USED Skoda Superb Hatchback (08 - )

My car

I went into the Skoda agent to look at the Yeti. The salesman asked what I wanted from a car, and I said "diesel, automatic, 4x4, good accommodation". He explained that the waiting list for the Yeti was long and that he could not discount a Yeti. He then led me to a Superb Elegance and said there was an offer on them, no VAT. I agreed a price for my own car and ordered the Superb. Nevertheless, I had to wait around 15 weeks for delivery, but they did keep me advised of progess throughout and they honoured the trade in price agreed originally on my car. In the past 10 years I have had a Mercedes W 211 E Class 320 CDI, a Mercedes W 220 S Class 320 CDI and an R Class mercedes 320 CDI. The Superb can match any of them for accommodation, specification, build quality, comfort and pretty much on performance too - and these were much more expensive cars. But Mercedes do not procduce a 4x4 saloon car in the UK. The Superb has just had its first service and its first birthday. No rattles or squeaks and fault free throughout. Brim to brim economy is 43 mpg, but once the car is properly run in I expect at least another 5 mpg. The equivalent Passat would cost 50% more for the same spec, and an Audi A6 would cost double the price of the Skoda. Badge engineering? I think the laugh is on them - the Superb is the "thinking man's Audi"!

My car

My review is about the car.... or is it? At the minute I am not sure if my lack of satisfaction is the car OR Main Skoda Dealer. It will be 2 yrs since I have the Superb and until my first visit to the service all was like a poetry. But then car became a devil. On the warranty finale year I had changed aerial twice, door handle and door mechanism twice. After 1st MOT exhaust sensor failed and after second service electric water pump failed. Now I have air con compressor fault and another £700 to spent only because 12 months ago I had air con service done by Skoda and since then it never worked again as before. But service did not see the problem. Of course. On the other hand it could be just a coincidence and simply my Superb is terrible to own. All in all despite I love the look of the car, the magical heated seat and quietness of the cabin and the space, I do not have £300 to spent on repairs every month. But if you lucky enough to have faultless Superb, it can not get better than this. Huge boot, great sat nav and system stereo, 54 mpg on motorway driving 80 mph and many, many more gadgets available it all makes you think "Who can give more?". And the answer is: "NO one for the price of 20K". Would I get another one? Only the service quality makes me wonder.

My car

Fantastic car! Huge room all-round. Comfy. Full of kit blah blah. Bought the estate (much prettier that the saloon/hatch) for not too much money, getting over 25% off in the vat free (plus a bit more) offer, and 3 years free servicing. An Audi A6, with approx spec would have been about twice the price, and the Skoda's quality is fantastic. I've had the car over a year now and i've not had a single rattle or fault. The reason of the discount is that the car is petrol, and the residuals will be worse than the diesel, but its a fine, smooth engine, and pretty economical too. I'm getting 40mpg, which is exactly what the book says it should get. The 170ps diesel will give me 10mpg more, and save about 30 quid a year on tax, but saving about £5000 on differentials of the cars in the first place (very little discount on the diesel models) made it a no brainer as i don't do a massive mileage. Wholly recommend the car. My wife bought a Fabia a few months early which great too, which just shows how much we like the Skoda brand. I wouldn't say its highy underrated but the cars are way better than VW, better quality, cheaper, and most Skoda drivers appear very happy! Just look at the surveys......

My car

Cont. 3. Equipment / Comfort The list is endless in the Elegance, Full Leather (heated/memory/lumber/fullelec)/Sat Nav(its better than a TomTom), Electric everything / Directional Bi Xenons / 30GB HDD, radio,MP3, CD, DVD player/ elec heated memory mirrors / parking sensors and ambient lighting everywhere……..i could go on for ever, ( and all that spec is standard ). With reference to comfort the front seats are like comfy arm chairs (so great on long journeys, I regularly do 450 mile day trips) yet supportive for when you decide to have some fun on the windy roads, Oh yeh and I almost forgot there is limousine standard leg room in the rear too.

4. Value Well put it this way. To spec a top of the range BMW 3 series / Merc C Class to the same level as the Superb Elegance would cost between £10,000 to £12,000 extra on there list price!!!! Plus you will get around 45mpg and lower co2 taxing too. Nuf Sed. Not sure if I have missed anything but to sum up, if your only reason for not getting this car is its badge – WAKE UP! You are missing out on one of the best cars money can buy in this segment. Take one for a test drive, you WILL be impressed.

The Skoda Superb is supposed to be the VW Passat’s ugly sister. All I can say is it’s turned out to be Cinderella and she will go to the ball!!