of operating the the sunglasses tray. I guess that since we had sun during the -15 to -25C days it might have put stress on this part due to the changing properties of the plastic and eventually broken off. It has been flimsy since winter and now finally decided to brake off. 

 

Oh and I am not complaining, just sharing my awkward experience/bad luck with the car. All these problems have been sorted out under warranty by now. I still love the car and will buy a Škoda again. 

 

Regarding the AdBlue issue, this is related to the sensor in the Adblue tank which needed recalibration since it had lost its mind. They say this can happen from time to time if you fill the tank to the neck at the petrol station. 

Edited 4 April, 2018 by Puuriit