[narula123]

At the very outset let me clarify that this ownership thread will not be as detailed or technically insightful as the brilliantly constructed ownership post by GForceEnjoyer

It is so interesting to look back at certain journeys in life and admire how destiny/serendipity work behind the scenes to put steps, thoughts and decisions in a random order to create an output which you can only marvel at. My journey of bringing a 2023 Skoda Superb L&K 2.0 TSI AT (quite a mouthful) is somewhat like this.

Sometime in 2022, the thought of replacing my 2013 XUV500 W8 started creeping into my mind. It was more of an itch than a need because the XUV continued to do everything well, was reliable as a swiss watch and generally bulletproof. Small cosmetic wear & tear aside, she continued to impress on every single occasion. Mahindra may not have the most polished electricals or the most plush materials but their engines are a delight and what I paid for the XUV500 back in the day will barely get you a Brezza today. For the money I had paid, the XUV500 was still a lot of car for me that did everything well enough.
The XUV500 anyways lost the daily running duties to my Grandi10 AT (what a car!!) and hence got relegated to mostly highway or social visit runs.


Ofcourse through the course of time as my hair greyed and my wallet seemed to get healthier, the itch for an upgrade started. I thought about it a lot and realised that there is nothing in the market in my budget of about 40 lakhs that I absolutely would give a limb for. So the upgrade thirst remained at the back of my mind and I told myself that we'll revisit this hunt end of 2023 or sometime in 2024, no hurry. (Had the Endy been still around this would have been a different story altogether).

I kept evaluating SUVs in this price segment which dint have too many contenders anyways:
1. Jeep Meridian - Good looking & very capable product, not so good reviews on niggles, extremely lazy gearbox+engine combo were my takeaways. How I would have loved for Jeep to have put a bit more juice on that engine & gearbox.
2. Fortuner AT - bulletproof reliability and low maintenance costs. Everything else went against it from the price to the interiors and ride quality. Barring the 'butch'ness of it there was nothing else that I could justify for 50-55 lakhs price. No chance I am paying THAT for THIS.
3. Isuzu MUX - very capable and well priced product with Japanese DNA to boot. However felt aged and very basic on the inside. For someone who genuinely needs a capable sturdy SUV, the Isuzu is hard to ignore though. My off-roading needs like my off-roading skills were almost zero. So it very sadly went off the list.
4. Hyundai Tucson - launched in late 2022/early 2023, this one caught my eye. It looked nice, was loaded with tech and gizmos and had enough space for 5 folks. I have always liked the Tucson and was eager to drive the new one and seriously put it on the contender list. Sadly, Hyundai completely goofed up the sales part. They possibly had ONE test-drive car on the top spec diesel between all Mumbai showrooms; and this one car was down for maintenance for more than a month (red flags?). Every dealer I spoke to either offered me the petrol or told me they'll get back once the diesel TD car is back. One even had the cheekiness to say that its a 7-8 month waiting so why would a customer be in a hurry. To put it mildly, I did not expect such bad planning from Hyundai for a flagship and they lost a customer to competition because their dealers were too helpless & slow on the TD front.

When Destiny knocks:
I am a petrolhead and my adrenaline rushes are aptly entertained by my motorcycles. That said I still expect my cars to drive well and have a pep to them.
Sometime in Jan'23, a used car dealer (known to a friend) put up an ad for a 2020 Jan invoiced BMW 330i MSport. The black coloured car had done ONLY 4500 kms and looked clean in the pics. The expected price was way above my budget but I still took interest with a hope on negotiations and knowing what a hoot to drive that G20 is.
Test drove the car, absolutely loved the way it drove, it blew my mind with the way it handled and gloved itself around me as a driver, oh and the aural delight from that motor
Few not so nice (which I realised after the drive euphoria subsided):
- out of BRI warranty and no service pack. BSI would have set me back by 1.5-2 lakhs approx but no substitute for BRI.
- while it'll be rarely used, the rear seat space for an adult was really poor specially when seated behind my 6 feet frame.
- Boot space was compromised thanks to that space saver but I would have cribbed and lived with it
- small battle scars here and there which the dealer said he'll address before giving me the car

This encounter with this beautiful machine made me introspect like only a completely soul-touching experience can. I wanted the 330i for its sheer driving pleasure. I realised the shortcomings mentioned above but was willing to look beyond them if the price was right. Also, very importantly, it made me question if I really need an SUV....
Now, there was the million dollar question. "Do I really need an SUV?" I dont off-road, dont intend to either. I appreciate good ground clearance, specially in a water-logging-prone city like Mumbai and with monster speed breakers all over the country. I appreciate luggage and passenger space in the car which an SUV provides in ample but then again these are rare use-cases and not really deal-breakers (its usually just me or a +1 in the car). Alternatively, I also appreciate driving dynamics, ride comfort and performance; a good SUV will scrape through on these but wont really compete with a good sedan (keeping in mind my budget, I wasnt considering the X3Ms or the AMGs). Additionally, despite lots of used car options I wasnt keen on looking at anything older than 3-4 years.
Realization 1 - I can live with a sedan with few conditions applied!

Question 2: If I buy the 330i, do I keep the XUV or let it go! The greedy heart tilted towards keeping the XUV considering the car still had a few good years left in it and the boot space, rear comfort and bad road capabilities of the 3 were suspect. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that I cannot afford to keep 3 cars in the garage, I wont justify the running between the three and the XUV cant replace the Gi10 for city runabouts. If I get the 3, the XUV has to go and I have to manage the shortcomings on space, bad-roads and rear seat.
Realization 2 - I will have to live with the sedan without an SUV in the garage!

Armed with my new found enlightenment, I entered the price negotiations on the 330i with a zen-level clarity in life. I was a man on a mission. I had a clear max price in my head that I would pay for the car but I was still not confident if I can manage the cost of living with an out-of-warranty german sedan. I still initiated conversations with my bank on finances with the confidence that the seller and I will arrive to a reasonable consensus and the 330i will come home.

Twist of Fate:
"Fate doesn't care about your plans".
Despite multiple rounds of negotiations and some tactics on the seller's part that I did not appreciate, the price wasnt coming to a consensus and frankly I was now doubting my ability to live with the costs of the car more & more. During the course of these weeks I also saw several other used German sedans but dint find any worth pursuing. The ones I liked were way out of budget (eg. a lovely 530D and a demo 2022 330Li). I wasn't willing to be foolish and make a stupid financial decision (those I reserve only for motorcycles ).

I also explored if I can stretch and get a new 330Li but again the finances wouldn't have ended up on my preferred side.

The Bulb moment:
It was in this hopeless and irritating what-to-do phase that a friend suggested I also consider the Skoda Superb. As a past Skoda & current BMW owner, he backed the quality and VFM that Skoda gives with a substantially lesser cost-of-living-with-it. His only caution was that Skoda pre-sales & after-sales is a hit or a miss so I should be mentally prepared for it. Additionally, a new Superb will almost fit in my budget, come backed with a warranty and have most of the creature comforts which I was missing out on in the 3/C.

Not a bad thought, I mean there was nothing to lose, right? Went digging into T-bhp archives for Superb ownership and niggles threads. Also, reached out to Skoda on their website with a request for a test-drive. Not surprisingly, no dealership reached out to me over the next 2 days. Finally, got the contact number for Mody Skoda, Worli and requested for a call-back from an SA. Was assured that I'll be called back in a minute or two but it was after my reminder call in a not so sweet tone after 2 hours that I did get an SA on the phone. Not the best way to form an impression on a potential customer for your flagship, Skoda!

Anyways, decided to cut them some slack and went to Mody Skoda, Andheri for a test-drive. The SA Aniket was courteous and had the car ready for a TD. This was also where I first laid my eyes on a Lava Blue L&K and fell in love with how she looked. The car is BIG on space, whether inside the cabin or that gigantic boot (eat that SUVs). I loved the ambience inside with all the ergonomics and controls. The size felt manageable and visibility was good all around. The seats were more comfortable than the 3 and the long gizmo list felt good.
5 folks seated comfortably inside, off we went. The first thing you notice immediately is the ride quality; its so sublime and refined that you feel properly business class. All materials were super premium to touch and operate, even the ones you will rarely come in contact with. I drove the car in Eco, Normal and Sports mode and they did alter the nature of the car. The ground-clearance was good and I was impressed when I dint hear any nasty noises where I expected the car to actually scrape. The Skoda also had some solid grunt and that DSG 7 speed was indeed a very nice gearbox.
The reality remains that the Superb isnt a 330i to drive, but then it isnt a slouch either and that motor+gearbox did plaster a nice wide smile on my face (it did that in every subsequent TD I took too).
I came back from the TD a very impressed man and actually realised that with the Superb at home I wont really need an SUV as such. Spoke to the SA about the pricing etc. and he confirmed that the factory has stopped production of the Superb post Dec'22 and the next Gen will come only by late 2023 (if it does). Also, the discount offered on the vehicle was quite measly despite Skoda silently having upped the prices sometime around end of last year (L&K OTR Mumbai was now at 44.x )
I did check-out the Kodiaq too, but did not like the drive experience vs the Superb and I wouldnt really use the 4X4 anyways. So the extra price and dismal fuel efficiency wasnt for me. I did however lust after that DCC and wish the Superb came with it (more on that later).

Money Talks:
A friend who also owns a '18 Superb told me to talk to another dealer JMD in Kandivili, Mumbai. Now JMD did not really have the best of reputation in the customer circles (horror stories abound on forums) so I was quite wary but my friend had a hotline to them being their prized customer. Went to JMD with him and to cut the story short they offered a very nice discount on the car (3X of what Mody did). They also confirmed in writing that the vehicle will not be older than Nov'22 manufacturing and would be in the colour of my choice. I really liked the deal being offered and went ahead and made the booking with a targeted delivery date (after confirming that Mody SA cant match the quote)....and this is where the not-so-nice experience started.

The Dealership Experience:
So the folks at JMD are all nice and welcoming people but you do get a sense of not all being well between the dealership & Skoda considering that JMD barely has any showrooms left and Mody is steadily expanding footprint in Mumbai (with a stellar rep to boot). Infact the latest Mody Skoda dealership opened up within a few kms of JMD's shop (Goregaon vs Kandivili).
Now the problem with JMD is the complete lack of transparency with the customer leading to wrong date commitments and defaults on them. Post booking the car with a 50,000 amount, nothing moved. Absolutely nothing. No communication from Skoda or the dealership on the booking or vehicle allocation. After few days when I enquired, I was told that I will have to make the full payment for the vehicle to be allocated to me. This was a shocker but not unheard of in the industry. Apparently several brands do this for in-demand vehicles but the Superb isnt on that list from what I know. Was this a working-capital issue for JMD? I confronted them about it and after several not-so-pleasant (from my side) conversations and assurances (from their side) I bit the bullet (my friend gave me confidence that JMD wont go belly-up with my money) and allowed the bank to disburse the loan amount to them (about 60% of the ex-showroom amount). Promptly got the booking confirmation with another assurance of catching the committed delivery date which was few days away. I found it difficult to digest how they'll manage the deadline but assurances of working round the clock kept flowing in.
Two days before the would-be delivery date I still did not have the VIN number and another round of high-temper phonecalls followed to end with random excuses about the factory holiday for Holi and all. On my escalation, a senior resource at JMD assured me that all is well and there is indeed some delay which was errounously not communicated to me. To quicken the process, would I be able to pay the balance ex-showroom costs? I was already down the rabbit hole so thought why not? Lets go all in on the blind hand. Money transferred, a new delivery date assured to me and the clock reset.
Deja-vu, (why was I still surprised), and the same dispatch-from-factory delay hit me 2 days before the 2nd delivery date. Last-minute excuses followed with profound assurances and apologies. I escalated again and this time stuff actually moved. I spoke to Ms. Vinita this time at JMD who actually shifted things into a gear higher, opened up all the updates to me and actually quickened up the laggard movement to ensure the car now comes to the showroom in time for the PDI and the 3rd delivery date (almost 2 weeks lapsed between the 1st committed and final delivery date).
I saw the car, checked everything including VIN (Nov'22 manufactured) and post the PDI gave them an OK for the registration.
I will again repeat that the folks at JMD are reasonable people & have good intent towards the customer but there is something really off with the dealership's way of working which leaves a bad taste in the customer's mouth.
I had a way better experience buying the Grandi10 at Hyundai vs a 6X more expensive vehicle. And to be honest, the experience at Mody Skoda was a lot more polished and transparent. My biggest grouse with JMD was that every single follow-up or information request was initiated by me. Not once did the dealership promptly call and update about progress or delays on the process.

Well all's well that ends well. The delivery date came, I went to the showroom, handed over my beloved XUV500 to them with a very heavy heart under exchange, unveiled the new Lava Blue beauty, cut the customary cake (not my thing but the dealership needed its PR), gave a token of appreciation to the dealership folks and went off with the car.

"Well all's well that ends well", or does it? It took me about 40 days of follow-up with JMD to get the documents on my extended warranty and Skoda Service package, again Ms. Vinita came to my rescue. I am still waiting for the mobile holder to come in as part of my paid-for welcome kit.
Enough yapping from my side, let me give you a glimpse of what she looks like before I start telling you more.






The Beautiful Blue Mothership:
I have never felt luxury the way I feel it in the Superb, even the 3 or C dont come close for me. The space, the opulence, the ride quality, everything feels premium.
I have driven her over the last month in city and on few lonavala runs and below are my observations:


1. Engine, Transmission and Drive:
- Believe me when I say that this 2.0 TSI motor is a gem. It is an absolute hoot to drive no matter what environment you are in. The Normal mode is perfect for everyday use with very seamless power delivery. I dont like the Eco mode too much as the throttle response is too blunted for my liking and is the least used mode. Then comes the crowning glory of Sports mode and I cant stop grinning and hooting like a child at the way she picks up her skirt and makes a run for it.
- The 7 Speed DSG DQ-381 wet-clutch gearbox is a delight and while it becomes very seamless and shifts before 2000 rpm during normal driving, it just goes bananas in Sports mode.
Want even more fun and kiss that redline everytime? Shift to Sport Manual and buckle up. The FWD does have its share of shortcomings vs RWD Germans but then its predictable, does not scare you and does make those wheels spin from time to time for some cheap thrills.
- On a side note, I still find that Auto Start-Stop system irritating, never used it on the XUV and not too keen on it on the Superb unless I am really trying to save every last drop of unleaded.
- This car is a proper business-class luxo barge. It simply glides over most undulations and nothing filters into the cabin. The few weekend runs I did on the highway were in absolute comfort and not an ounce of fatigue set in at anytime. The seats are very well bolstered and comfortable and the whole driver ergonomics are well sorted.
-The down-side is the suspension is tuned for comfort and is a little too soft for my liking. Don't get me wrong, she will still slice through the ghats better than what you would expect from a 5m long sedan but its no BMW. Go beyond legal speeds and you can feel her getting a bit bouncy, maybe a lower tyre pressure setup will help here. Here is where I wish she had DCC like the Kodiaq atleast as an option. The stock Apollo rubber isnt bad and I am on the fence to probably shift to stickier Michelin or Pirelli.
- I haven't had any issues with ground clearance so far and its a strong testimony to the engineering on such a long sedan. You do have to get used to the size of the car in traffic (specially the length) and this is where the parking sensors become very helpful. Visibility from the adjustable driver's seat is very decent but then coming from an SUV I do miss that battle-tank view sometimes.
- About the headlamps, these are auto-levelling Skoda LED projectors with a very nice throw & intensity backed by a cornering function and LED fogs. When switched on the headlamps do a cool bottom-to-top swipe. I havent required the foglamps so far even on dimly lit highways. Full marks here.
- The engine is decently frugal and I get about 9kmpl in the city commutes and about 13.x on my highway runs. Honestly, its better than what I expected and similar to my puny Gi10 AT. So far I have been feeding the engine 95 octane fuel keeping in mind the decently high compression on this motor.
I plan to go for an oil-change after 1500 kms even though Skoda recommends a service interval of 15,000 kms. I do this on almost all my vehicles as a precautionary running-in task.




2. The Creature Comforts:
- The Superb is literally made to pamper the occupants. The digital instrument cluster is fantastic and displays everything in customizable permutations-combinations. The screen is quite nice on resolution there is minimal lag on operation. It changes its colour hues in sync with the ambient lighting and I wish it had the option to change itself between layouts depending on the drive mode selected.
- The infotainment screen on the other hand could have benefited from an upgrade in this day & age. It works fine on every interaction and is loaded with wireless car-play among other things. The resolution is ok but the icons and layout looks a bit dated. It also hung on me once which was unexpected. - The 11 speaker Canton speaker system is top-class and once you set the equalizer properly it delivers stupendous output. The bluetooth telephony also works well and clear though I would have liked easier operation on accepting calls from the steering wheel (my XUV was easier).
- Surprise of surprises, my latest production lot car came with a seat massager built in for the driver's seat along with 2 memory options. I was told by the SA that till the previous lot this massager function was only coming on the Tan interior-White exterior combination cars. Does it work well, oh yes! Even the memory seat function is a boon considering I am a bit OCD about my driving position.
- The car comes with usual Skoda accessories including door umbrellas, coat hanger etc, a rear and side sunblinds (for rear pax) and a sunroof (dont know why Skoda calls it panoramic). The electric tail-gate has a gesture control which is a big plus along with keyless entry option on all four doors.
- The IRVM and driver side ORVM are auto-dimming but the left side ORVM isnt (weird cost cutting). The left ORVM though can be configured to level down when you put the car into reverse. Speaking of which, the 360 degree camera is a good-addition to this car specially considering its size.
Some other small changes in this car vs the previous lot like the Gear-stick has a SKODA badging while the previous one had a DSG text.
- If you go on Skoda's website to download the manual for the Superb it gives you the option to chose version between 6/2022 and 11/2022. I think this corroborates that there was a version upgrade in Nov where all these bits like seat massager etc were added.
- The interior ambient lighting looks subtle and is not visible during the day. I wish though the footwell lighting was also customizable on colour shades and that the instrument cluster had an option to un-sync its colour shading with the ambient light (eg. white ambient light with a red tone instrument console)
- The air-conditioning and the ventilated seats are good though and the three zone climate control is a bonus. I am also mindful of the beige interiors and the difficulty in keeping them clean. How I wish Skoda gave the option of Tan or Coffee coloured interiors with this nice blue shade of car.
- The Auto-Park feature freaked me out when I saw it in action during the test-drive. I am not fan unless I get comfortable with the thought of the car taking over controls. Maybe, someday, soon!




3. A bit of investment on top:
- The first thing I did after taking delivery was take the car to Optimum Detailerz, Mumbai for a full body Stek PPF, ceramic coating and Stek Nex70 sunfilm. You can check the details on the dedicated post here (Paint Protection Film (PPF))
I also got a screen protector off Amazon for the infotainment but it has turned out to be a very average made product with sizing etc being slightly off. Will live with it for the time-being.
Got some good key covers for two keys which turned out to be very decent. Also got a nice mat for the boot from elegant since Skoda India doesnt have those fancy bootmat options from the global accessories list.


4. Stuff that could have been better:
I am going to nitpick and a lot of it has already been said in various Superb ownership threads:
- The shade for the sunroof is quite thin and manually operated. The manual pushing-pulling feels out of place in a car of this segment and its quite thin so lets a lot of heat & light in even when closed. Thankfully the Stek sunfilm on the sunroof makes life better now.
- The suspension is set up too soft and doesn't do justice to that TSI+DSG combo. A bit more stiffness couldn't have hurt specially on highway runs. Maybe I can solve this by playing around with tyre pressures.
- The missing bits from old Superbs like torch in the boot, auto-dimming left ORVM are weird cost cutting measures.
- Would have appreciated a USB point behind the IRVM (I think Octavia has it) to plug in a dashcam.
- The wireless phone charger is too cramped for my iPhone Max. With phones getting bigger every year this is a bit ancient.
- The speed alarm over 120 kmph is a solid irritant mainly because I am coming from a BS4 car. Its not Skoda's fault but maybe they could have built a volume control on it. As of now I drown it out with music if required.
- Brakes are very decent but I would have still preferred a sharper bite out of them. Maybe a change over to Brembo or EBC pads will help here but I am worried about the dealer throwing a warranty fit.
- Pseudo chrome exhaust surrounds on the rear bumper. Keeping them real would have looked so much better in my opinion.
- Over bad roads I can hear a slight rattle from the right of the dashboard, not cool at all. My friend has also complained of rattles from the sunroof in his Superb.
- The engine is not E20 compliant so I dont know what is in store for the car once E20 becomes the sole reality in India.
- At this price, some level of ADAS would have been appreciated along with a more sorted voice-command & infotainment setup

I know living with a European sedan has its shares of challenges (specially if one moves from an Indian SUV) but I am hoping the 6 year warranty cover and a decent service setup from Mody Skoda can ensure a smooth sailing for the blue boy. I am absolutely grinning ear to ear everytime I switch her on and so eagerly looking forward to the next upcoming road-trip with her. Until then, keep it simply clever and look forward to more updates on the Lava Blue 2023 Skoda Superb L&K 2.0 TSI AT (gosh, what a mouthful!).

[killjoy]

Congratulations Varun, great choice!!

[SP2490]

Congrats on the new car! I can totally understand your enthusiasm for the 2.0TSI, having got the new gen Octavia last year.

I am curious, are sun films allowed in Mumbai city now? I know the cops used to create issues few years back

[Akshay2010]

Congratulations for this beast. I also own a 2021 Superb L&K. It is literally 'superb' in every direction.

I just feel that the suspension is a bit soft making it super comfortable to sit in the car but it does compromise on the handling.
The addition of massage function for driver seat is so damn premium.

Do check Drive Modes -> Individual and set steering to 'sport' while keeping transmission to 'comfort'. The additional weight to the steering coupled with normal/relaxed transmission changes will make you love this car even more!
Also, keep the extended warranty to 6 yrs for now which can even be extended to 7 years.

Happy motoring!

[sbenstewart]

Wishing the very best for the blue Mothership! Seeing the impressive threads with the Skoda Superbs harks me back to my childhood reading the thread by Sam Kapasihttps://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...da-superb.html (The Yeti® writes a car story - (and review of Skoda Superb))

I still have to post about the Moon White Superb of mine. But laziness has kept me saving it for later.

[dkaile]

Congratulations on a fantastic acquisition narula123! Skodas can give years of driving pleasure if you are just a little pro-active with the maintenance part and take a hands on approach. But it is interesting to note how much of a seller's market this has become post covid. I could easily squeeze out a hefty discount when I got my 2012 1.8TSI MT at less than 18.5L on road to what I can see they are now asking more than double at 40~44L that you must have paid.

But you will surely enjoy this car for a long time as I am doing even till today and I intend to keep it past it's 15 years period as mine is a relatively low mileage absolutely trouble free car.

Cheers...

[narula123]

Originally Posted by killjoy

Congratulations Varun, great choice!!

Thanks Arjun saar

Originally Posted by SP2490

Congrats on the new car!
I am curious, are sun films allowed in Mumbai city now? I know the cops used to create issues few years back

Thanks and congrats for the Octy. The Stek Nex70 has 70% transparency which technically should be compliant but I dont want to get into a situation where I am explaining this to cops. Fortunately you cannot make out that there is a film on there and its installed absolutely edge to edge to further avoid issues.

Originally Posted by Akshay2010

Congratulations for this beast. I also own a 2021 Superb L&K

Do check Drive Modes -> Individual and set steering to 'sport' while keeping transmission to 'comfort'.
Also, keep the extended warranty to 6 yrs for now which can even be extended to 7 years.!

Thank you for the wishes and the suggestion on the Individual mode, will give it a try for sure.
I currently have the 6 year extended warranty but plan to go for the 7th year too soon.

Originally Posted by sbenstewart

Wishing the very best for the blue Mothership!
I still have to post about the Moon White Superb of mine. But laziness has kept me saving it for later.

Thank you. Looking forward to the White review coming up soon!!

Originally Posted by dkaile

Congratulations on a fantastic acquisition narula123!
But it is interesting to note how much of a seller's market this has become post covid.
...

Thank you! The way car prices have shot up post Covid is just unbelievable and I dont think they are going to settle anytime soon. Honestly now it has started feeling like every single vehicle is overpriced.

[GForceEnjoyer]

Hello there, absolutely loved reading your review! Wonderful write-up. Many congratulations; another lava blue Superb on Team-BHP.

Very astute observations throughout your review, such as the thin sunroof shade and the speed alarms. Thankfully, the latter is an easy fix and can be turned off by any competent coder. We got this done over-the-air. In fact, the possibilities of mods with VCDS are endless! Also, if you don't drive with much load in the car (up to 3 passengers and not much luggage), setting the Tyre pressures to 32 PSI front and 33 PSI rear solves the high speed bounciness on imperfect surfaces almost completely. Exactly in line with your prediction. I'd recommend trying that if possible.

I'll be looking forward to reading your future updates. You've made a brilliant choice, wishing you many pleasurable miles in your beauty!

[narula123]

Originally Posted by GForceEnjoyer

Hello there, absolutely loved reading your review! Wonderful write-up. Many congratulations; another lava blue Superb on Team-BHP.
Thankfully, the latter is an easy fix and can be turned off by any competent coder. We got this done over-the-air. In fact, the possibilities of mods with VCDS are endless!
setting the Tyre pressures to 32 PSI front and 33 PSI rear solves the high speed bounciness on imperfect surfaces almost completely. I'd recommend trying that if possible.

Thank you buddy. Your ownership post was so enriching and helpful specially when I was evaluating the Superb. Some of the details in there were unknown to the sales advisors also.
I am very tempted to get OTA coding done for the speed alarm and some other nifty features but super duper worried about it causing an issue later with warranty or insurance claims.

[Neelavi]

Congratulations Narula123! The Superb is a fantastic car and will serve you very well. Mine is in its 6th year and I can't really think of another suitable car to replace it given all that it offers. You picture of the boot reminds me of the many times I had to transfer my luggage which wouldn't fit in to my E-class but would still leave the Superb boot half empty. The more expensive germans may excel in a few things but the Superb does it all!

[SilverSmoke]

So happy you got it. Welcome to 2.0 TSI club.

I almost finalized Superb when Gen 2 Kodiaq launched, you rightly said Superb, like Octavia, is definitely more fun to drive & ride is comfy, but as a large family, I needed more space + AWD option, I went with Kodiaq.

[narula123]

Originally Posted by Neelavi

Congratulations Narula123!. Mine is in its 6th year and I can't really think of another suitable car to replace it given all that it offers.

Thank you. I totally agree that it will be tough to find an upgrade from this one. I will also avoid prophecising that pure turbo-petrols may become extinct by the time I come back to shop.

Originally Posted by SilverSmoke

So happy you got it. Welcome to 2.0 TSI club.
as a large family, I needed more space + AWD option, I went with Kodiaq.

Thank you and many congrats on the Kodiaq. If I needed that AWD and the extra space I too would have jumped at the Kodiaq.

[narula123]

Recently did a weekend round-trip from Mumbai to Lonavala (unfortunately coincided with a long weekend rush-to-the-hills) and below were my observations:

1. The ride comfort continues to be amazing. Its a magic carpet ride on majority of the road surfaces. The really nasty undulations are going to be felt though.
2. Gosh, I wish it had DCC. Specially when you are in the mood for some fun and give it the beans. I did run 32 Psi all around and it helped but I think there is scope for more tweaking.
3. The headlamps on non-lit highway sections showed their mettle. They were outstanding on throw and spread. I finally used the fogs for a bit and they are ok. They are better as cornering lights, honestly.
4. I sorely miss a sunglasses holder in the car. There seems to be ample vacant space in the roof console and surprisingly some Superb models abroad come with a sunglass holder despite having a sunroof (incase someone thinks that the sunroof controls prohibit it). These small things make me miss my XUV at times.
Generally the cabin could have done with a bit more of nifty cubby holes etc.
5. In normal mode, the DSG tends to use a bit more of the clutch than I would have liked. Infact on few occasions, going over speedhumps, it decided to hold onto 2nd and I manually plonked it down to 1st. Fuel-saving tactic at the cost of clutch wear? Or am I an impatient driver?
6. I LOVE the aural note of that engine! Put it into sports, roll down your window and hear that 2 litre thrum up some amazing growl all the way to the redline. I can keep doing this over and over again!
6. A big blue euro sedan still turns plenty of heads on the road despite almost half a decade old design.
7. She is very happy on 95 Octane diet. Plenty of it around now even on the highways.

8. I still hate that speed alarm!
9. Sometime I miss that raw bottom-end torque of a Diesel manual.

[GForceEnjoyer]

Originally Posted by narula123

.
5. In normal mode, the DSG tends to use a bit more of the clutch than I would have liked. Infact on few occasions, going over speedhumps, it decided to hold onto 2nd and I manually plonked it down to 1st. Fuel-saving tactic at the cost of clutch wear? Or am I an impatient driver?

I think this is more of a smooth power delivery tactic perhaps. I vaguely remember an older petrol Mercedes (A W221 perhaps?) also doing the same; not downshifting to first to avoid the jolt caused by shifting from first to second. If you shift from first to second in manual mode, you do feel bit of a jolt at times, which I guess the Superb's usual target audience would not take too kindly to.

I'm assuming that's what's going on in the Superb, because that really does make the power delivery incredibly smooth. However, I just cannot enjoy it since the fact that it slips the clutch for this is constantly at the back of my mind.

What we do is, stay in first via manual mode in crawling traffic to avoid unnecessary wear and engage first before climbing an incline at lower speeds (the DSG slips the clutch even then if left on its own ).

When pulling away from a standstill, I notice that the car won't slip the clutch in second if you give the throttle a sharp jab initially. It also seems to adapt to the driver's style. If you drive with a heavy right foot, it's less likely to do this, so it can give you immediate power.

Just my observations on this matter.

[Maky]

Originally Posted by narula123

The Dealership Experience:

Hello Narula. Many congratulations on your new purchase.

The Superb is a car I had shortlisted and was considering but halted the entire car buying process after hearing of the new Superb and Tiguan(other shortlisted) coming out this year. During this process I too visited JMD and was offered some deals and a very short delivery time frame.
I completely believed the short delivery time, my understanding being that old Superb stock is readily available(much slower moving vs Octavia) with Skoda dealers in their stockyard as unsold MY2022 stock that they are very anxious to get rid off. This especially being the case with JMD located all the way in Kandivali and not quite being the South Bombay clientele where the Mody guys seem to have no trouble moving the bigger cars and appropriately their offers miniscule as well. So I am very surprised you had the delivery experience you did, now I too wonder if JMD will go belly up.
Thank you very much for sharing your experience I will be keeping away from them come next-gen Superb.

Originally Posted by narula123

3. A bit of investment on top:
- The first thing I did after taking delivery was take the car to Optimum Detailerz, Mumbai for a full body Stek PPF, ceramic coating and Stek Nex70 sunfilm.

I will be needing a similar treatment for the next new car and my existing one requires a repaint as well. Not knowing much about the top detailing services or shops, Could you possibly tell me of other options we have in Bombay for such services? or do you feel this Optimum Detailerz is the best we have.

Thank you.