Skoda Superb Estate review

The Skoda Superb Estate starts at £36,175 for the mild hybrid petrol. The diesels start at £36,690, and the plug-in hybrids at £41,465. That’s all in base spec SE Technology trim (more on those trims in a bit), and represents a £1,300 uplift (PHEV aside) like-for-like over the saloon. You’d be mad not to, surely?

On lease, you’re looking at about £410 for the mild hybrid petrol and heartland diesel, and £510 for the PHEV, with £5k down up front, a 10,000-mile yearly limit and repayments over four years.

You’re looking at roughly the same price for a Peugeot 508 SW, a couple of grand more for the identically underpinned VW Passat Estate sibling, and the same again for a Volvo V60. Meanwhile an Audi A6 Avant, BMW 5 Series Touring and Merc E-Class Estate all start at £50k upwards. So the Skoda feels rather good value indeed.

What’s the difference between kit?

Base-spec SE Tech gets 17-inch alloys, the 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and 13-inch infotainment display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and charging, heated and massaging front seats, rear camera, and predictive adaptive cruise control with the usual speed, lane and traffic jam assist and traffic sign recognition gizmos.

Mid-range SE L adds 18-inch silver alloys, LED matrix headlights, daytime running lights and cornering lights, rear LED lights with animated indicators, exterior and interior ambient lighting, sports comfort seats with advanced massage function, the electric parcel shelf and electrically operated boot with virtual pedal. Tasty.

Top-spec Laurin & Klement throws in 18-inch anthracite alloys, heated windscreen, washer nozzles, steering wheel (with DSG paddles) and rear seats, black leather interior, a 14-speaker CANTON sound system, park assist with aerial view camera, and a spare wheel. Everything but the kitchen sink, in other words.

And if you were to put your money where your mouth is?

We’d go for one of the diesels given the size of this thing: in SE Tech you’re limited to the 148bhp variant (£36,690), but 266lb ft of torque is plenty, and you’ll benefit from improved fuel economy. Win-win.

And truth be told, we don’t reckon you need to look higher than SE Tech trim anyway, which gets the bigger screens and fancy Smart Dials, luxuries like heated and massaging front seats, and Skoda’s many Simply Clever features included.