Superb PD140 Elegance??

[numskull]

I'm thinking of moving from my fantastically reliable 2001 1.6 Octy due to the daily 100 mile commute - and the Superb PD140 Elegance, six months old, seem great value for money. So, does anyone own one of the new facelifted Superbs and give their experiences and opinions on the car?

Thanks in advance... Rob

[Tech1e]

Tried a search?

There is a massive thread running on this one

[Octygone]

Once you get used to the size of the car it's great and really at it's best on the motorway...pd 140 should give you at least 50mpg driving long distances like that and is comfortable as well

[Dr Zoidberg]

Tried a search?

There is a massive thread running on this one

There is indeed , though doing commutes of the distances mentioned here should be ideal for the correct operation of the particle filter

[Tech1e]

Yep it should indeed.

[mdk1]

As mentioned above have a read here,

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/superb/superb-2-0-140-bhp-dont-buy-one/63888/

[numskull]

As mentioned above have a read here,

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/superb/superb-2-0-140-bhp-dont-buy-one/63888/

Oh - fantastic. That may well scupper that plan then! :(

[Dr Zoidberg]

I wouldn't necessarily be put off by that.

Its only an issue if you do lots of short journeys and from the sounds of it you won't.

It's an issue on some other makes and models as well

[20VLIL]

Without me even seeing or clicking this link, let me guess are we referring to the particle filter!!

[CraigH706]

FWIW I never had any problems with the DPF when I had my superb. Did mainly (though not all) motorway journeys.

[numskull]

To repeat the note on the "2.0 140 - Don't Buy One" thread and I don't know if this is old news, but I understand from a dealer just now that there is a free firmware flash for the ECU which should "fix" the vast majority of these issues, with the caveat that if the driver "persisitantly drives under 50mph, the warning light may still appear."

[Dmac1969]

Or buy a petrol one....

[20VLIL]

or a diesel without a particle filter..like my puppy

[fluffy01016]

Or you could buy my Superb for

[bigbadgoggs]

Rob, if you like the car - buy it. I swithered after reading the 'don't buy one...' thread. Particularly because some days the only driving I do in the car is to the local train station and back - 1mile each way!

However, I went ahead and bought a facelifted 140 Elegance in March this year and after more than two months have still never seen the dreaded DPF light come on when driving.

The car is beautifully put together and the standard spec is unbelievable for a car which cost me less than

[numskull]

Rob, if you like the car - buy it. I swithered after reading the 'don't buy one...' thread. Particularly because some days the only driving I do in the car is to the local train station and back - 1mile each way!

However, I went ahead and bought a facelifted 140 Elegance in March this year and after more than two months have still never seen the dreaded DPF light come on when driving.

The car is beautifully put together and the standard spec is unbelievable for a car which cost me less than

[Stuart_J]

To update from my other thread

Ours has now covered 37000 miles in a year, the DPF failures all occured in the space of 10 days & always whilst decending long mountains, otherwise we have never seen the light on. This might be partially due to the fact that we now always ensure the engine spins at reosnable revs & we dont trickle round town in to high a gear. Both driving styles seem to give similair economy figures & if anything the mpg gets better when the cars hot. Im guessing this is due to the car not adding fuel to compensate for the cool exhaust, something it does automatically to try & raise the exhaust temperature. From the people who have contacted re the problem it seems it only occurs for those who drive the car really gently around town or on runs, one driver who cruised across the New Forest which has a blanket 40 limit on cruise in 6th is a prime example.

On average Motorway driving in the UK I doubt you will ever see 50 mpg, we tend to get the low 40's. On a recent 500 mile run across france with the cruise set on 95 it gave 39 which I didnt think was too bad.

Its a shame for us the Superb experiece was ruined due to the DPF & Skoda UK's attitude to us, I love mountains but unfortunately have little faith in the car. This year when we returned I thrashed the car up the into the Alps to keep it as hot as possible, used the bus while we were there & then left incredibly early, coasted down the mountain with the engine on tick over sufficent to power the abs & power steering until I reached an area where a steady speed could be achieved.

It really is a great car for the money, its just a shame it has an inherent design fault that catch some out. If you do a reosnable trip every day you will find it incredibly comfortable, especially if you are motorway cruising

Other niggles have been hazzard switch never working properly from new & having to be replaced, apparently common. parking sensor failure, again common but can catch you out, the car has four sensors & if one fails it has a blind spot which we found with a small bump !!, seatbelt needed to be replaced as it clicked every time the belt moved slightly, anoying when its level with your ear ! Rear tyres going out of shape on the inside causing a drone to develop.

You will find there are some incredibly good deals on these if you are buying new or secondhand, we paid under 18000 for a brand new one ordered from the factory to our colour choice. I cant think of a car that will give you so much for your money, I just hope you dont get the dreaded problem !

[rotodiesel]

Thanks for the update Stuart. It's a real shame that VAG don't support their older designs when legislation makes engine modifications necessary. I'm afraid it's a sgn of a crappy organisation and for that reason, this Skoda will be my last.

I fully agree with your comments on the value for money that the Superb offers. Given its cliff-edge depreciation, a second hand sample is even better, coupled with the fact that you can get the 130PS engine (mine has been trouble free) and the smoother and more reliable 5 speed transmission.

The 6 speeder is suspect in terms of reliability and I see from the parts list that it has an internal oil pump and cooler - no doubt needed because of the increased bearing loadings caused by the closer spacing of the gear sets. This transmission is a marketing ploy anyway - with the spread of torque that the diesels give, you just don't need an extra ratio. Top gear is almost the same.

My verdict: secondhand as a utility car with the Cat III engine, the Superb is good value. Let us know how you get on with the DPF problems.

rotodiesel.

[numskull]

Thanks for the update Stuart. It's a real shame that VAG don't support their older designs when legislation makes engine modifications necessary. I'm afraid it's a sgn of a crappy organisation and for that reason, this Skoda will be my last.

I fully agree with your comments on the value for money that the Superb offers. Given its cliff-edge depreciation, a second hand sample is even better, coupled with the fact that you can get the 130PS engine (mine has been trouble free) and the smoother and more reliable 5 speed transmission.

The 6 speeder is suspect in terms of reliability and I see from the parts list that it has an internal oil pump and cooler - no doubt needed because of the increased bearing loadings caused by the closer spacing of the gear sets. This transmission is a marketing ploy anyway - with the spread of torque that the diesels give, you just don't need an extra ratio. Top gear is almost the same.

My verdict: secondhand as a utility car with the Cat III engine, the Superb is good value. Let us know how you get on with the DPF problems.

rotodiesel.

Looking at a number of other marques, seems that quite a number suffer from DPF issues - Saab, Vauxhall (or Saab again!), Peugeot Citroen and Renault all seem to have very similar problems to Skoda. Depreciation? At 30 - 37% over three years, it isn't that bad, just heaviest in 1st 12 months as are all vehicles, but no worse that a number of other Germanically sourced vehicles. Interesting comment on the 6 Speed box which I'll bear in mind.

[skodanut]

personally id say go and treat yourself to the new facelift model....i have a neighbour who owns an audi A6 and his little boy always comes up to me saying my dad's car is better than yours...of course i smile at him, and only a few days ago his wife came up to me when i was washing the 140 comfort and commented how she tried to get her husband to get a superb...i now hear that he has starting problems and tiptronic problems...ah the joys of owning a skoda superb.

just cant see the point in buying something that costs about 11 grand more and it goes wrong hehe.

[Stuart_J]

personally id say go and treat yourself to the new facelift model....i have a neighbour who owns an audi A6 and his little boy always comes up to me saying my dad's car is better than yours...of course i smile at him, and only a few days ago his wife came up to me when i was washing the 140 comfort and commented how she tried to get her husband to get a superb...i now hear that he has starting problems and tiptronic problems...ah the joys of owning a skoda superb.

just cant see the point in buying something that costs about 11 grand more and it goes wrong hehe.

The Audi symbol is a series of zero's, Im sure thats a reflection on what they do to the price !!

So Skoda, R8 PLEASE

[numskull]

personally id say go and treat yourself to the new facelift model....i have a neighbour who owns an audi A6 and his little boy always comes up to me saying my dad's car is better than yours...of course i smile at him, and only a few days ago his wife came up to me when i was washing the 140 comfort and commented how she tried to get her husband to get a superb...i now hear that he has starting problems and tiptronic problems...ah the joys of owning a skoda superb.

just cant see the point in buying something that costs about 11 grand more and it goes wrong hehe.

I did.... and apart from the crap PDI (http://www.briskoda.net/forums/superb/superb-arrives-today/82756/) I really love the car - smooth, comfortable, loads of power and great build. Just with it could play MP3's and had an AUX in, so may have to dump the pretty basic SatNav and get something better in terms of ICE!

Hope the dealer rectifies the issues this week and get's it back to me quickly, so I can then start enjoying it properly.

[Supurbia]

Don't worry about depreciation right now lads, it seems both the Superb and the Octavia are holding good residuals, I saw an 05 Octavia at auction that you could buy from the dealer for 12k brand new achieve