I drive an octavia and thinking of upgrading to a superb. I'm caught between two on auto trader, one is a fully spec'd sportline plus 1.4l hybrid from 2021 with 163k miles on it but full service history and gearbox services from skoda priced £10,500. The other is a fully spec'd Laurin and Klement superb 2.0 tdi from 2016 with 124k miles and almost full service history priced £9,500. Interior is a bit more dated as its an older car but the car looks well maintained and has just £35 annual road tax vs £195 on the 2021 car. Any idea which I should go for? I'd want to own my next car for at least 6 years...

I do about 400 miles a week with 250 miles on motorway and another 150 miles in the city and while diesel is better for the longer journeys I'm thinking hybrid might be a better option since I also drive alot of 3 - 5 miles journeys.

Edited 23 August, 202523 Aug by fidetony
Added images.

I would want a Battery Condition certificate for the PHEV.

I would want a 50 miles minimum test drive starting off with a full battery and run on Electric only to see how it is.

As well as the Fixed Regime 9,400 mile oil & filter changes with the 1.4 TSI were the spark plugs changed each 40,000 miles when the DQ400-e DSG was being serviced?

So 4 times now.

Edited 24 August, 202524 Aug by Ootohere

My honest opinion would be neither car. Reason being is at 400 miles a week and you want to keep it for at least 6 years you would put another 125,000 on it, that amounts to quite a few total miles and while the Superb is quite capable of doing that total mileage you have to consider maintenance/repair costs as the mileage builds. If you are prepared to pay these potential costs then go for the diesel, reason being who knows what the battery replacement costs could be should the iV require a new battery pack and other related electrical components as well as more regular servicing over longlife services of the diesel. In my opinion (and I could well be wrong) there is less to go wrong with the diesel over time. Others on the forum may well be much more knowledgeable on how a battery pack will survive over extended mileage/time.

My money would go on an older lower mileage model - buts that just me.

14 hours ago, Ootohere said:

I would want a Battery Condition certificate for the PHEV.

I would want a 50 miles minimum test drive starting off with a full battery and run on Electric only to see how it is.

As well as the Fixed Regime 9,400 mile oil & filter changes with the 1.4 TSI were the spark plugs changed each 40,000 miles when the DQ400-e DSG was being serviced?

So 4 times now.

Thanks, it has had 8 service stamps since 2021 so I figure it got services about twice a year, that's an average of every 20k miles. It's also had 2 DSG services and the last one was around 110k miles so about 50k miles ago.

7 hours ago, cnc said:

My honest opinion would be neither car. Reason being is at 400 miles a week and you want to keep it for at least 6 years you would put another 125,000 on it, that amounts to quite a few total miles and while the Superb is quite capable of doing that total mileage you have to consider maintenance/repair costs as the mileage builds. If you are prepared to pay these potential costs then go for the diesel, reason being who knows what the battery replacement costs could be should the iV require a new battery pack and other related electrical components as well as more regular servicing over longlife services of the diesel. In my opinion (and I could well be wrong) there is less to go wrong with the diesel over time. Others on the forum may well be much more knowledgeable on how a battery pack will survive over extended mileage/time.

My money would go on an older lower mileage model - buts that just me.

To be fair the older diesel seems like a more sensible and cost effective choice but the modern features of the 2021 are indeed quite tempting especially the virtual cockpit and matrix led headlamps. My only actual gripe with the 2016 is it doesn't have any record of any DSG service although it's had 9 service stamps at skoda and cambelt changed at skoda around 100k miles. Happy to carry out the DSG service after purchase but wouldn't want to bother if the damage has already been done to the gearbox.

My honest opinion is neither.

The iV hybrid required more frequent servicing, and unless those services are at very regular intervals, could be some stretched out gaps. Also unless you also get a full battery report that shows it is healthy, assume an expensive replacement might be required. You are looking at adding 6 years and taking mileage to near 250k. Probably should be thinking of needing average of £1k+ of replacement parts each year.

The diesel is even older, 9 years old and a very high spec car, that means larger number of expensive to repair features are fitted. The more there is, the more that can potentially fail. There is also the general problem of the more rare the feature, the longer it often takes to source any spare parts. Having said that the engine should be reliable, although I wouldn't trust the gearbox if it may or may not have been serviced.

If you do take the risk on cars like this, then make sure you have a fund of about £3000 sitting in easy access account, because at some stage, something expensive (maybe multiple things) are going to need repairing after failing. Might not happen immediately, but almost certainly will happen one day. Remember a repair isn't like a few pounds for a new headlight bulb, a matrix unit installed and fully calibrated is going to cost nearer £1000

The DPF on the diesel could be nearing the end of its life.

Frequent posts here for high mileage diesels with poor running and high consumption issues when this happens.

It is possible to get a report on the ash content in a DPF.

Finding a reasonable car on a lowish budget is a real issue these days.

A Phev with that mileage is one battery/gearbox issue away from being scrap.

The DQ400e is extremely complex and expensive.

Straight petrol or diesel and go with a lower mileage, lower spec car to get in your budget.

To answer your question, of the two cars, the TDI.

Personally I'd go for an older car with lower mileage in the same price bracket instead of either of those two.

I think you're trying to beat the system by getting a young high-mileage car, and while I too like that, I think you're possibly going too high mileage.

That said, if you have some spare cash for repairs, maybe you're onto a winner?

If my heart was set on one of the cars, I'd go for the TDI and expect to have to put some money into the DPF, EGR and probably the adjustable dampers on the L&K before too long.