Skoda Superb Common Problems (Mk2 and Mk3): An Owner's Guide

The second-generation Skoda Superb (2008, facelifted 2013) and the third generation (2015, facelifted 2019) are Volkswagen Group cars in an unusually roomy body, so most of what goes wrong with them goes wrong with the Passats, Octavias and Golfs of the same years rather than being peculiar to Skoda. The recurring themes are EGR and DPF trouble on the diesels, timing chain wear on the chain-driven petrols, oil consumption on the earlier 1.8 and 2.0 TSI, dry-clutch DSG behaviour at low speed, and water finding its way into places that hold electrics. None of that makes the Superb a car to avoid; it does mean the service history and a full module scan are worth more than a shiny paint job. Engines, gearboxes and equipment varied a great deal by year, market and facelift, so treat what follows as a list of things to check on the specific car in front of you rather than a description of every Superb.

Engines and timing: know which one you are buying

The Superb has been sold with turbocharged petrols of 1.4, 1.5, 1.8 and 2.0 litres, a naturally aspirated 3.6 V6 in the second generation only, and turbodiesels of 1.6 and 2.0 litres, with a 1.9 TDI in the earliest second-generation cars in some markets. The petrol engines are turbocharged rather than supercharged, and the plug-in iV of the later third-generation cars pairs a turbocharged 1.4 petrol with an electric motor. Which engines were offered depends on the market and the model year, so go by the car's own paperwork and engine code rather than by the badge on the boot.

The single most useful thing to establish before money changes hands is whether the engine in front of you runs a belt or a chain, and whether that job has been done. Belt intervals differ by engine, model year and market, so check the schedule for the exact car rather than trusting a rule of thumb, and ask for the invoice rather than a stamp. These are interference engines: a belt that snaps or a chain that jumps will normally bend valves, and the repair can cost more than the car is worth. On the chain-driven engines there is no published replacement interval at all, which is precisely why a worn chain tends to be discovered the hard way.

A rattle for a second or two on the first start of the day from a chain-driven petrol is the classic warning of a stretched chain or a failing tensioner. It applies to the 1.8 and 2.0 TSI, and especially to the second-generation 1.4 TSI, whose chain tensioner has a poor reputation across the whole VW Group range of that era. Treat that noise as urgent rather than as a character trait, and either walk away or price the work into the deal.

• Second-generation 1.4 TSI (EA111 family): chain-driven, not belt-driven, and the chain tensioner is the known weak point. A start-up rattle is the warning.
• Third-generation 1.4 and 1.5 TSI (EA211 family): belt-driven, so they have a cambelt schedule to keep and an invoice to ask for.
• 1.8 and 2.0 TSI (EA888 family, both generations): chain-driven. Listen to a genuinely cold start, not one the seller has already warmed up.
• Diesels: belt-driven. On these engines the water pump is commonly driven by the same belt, so the two jobs are normally done together; confirm it for the exact engine and ask whether the pump was changed.
• 3.6 V6 (second generation only): naturally aspirated and chain-driven, with the chains at the gearbox end of the engine, which makes any chain work a large and expensive undertaking.
• Early second-generation diesels can be pumpe-duse (PD) rather than common rail. The engine code on the car tells you which, and it changes both what tends to go wrong and which parts fit.
• Ask to see the cambelt invoice with the mileage and date on it, and check whether the water pump was replaced at the same time.

The diesels: EGR, DPF and the emissions plumbing

Second-generation diesels span two different injection systems. The earliest cars can be pumpe-duse units, including the 1.9 TDI and some early 2.0 TDIs, where camshaft and follower wear is the reputation to ask about specifically. The common-rail 1.6 and 2.0 TDI engines that followed are EA189 units, the family at the centre of the well-publicised emissions issue of that era, so ask whether the corrective software was applied and get it recorded. Third-generation cars use the later EA288, and the later of those add an AdBlue exhaust system with its own tank, pump, heater and sensors to go wrong.

Whichever one you are looking at, the dominant complaints are in the emissions hardware rather than the engine's bottom end. EGR valves and coolers clog with soot and can weep coolant internally, which shows up as coolant disappearing with no puddle on the drive, sometimes with white smoke. Diesel particulate filters block on cars used for short journeys, and a filter that keeps trying and failing to regenerate dilutes the engine oil with fuel, so the oil level creeps above maximum. The variable-vane turbo can stick from soot, giving underboost and limp mode, and on the common-rail 2.0 TDI the plastic swirl flap linkage in the intake manifold is a known weak point.

What you want from a diesel Superb is evidence of long runs and proper servicing. Check the oil level and smell it, look at the coolant level and the expansion tank, and be suspicious of a car that has spent its life doing three-mile school runs. A live data scan showing soot load and time since the last successful regeneration tells you more than any MOT advisory.

• Coolant level dropping with no visible leak: suspect the EGR cooler.
• Oil above the maximum mark: fuel dilution from failed regenerations, and a reason to look hard at the DPF and at the journeys the car does.
• Sudden loss of power and a warning lamp on a motorway slip road: often sticking turbo vanes or a split boost hose rather than a failed turbo.
• Rough running with a stored intake manifold flap code on a common-rail 2.0 TDI: the flap linkage in the manifold, sometimes only its position sensor.
• Third-generation diesels with AdBlue: NOx sensor and SCR faults are a common complaint, and an empty or faulted AdBlue system is designed to warn you, then count down and refuse to restart the car, so it is not one to leave for later.

The petrol TSIs: chains, oil consumption and carbon

The 1.8 and 2.0 TSI engines of the second-generation era, the earlier examples in particular, are known for using oil, sometimes considerably, as well as for chain tensioner wear. Oil consumption on these can come from the piston rings or from a failed crankcase breather, and the two feel very different: a breather fault often brings a lean running code and a whistling noise, while ring wear just quietly drinks oil. Ask the owner how often they top up, and check the level yourself rather than taking the answer on trust.

Direct injection means the intake valves are not washed by fuel, so carbon builds up on them over time. It shows as a lumpy cold idle, hesitation and misfire codes, and it is a cleaning job rather than a failure. Coil packs and spark plugs are ordinary consumables on these engines and a common cause of a misfire. The plastic thermostat and water pump module is another familiar leak point, so look for crusty pink or orange coolant residue around the front of the engine.

Third-generation petrols are generally an easier proposition. The 1.4 TSI, and the 1.5 TSI that replaced it, are belt-driven engines that do not carry the earlier chain reputation, though they do need the cambelt keeping to schedule. The 1.5 in particular is well known for a low-speed hesitation or jerkiness that Skoda addressed with engine software updates, so it is worth asking whether the latest calibration has been applied. The third generation also offered 1.8 and 2.0 TSI versions of the same chain-driven family in a later form, the most powerful 2.0 TSI coming with four-wheel drive and a DSG, so a cold start is still worth listening to. On a plug-in iV, check that the car has actually been charged and driven regularly, and that the charging cable and equipment are all present.

Gearboxes, clutches and four-wheel drive

Manual cars are straightforward, but the dual-mass flywheel behind a diesel is a wear item. A rattle at idle that changes or disappears when you press the clutch, or a shudder as you pull away, points at the flywheel and clutch as a pair, which is a gearbox-out job.

DSG automatics come in two flavours and it matters which one you have. The seven-speed dry-clutch unit fitted to the lower-torque engines is the one with the reputation: juddering as you pull away, hesitation when you creep in traffic, harsh engagement, or a flashing gear display and a drop into neutral all point at the clutches or the mechatronic unit. The wet-clutch six and seven-speed boxes used with the more powerful engines are generally robust but require a scheduled oil and filter change, so ask for that invoice; a car with no record of it is a gamble.

Four-wheel-drive Superbs use a Haldex-type coupling on the rear axle, and it needs its own oil service, which a routine service does not automatically include. The detail differs by generation: the earlier system has a filter to change as well, while the later one uses a strainer that has to be cleaned when the oil is done. Neglected, the pump and its screen block, the rear axle quietly stops contributing, and often nothing lights up on the dashboard at all, so check the history for that job by name rather than assuming it is covered.

Electrics, water ingress and modules

A large proportion of odd electrical faults on these cars trace back to water rather than to the component named in the fault code. The scuttle drains at the base of the windscreen fill with leaves, water backs up into the pollen filter housing and finds its way into the footwells, and a sunroof or panoramic roof, where fitted, adds drains of its own that can block. Damp carpet, condensation on the inside of the glass or a musty smell are the early signs; failed control modules and corroded connectors are the late ones.

The starting battery deserves the same suspicion. A tired battery on a car with stop-start produces a spread of unrelated-looking faults across several modules, and warning lamps that come and go. On cars with a battery monitor, a replacement battery should be registered to the vehicle so the charging strategy matches it, which is a coding job rather than just a spanner job.

Take an airbag warning lamp seriously. On this family of cars it is frequently caused by wiring or a connector under a seat that has been disturbed, but until it has been read and fixed you have to assume the system may not deploy as intended, and that is not something to postpone. The same applies to a cluster of ABS, ESP and parking brake lamps appearing together, which usually means one shared input such as a wheel speed sensor or the steering angle sensor rather than four separate failures, but which also means driver aids you would otherwise rely on are switched off.

• Lift the boot carpet and check the spare wheel well for standing water or rust staining.
• On a second-generation hatch, open the TwinDoor tailgate both ways and check both latches and the seals; on a third-generation car with a powered tailgate, test it through its full travel.
• Press the carpet in all four footwells with your knuckles, especially the passenger side.
• Check every window, mirror, lock and light, plus the reversing camera and parking sensors where fitted.
• Infotainment freezes and reboots on third-generation cars are a common complaint and are sometimes cured by a software update, so leave the screen running for a while rather than glancing at it.

Suspension, steering and brakes

A knock from the front over broken surfaces is the most common suspension complaint on a Superb, and the anti-roll bar drop links are the usual culprit and the cheapest to put right. If they are healthy, look at the lower arm bushes next, and on high-mileage cars the rear multi-link bushes and the strut top mounts. None of this is unusual for a big car on this platform and none of it is dramatic individually, but a car that needs all of it at once adds up.

Cars fitted with adaptive dampers can throw a suspension warning if a damper fails, and those dampers are dearer to replace than conventional struts, so make sure the driving modes actually feel different on the test drive. The third generation uses an electronic parking brake with motors built into the rear calipers; those motors do fail, and pad changes need the calipers retracted electronically rather than wound back by hand, which is worth knowing before booking the cheapest brake job you can find.

Rear discs corrode on cars used mostly on motorways where the rear brakes do little work, which is a common MOT advisory rather than a design fault. Anything that feels wrong in the steering, or a steering warning lamp on an electrically assisted rack, should be read and understood before a long journey rather than after one; loss of assistance is not something to discover on a roundabout.

What to check on a test drive or pre-purchase inspection

Insist on a genuinely cold start. Ask the seller not to run the car before you arrive, put your hand on the bonnet when you get there, and listen to the first few seconds carefully for chain rattle on a petrol or an uneven clatter on a diesel. Watch the exhaust in the mirror on start-up and again under load.

Drive it in traffic as well as on a fast road. A DSG fault shows itself creeping at walking pace and pulling away from junctions, not at a steady speed on a dual carriageway. Let it come to a complete stop and pull away several times; a repeatable shudder or a long pause is a finding, not a quirk.

Then spend ten minutes stationary going through everything the car does electrically, and get the modules scanned before you commit.

• Check the oil level and condition, and whether it smells of diesel.
• Check the coolant level and look for residue around the thermostat and water pump area.
• Ask for the cambelt invoice, the DSG oil service invoice, and the Haldex service on a four-wheel-drive car.
• Look for a fully lit dashboard at key-on, and be alert to a bulb or a warning that has been disabled to hide an airbag or engine fault.
• Test the air conditioning until it blows properly cold, and check the condenser at the front of the car for stone damage.
• Feel for knocks over speed bumps at low speed with the windows down.
• Look for uneven tyre wear across the tread, which points at worn bushes or neglected alignment.
• Have every module scanned, not just the engine, and read the stored and pending faults together with live data.

Fault codes that turn up on this model, and what they actually mean

A stored code names the circuit that misbehaved, not the part that caused it, and on these cars that distinction saves real money. An underboost code can be a sticking turbo or a split intercooler hose that costs almost nothing; an intake flap code can be a broken plastic linkage or just its position sensor. Read the code, then confirm it with live data before buying parts.

The other trap is that a basic code reader usually only talks to the engine. Faults stored in the gearbox, ABS, airbag, comfort and instrument modules are invisible to it, which is how a car with an apparently clean scan can still have a stored airbag fault or a mechatronic warning waiting for you. What you want is something that walks every module on the car and shows the live measuring values that turn a guess into a diagnosis. VAGPULSE, the Windows software and cable sold on this site, is one way to do that on a Superb.

These are the families of codes owners most often see on a Superb, with the usual suspects behind them.

• P2015 and related intake manifold runner codes on the common-rail 2.0 TDI: the swirl flap linkage in the manifold, sometimes only the sensor.
• P0299 underboost: sticking variable turbo vanes, a split boost pipe, or a leaking intercooler.
• P0401, P0402 and EGR flow codes: a sooted EGR valve or cooler; check the coolant level at the same time.
• P2002, P2463, P242F and similar DPF codes: a blocked or ash-loaded filter, usually a symptom of the journeys the car does.
• P0016 and P0017 crank and cam correlation on the chain-driven petrols: chain stretch or a cam adjuster. On an interference engine that is a reason to stop driving the car and have it inspected, not to press on gently.
• P0087 fuel rail pressure low on diesels: fuel filter, high pressure pump or injector wear, best narrowed down with live rail pressure.
• P0300 to P0304 misfires on the TSI petrols: coils and plugs first, then carbon on the intake valves or an injector.
• P0171 running lean on the TSI petrols: crankcase breather or an air leak, and a common companion to oil consumption.
• Lost communication codes across several modules at once: a failing battery, a poor earth, or water in a module rather than the modules themselves.
• Airbag, ABS and steering angle codes: usually wiring, a connector or one shared sensor, but never something to drive around with unresolved.

Common questions