Having had two Mk3 versions of the Superb I am wondering about replacing my present Mk3 with a Mk4.

Any views from those that have experienced both models would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance.

I had a MK3 hatch and now I have a MK4 estate, both 150 TDI in SEL trim.

The MK4 is a slightly better drive and has more equipment on it, but the 'assistance' systems are far too sensitive.

Long time lurker.  First time posting.

 

I owned a 2019 Superb estate diesel for five years.  Traded it in a few months ago (at 137,000 miles) for a 2024 Superb estate diesel.  Both times the cars were a few months old when I bought them.

The 2019 car was great.  Did what I needed really well.  Criticisms?  Mine (on halogen headlights) had an appetite for bulbs, about every six months.

 

Differences with the new model?  This is a bit difficult because my 2024 is a higher spec version (SE L) whereas my 2019 car was low spec.

 

Positive. 

It’s quieter and even more economical.  I don’t do many short journeys but do a monthly return between Scotland and London, and holidays have taken the car as far as Croatia.  I typically averaged between 50-55mpg with the 2019 car and I’m averaging 55-60 mpg with the 2024 one.  Driving pattern hasn’t changed. 

Whether this is due to improved technology or just because the old one was getting a little rattly after 137,000 miles I don’t know.

 

The LED lights on the 2024 car are a million times better than the halogen ones on my 2019 car, and the clever automatic high beam assist seems to work very well.  This is on a limited experience as I bought my car at the start of the Scottish summer (doesn’t get dark until close to midnight in June) so (thus far) I have done very little night driving.

 

Shift lever by steering wheel.  This took a while to get used to but it does create a lot of useful storage space in the centre.

 

 

Not so good.

ADAS.  I know the ADAS systems are a legal requirement but I hate them.  The speed recognition software is often wrong – and it never “sees” overhead gantry signs.  Lane assist is something I detest.

The collision detection has far too many false positives.  Twice when low speed reversing the car has slammed (and I mean slammed) on the brakes, despite no hazards within half a mile. To be fair, I've driven other VW group cars (rentals) and the ADAS on those was even worse.

You can turn this stuff off, but (by law) you need to do it every time you restart.  I know some manufacturers allow you to configure a “favourite” configuration that you can select at start up – if you can do that on my car I have yet to find it.  Before you say “read the manual” – there isn’t a manual.  The lack of an owner’s manual is another downside.

 

Digital dashboard.  This is generally great, but it can be too clever for its own good.  On one occasion I have brushed a control (I have no idea what I touched) and the whole display became a giant sat nav, with no other data.  Took a while to reconfigure what I wanted.

I’m sure there must be a way to check the adblue level (it was really easy in my 2019 car) but I have yet to find it.

 

Adaptive cruise.  This worked brilliantly in my 2019 car.  It’s good but not as good in the 2024 version.  It gets confused more easily and occasionally speeds up when following a vehicle then a second later “realizes” it is too close and brakes harshly.

 

Overall I’m still pleased with the 2024 car.  But I wish it was easier to disable the hateful ADAS stuff.

I was in the same position.

I took three different Mk4's out on test drives. I've bought 17 Skoda's from the same dealer so at this stage they chuck me the keys and tell me to bring it back when I'm ready.

Two suffered from collison warnings and braking on the test drive. The third the infotainment froze and I had to turn off, get out and lock the car before it would reset.

I purchased one of the very latest Mk3's I could find. A 2024 registered L&K.

Very helpful comments. My latest Mk3 is a 2021 version and has all the good things like LED headlights with automatic beam control, good adaptive cruise control and a factory fitted tow bar which I use a lot.

The 190bhp petrol engine really powers the car well when you put your foot down and it hasn’t got the annoying ADAS systems, so at the moment I’m not seeing anything that tempts me to change.

Willing to be convinced though.

I moved to a Mk4 very recently and have only covered 600 miles. It's a 1.5TSi SEL hatch replacing a 2016 2.0TSi SEL estate. Power is reduced, but this was expected and in compensation fuel consumption is at least 20% better. As others have said, the ADAS systems are irritating but speed limit alerts and lane keepig can easliy be turned off - but every trip. My dealer was helpful enough to put a short cut onto the main screen to switch off lane keeping although I have no idea how put any other shortcuts there! I'm delighted with the headlights and the rear view camera. Overall, though, apart from a little engine noise when accelerating, the car is noticeably quieter than the older one and more comfortable. On a return trip from Milton Keynes to Norwich recently with only 200 miles on the clock I obtained an overall 50 mpg, which I think is pretty amazing for such a big petrol powered car.

On 24/09/2025 at 09:59, IslandDweller said:

I’m sure there must be a way to check the adblue level (it was really easy in my 2019 car) but I have yet to find it.

This works with the display that has the speedo dial on the right and the rev counter on the left - press the right hand scroller until it highlights the rev counter, then turn the scroller until you get a graphic that represents liquid being poured out and shows a number of miles. This, I believe, is the mileage left until the Adblue runs out.

I agree with what you say about the "assist" systems on the MK4, far too sensitive. I bought the same model as you, also at a few months old, my first Skoda and I'm overall very happy with the car. I don't do much town driving and can get mid 60s mpg on some of my journeys. I had a Mercedes E class estate before this car and the Skoda compares very well to it. Virtually the same size, boot as big, although folding down the back seats leaves an annoying ridge that can make some loads awkward. The gear shift on the steering column is much the same as the Mercedes.

I've had issues with the sat nav losing the place. The car was in for its first service a few weeks ago and they told me its a known issue awaiting a software fix.

pgfife - thank you! By chance I diiscovered how to do it myself today - whilst tryinng to recongugure the digital display after the garage had meddled with the settings during annual service!

SatNav. I always use Waze rather than the built in unit and haven't had any issues with that. On the comparison to the previous version, the car connects to Android Auto much faster than my 2019 car ever did. A small puzzlinng detail. I use android and the instructions from Waze naviagtion are mirrored in the main display. My partner uses Apple - and the navigation is not replicated on the main screen. I guess this must be a difference in the way that Waze is programmed for Apple versus Android rather than a Skoda thing?

@IslandDweller Google Maps used to be the same - The turn instructions appeared in the drivers display with Android but not with Apple. Google Maps has been updated recently for Apple so that it displays the turn instructions in the drivers display (and heads up display) in the same way that it does for Android. Hopefully WAZE will get around to updating theirs too.

I do prefer the built in maps because of the map display between the dials.

For me the route arrows from android-waze work poorly and only sometimes. If I configure the route to the waze map after starting the car the route does not show on driver display but if I shutdown the car and start it again to continue previously configured route I do get the route arrows on driver display. However it still works poorly. If I cause recalculation of the route for example driving differently than arrows command the driver display stops updating and continues to show the previous abandoned route in a frozen state. Also exits from traffic circles show erroneously on both HUD and on driver display.

For these reasons I would prefer the android-waze route not to show on neither hud or on driver display as it does not work reliably. I am totally fine the waze route showing only on the center display and if I ever want route to show at driver screen I can configure the builtin map to show it for me.

Edited 26 September, 202526 Sep by JuSko

I tried Waze on my (now old) Passat B8, I didn’t like the interface and it seems very clunky.

Apple Maps are awful in my experience as was in inbuilt VW software a the Passat (latest version).

The only maps that work well repeatedly in my experience is Google, sad as I’d love to use something different 🤷‍♂️

John

I was very happy with my mk3 2.0TDI manual for 8 years. Not a single fault. Sold it with 150 000 km on the clock. It didn't had too many extras: AFS xenons, rear camera, heated windshield, no assistance systems at all and cloth seats. So nothing special, but still - a comfortable car for the price. The only downside was sound insulation. Not terrible, but for such a nice interior quality, insulation was the only thing I thought could be better. But it was time to get something new.

Was thinking to try something new. Never liked SUVs, so the choise is narrow. Passat for my tasted was too ugly. I knew it's probably a better car and could get the same specs as Superb for the same price, but it wass too ugly. Then thought about Audi A5. Took the test drive and was disappointed a lot. I expected a feeling better than Superb. But: parts below were the same hard plastic. Door gaskets were faulty for a new tested car. Standard trims, with door panels from cloth looked like they are taken from golf mk2. Leather seats could fix this, but even then, trim in center console is hard terribly looking plastic... everything felt cheap. For 5000! I could get S line alcantara seats, which were better and with no terrible plastic trims in center console. But this raised already high price to almost 60 000 Eur with discount already. And with no such extras like heated rear seats, no heated windscreen, no matrix lights.

Then decided to give a try for a superb. When I went to dealer and checked Sportline interior, I felt it's a different class to audi A5. Quality was everywhere: firm alcantara seats, hard plastic in audi replaced by alcantara trimmings everywhere in Superb. Got a price for a high spec superb 14000 eur less to A5. With many more extras too. And realized that I just maybe can't afford a good Audi. So just ordered Superb.

So now why am I writing this long story? Well, while I was waiting for the car to be delivered, I started reading reviews. I know I had to do it before ordering :) But reviews are usually paid by manufacturers, so I started looking for user comments. And these were terrible everywhere. Everybody compared it to mk3 and almost everyone said mk3 is miles better car. So I waited for a new car with fear. Finally, It arrived last week. Already 2000km on the clock. And after this, I can say that all negative comments comes from people who had never driven it. Maybe never even seen it live. I wasn's expecting many changes, as platform is the same. But mk4 is from another world compared to mk3. Interior quality is even better, sportline seats are very comfortable. Sound insulation is better regarding wind and road noise. Probably engine is a bit noisier. Unless it will get better when it runs in. Also about the engine. I was expecting it to be the same as previous, as its also 110kw tdi. But it much livier. And handling in corners is similar to A5. Which was the only positive thing from my test drive. It's a lot better than mk3, and not bouncing and rolling anymore. Though, don't know if it's related to sportline trim. But in general - everything is better in mk4. Except maybe Canton system - was expecting more. But also didn't have time to play with settings.

A lot complains about too sensitive asssitance systems. I think these works well. They are designed to assist and even if they are on the sensitive side, this is why they are designed for - to protect in advance. So after all, I'm really surprised about the car. Big comfortable car, with super quality interior. In real life it looks better than in videos. And digital cluster everyone is complaining about, looks a lot better in reality too.

So my advice - just go for it. And you will never look back to mk3. Which is a very good car, but mk4 is just better.

Edited 15 November, 202515 Nov by autovct

Nice to read a positive review.

Thanks a lot. Please update if anything changes or reinforces your opinion.

John

On 25/09/2025 at 20:34, IslandDweller said:

A small puzzlinng detail. I use android and the instructions from Waze naviagtion are mirrored in the main display. My partner uses Apple - and the navigation is not replicated on the main screen. I guess this must be a difference in the way that Waze is programmed for Apple versus Android rather than a Skoda thing?

I drive a mk4 Octavia and use Apple CarPlay; using Waze and Google maps the turn directions don't show on the virtual dashboard, only the infotainment screen. Using Apple Maps they do. So, yes, a Waze/Google thing on iOS (at this time).

As an aside, using Apple Maps for navigation also gives a haptic alert (a tapping sensation on my wrist) on my Apple Watch so I know a turn is coming up. That way I can look at directions when safe to without having the spoken directions interrupting media playback or conversations in the car. I guess AA has a similar capability with appropriate devices.

All we need now is for Apple Maps to be usable as a navigation app in the UK, and not have most of its POIs in completely the wrong location 😆

I collect my Superb on Thursday.

I had a chat with the salesman this afternoon. I specifically asked about the software updates and if Google maps from my IPhone now worked correctly. He said yes a full sized map in the drivers screen.

From what you have said, I will update later on in the week 🤞

John

I Picked up my Black Superb yesterday afternoon. On the way home via Tesco’s to full up, everything thing seemed to work as it should. No problems from anything.

This morning, I went out early, taking the boss shopping. I had the (now common it seems) issues with the safety systems and either the camera/sensors in front of the drivers rear view mirror or the radar block. With the safety’s systems are inoperable type message. That went way in about a mile or so.

Later on, I went out and set everything up to my liking (no doubt I’ll need to change something going forwards.

I noticed a couple of items that seem to be different from post I’ve read on the Superb sub section:

My interior 12v socket is live with the ignition off, my plug in adapter has a power light so it’s hard to miss.

On CarPlay, I can have Google maps on both screens active at the same time.

Swipe to open the boot was about 50-50 working or not.

I have a dipstick 👍

It’s to soon to make a final decision, however, all’s looking good at the start of our journey together.

The steering is very positive and turning circle nice and tight.

Power train is possibly a fraction quieter than my Passat of same engine/power but manual box

The auto box is just as smooth and responsive as my A3 of same engine and auto box.

The boss is impressed - that’s a very good thing as she loved our previous VAG cars🥳

Overall mostly what I’d expected/hoped for

I’ll post more after a few thousand miles\

@Trickiejohn Glad to hear you are enjoying your new ride! The dip stick type depends on the engine type/size. On the google maps front: When you say you get maps on both screens do you mean actual maps or just the directional arrows/stick diagrams of the junctions?

Cedwing,

I’ll double check later when I go out. I’m sure it’s the actual maps.

I’ve spent some time going over the features yesterday, there’s such a big difference between this car and a 67 plate manual Passat 😎

After my July software update and ACC stalk change I have full maps in both the main screen and the virtual dashboard in front of the driver. Need to cycle the options on the steering wheel button to view it. No physical dipstick on my 1.5 petrol engined PHEV but I see TrickleJohn has the diesel. 12 volt sockets stay live but not the USB-C Sockets. 1st service on Monday but no problems to report other than Laura whispering the Phone left in Car warning. She used to tell me loudly.

@John625,

I hadn’t thought to check the usb c ports, maybe next time I’m out👍

Took photos og the mapping whilst out today.

Very strange, CarPlay up and running with a route ready to go on the entertainment screen, on the drivers screen it’s showing the same route but a different map layout. The photos will explain all, note the distance is the same.

Edited 22 November, 202522 Nov by Trickiejohn

Think that could be a function of compressing and shortening the mapping images. Am annoyed about no dipstick as the engine is the same as the mk 3 and I have a removable rubber bung where thd dipstick would go. Another difference from the mk 3 is only 1 umbrella now. As soon as I realised I bought a second for the passenger side to make the car complete.

Mk 4 SE L has only 1 brolly as well mate

John

Edited 22 November, 202522 Nov by Trickiejohn

But I do have a warning triangle in a box clipped inside the rear hatch.

The map on the drivers display is the internal Skoda map. There is also no route drawn on it if you use Google maps.

John. The phone warning also went quiet for me. Can you let me know if they fix it.