Skoda Superb...alternatives?

With a second kid on the way, we're looking at getting rid of the Golf (*sniff*) and swapping it for a larger family car.

These Superbs sound almost too good to be true. HUGE, well built, reliable, great value, hilarious boot space in estate guise, good residuals, and not bad looking (in estate guise).

The engine choice isn't amazing for a flagship car of such size, but then I can understand why VAG nerfed that with Audi to consider, and I've lived with the 1.4 TSI for the past 4 years so can easily stomach VAG's 1.8 TSI or 2.0 170 diesel.

I've also considered the Mondeo, but cannot really get on with the looks of the estate. It also doesn't seem as well built as the Superb in terms of how the interior feels. We only do ~9k miles a year, so I'd ideally be looking at the petrol models but would be fine with the diesel if it was well specced in every other way.

So...my question is, what am I missing? Or is this a no-brainer for a family man that needs lots of space for carrying baby stuff?

Anyone own one here? How do you like it? Any other alternatives apart from the Mondeo?

A4? May be a little more expensive though. What about the Octavia?

/waits for people to come and tell you they managed just fine with 7 kids in a mini metro yadda yadda yadda!

Its a great car and certainly by far the biggest estate in its class, to be fair nothing can touch it if space is a major criteria. However I will say, if both children are close together in age, the size of modern baby seats means that the 'centre' seat will be cramped for an adult.

I would go for the 140bhp diesel over the 170bhp, which isnt all that imo.If mileage is low, obviously the petrol is a better option, but they are harder to sell on afterwoods.

Do it, I reckon it is a no-brainer. What's your budget though? I'd be looking at F10s and E-Classes if it's nearer to £20k.

Engine-wise, you know you want the 3.6 4x4 Superb

Hyburnate said:

A4? May be a little more expensive though. What about the Octavia?

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Octavia is golf based and A4, the B8 model, is not all that great for space really.

whats the budget?

The Superb is a brilliant car. The only credible reason not to buy a Superb is if you don't like them, as a car it's very hard to fault. Well built for the money, very spacious and a decent equipment level on the higher spec cars. The engine range is fairly crap sadly but there should be something that'll be suitable.

It doesn't really compare to F10's and E Class's and thats a fairly stupid alternative suggestion, a £20k Superb would be virtually brand new, a £20k F11 Estate would be a base 520d circa 3+ years old with warranty costs etc to consider. If he was in the market for an out of warranty BMW I suspect he wouldnt be considering the Skoda in the first place.

I really like the superb, and if we find our car too small when the baby comes we will look at the estates. The 1.8 TSI isn't a bad engine, and if you are happy to remap they go well.

I really rather fancy the 3.6 v6, but they are borderline impossible to acquire. Mileage is fair really for the performance.

Urgh sorry, hate it when people don't say budget in car threads. £15k.

Tea is ready, so I'll read your comments properly later, thanks!

I'd spend £10k on a nice Superb and keep the £5k for petrol money.

tummelv said:

I'd spend £10k on a nice Superb and keep the £5k for petrol money.

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Does 10k get you a decent spec and engine ?! I thought it was much closer to 15k to not get a base spec dag dag.

A4 carries too much Audi premium for me at the moment. When I'm 50 or when I stop being an accountant I may be able to overlook this.

The Octavia is alright, but my in-laws have one and it's not *that* big as a family car even in estate form, when this family carries far more clobber everywhere than any family should.

As much as I'd love a 5 series, my budget won't get me one right now.

The big petrols appear to be non-existent for all intents and purposes, so realistically it's looking like a diseasel or the 1.8.

Look at that leg room :



~1600L of boot space with the seats down!

I quite like this colour:



So unless there are any great reasons not to buy one, I guess I'll start hunting! There's a new one just out too so maybe this will help me when buying an 08> model.

Well, slight change of plan today as my dad called to say he was getting rid of his 2008 Volvo S80 2.4D SE and will sell to me for a price I cannot pass up (£2k off px price). So it looks like our family car will be a Volvo for the moment! They're bringing it up in 2 weeks.

It's grey with cream leather, not sure what options it comes with or what was standard.

No SatNav or Xenons, but as I say for the money, I simply can't say no. Cheers anyway!

The private hire guy I use for my airport runs has a Superb Exclusive and it's very nice to be driven around in. Very smooth and comfortable plus it seems very well put together. This is one of the main reasons I use this guy as his car is far and away more comfortable than anything else.

I'm on the hunt for the mk1 Superb at the moment. On autotrader there is only one in the entire country that's for sale that meets my criteria (under 5k, 1.9 diesel, sat nav).

Not sure if it's due to time of year or what but I'm not being unrealistic with my budget, the one that is for sale is over 160 miles away which is a massive effort to go and look at if it's the first one I'm going to see with the intention of buying. I did see a local Laurin and Klement edition which was nice but I can't really justify running its 2.5 v6.

The mk2 is also a brilliant car, I was in one a couple of weeks ago as a passenger and it felt very classy, comfy and well put together.

Tbh I don't see much of a problem with travelling 150 miles to spend 5k, return train ticket won't be much - just do as much to satisfy yourself the car is right for you in advance.

The mk1 isn't far away from being a Passat, you'll likely find more of them close to home

Op the Volvo sounds fine - comfy big barge at a good price, not much to complain about really!

I did 75k in a company car Skoda Superb SE 2010.

It was a joy to be honest. Car drove lovely, spec was ok. I fell in love with the twin hatch boot and I loved the shape when others did not.

The only thing I found was the 170bhp version was much more suited to the car. The 140 bhp was ok just lacking a little.

The room in the car is just out of this world.

When I bought my current BMW I looked at Superbs and to be honest. I sometimes wonder why I did not get one. I was chasing BHP which is unusable in today's roads. I should have bought a superb. Do it.

rodenal said:

Tbh I don't see much of a problem with travelling 150 miles to spend 5k, return train ticket won't be much - just do as much to satisfy yourself the car is right for you in advance.

The mk1 isn't far away from being a Passat, you'll likely find more of them close to home

Op the Volvo sounds fine - comfy big barge at a good price, not much to complain about really!

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Not really interested in the passat, I know it's basically the same thing but I just don't find anything about them that's worth having. The thing I like about the Superb is the interior, the space and the crazy amount of toys for the money. Also I'm not in a rush to buy so I may as well just keep my eye on Autotrader, I am willing to travel but as I'm not in a rush to buy I may. as well bide my time.

It seems a bit daft though? 150 miles is nothing really for the right car, especially if you're spending 5 grand. Or are you not sure about it for some reason?

Isnt the Superb basically an A6 floor pan with the bulkhead moved forward to give the extra space?

rodenal said:

It seems a bit daft though? 150 miles is nothing really for the right car, especially if you're spending 5 grand. Or are you not sure about it for some reason?

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I agree, I didn't say I wouldn't travel that distance for the right car, just that it's a lot of effort to go to. I was trying to highlight that there isn't many of these cars about in a decent spec at the moment, which is odd because it's nothing special like a 5 series Champaigne Edition or something similar, it's a Skoda Superb.

I don't really want to derail the thread too much, but I'm going to have a closer look at the S80 as well.