Good evening all,

 

After all these years lurking, I'm looking to buy a Superb hatch, because I need a big car for my two boys who are growing rapidly.  One of the cars currently for sale which I like the look of is a red L+K hatch, which looks the part and the performance would be very welcome.  I'm just wondering if the 4x4 is a good thing to have or a gimmick which is likely to turn into a money pit.  The car has done a lot of miles (105k on a 66 plate) so it's had a fair hammering already.  My priorities are practicality and reliability, so while I'm prepared to cope with the higher fuel bills, I'm wary of a car where either the routine servicing schedule is well in excess of the 2wd cars or the drivetrain is likely to go wrong and need attention.  Any experience or knowledge would be very much appreciated.  Thanks in advance!  Oh, and if anyone has a newish Superb which they are looking to pass on in the next month or two, please drop me a line!

4 hours ago, HoistToCrew said:

I'm just wondering if the 4x4 is a good thing to have or a gimmick which is likely to turn into a money pit.

You need to know if the Haldex has been properly serviced, and we can't tell you that from this data.

8 hours ago, HoistToCrew said:

I'm just wondering if the 4x4 is a good thing to have or a gimmick which is likely to turn into a money pit.

 

Hello HTC 

 

No, 4x4 is not a gimmick.  Will it turn into a money pit? who knows 🤷‍♂️ but you can lessen the risk by looking after it properly (as Paws is referring to).

 

I take it you're looking at the 272 TSI with a DSG gearbox.

 

Have you seen this one advertised?:

 

 

It looks pretty nice to me.

 

I've driven several DSG Superbs this year, all 4x4s, and you can certainly notice the additional traction.  It's a want for me though, not a need, so I didn't go for it in the end.

 

Gaz 

 

Hi HoistToCrew,

 

That's my car that's been kindly shared by Gaz above and I can confirm that the 4x4 is worth it imo - we've done longer drives (2 hours) whilst towing a small trailer with absolutely no concerns with traction or loss of power, then we've done the drive from the south coast to Edinburgh and back and it handled like a dream both on the long motorway drive and on the smaller, more local roads like the A7 (or any B road along the south coast)!

 

We've looked after this and recently had the DSG oil changed and the 4x4/Haldex oils changed by Skoda, plus a new timing belt etc and the guy that bought this as an ex-demonstrator was also very good at getting Skoda servicing and oils changed on time.

 

We also have had 2 boys in the back of this for the last 3 years and it's been very comfortable for them with great visibility out the side windows and the L&K pack giving them rear blowers and time/temp is a novelty that they've never grown bored of! They also ride in the back of my father's Mk3 Superb Estate and say both are "pretty cool" so I take that as a win for us both.

 

I hope this helps with the one you're looking at but always welcome to view ours if it isn't quite what you're after......yes, I know, shameless plug.....either way, good luck with your search

Edited 10 October, 20241 yr by RWorgan
fat fingers

1 hour ago, RWorgan said:

That's my car that's been kindly shared by Gaz above....

 

If I hadn't bought a V70 back in May, your car was exactly what I was looking for and I'd have bitten your hand off!

 

C'est la vie.

 

Gaz

 

 

On 09/10/2024 at 23:56, HoistToCrew said:

Good evening all,

 

After all these years lurking, I'm looking to buy a Superb hatch, because I need a big car for my two boys who are growing rapidly.  One of the cars currently for sale which I like the look of is a red L+K hatch, which looks the part and the performance would be very welcome.  I'm just wondering if the 4x4 is a good thing to have or a gimmick which is likely to turn into a money pit.  The car has done a lot of miles (105k on a 66 plate) so it's had a fair hammering already.  My priorities are practicality and reliability, so while I'm prepared to cope with the higher fuel bills, I'm wary of a car where either the routine servicing schedule is well in excess of the 2wd cars or the drivetrain is likely to go wrong and need attention.  Any experience or knowledge would be very much appreciated.  Thanks in advance!  Oh, and if anyone has a newish Superb which they are looking to pass on in the next month or two, please drop me a line!

Don't underestimate just how much higher the higher fuel bills are on the petrol 4x4. Also do check the insurance costs of it prior to committing to purchase.

@RWorgan's car would be an excellent alternative if you want 4x4 and can live with diesel, it looks well priced.

Another plus of that car is that the Superb MK2 has the clever boot/hatch split, which I really like and is sadly missing from the MK3.

Nowhere near as pretty as the MK3 IMO though, if that's an issue.

You could have a look at a diesel 4x4 as well - another example on Autotrader I just found: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409304647762?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&body-type=Hatchback&drivetrain=Four Wheel Drive&fuel-type=Diesel&make=Skoda&model=Superb&postcode=me101yg&price-to=12000&year-from=2016&year-to=2017&fromsra

Seems quite a good price considering it's only done 75k miles.

I have a newer diesel 4x4 and do like having the extra two driven wheels, the fuel economy is also very good (at least in my opinion).

But obviously it's not as quick as the 280.

Hi.

If you have any issues with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

On 10/10/2024 at 21:09, RWorgan said:

That's my car that's been kindly shared...

Have just reduced this to £4,500.

On 11/10/2024 at 14:14, EnterName said:

Don't underestimate just how much higher the higher fuel bills are on the petrol 4x4. Also do check the insurance costs of it prior to committing to purchase.

@RWorgan's car would be an excellent alternative if you want 4x4 and can live with diesel, it looks well priced.

Another plus of that car is that the Superb MK2 has the clever boot/hatch split, which I really like and is sadly missing from the MK3.

Nowhere near as pretty as the MK3 IMO though, if that's an issue.

 

Sorry for the delay, I wrote a reply on Saturday but it disappeared into the ether!

 

Many thanks for all the replies, very helpful.  I don't need to cover lots of miles, so I'll probably get a petrol car.

 

I was really interested to see that the Mk3 doesn't have the boot/hatch split - to me that was one of the key features of the Superb.  Being an FNG, I fell for the marketing blurb - on the Skoda Used Approved site, this 2017 hatch has the following in the description:

 

Electrically opening and closing tailgate/trunk lid (Tailgate/trunk lid electrically operated wo. Virtual pedal)

 

Notchback

 

Enough to fool a stupid person into reading this as the split boot/hatch 🫢

Anyway, I'll keep looking.  Much as the earlier cars have a lot of merit, for simplicity I'll probably go for one of the newer cars.  Thanks again for the responses, much appreciated.