[dezrskb]

Hi dkaile,
I am late on your thread but your superb indeed looks fantastic in this color. Now after purchasing a Laura 10 days back, I was just going through other Skoda threads in the forum. If you read my initial ownership review, I too stalled the car exactly like you on way back from showroom. I think in this aspect, Laura and Superb engines sound similar with manual transmissions.
Your Climatronic A/C controls too look exactly same as mine. You say when I switch off, it remembers last settings? My trouble is this- I try to keep it in recirculation mode most of the time as advised by sales agent as he says if we keep it in "open" mode, due to polluted air, the filter gets clogged soon. I distinctly remember my Maruti Dzire sales agent too advising the same thing. After I switch off with the "off" button with "re-circulation" in active use, if I switch it on in short time, the "re-circulation" mode comes on again. But if it is switched off in night and switched on next morning, I think it "forgets" to bring on the re-circulation mode. Does it happen on your side? I am yet to completely understand how this system works

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by dezrskb

After I switch off with the "off" button with "re-circulation" in active use, if I switch it on in short time, the "re-circulation" mode comes on again. But if it is switched off in night and switched on next morning, I think it "forgets" to bring on the re-circulation mode. Does it happen on your side? I am yet to completely understand how this system works

Yes, that is how it works in mine too. It has short term memory... lolz, which is longer than Memory 1 of the MID (which I think is of 2 hours) but shorter than Memory 2 of the MID (which is of a few days).

[VW2010]

Can you check this?

Before switching of the engine and removing the keys you press "Off" button in the console and then remove the keys. This method will keep your last setting in memory.

But if you are switching of the engine the ACC starts in Auto mode invariably and you will have to set the re circulation mode manually.

This is my theory and i am testing it tonight in my Jetta to confirm. I think letting the ignition key switch of the AC resets the last remembered settings with respect to re-circulation mode.

[dkaile]

1st Free Checkup Report (6 month/7500km) at 5850km on 17-09-2012

Only 8 days were left for the 6 months into ownership, so the 1st Free checkup scheduled at 6 month or 7500km (whichever is earlier) was carried out today at C&T Motors, Meerut at an odometer reading of 5850 kms. I phoned in the morning to book an appointment and reached there at around 1pm. Thoroughly satisfied with the overall experience contrary to expectations. Service Setup was at par with the Toyota ASC setup in Meerut. I stood on their head (as always with any ASC) and got the work completed to my satisfaction.

Work that was carried out was -
1. Complete VAS scan. One error was coming about adaptive headlights. Narrowed it down to having set the travel mode to ON. Changed it to OFF through the MID and the error disappeared and got a total error free report. So mates, Travel Mode needs to be set off for Right hand drive Superb's in India.
2. Air Filter and In cabin Pollen Filters were cleaned.
3. All fluids were checked and a little Coolant was topped up (FOC)
3. Battery was tested by a special electronic device. Found OK.
4. All under-body nuts were tightened on the hoist.
5. All lights, headlight washer etc. were checked.
6. Car was thoroughly washed especially under-body. All alloys were washed inside out.

The VAS Cable attached


The VAS Computer


Engine Check


The Under-body Rough Road Package


The Under-Body package from the rear. Notice bolts being tightened and checked.


Specialised Tool Kit area. Saw tools from VW and Audi.


The OE Oil that confirms to VW 504/507 standards. Its 5W-30 Castrol SLX Professional Powerflow fully synthetic oil. It was costing Rs. 1305/- per litre. The standard oil that they were refilling was a Castrol Professional 5W-40 grade, but was surprised to hear that it was semi-synthetic and was costing/charged at approx. Rs. 900/- per litre. The service advisor informed me that the same is Skoda recommended and being filled in all Skoda ASC's across India. He advised that for better performance especially for Superb, I should go for the Powerflow Fully Synthetic one, on my 1st oil change at 15k kms. The choice was entirely mine.






The under-body was thoroughly cleaned and VW branded and specified original shampoo was used on entire body.


Final Cleaning


Finally the Superb was looking superb, albeit with a few drops of rain that fell just at the time of delivery.






The total cost incurred for this checkup was Rs. 72/- which was for this 1L bottle of original Skoda Windshield Washer imported from Czech Republic, which I took and kept for another day.


Ran into one small hiccup at the time of invoicing when it was found out that in Skoda records this VIN number was officially in somebody else's name. Problem was nailed down to Invoicing dealer forwarding wrong name by mistake to Skoda backend, which he sorted out after a phone call from me and an email was forwarded for name correction which is supposed to be done shortly.

Overall a thoroughly satisfying experience.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by dkaile

1. Complete VAS scan. One error was coming about adaptive headlights. Narrowed it down to having set the travel mode to ON. Changed it to OFF through the MID and the error disappeared and got a total error free report. So mates, Travel Mode needs to set off for Left hand drive Superb's in

Good to see more people happy with Skoda service. I always felt the Skoda A.S.S issues have been overhyped in recent years. As for travel mode, surely you mean right hand drive Superbs. Its more useful in Europe in case you are changing from a RHD to LHD country and need to alter the headlight settings so that you don't blind the oncoming traffic, since your headlights would be focused for driving on the other side of the road. Also the headlights are fixed when they are in travel mode, and they do not turn with the steering wheel.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

As for travel mode, surely you mean right hand drive Superbs.

Sorry for the mistake. Corrected.

[Santoshbhat]

Nice to know that you've had a satisfying experience with Skoda A.S.S. The service experience has been good for me as well with my Laura, which is due for second service in a month or so.

If Skoda can get their aftersales act together, then they can give a real tough fight to giants like Toyota , VW etc... with their well positioned products.

Originally Posted by dkaile

The OE Oil that confirms to VW 504/507 standards. Its 5W-30 Castrol SLX Professional Powerflow fully synthetic oil. It was costing Rs. 1305/- per litre. The standard oil that they were refilling was a Castrol Professional 5W-40 grade, but was surprised to hear that it was semi-synthetic and was costing/charged at approx. Rs. 900/- per litre.

I don't think Castrol professional 5w-40 is semi synthetic. THat is the oil they filled in my car during first service and I was very particular that they showed me the can , so that I could check the specs. I even clicked a snap of the can.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Nice to know that you've had a satisfying experience with Skoda A.S.S. The service experience has been good for me as well with my Laura, which is due for second service in a month or so.

I don't think Castrol professional 5w-40 is semi synthetic.

Well after seeing this Skoda ASC, I feel all ASC's in the country are quite similar. This one was no better or worse than than the Toyota ASC I usually go to. They let me stand right on the shop floor and even offered me a chair right next to my car while the work was going on, after seeing that I was not going to budge. Maybe knowing the owner has its perks. So in the end it boils down to the personal care you put for your car that gives you peace of mind. If one needs to go to a service centre once a year or even 6 months, its better you go personally rather than send your driver etc. Can we not spare few hours twice a year for our car that will lead to better service from it for many years? More people should start building this habit rather than plainly blaming everything on the car manufacturer or the ASC. Without personal intervention, bad experiences will happen at the best of ASC's.

About the synthetic oil issue, maybe the service advisor was not properly informed but I doubt that. In most ASC's oil is filled from big 200L barrels so it becomes more difficult to judge the exact grade of oil being used. It was strange to see your ASC using 4L packs. But he did mention it was blue in colour. Was your oil the same colour? He also mentioned these barrels come through Skoda directly and the same ones are used in all Skoda ASC's across India. He also advised me to use the fully synthetic one that I have photographed for better performance than the stock OE one. Next pit stop is going to be entry into their oil storage room to ascertain the exact oil barrel they are using, if I am allowed to go to that extent... lolz.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Well after seeing this Skoda ASC, I feel all ASC's in the country are quite similar.

About the synthetic oil issue, maybe the service advisor was not properly informed but I doubt that. In most ASC's oil is filled from big 200L barrels so it becomes more difficult to judge the exact grade of oil being used. It was strange to see your ASC using 4L packs. But he did mention it was blue in colour. Was your oil the same colour?

Totally agree with you about the fact that quality of most ASC's is pretty much the same when it comes to normal servicing. Even the service advisers are all poached from either one ASC or the other. The guy who serviced my car had moved from Maruti to Tata to Hyundai to Skoda.

But it is the attitude of the company when things go wrong which matters. I think this is where Skoda has earned a bad reputation. They had some lousy dealers to start with and when affected customers approached the company, they were shown complete apathy.

About the oil, barrels full empty 4l cans were lying in their godown. The colour of the oil was orange and not blue.

[VW2010]

ut it is the attitude of the company when things go wrong which matters. I think this is where Skoda has earned a bad reputation. They had some lousy dealers to start with and when affected customers approached the company, they were shown complete apathy.

I know its the company that should be blamed but a major part is with the dealer. For example a dealer like Sundaram has enough arrangements to ensure the customer car is treated with highest care and any mishap is declared in advance and a settlement is discussed.

Also if you check the speedo you can definitely guess where the car has been used. I almost every time see less than 5Km usage after a service in both maruthi and Sundaram unless there is an issue which requires multiple test runs

In Sundaram I atleast know a SA who does update me what they are doing and is more than happy to let me know if something is kaput.

Building a relationship with the mechanic is the only way we can ensure smooth ASC. Even the SA's are pretty apologetic and understand what we want.

If you look at Harsh case as well Skoda is in between two things where helping the customer would mean its Skoda's fault and siding with the dealer means its just plain ugly business. SO they take a common stand that they are not responsible for the changed parts and its the ugly dealer/sa who had done that. Its tough to make a judgement on one party but perceptions travel faster than facts.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Before switching of the engine and removing the keys you press "Off" button in the console and then remove the keys. This method will keep your last setting in memory.

But if you are switching of the engine the ACC starts in Auto mode invariably and you will have to set the re circulation mode manually.

This is my theory and i am testing it tonight in my Jetta to confirm. I think letting the ignition key switch of the AC resets the last remembered settings with respect to re-circulation mode.

Couldn't really get you there. Could you elaborate a little more clearly. And what were your results?

[VW2010]

I am using your own picture to see if i can explain better.


Following buttons control AC

- Off
- Auto
- Ignition switch.

With the required setting set we can switch of the AC as follows:

- Off Button
- Ignition switch.

My point was

- Set the AC the way you like it.
- Press off button
- Switch of ignition and remove keys.

This should retain last used settings.


- Set AC the way we like it (Recirculation on)
- Remove keys and switch of ignition

This may erase that memory of AC- Recirculation.

I have done that last evening and have not taken my car out today. let me check tonight and confirm.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Following buttons control AC

- Off
- Auto
- Ignition switch.

With the required setting set we can switch of the AC as follows:

- Off Button
- Ignition switch.

My point was

- Set the AC the way you like it.
- Press off button
- Switch of ignition and remove keys.

This should retain last used settings.


- Set AC the way we like it (Recirculation on)
- Remove keys and switch of ignition

This may erase that memory of AC- Recirculation.

I for one would NEVER use the ignition switch to turn the AC on/off. That is what I have been taught as one of the basics of car driving. I have however used your first option i.e. pressing the off button and then switch off ignition and remove keys. It retains last used settings BUT has short term memory i.e. it forgets after a few hours and returns back to simple Auto mode with recirc in off mode.

[dezrskb]

I have been doing like this in my Skoda Laura, that is to say while driving I set it - Auto mode off (no lights on the "Auto" button), Re-circulation mode "ON", temperature at 24degrees and blower at speed 2. When I stop and get out, first I press "OFF" button, then switch off the engine, remove keys. When I enter again, I switch on the A/c again by pressing the "OFF" button. But I have observed that when A/C is switched on again in short time (I think within 30min-1hr), A/C remembers that it was in "re-circulation mode" and comes on in this mode. But when it is bit late, then when I switch on the A/c in the same way (pressing OFF button), then it "forgets" that it was in re-circulation mode. Also I have observed that when you switch on the re-circulation mode, the blower speed changes automatically by itself (most often it is upwards). Is it usual?

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by dezrskb

But when it is bit late, then when I switch on the A/c in the same way (pressing OFF button), then it "forgets" that it was in re-circulation mode. Also I have observed that when you switch on the re-circulation mode, the blower speed changes automatically by itself (most often it is upwards). Is it usual?

Yes, that is the way it seems to be working for most of us. But the speed does not change visibly on my electronic panel. Only that in re-circulate mode the quantity of air displacement does seem to increase in all cars.