New to this forum and to Skoda but wondering if anyone else has had this issue on a new Superb.

This weekend, I took delivery of a brand new 2025 Superb Estate with petrol engine, and unfortunately the air conditioning isn’t working. I only really noticed it on day two, when it was warmer outside. On the day of delivery, I barely used the car and drove home from the dealertship with the roof open, so didn’t register the lack of cooling.

My local Skoda dealer (different from the one I took delivery from as it was an in-stock vehicle with the exact spec I wanted) is checking it over.

At first, they thought it might simply be a case of the factory or delivering dealer having forgotten to fill the system with refrigerant, but it turns out to be more involved. They found the system pressure was just 0.8 bar, when it should be around 5 bar at rest — suggesting a leak rather than an oversight as there is gas present but very little

They’ve now evacuated the system (to avoid refrigerant leaking into the environment), filled it with nitrogen, and are leak-testing. If they can’t pinpoint the leak easily, they said they may need to remove the front bumper to access the compressor - which is not what I wanted to hear…

Pretty frustrating on a brand new car. Has anyone else seen similar A/C issues on the new Superb or other recent MQB Evo models? Would be useful to know if this is just an unlucky one-off or something others have encountered.

Thanks in advance!

Sounds like an unlucky one-off. Unlikely to have been something which was missed before the car left the factory, so maybe happened during shipping? Definitely shouldn't have been missed in the PDI, though, so the supplying dealer probably has some questions to answer!

Supplying dealer has no questions to answer. Be reasonable.

Dealer also does not fill the AC unit, car comes pretty much ready to be driven from the factory.

Things break, even new ones, there is always a percentage of faulty parts or material with defect in them that does not show up during QC on the supplier side.

Use warranty or any other law available and applicable to get the AC fixed.

My second (new) Yeti lost its Air Con coolant after a stone shot through the air con radiator.

After replacement I made and fitted a mesh screen to give some measure of protection.

Rr296, if you’re really unlucky a stone or similar has damaged the condenser when you were driving it on day one or two. 

Otherwise a fault or manufacturing defect will be covered by warranty - annoying but it happens and the fact it will then be repaired for free is one of the main reasons for buying a new car.

Edited 18 June18 Jun by classic

4 hours ago, JackP said:

Supplying dealer has no questions to answer. Be reasonable.

Dealer also does not fill the AC unit, car comes pretty much ready to be driven from the factory.

I'd beg to differ. The dealer should've done a full PDI on the car prior to handover - to my mind, that should've included a function check on, among other things, the AC system. Yes, things break - but according to the OP's post, the AC never actually worked in the first place. Anyway, it'll be resolved under warranty, so all's well.

On 18/06/2025 at 15:42, gareth71 said:

I'd beg to differ. The dealer should've done a full PDI on the car prior to handover - to my mind, that should've included a function check on, among other things, the AC system. Yes, things break - but according to the OP's post, the AC never actually worked in the first place. Anyway, it'll be resolved under warranty, so all's well.

What else? Dealer should try and tow the camping rig for 100 kilometers to check the towing hook is properly assembled and working?

Or do 100 kilometers to see if the sensors are behaving correctly?

Nobody will drive your car when it was tested already by the factory and creating a line which equipment or function should be or not be dealer tested is as fluid as opinions of all the car users.

All of this is factory dependent. If factory cannot do it right then you make warranty claim. And yeah, of course it's bad for consumer but it is what it is.

Thanks all for your input

Quick update – I spoke with the servicing dealer and they have narrowed down the source of the A/C leak.

It’s either the refrigerant hose that goes into the bulkhead or a connector for that hose.

They’ve ordered replacement parts and are now waiting for them to arrive.

2 minutes ago, JackP said:

What else?

Well, here's the Skoda Approved Used PDI checklist (note item 117). Not unreasonable to guess that the PDI for new vehicles would cover a similar breadth of detail.

https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/f34b1953-0f64-43be-8914-258ecdb48f44

As for driving 100km - well, now you're just being deliberately flippant. Some things can be checked without the car leaving a workshop - some basic function tests of things like climate control is one of those.

Maybe expectations in Poland are different - but I'd expect a supplying dealer to have given any new car a thorough once-over before signing off on delivery to the customer.

9 hours ago, gareth71 said:

Well, here's the Skoda Approved Used PDI checklist (note item 117). Not unreasonable to guess that the PDI for new vehicles would cover a similar breadth of detail.

https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/f34b1953-0f64-43be-8914-258ecdb48f44

As for driving 100km - well, now you're just being deliberately flippant. Some things can be checked without the car leaving a workshop - some basic function tests of things like climate control is one of those.

Maybe expectations in Poland are different - but I'd expect a supplying dealer to have given any new car a thorough once-over before signing off on delivery to the customer.

It is not a matter of expectations but simple reality check.

You can always ask your dealer for the document you just mentioned. Something like that should be provided right? If not, what should be covered and why AC and not also something different? If something different then why not all of the contents of the PDI? Yet for some reason it is not.

Not mentioning the OP issue could have happened after car collection, not at the dealer…

Servicing dealer contacted me today, said they have now confirmed it was a split seal causing the AC refrigerant to leak out, i.e. clearly a manufacturing issue on a car that is now 10 days into its first life

They are now in receipt of the relevant spare parts, and will be replacing them asap.

Headed off on holiday tomorrow, but expecting to collect the car when we land back then hopefully this chapter can be closed

Meanwhile I’ve also asked the delivering dealer for a copy of their PDI checklist.

There is nothing included on there about checking whether the A/C is actually working, but merely a prompt to “set the system to 22 degrees”

Not really an inspection but more of a check to ensure the settings are not inadvertently set to freezing or super hot I guess

So feels like it’s really just the Skoda factory that missed this issue and should have better quality assurance

End of story