Hello, first post and all that.

As a result of an impending spine op (Tuesday - sounds of nervous teeth chattering), I am swapping my manual jap, bone shaking rocket for something with suspension and an auto gearbox.

I don't do a great many miles so I'm not too concerned with fuel economy, on the cards is a Jag 2.5/3.0, Lexus GS300se, the Superb and one or two outsiders, X-Trail auto or a CRV auto.

The Superb offers excellent vfm, it would be newer, better specified, beautifully trimmed (cream Nappa leather, wood, chrome etc) and the 2.8 at 3yrs old is cheap as chips.

Most of the people on here seem to have the diesels or 1.8T, can anyone give me their views on this model, some stats, problems etc.

I would consider the 2.5 diesel but they seem to be 25% pricier than the 2.8, they have many more miles on the clock and most seem to have the black leather.

Thanks in advance.

2.8 is a great engine, not a great deal goes wrong with it aside from the odd oil leak.

Best engine to have with the tiptronic box.

Cambelt would be due at 60k/4 years, easy enough to do just fairly labour intensive.

If your annual mileage is very low, a second hand 2.8 would be excellent value - remember though that nobody would want to buy it at trade-in time and it would represent an almost total loss. This might be OK if you intend to keep the vehicle for a long time; I have applied this philosophy to my diesel which will be used to the point of zero value when I part with it.

Be very careful assessing the seats if you have a back problem. It's easy to be taken in by the Superb's cabin, but the seats really aren't much good comfort wise (for me, anyway) being too narrow at the top and being non adjustable for squab slope. Check very carefully indeed that you can live with the seats - otherwise buying a petrol Superb would be a financial disaster.

rotodiesel.

Be very careful assessing the seats if you have a back problem. It's easy to be taken in by the Superb's cabin, but the seats really aren't much good comfort wise (for me, anyway) being too narrow at the top and being non adjustable for squab slope. Check very carefully indeed that you can live with the seats -

rotodiesel.

Cant agree less with you on this - have done 5hr + runs in the Superb and got out feeling totally fresh

The only person I know on here with a 2.8 superb is http://www.briskoda.net/forums/members/stopan1j/

And he rates it quite highly ...leave him a PM and he will get back to you.

My superb is very comfortable, it makes long trips easy

If your annual mileage is very low, a second hand 2.8 would be excellent value - remember though that nobody would want to buy it at trade-in time and it would represent an almost total loss. This might be OK if you intend to keep the vehicle for a long time; I have applied this philosophy to my diesel which will be used to the point of zero value when I part with it.

Be very careful assessing the seats if you have a back problem. It's easy to be taken in by the Superb's cabin, but the seats really aren't much good comfort wise (for me, anyway) being too narrow at the top and being non adjustable for squab slope. Check very carefully indeed that you can live with the seats - otherwise buying a petrol Superb would be a financial disaster.

rotodiesel.

Re - the seats

The Elegance model has electrically adjusted seats that where the seat base angle can be adjusted.

I initially had a seat problem with my Superb classic but have "adjusted" it to suit me (cushion inserted between the seat base metal pan and the foam padding to adjust angle). Its now one of the most comfortable cars I've ever owned(91 Saab 9000 cs was the best).

Strangely enough, one of my previous cars was a Swedish (pre-GM) SAAB. This had the best seats of any car I've had - but seats are a very personal thing. It was because the original poster has a back problem that I thought this would be an important point to make.

I wish VAG would sack the guy who designed the seat position mechanism. On all VAG cars I've used, regardless of badge, the adjuster moves in steps that are too big - I can never get it dead right.

rotodiesel.

Not suprising as the Swedish are very big on correct posture and alot of research goes into RSi related work issues there.

My Dad deals in alot of office and retail equipment that deals with this kinda of thing and Sweden is where alot of the products come from.

I went from a Saab 9-5 to the Superb and I must admit the Saab was definately more comfortable than the Superb. In the AutoExpress survey (where the new Octavia came first), the cars that came top of the comfort list were (as far as I can remember) the Volvo S60, Saab 9-5 and Vauxhall Omega.

Ive driven the length of France in one go a couple of times & had no problems with the seats, for long journeys its the most comfortable car we have ever owned, in France we just set the cruise on 110 & sit back.

I've had my superb elegance 2.8V6 with tiptronic for 18 months (now 4 years old with 80K on the clock). I like it very much for comfort, style and it's not too expensive to run. I get 35/37mpg on a long motorway run and it's like sitting in your favourite armchair.

My seats are dark blue leather and everyone who travels in it thinks it's extremely luxurious. All seats have individual heating controls and the puddle lights under each door and on both wing mirrors are frequent topics of praise.

Mine is 03 and unfortunately doesn't have the folding down back seats. No matter, it's amazing what you can get into the boot. Only other drawback - you can't empty the front ashtray without moving the shift stick out of Park! In other words, you have to start the engine!

Go for it - I'm sure you wont regret it and if you keep it long enough, forget about the drop in trade-in value!

Enjoy.

Your responses have been very welcome, the Superb is high up the list and its nice to hear from a 2.8 owner.

The couple I've found have been 3 yrs old 14 and 26,000 miles for round about

Seats are great in my opinion. I've done several long trips in my 2.8.

I also get high 30s to very low 40s on motorways, and around town I seem to average around 22mpg.

Which I'm reasonably happy with. My old 1.8 Mazda 626 only used to give around 25 (town) and 40 (motorway) mpg.

Well I'm off to look at one this afternoon, 2yrs 8mnths old, met blue, black leather (shame), 37,000 miles fsh and last major service in Jan, remainder of Skoda warranty, one private owner and it hasn't been a tow car.

It has just been traded in at a local garage by some poor sole who must have lost thousands, its less than 8k so I rang the local Skoda delaer for a view, they simply said, its a beatiful car, if it's in good condition, buy it !

I'll let you know, one vital point is if it will go up the drive, it's steep, very steep........we'll see.

Well I'm off to look at one this afternoon, 2yrs 8mnths old, met blue, black leather (shame), 37,000 miles fsh and last major service in Jan, remainder of Skoda warranty, one private owner and it hasn't been a tow car.

It has just been traded in at a local garage by some poor sole who must have lost thousands, its less than 8k so I rang the local Skoda delaer for a view, they simply said, its a beatiful car, if it's in good condition, buy it !

I'll let you know, one vital point is if it will go up the drive, it's steep, very steep........we'll see.

Shouldnt be a problem on standard suspension. Octygone has a 1.9PD Superb and his drive is the steepest I've seen, and he has no problem.

Hope it turns out to be nice, but the dealer is hardly going to turn round and say "its such a dog, dont even bother looking!"

Should have known better to look at a car at a branch of Dixons !

Sorry said the salesman, the price on the web was wrong, we want 2k more but we'll do a deal since you've come to have a look, we'll knock 1k off.

My maths tell me that 1k off the new price is 1k on the web price, car was clean enough, needed a valet, had four new tyres but the alloys were scratched and chipped to buggery.

Funny, the rear doors shut with a nice thunk but the two front ones clanked like an old Fiat.

I walked away, can't help thinking the pricing thing was deliberate to get people to go look, wouldn't give a garage like that my cash.

The search goes on.......

Sounds to me like you did the right thing to walk away.

Hold out for the one you really want mate!

With the impending hike in road fund tax I think the petrol models will come down in price...so keep looking....it's worth it

Well I bought something guys.........but its a Seat not a Skoda, the 2.0Tdi Altea Sport with the DSG automatic gearbox. A couple of years old and just reduced

Well done. I hope it goes well for you and that your back makes a full recovery.

2 years is a good time to buy a budget brand VAG car - they take a good hit in depreciation but haven't been in the dealer's hands for long enough to be totally buggered up, although my Superb was on its way. Find a good independent to service it, keep it for a while and it should represent cheap motoring.

rotodiesel.

In case someone else is in a similar position, I've had two back operations, have a 2.8 Superb Elegance, and have done 1100 miles in two days without a trace of back trouble. I did set up a couple of alternative seating positions on the memory buttons, just because sitting in the same position for all those hours got boring.

This is a brilliant car for long distance driving, just set the cruise button, choose the temperature, then sit and wait until you arrive. We recently did 600 miles at an average of over 70mph across France with three bikes hanging on a towbar rack, and got out feeling so fresh we went for a bike ride.