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-   -   Skoda Superb : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/175340-skoda-superb-official-review-31.html)

I took delivery of a Business Grey 1.8Tsi LnK Superb last month and had done exactly 1000Kms on it before the lockdown was imposed.
Some early thoughts:

Likes:
1) Love the space on offer. The car swallowed a lot of luggage in the boot, seated 4 in comfort including a big child seat and the rear legroom really spoilt my family.
2) Great engine. Fast, dead silent, linear and smooth. So vibe free that you don't even feel it turn on at ignition. Fast enough on the open road. 'S' mode is where all the fun is. Leave the 'D' mode for when it's driven by the Driver.
3) Good ride+handling balance. I am pleasantly surprised at the way this car hides its length and manages to almost behave like a driver's car. The ride is good as well - decent at slow speeds and excellent as the speeds go up.


Minor dislikes:
1) 80kmph/120kmph alerts! I know this is a regulation now but the 80kmph alerts every minute are super irritating on highways since they are pretty loud and tend to wake up your co-passengers. Also, on wider state highways, the typical speeds are between 75-85kmph, which means you are constantly hitting that 80 alert every time you slow down a bit and pick up pace. 120kmph is still manageable but I was distracted trying to keep the car to 115 or below just to avoid that fire alarm noise. I usually cruise at around 115-120ish so this didn't help me in anyway other than getting me woefully distracted and giving my co-passengers a hard time.
2) Torque-kick! Actually like the fact that there is no torque-kick as such, since your co-passengers don't get shoved into their seats on every acceleration and therefore have a more comfortable drive. But, the two other cars in my garage are torquey diesels and I miss that kick sometimes, especially when driving alone.
3) Mileage. It's hovering at 7-8kmpl now. For the highway run it gave me 10ish. Hopefully will go up a bit as the mileage increases. Not a big concern, just a wee bit worried how low it'll drop once traffic returns to normal in B'lore and I am stuck on ORR for hours.

I was able to squeeze in a trip to Chikkamaglaur and Sringeri as well - so got to experience her on straight 6 lane highways as well as some never ending twisties.
On the 6 lane highway, nothing to report other than that it was fast enough for quick overtakes and silent enough for everyone in the car to doze off, letting me enjoy my drive in peace.
On the twisties, loved the 'S' mode. Car was almost always in the powerband and flows through the curves so naturally. You feel the long wheelbase in narrower, tighter sections but otherwise, lovely car to drive hard and have some fun as well.
A wrong turn after blindly trusting GMaps took me through some narrow, non existent, gravelly, hairpin ridden forest roads for 20 odd Kms which took me an hour and half to traverse. I was sure I would scrape the car's bottom off completely and get stuck in the middle of nowhere but the Superb handled it brilliantly. The laid back throttle response in 'D' mode helped, as well as the raised GC and rough road package. The only souvenir from that horror diversion is a creaking rear door that I need to get fixed.

Still trying to figure out what's different between the 'S' mode on the DSG vs the 'Sports' mode under Driving modes. I felt the throttle response was the same. Not sure if other parameters change.

Overall, absolutely love the car - is brilliant at doing all the things I bought it for. Had some second thoughts initially about whether I should have waited for the Kodiaq but after driving a diesel Kodiaq recently, even more convinced that this was the perfect choice for me.

Attaching some of the very few pics I have of her!

Hi guys,
I saw the 2020 L&K Superb recently in the showroom today and thought of making a quick walkaround video of the same. It really was looking good in Lava Blue Colour.
This was the L&K version. Hope you like the video (please pardon my amateur camera skills as I am quite a newbie at this!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG-ow...ature=youtu.be

I think the 2020 Superb is a step back in styling with the chrome overdose on the front grill and rear boot. I also prefer the timeless alloys on the 2019 L&K compared to this new dual-tone one, which seem to be all the rage on everything from budget hatches to C-Suvs.

Ofcourse, the all new motor+DSG would still be a strong reason to go for the 2020 Superb.

FIRST SERVICE UPDATE : 10100KMS, 05 June 2020

I had taken delivery of my car on the 2nd of June, 2019. It was registered in my name on the 30th May. The scheduled service was due 30th May but almost everything was closed due to the lock-down. Upon contacting SKODA they confirmed scheduled service validity was extended till 1 month after lock-down ends.

Now, I had purchased the car from Arya Skoda whose workshop is 50kms from my place. But luckily a new SKODA ASS and "experience center" came up in Noida about 20kms from home. I booked a slot for last Saturday and I was there at 0930. It is called BRITE SKODA.

It is a huge facility, exceptionally well decorated and hygienic. I was thermal scanned, hand washed and "feet washed" with alcohol and led to the waiting lobby. I was immediately attended to, and the job card was prepared in less than 15 minutes. Computerized entirely and photos clicked on mobile. No fuss, no add-ons, no unnecessary extras. Plain, no nonsense service.

The dealer principal Mr. Prashant Luthra was around, had a long chat with him, and the best part was I was allowed in the workshop floor to see the service first hand. He is quite knowledgeable, an enthusiast himself and he personally keeps visiting the shop floor often!!

Quite well laid out service bay. Service was done in front of me and the technician was happy to explain me what all was going on. My only "complaint" is they use oil from the drum. Not individual 1L or 4L cans please:.

5.2 Liters of oil went in, filters were DUSTY. Both the AC and Air intakes. They tested the battery with a dedicated tool, and the battery was in excellent shape too. The service interval counter was reset to 365 days/15000kms. The tool they use is a VAG proprietary with it connected to a Panasonic Industrial Laptop. Upon connection with my car, a whole lot of features were in YELLOW, active ones in GREEN and some in RED. Gave me ideas, for sure... lol

The bill was 8400/-. Alignment or balancing was not needed. Overall, very impressed with this new facility. Hope they keep up the standards. I am willing to spend money: I understand a huge facility upkeep has its costs. But not if there is a tendency to fleece. So, this workshop has delivered, the first time, at least. No reason for me not to go back.

Insurance : I have third party for 2 more years. OD was taken from HDFC ERGO via the original dealer as they did quote well, in fact at par with on line quotes. They did mess up model number, swapped engine and chassis numbers, but that was corrected. Total zero dep and engine protection : 35k with 20% NCB.

The car has only done short runs in the last few months owing to the lock-down. Also got the pollution done for 1 year. Overall happy ownership experience. BRITE SKODA Noida, was a good find. :thumbs up

Hello everyone. need some urgent advice.

I am getting a 2016 skoda superb LK 2.0 TDI AT, 30000 kms run car at around 20 lakhs from a 2nd owner.

Two questions.

1) Is it a good price?

2) Should i go for a diesel auto now that diesel cars from this brand are stopped. How about the service and mantainence issues and spare part availibilities?

Looking forward to a quick response.
Thanks

Hello everyone,

So our 2016 Skoda Superb L&K had recently gone to an authorised service centre to have the key and locks replaced as they were acting up. For some reason only one key used to continuously give a 'Low Battery' warning and create problems while starting the car. This was all replaced under warranty.

Now, once we received the car back, we realised that the 'Telephone' option itself has vanished from the headunit and a 'Telephone Is Currently Not Available' message being displayed on the MID. I am unable to find a way to get around this issue. I have spoken to the Skoda workshop and they have asked me visit to get it checked.



Anyone faced this before?

Not sure what the electronic functioning style is in this Superb, but if its anything like the older ones, there would be a separate bluetooth module/media module which would be taking care of all this. Maybe that's not connected, or in the worst case - failed.

Seems a stretch. I bought a 2015 Superb, done 38,000 last year (Mar 2019) for 16 lakhs. It's in a great condition, is driver driven for another 6,000km no issues.

Need advice on Superb 2012 Headlight Output.

The low beam has become really weak and seems to be non-existent in case of oncoming traffic at night. I have already got a 3M professional headlight lens restoration done which did help a lot with the high beam, but did not make any difference in the output of low beam.

The authorised service centre says its fine as per them and nothing much can be done about it. Kindly suggest how to solve this issue.

Hi Niranjanrvce - You've mentioned the mileage to be hovering around 7-8 kmpl. Has this got any better and closer to the 11 to 12 kmpl that a few of the other folks have claimed? 7-8 kmpl seems too low, specially for the new TSI, with its cylinder deactivation, Auto-start/stop etc. Thoughts?

As far as I know, Active Cylinder Technology (ACT), i.e. on-the-fly cylinder deactivation is currently integrated into the new 1.5 TSI Evo unit only, and not in the (slightly) older 2.0 TSI.

Hi, Traffic is not yet back to normal in Bangalore and given my limited intra-city runs these days, hard to know what the real city mileage is yet. I do see 10+kmpl when I take it out in city with sparse traffic.
I took out the car on a long drive to Goa though and it gave me 11-12 kmpl even with a heavy foot.

As itwasntme mentioned, the new Superb doesn't come with cylinder deactivation. But real world mileage of 10ish seems fair to expect.

Dear Bhpian's

Despite reading so many negative reviews about Skoda Superb engine issues and failures , today I am going ahead with a purchase of 2018 Superb TSI Style variant .

At first I was skeptical to put my hard earned money on Superb (and it's not a cheap buy by any yardstick) . But when I got the car for test drive , I was totally smitten over. It's done 28K km and impeccably maintained .

I would be making the payment today . Any pointers or suggestion before taking the delivery would be highly appreciated .

I sincerely hope I do not get the troubles that other owners have got with superb in the past.

Just read few comments on buying pre owned superb thread and honestly they were scary .

Hope my decision is right .


Regards

The obvious one would be to buy the extended warranty if that isn't already done. Other than that maybe get a Skoda service centre to check the car out.

It's a great car and a lot of the niggles would have come out by now if there were any. Enjoy !

Not OP, but my 2020 Superb gets me about 9-11 in the city depending on traffic, etc and 14-15 on the highways with a mix of Drive and Sport modes (haven't used eco mode yet)

Firstly, Happy New Year 2021! Posting a mini ownership update on the 2020 Superb that I bought in October.

When I bought my first new car back in 2015 (everything I had owned/driven before had been pre-owned), I spent a crazy amount of time on Team BHP reading through everything and searching for the perfect car. I finally bought a Creta AT (the second car to be delivered in Bangalore !) and happily enjoyed the car for 5 years. This time, I want to give something back to this community that has given me so much information and help over the year by writing up what I can to help anyone else going through a similar situation as me.

Background:
I would have kept the Creta for many more years. My family and I were very happy with the car and had never even thought about changing cars. Unfortunately, the car had to be sold off for other reasons and thus started our search for our next ride.

Requirements:
Automatic, safe, spacious and easy to drive in the Bangalore traffic. That's it - I did not really care about the brand, petrol vs diesel, sedan vs SUV etc.

Budget:
I started from a 20-25L budget, but as someone posted a few months ago, in this segment, I just went from one option to another (all prices OTR in Bangalore):
Creta/Seltos(20L)
-> Harrier is bigger and more powerful (25L)
-> oooh, Compass looks nice (28-32L)
-> Tucson is such good value for money (32L)
-> Karoq has very nice interiors (32L)
-> Superb is well, superb(38-42L)
-> Almost in big 3 territory, let's try the X1(45L)
-> Hmm, Volvo makes safe luxury cars XC40 (50L)
-> Might as well get the 3 Series/3GT (53L) and so on

.... and very quickly you are considering a car that is 3 times more than your budget. stupid:

My advice for folks in this confusing set of choices is to
1. Keep a max budget (really helps stop the spiralling)
2. Test drive top choices back to back (By the time I finished my TD's, I had almost forgotten what the earlier ones felt like and I had to go back redo my TD's.


Choices:
(Long list, TL;DR: Karoq, CR-V and Superb were my top 3 choices)

1. Tata Harrier
   Having come from an SUV, Harrier, along with the Tucson seemed like the most natural upgrade in terms of size, engine and comfort. Harrier is a fantastic, well built car, but the steering wheel was very heavy and the fit and finish inside was not great.
   
2. Hyundai Tucson
   I had made up my mind that this was the one to buy even before it was launched. Definitely the most practical in the ~30L range SUV options. Test drive was very good and the space was very comfortable, but the interiors are super bland and the 20L Creta easily outshines this. Hyundai is just treading water with the 2020 Tucson while waiting for the new Tucson to come to India.
   
3. Seltos/Creta
   The 2020 twins were polarizing, but I was one of the small set of people who actually liked the design of the new Creta and the Seltos is a smart vehicle. This was our backup choice in case we couldn't decide on anything else, but we felt an upgrade to the Creta was in order.
   
4. Jeep Compass
   Great ride and looks, but the petrol was disappointing and the diesel pricing put it into consideration with the Karoq and Tucson. Karoq has much better interiors and Tucson is a half size larger.
   
5. Skoda Karoq
   Initially thought it would be too small and overpriced for the money, but it has to be driven to really get a feel for the car. Luxurious interiors, very peppy engine and surprisingly spacious inside. It quickly became my top choice.
   
6. Skoda Superb
   I was really not looking for a sedan as I had gotten used to the high seating position of the Creta, but as luck would have it, I saw an ad for the Superb (thank you Google !) and remembered the first unveiling of the Superb in 2015 in the Czech republic. It had made such a strong impression on me, that I asked for a test drive on the Skoda India website and was very quickly contacted by the SA (Yogesh at Tafe HSR in Bangalore). From the moment I drove the car, it put a smile on my face and nothing else ever came close to that feeling. More on this later, but this went into my Top 3 list immediately.
   
7. Honda Civic
   Having tried the Superb, I wanted to try my hand at other C2/D1 sedans and as discussed in the Sedan vs SUV thread recently, there really aren't many other choices. Elantra seemed dull, Camry is too expensive and the Civic is all that's left. Test drove the Civic and a combination of bad traffic on Hosur Road and the low seating position just left a really bad impression (although all of us loved the look of the car)
   
8. CR-V
   For all the bad press the CR-V gets, we really liked the car. Very nice interiors, spacious, smooth handling and the (hopefully) solid service from Honda put this into my top 3 list. The downers were the very average engine and the weird reluctance from Honda to give any discounts or even keep a TD vehicle (I TD'd the CEO's personal vehicle ...)
   
   After hearing the news about Honda topping production on these two, I am mighty glad I didn't choose either one of these.
   
9. BMW
   Thought why not and went to Deutsche Motoren for a TD. Really, really nice service and experience at the showroom. I had heard some horror stories about Navnit, but DM was definitely a classy affair. TD'd the X1 - other than the brand value, the X1 really does not offer much - cramped rear and very basic electronics. Was very tempted by the 330 GT and the 330i, but sense starting hitting about the actual budget I was getting to here and stopped myself (Otherwise, like so many others ..the 330i is very tempting)
   
10. Volvo XC40
    One more of those why not's, XC40 is a great looking car and a solid option for someone looking for a luxury second small car to potter around town. Didn't really fit my requirements.
    
11. VW Tiguan AllSpace
    With my choices narrowing down to the Skoda family, I wanted to try the Kodiaq, which obviously isn't available for a TD, so I tried the AllSpace to get a feel for the size. Although it is almost the same length as the Superb, Tiguan felt less nimble in traffic.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions:
In the end, the list came down to Karoq, CR-V and Superb. Once the final negotiations began, Honda wouldn't budge even a bit and it came down to the Karoq as the "sensible" choice and while I was getting close to finalizing, the Superb kept beckoning with that great, happy feeling that I had when I had first TD'd it. Buying a 2016 design in 2021 was a bit worrying, but the new Superb will only come in 2024 to India and I am a huge fan of the current proportionate and timeless design.
I test drove both the Karoq and the Superb again and kept agonizing over the decision until I remembered something I had read in the forums - "When you are buying a car that you consider to be expensive, it has to be something that will bring a smile to your face". The Karoq is a very good car, but the Superb just has that extra special feeling for me and I decided to go ahead.

Experience at TAFE and Skoda
Yogesh, my SA at TAFE HSR gave exceptionally good service all through the 3 months that I was going through the process. As many test drives as I wanted, answered all my questions, never complained and kept a cheerful outlook all the way through.

With all the bad press about Skoda all these years, I was initially very reluctant to consider it, but the sales experience, the interest that Zac Hollis is showing in improving the company, the 5 year Vision IN plan and the warranty terms really helped give a level of confidence. I also got some higher level contacts from my relatives who own Skoda's and helped reassure me that I can get some "influence" if it becomes necessary.

I booked a Lava Blue L&K (the TD car was the same colour) and was given a delivery date a week from the time as they had one available soon. I declined the accessories kit, did my own insurance and bought the maintenance package. Went through the formalities and decided to pick up on a Monday(12th Oct). Wife, son and I went to the showroom around 11 am and after a detailed session introducing the car's features, the car was handed over at about 1 pm.






COVID
All of this happened in the last few months from June-September and necessitated a lot of precautions due to Covid, most dealers gave a very good experience in ensuring as much safety as possible. It was an extra, possibly unnecessary risk, but I needed to buy a car and luckily went through the process without any problems.

PPF, Ceramic
I spent an inordinate amount of time reading about PPF and Ceramic, especially since it was (for me) an expensive car and after all the research, honed in on Ultimate Detailerz via the T-BHP forums. I have put a more detailed post in the UD thread, but overall, it was a great experience with Mohsin and the car looks just smashing in the studio and in "real life" conditions as well.






Driving Experience


In car:
I have driven this for about 3000 KMs so far with a mix of city and highway. The refinement, noise levels and seating comfort are exemplary. Coming from a Creta, the many thoughtful touches (felt-lined door pockets, tablet stand, toll ticket holder, luggage organizer) and the high quality interiors (soft touch all over the place, very comfortable seats, under-seat cooling !, Canton speakers, the ICE system) all add a great feeling of being in a top-class, luxury vehicle. It feels like a 5 series/E Class sized car with similar interior levels for less than half the price. The fit and finish is miles above what I saw in the Creta. The sunroof is not really panoramic but does its job and the inbuilt sunshades are of very good quality. I got Skoda OEM mats as they seem to be of very good quality and fit well. Looked at the Kagu's as well, but the OEM mats seemed at least as good and cheaper than the Kagu's.

Sound: Brilliant - I have never heard sound this good in a car. With the right songs, it feels like I am at a concert listening to the music live. The sound quality is as good as the 5.1 Sony soundbar I have at home and makes it a pleasure to drive along to. Lots of customization bells and whistles for the audiophiles out there to tune (I am not one). One good surprise was that you can connect two phones simultaneously via Bluetooth - One for full connectivity, second for just music. This doesn't work if you are connected via CarPlay though.

Driving:
The big change with this year's BS6 engine is the introduction of the 2.0L TSI engine away from the older 1.8L. This engine will be a staple of Skoda/VW and is already doing duty in the Superb and Tiguan Allspace and will also power the 2021 Octy (2.0L variant). It is also mated to the DQ381 gearbox (wet clutch).

The petrol engine has loads of power on demand and the gearbox definitely matches the engine well. I am not technically savvy with cars, but the gear changes are smooth and the acceleration is lovely to experience. It is extremely quiet and no noise comes into the cabin even on highways.

Sports Mode: Oh wow ... Drive mode is really good for regular driving in the city and on the highway, Sports mode though is just drool worthy. The sound from the engine is addicitive and the acceleration is instant. Amazing and makes the Superb into a brilliant overall package.

I was worried about the size originally, but the Superb hides its dimensions very well when driving. I have never felt like I shouldn't go somewhere because the car may not fit or felt nervous about backing the car into its spot. I extensively tested the Superb in smaller bylanes. The GC is also excellent (163 mm) and has not scraped across all of the mountainous speed breakers in the HSR/Sarjapur area. So far, so good.

I got the Apollo Aspire 4G tyres and they are more than quiet enough for me. I considered upgrading to Michelin's but did not feel it was needed.

Looks Call me shallow, but it does feel good when folks turn around to look at your car and come around to ask when I am stopped on the highway or at a petrol pump, especially in tier 2 cities where there are very very few Superb's. Looks are subjective obviously (and I read a post by someone who doesn't really like the Lava Blue), but we really like the colour and the proportionate styling of the Superb and can see it ageing well.

The Cons

Skoda's ASS is still an open question for me and having only TAFE as an option was a problem. Bangalore finally has a replacement for Vinayak since PPS has opened a PPS Skoda, so it is good to have the competition. Recent threads have indicated that the service levels have massively improved, but it is to be seen when I go in for my yearly service.

Virtual cockpit in Sportline and not in L&K: Wierd choice and I would have liked the virtual cockpit. The physical dials are good quality, but I like as much modern consumer tech in my car as possible, so it can keep up with advances and a virtual cockpit is quite cool.

Wired Carplay/Android auto: The Creta (2015) did not even have Carplay or Android auto, so having maps on the HU is quite cool. The wires though are just annoying. Also, wireless charging would have been great to have at this price point. The 2021 Octy is coming with both of these in the latest Amundsen system. Also, CarPlay seems a little inconsistent with Amazon music (google maps is rock solid).

Beige interiors: They look great, but I shudder to think of that first spill, especially with a 10 year old boy in the car.

Engine run in advice: There is a lot of conflicting advice; briskoda has multiple flame wars on the topic, but nothing concrete. Based on the Team BHP thread, I decided to keep the revs varying, but under 2K for the first 1500 Kms and then under 3.5K until 2500 KMs. I recently read the manual cover to cover and the advice there is
"During the first 1000 km, rev the engine to max 3/4th of the highest permissible engine speed and avoid using a trailer. Over the next 500 km, the engine speed can be slowly increased" I am not 100% sure if they mean engine speed or RPM. The Skoda service centre person I spoke to said: "Dont worry about running in, drive normally, but do a mix of city and highway"... In the end, I just took it carefully for the first 1500 KMs and then drove normally without redlining till 2500 KMs.

Mirrors: They are too small for the size of the car. I read that the EU spec comes with blind spot warnings using the sensors, but I haven't seen that work here. The mirrors also don't seem to close tight to the body and seem like they are jutting out even when closed.

Beep, beep, beep: Damn, it gets annoying even with the single beep at 80kmph, but once you cross 120, it is just unbearable. Loud music drowns the beep's out, but forget about silently cruising on the highway at a good speed. Possibly a good thing overall for the country since it makes it impossible to drive continuously above 120.

Parting photos










That's it. Thank you for reading this far and hope this helps anyone else who is looking for a car. Happy to answer any questions if you are considering one.