3 minutes ago, travo said:

If the car was £10k not the £21k the dealer is asking (does look a good price compared to what else is about though) I wouldn't be bothered at all about the haldex but if the worst case scenario happened I'd be facing a hefty bill on top of the hefty car price.

 

Also, I've got do idea how the car was driven previously, judging by it's condition which is pretty much immaculate I'd imagine it's been well cared for when the previous owner owning it for nearly 4 years, but you never know, for all I know they could have used launch control on every outing, thrashed the crap out of it but cleaned it every time they got home. 

 

I guess I need to stop over thinking it and wait until I drive the thing and see all the paperwork before I pass judgement. 

 

I do understand it, I was the same purchasing my last Octavia and wondering if the 4k over the mileage schedule for the DSG was going to cause problems. I had zero issues in 2.5 years of ownership. 

 

My current Superb is immaculate, but purchased by me at 43k and a late 2018 car with no documented Haldex service worried me. The dealer serviced it prior to purchase and to a certain degree I have to trust that itll be ok. As per my last post, there seems to be lots of variation in what people are advised and what they do.

Dealers are in sales.

Service Staff do not point out. Phones and keyboards are their thing.

Sadly there are too many fitters and not enough technicians or master techs and then Service Managers that are just that, not Mechanical Engineers.

 

 

They are still not telling customers with cars with a VAQ diff about servicing because they might not know. 

Many have not been serviced.

Just now, Ootohere said:

Dealers are in sales.

Service Staff do not point out. Phones and keyboards are their thing.

Sadly there are too many fitters and not enough technicians or master techs and then Service Managers that are just that, not Mechanical Engineers.

 

 

They are still not telling customers with cars with a VAQ diff about servicing because they might not know. 

Many have not been serviced.

Definitely agree with all of that!

If you don't mind me asking dooge, how long have you had your superb? Any issues?

 

I guess there's a fair few Skoda's going around with patchy history for DSG's, haldex's etc due to the dealers lack of knowledge or communication with owners.

 

The car should have a full service and a haldex service (if not already done) plus a clean MOT before I collect it, so I guess it'll be about as good as I can hope for.

 

I'll probably still end up either taking it to an independent to get the haldex done properly or doing it myself anyway! I've got very little faith in main dealers doing things as well as I'd like them to be done!

 

 

Edited 4 October, 20241 yr by travo

44 minutes ago, travo said:

If you don't mind me asking dooge, how long have you had your superb? Any issues?

 

I guess there's a fair few Skoda's going around with patchy history for DSG's, haldex's etc due to the dealers lack of knowledge or communication with owners.

 

The car should have a full service and a haldex service (if not already done) plus a clean MOT before I collect it, so I guess it'll be about as good as I can hope for.

 

I'll probably still end up either taking it to an independent to get the haldex done properly or doing it myself anyway! I've got very little faith in main dealers doing things as well as I'd like them to be done!

 

 

Not long enough to comment about my own experience of longevity. Literally weeks, turned up with just under 43,500 on the clock and Ive only done a few hundred miles. 

 

But no weird noises or feelings from the Haldex system. Car drives very well and I am enjoying it!

 

My comments regarding sunroof creak and throttle sensitivity still stand, albeit I'd prefer Sport throttle mapping to be Normal for everyday use and a sharper throttle for Sport. I also have kept it in Sport suspension most of the time, even over speed bumps I find it controlled and well judged for most decent roads rather than uncomfortable whereas normal, comfort and eco are wallowy and a bit bouncy for my liking.

 

But having come from an Octavia before and other VAG cars with the EA888 lump before that Ive got used to the pitfalls, rumours and problems. Some things that are 'common' for failure are just not as common as you'd believe too, like DSG failure. For example, many on the Octavia groups would hark on about the recommended mileage service for 6 speed DSG's but forget to mention the recommended time intervals. 

 

This would generate no mentioned problems, despite doing shorter journeys and potentially more damaging heat cycles. Motorway mileage is probably less taxing on a gearbox than lots of stop start town driving that is flicking up and down gears all the time.

 

Although I'm sure lots will disagree, I believe there has to be a degree of a safety margin built into service scheduling, with some things being more sensitive to lack of servicing than others. 

 

Plans for mine include another Haldex service to be sure (like yourself) I already know the gearbox has been serviced once.

 

 

Edited 4 October, 20241 yr by Dooge

Thanks for the reply. Car looks really good, I've always liked the white with black touches, I very nearly bought a MK3 vrs in the same colour, that's a car I regret letting get away.

 

I think your right on the reliability side of things, I've read plenty of horror stories about kodiaqs but other than a dodgy passenger side wing mirror, mines been rock solid (saying that's probably tempting fate), but it still feels and drives life a new car after 35k miles. So I'm guessing the Superb should be similar, as they share a lot of the same parts like gearbox and 4x4 system.

 

Anyhow, here's a pic of the potential purchase, it's pretty much the opposite of yours!!

5 minutes ago, travo said:

Thanks for the reply. Car looks really good, I've always liked the white with black touches, I very nearly bought a MK3 vrs in the same colour, that's a car I regret letting get away.

 

I think your right on the reliability side of things, I've read plenty of horror stories about kodiaqs but other than a dodgy passenger side wing mirror, mines been rock solid (saying that's probably tempting fate), but it still feels and drives life a new car after 35k miles. So I'm guessing the Superb should be similar, as they share a lot of the same parts like gearbox and 4x4 system.

 

Anyhow, here's a pic of the potential purchase, it's pretty much the opposite of yours!!

Thanks, its Moon White Metallic. First white car, luckily this has a hint of metallic and a hint of pearl which is lovely when its clean. 

 

I spent about 2 days de-tarring, cleaning, clay barring, polishing and waxing when I got it so it should clean easily going forward.

 

Love the facelift front end and those wheels. I think they would really suit the white and black theme of mine. Might have to swap out the Vega's!

I'm on my second 272 Superb, so as you can tell, I really like them. I came to them from a Mk3 VRS 220 and the Superb doesn't feel much faster at times, especially as the gearbox seems to be more tuned for economy so likes to change to the highest gear as soon as possible under a part throttle. Having said that, if you put the gearbox in sports mode and put your foot down (or give it some welly coming out of a junction), the Superb is in a different league! I loved my Octavia but always hankered after more power and 4x4 but you knew VW wouldn't let Skoda have it for the Octavia as it would have stolen too many Golf R customers. I love the Superb for it's sleeper status too. There is very little to show it's a really quick car and that suit me down to the ground.

 

I've been quite lucky as (touch wood) I've never had any issues with either car over 5 years of motoring. I've keep them fully serviced and ensured that Haldax and DSG were serviced on time (though I believe both have the DQ381 which now seems to be on 80,000 mile service intervals though I had mine serviced at the 4 year point as preventative maintenance). 

 

I do prefer my facelift version for the LED headlights and the digital dash. There seem to be numerous other small changes which add to the car which I keep noticing (lights in the door pockets etc) which I don't recall seeing on my pre-facelift. But, both cars have served me incredibly well as they have everything I've wanted - speed, comfort, style, space. You'll love yours too, no doubt, 

Finally got the car today, had a good drive back home from Milton Keynes (60 or so miles) and considering what I got it for and how good a condition it's in, I'm very, very happy with it! 

 

Goes like stink but due to all the 50 limits on the M1/M3 actually managed an average of over 43mpg for most of the journey too!

 

It turns out the service history is all good with the Haldex being serviced (oil change only or so I think ) at 3 and a bit years/20k miles and also as part of the service just before I collected it (24k miles). So only a year and a bit between oil changes.

I've already got it booked in to my local independent to have the haldex done again as I want to make sure the strainers cleaned.

Also, its had both lower arms done and it's plugs/filters have all been done along with a 3 new Hankook Evo S3 tyres, I argued over them not replacing them all as a set (being 4 wheel drive)  but they wouldn't budge as the one remaining is under 2mm tread depth difference to the new ones. I'll be getting it replaced with a matching Hankook in the next few days anyhow.

 

One thing I have noticed though is the VC display stayed lit with the dials displayed after I switched off and locked it, I thought they may go off after awhile but didn't seem to want to. I had to unlock it and switch the ignition on and off again, then the usual car animation came up on the dash and turned off a few seconds after locking as you'd expect.

It may will have been something I did but seemed a bit odd, anyone know if there's a known issue with the VC display staying on?

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

Did you turn the ignition off? Engine off from start/stop then locking the car does not switch ignition off. I do this mistake sometimes then wonder why are the eyelashes still on an hour later. For haldex, get the pump seals and new drain bolts. Haldexrepairs should have a service kit special for this. One last thing to check is when was the last gearbox service

Thanks for the reply.

Think I've discovered what makes it do it, if I get in the car but don't switch anything on the dials come up, if I then get out of the car and lock it they stay on, fairly sure this shouldn't happen but at least I know what not to do!

 

Dsg is 381 7 speed so according to Skoda, service every 80k, I'll most likely get this done a lot sooner, cars Feb 2020 with 24k miles with 2 years approved used warranty so I'm not overly concerned with this right now.

 

For it's haldex, It's off to the Phirm in Camberley who definitely seen to know their stuff, so am fairly confident it'll have the necessary work done, although I'll mention seals/new bolt when I drop it off.

 

Sounds good, glad you are enjoying it! They are a great drive, I have a long drive (Plymouth to Alton Towers) at the end of October, itll be the first decent run in mine ap hoping for similar. 

 

Mine has had one gearbox service already, its definitely not going to harm it and I think its good preventative maintenance. 

I think yours on the facelift kind of switches ignition on with opening the door. Does pressing the start/stop button with no brake turn everything back off?

 

Btw, haldex is not a big job and there isn't much to get wrong either. If i had a ramp instead of jack stands i think i would have done mine in under 20 minutes. Most of it is priming the pump and waiting until it's at 20° to top up and tighten the fill bolt.

 

Lastly, you're not far from me. If you fancy any vcds adaptations just let me know

15 hours ago, Athrx said:

I think yours on the facelift kind of switches ignition on with opening the door. Does pressing the start/stop button with no brake turn everything back off?

 

Btw, haldex is not a big job and there isn't much to get wrong either. If i had a ramp instead of jack stands i think i would have done mine in under 20 minutes. Most of it is priming the pump and waiting until it's at 20° to top up and tighten the fill bolt.

 

Lastly, you're not far from me. If you fancy any vcds adaptations just let me know

It only switches on the dash when I open the door, if I press the start button without pressing the brake then everything else turns on, its a bit wierd but not a major issue to be fair.

 

I'd do tha haldex myself but like you I'd be on axle stands and getting the car level would be an issue.

 

Thanks for the vcds offer, not really sure what I'd want to add/change at the moment though, any recommendations? 

 

cheers

Level is not critical, priming the pump, topping up and re-doing the basic setting is. 

 

Regarding vcds, i recommend activating:

-locking of the doors with engine on from exterior handle/key

-scandinavian lights (rear positions always on)

-hvac fan activity visible when in auto mode

-traffic sign recognition if not included

-high beam memory (especially if sla/matrix equipped)

-heated seats memory (i set driver's always passenger 10 minutes from ignition off)

-disable overtaking right blocking (acc will undertake no problem)

-Increase lane assist.. assistance? Stays in the middle of the lane, no longer drives like a drunk

- change accelerator behaviour (from basically time lagged to direct input)

 

There's probably more. None will rock your world or brew a cup of tea for you before you get in the car but they're nice to have

6 hours ago, Athrx said:

Level is not critical, priming the pump, topping up and re-doing the basic setting is. 

 

Regarding vcds, i recommend activating:

-locking of the doors with engine on from exterior handle/key

-scandinavian lights (rear positions always on)

-hvac fan activity visible when in auto mode

-traffic sign recognition if not included

-high beam memory (especially if sla/matrix equipped)

-heated seats memory (i set driver's always passenger 10 minutes from ignition off)

-disable overtaking right blocking (acc will undertake no problem)

-Increase lane assist.. assistance? Stays in the middle of the lane, no longer drives like a drunk

- change accelerator behaviour (from basically time lagged to direct input)

 

There's probably more. None will rock your world or brew a cup of tea for you before you get in the car but they're nice to have

Thanks for that, much appreciated! I'll keep you posted once I've had a bit more time in the car and figured out if I'd like to change anything,

 

I would however like to change the fact I've discovered the DAB stations drop out way too much and my station lists are all over the place, I've a feeling its antenna related after reading about water ingress around the antenna base, so may have to check the connections before I start hassling the dealers who I expect won't be of much help anyhow.......

18 hours ago, Athrx said:

Level is not critical, priming the pump, topping up and re-doing the basic setting is. 

 

Regarding vcds, i recommend activating:

-locking of the doors with engine on from exterior handle/key

-scandinavian lights (rear positions always on)

-hvac fan activity visible when in auto mode

-traffic sign recognition if not included

-high beam memory (especially if sla/matrix equipped)

-heated seats memory (i set driver's always passenger 10 minutes from ignition off)

-disable overtaking right blocking (acc will undertake no problem)

-Increase lane assist.. assistance? Stays in the middle of the lane, no longer drives like a drunk

- change accelerator behaviour (from basically time lagged to direct input)

 

There's probably more. None will rock your world or brew a cup of tea for you before you get in the car but they're nice to have

Theres certainly a few on there Id like to do. I wanted to enable the exhaust flappy thing to be open all the time. And Im really intrigued at the sensitive accelerator change.

 

A few others I saw on the ODB Eleven list of one click mods is:

 

-Change the timing of handbrake release

-start/stop alterations

-Interior light fading

-Start button pulsating 

-headlight washer cycles

Congrats on the purchase  travo; looks super aggressive with the black on black on black thing. Mine is an L&K which shoves a tiny amount too much chrome in to the mix.

On the Haldex, the dealers just don't have the instruction from VAG to clean the gauze - its not that they do a poor job by nature (well some probably do), just that they do what they're told because of the book time etc. Def a great preventive job to do it though. 

 

VCDS adaptions that list is pretty good (on facelift you can't do a few things that you could on the pre-FL unfortunately)

I'd include to that - adding the 'switching off the DRLs' on the MIB menu. It just means if you're doing any work with the ignition on for a long period of time they aren't sitting on draining the battery.

There is also an option to make the start-stop button pulse like a heartbeat. Absolute gimmick and hardly noticeable unless you look for it, but while you're there with the laptop plugged in you might as well.

Oh, and also you can turn down the brightness of the Hazard Warning light - its brightness is massively subjective of course, but its nice turning it down for night driving. You're not going to lose sight of it, it just makes it a little less constantly obvious in your peripheral vision (for me anyway).

 

Personally, I agree in theory with the point about that having a hairline trigger throttle pedal isn't in character with the car (thinking that's more associated with more of a track tool) but...I got a Racechip pedal box. I liked it on Sport initially for a bit more response. Nowadays, its on Race+ - much better and I clearly don't always take my own advice.

Scarily, the Mrs said she didn't notice - its like night and day!

 

 

37 minutes ago, Dooge said:

Theres certainly a few on there Id like to do. I wanted to enable the exhaust flappy thing to be open all the time. And Im really intrigued at the sensitive accelerator change.

 

A few others I saw on the ODB Eleven list of one click mods is:

 

-Change the timing of handbrake release

-start/stop alterations

-Interior light fading

-Start button pulsating 

-headlight washer cycles

Hmm.. not sure what the handbrake thingy does, certainly haven't seen anything related before. What i do know can be changed is hill hold assist. Start/stop alteration can be changed but will trigger a fault constantly. I honestly prefer to flick it in sport near junctions and just let it be. Headlight washer will unfortunately always work 1'st time from ignition. Can be set to every 1000 cycles, it will still wash the first time. I'm happy to be proven wrong with the right coding adaptations though

20 minutes ago, Athrx said:

Hmm.. not sure what the handbrake thingy does, certainly haven't seen anything related before. What i do know can be changed is hill hold assist. Start/stop alteration can be changed but will trigger a fault constantly. I honestly prefer to flick it in sport near junctions and just let it be. Headlight washer will unfortunately always work 1'st time from ignition. Can be set to every 1000 cycles, it will still wash the first time. I'm happy to be proven wrong with the right coding adaptations though

Yeh, not sure how these adaptions actually take, but if I get ODB Eleven (on the Christmas list) then I can test.

 

From another post on here I believe the handbrake release seems to be that itll release quicker or slower than set, but I might have got this wrong. 

 

I have no issue with start/stop, but as I tend to do shorter journeys (5 miles to work) I find that it wont do it to start, then itll do it, then itll stop again. I seem to remember reading there is different options for start/stop, such as changing the threshold voltage levels. I might just get a plug in adaptor so its off as standard and turn it back on.

 

In Sport the throttle response is pretty good but all other modes are a bit lazy I find and and I still want it a tad more responsive overall. Id love for throttle response and gearbox behaviour to be separate as Sport mode on gearbox just revs out more often than not, then if you need sport mode on gearbox for overtaking can flick back on the gear lever but I can see why theyve done it as they have.

 

Headlight washers are so annoying. My car is rarely ever dirty enough to need them, but I tend to use windscreen washers alot.