Hi all,

My Superb is 7.5 years and has covered 60k unremarkable miles. It's parked up outside and inland in the UK. I have been told the sump is corroded and leaking, and that it needs to be replaced at a cost of just under £800.

Firstly, is it right that the whole unit might need replacing? At one point, the service advisor said 'sump pan', and I wondered if that was an element of the sump that could be replaced independently?

Secondly, can the sump be protected in any way to prevent this kind of expensive damage happening again?

If the corrosion is from the outside (Just above the ground and gets covered in salt from winter roads.)

then it can be protected with Anti rust, or when new Paint / Protective coatings.

I have had the rocker cover rust on an engine. Top of the engine, oil coated inside, corroding from the outside.

My 2016 petrol Superb had a plastic sump pan. It didn't corrode! Corrosion to perforation sounds a bit unlikely on a 7.5 year old car. More likely would be that they or someone else overtightened the sump drain plug and stripped the thread. I would ask to see exactly what the issue is, as it sounds a bit dodgy to me. Sump and sump pan are pretty much the same thing. If it really does need replacing, I would have thought a second hand one from a scrappy would be an option.

Just serviced mine last week, can confirm the front side tends to rust. Unfortunately i didn't think to take pictures of that specifically. Driveshafts and the lower control arms seem to be made of cheese as well with the paint flaking away.

The pan's £100 though, probably held by tiger seal but i would consider new bolts and seal for the oil sensor

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156874865619?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=LAFssjzORhy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=umh76dllt9q&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

My 2016 petrol Superb had a plastic sump pan. It didn't corrode! Corrosion to perforation sounds a bit unlikely on a 7.5 year old car. More likely would be that they or someone else overtightened the sump drain plug and stripped the thread. I would ask to see exactly what the issue is, as it sounds a bit dodgy to me. Sump and sump pan are pretty much the same thing. If it really does need replacing, I would have thought a second hand one from a scrappy would be an option.

Thank you for your reply @nicknorman Sounds like I need a plastic replacement then :) I'm just about to put my car on a lift to check the sump myself. I've had varying quotes now, from the original £792 all the way down to £250!

5 minutes ago, Athrx said:

Just serviced mine last week, can confirm the front side tends to rust. Unfortunately i didn't think to take pictures of that specifically. Driveshafts and the lower control arms seem to be made of cheese as well with the paint flaking away.

The pan's £100 though, probably held by tiger seal but i would consider new bolts and seal for the oil sensor

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156874865619?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=LAFssjzORhy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=umh76dllt9q&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

@Athrx is that the front side of the car in general? eBay have kindly told me that part doesn't fit, presumably as mine is petrol. Is the pan linked plastic? I couldn't see any mention of material.

Yea, anything stamped steel with a lick of black paint shows signs that it wants to go. Mine just turned 8 this year and i wouldn't really want to see what starts to go past 10 years. Rear 4wd drivetrain is even worse and there's the tiniest start of rust showing up on the inner corners of the boot lid foglight housings.

Pan linked is aluminium so a net improvement from steel sheet and not as crunchy as plastic. I searched for my engine code (dfca) for that result. If you want something oem i'd recommend looking at LLL parts through the diagrams. They're usually cheap for oem but nothing's stopping you from taking the part numbers and shopping around

I'm adding some photos I've just taken, does anyone have any thoughts or remarks on them?

I cleaned some oil off the plug before taking the photos. It was last cleaned on Tuesday by Skoda. There's oil spray over surrounding surfaces and some on the sump pan itself, but it was mainly around and on the plug, and not 'a lot', maybe a few drops worth.

Edited 25 April, 20251 yr by netman82

The only sign of oil leakage I can see is around the sump drain plug, the corrosion bubbling visible looks to be surface only, beneath the nominal paint cover and would be nowhere near perforation.

The plug leakage could be caused by something as simple as the original seal and plug being reused on a service - or incorrect torquing of the drain plug.

If the drain plug threaded insert has been damaged during a service, this might require sump replacement if the leakage is significant.

Edited 25 April, 20251 yr by Warrior193
typo

@Warrior193 Thank you for taking the time to comment and offer your thoughts. I am beginning to lose some faith in what I have been told by Skoda. As an aside, I was curious as to whether my engine filter had ever actually been replaced (as I've heard some highly regrettable stories), and when I did so, the date stamp on it was 2015! I do hope I'm mistaken somehow. My car has always been dealer serviced, and at the same one for 4 years+.

1 hour ago, netman82 said:

@Warrior193 Thank you for taking the time to comment and offer your thoughts. I am beginning to lose some faith in what I have been told by Skoda. As an aside, I was curious as to whether my engine filter had ever actually been replaced (as I've heard some highly regrettable stories), and when I did so, the date stamp on it was 2015! I do hope I'm mistaken somehow. My car has always been dealer serviced, and at the same one for 4 years+.

Is that for the air - or oil filter?

2 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

Is that for the air - or oil filter?

Apologies, the engine air filter.

VAG do have what I believe to be an unrealistically long air filter change interval - I made a post quite a few years ago regarding this. I'll need to check what VAG schedule is, but I consider it to be too long.

34 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

VAG do have what I believe to be an unrealistically long air filter change interval - I made a post quite a few years ago regarding this. I'll need to check what VAG schedule is, but I consider it to be too long.

I believe it should have been replaced at 6 years / 60K . The vehicle has had at least 2 'major' services, for what it's worth.

5 minutes ago, netman82 said:

I believe it should have been replaced at 6 years / 60K . The vehicle has had at least 2 'major' services, for what it's worth.

That is what VAG say, although I believe it's too long when you consider how many cubic metres of quite polluted air will be drawn through it in that time.

If TSI, do you know if the spark plugs were replaced at 4 years/40k ?

7 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

That is what VAG say, although I believe it's too long when you consider how many cubic metres of quite polluted air will be drawn through it in that time.

If TSI, do you know if the spark plugs were replaced at 4 years/40k ?

If the very same servicing garage is to be trusted, then yes, the plugs were changed at 4 years.

I do not see that oil sump that dramatic ... I am trying to pull one from a Land Cruiser that looks way worse!

If you want to recover it, is very doeable, I would not shed money for a new one unless you can see it is spilling oil visibly ... and even that, if it was a hole, it can be welded!

The oil sump is not structural part of the engine its job is only to gather ... the oil 😁

@Warrior193 Is there a way to visually check that my timing belt was indeed changed (2 years ago)?

Practically impossible to tell visually, were you supplied with an itemised invoice for the work?

Other than the non-replacement of the air filter, do you have a reason to suspect it wasn't?

I had my belt changed at 6 years, although at less than 1/2 your mileage - this was when Skoda UK were still stating replacement at 5 years - the belt and tensioner looked in practically new condition.

Apart from the potential fraud, there is no need for particular concern, Skoda UK are now quoting timing belt as 'lifetime' with (I think) replacement at mileage well in excess of 100K miles.

I'd hoped for a date stamp or something (that I was unable to locate myself). Yes, I have one, but if they can list an air filter that hasn't actually been replaced, then it doesn't reassure me.

I don't have any particular reason, but that's not based on anything concrete.

I was in two minds about the belt change at 5 years, especially at such a cost, but decided to err on the side of caution.

Ok, I'll try not to dwell. I thought I'd seen somewhere that they'd extended it to 10 years, but perhaps the information was out of date.

Thank you again for your thoughts.

I'd challenge your garage if they charged you for an air filter change that clearly was not carried out.

Is this an official Skoda garage?

At the very least, I'd be looking for a trusted independent specialist for any further work.

Yes, I will do that, but I can almost hear their response based on how reasonable requests have been met in the past.

Yes, it is.

I will go elsewhere once my service plan is complete later this year.

46 minutes ago, netman82 said:

Yes, I will do that, but I can almost hear their response based on how reasonable requests have been met in the past.

Yes, it is.

I will go elsewhere once my service plan is complete later this year.

I wouldn't buy the 'It's NOS from 2015' story if that's what they say - even if they did try it, did they charge you 2015 price? 😆

Just reflecting on your query about the cambelt - there just might be a date stamp on the outside face along with the manufacturer brand marking.

I second Warrior above, any reputable worker should put some tangible sign of the replacement ... I have seen tags, stickers, a note on the service manual, sometimes even with a permanent marker directly over the belt cover.... in absence of any of these, assume it was not done, and prepare accordingly.

The price of a belt, and by extension its replacement, it is always cheaper than to rebuild an engine ....

Unfortunately in order for visually have cues of a belt in need of replacement, it has to be so destroyed that it would be a running ticking bomb.

I have a vehicle to service whose belt was last made (by yours truly) around 13 years ago, but the car has run only 12k km since then. Obviously, before putting on the road again, the belt is to be replaced.

I've had the cover open earlier today to get prepared, and visually there are no cracks or signs of impending disaster.

These things, you cannot guess or foreplan, but act proactively and lower the risk.