A Superb purchase experience

[2009fsi]

bluesup.
Thanks for putting the work into gathering the info & your analysis. Your breakdown is worth retaining, bluesup.
Practically each service does little more than changes fluids & filters, lubricate the hinges. What you get is basically a hedge contract on prices of labour, the filters & oil. A lot of the checking is where they'll sting you. The parts deemed to be 'wear & tear' which will empty your wallet. That's what all the checking is about. "Find stuff we can bill them for."

What I'd like to see is the really service instruction which says "Change brake pads at XXkms, (no matter whether they need it, or not)" This was certainly the case in the past.

Service plans also lock owners into propriety servicing where the conflict of interest between what is needed & parts sales add to the bottom line for the dealer & VAG/Skoda. They also allows VAG/Skoda the opportunity to bury updates which might otherwise demand recalls. As my mechanic mate said, "They're going the same way as Merc & BMW, strangling service information to make independent servicing near impossible." Basic information like the capacity of the sump is no longer provided. Nor does the service book tell you anything about the details of service, as they did for the 3T series.

I have real problems with 15,000kms / 1 year servicing intervals. I don't believe this is anything more than the minimum they can get away with while the car is under warranty. It feeds planned obsolescence.

I will add to that, State Roads departments which deem it unnecessary to have cars to be inspected for roadworthiness for the first five years. Some people/businesses will just drive cars into the ground. By the time they need to be inspected for road worthiness, they're already death traps best consigned to the wreckers yard. My son-in-law is a classic example. He runs 60,000kms a year onto his Lexus, travelling to & from work & business needs. He gets it serviced every 6 months. The car is mechanically clapped out, but it won't need a road worthiness inspection, until next year! By then, it'll probably have close to 300,000ks on the clock. Would you buy a car with 300,000ks on the clock? Me neither.
;

[blueSup]

Thank you to the the kind Miss H at the dealership who dug a little deeper into the questions I had. She even put me on the phone with Mr A from servicing and we got to the bottom of the differences.

Year 3 adds in the fluids from the Haldex diff (4x4 model).
Year 4 adds in the gearbox oil as it’s a wet clutch 6 speed DSG.
The belt refers to the ancillary belt driving the water pump, air conditioning, and alternator.

And yes, it is all fluids (mostly) and a few checks, plus the hourly time of the apprentice (mostly).
2009fsi comments that a care pack is a hedge against future prices going up. Exactly.
I never did like hedges. Always scratchy and take a lot of maintenance. Nor Benson and Hedges. Yuck. Smokers.
And I don’t really understand hedge funds.
So will I take a care pack? That comes down to the maths and the interest I’d earn on keeping the money in an account for the same period. Will the interest earned minus fees and tax keep up with inflation plus Skoda/VAG tax?
Care to hedge your bets?

[Sunkist]

every 2 years the air filter will be changed aswell. and the spark plugs at 60k

[blueSup]

The Customer Experience Ambassador from Orbiting Skoda HQ visited my email in-box.

The CEA advised me that my page references about the use of wax on the paint were incorrect and also provided me with the correct ones.
In their words, “Waxing the paintwork is recommended and waxing ‘matt painted parts’ and plastic parts in(sic) not recommended.”

Being the jovial man I am, I pointed out that they were working from the superseded manual that contained no clashing information. They now have a link to obtain the current one from, and a PDF of the pages in question with nice pink highlights to attract their attention.

Oddly, I’ve had no further reply. What’s the orbiting period of Orbiting Skoda HQ? Perhaps they only have line-of-sight comms?

[2009fsi]

A "Customer Experience Ambassador", bluesup? Me think a rare breed, possibly emerging from the swamp, just for you & already endangered. One wonders what the KPIs might be. Hosing down 'unhelpful' forum comments, possibly?

Your highlighting of the contradictions in the manual also brings into question the appropriateness of the very lucrative dealer flogged 'paint protection' products. Perhaps this is why you've been visited by that formerly undiscovered species from Skoda.

My reading of the manual, & I can't be sure it will be the same as the version supplied with your car, indicates Skoda thinks you shouldn't do more than wash it & even then, lists ingredients which must not be in your 'shampoo'.

This highlights the biggest problem one has as a Skoda owner, getting accurate or even consistent information about your vehicle. I think the situation is, neither Skoda Australia or dealers know. I really do think Australia is probably the least supported Skoda market in their network. I've had a survey from the dealer, but so far it appears Skoda doesn't have any interest in my experience with their top of the range vehicle, or for that matter, even know I exist. Meanwhile, my neighbour is being deluged with 'care' after buying his new Ford Mustang. Quite a contrast.

[blueSup]

Uncle Ross-tech has paid a visit and left a present. He says it will help with something called an off-site backup.

[blueSup]

In the immortal words of Roxette, (Do You Get) Excited?

[blueSup]

And just like that I catch a glimpse of my first Superb in the wild.
White. Sedan/hatch. No rear view so I couldn't determine the motor-vation.

And in all of the places it might have been found... the local Bunnings carpark/round about.

[Mcsteve]

And just like that I catch a glimpse of my first Superb in the wild.
White. Sedan/hatch. No rear view so I couldn't determine the motor-vation.

And in all of the places it might have been found... the local Bunnings carpark/round about.

Funny you say that. Seen two in the last week, both of which were estates.

[pjam73]

And just like that I catch a glimpse of my first Superb in the wild.
White. Sedan/hatch. No rear view so I couldn't determine the motor-vation.

I saw my first one on the road this morning, a black wagon on the Westgate Fwy in Port Melbourne VIC.

Actually, being in Port Melbourne is quite handy as it's where all the car transporting ships come in. We also have Holden, Toyota and Fiat/Chrysler facilities here so there are quite a few interesting cars around. Saw what looked like a new Astra with its badges (presumably Vauxhall) blacked out last week...