Manatee

We have two Roomsters in the family, both about a year old and 1.2. TSI 105's. One has 5,000 miles, the other 13,000. Neither has need any oil top up at all. Both are still checked regularly. There have been examples I believe of some of the larger blown petrol engines (usually in Audis) using virtually no oil for long periods, and suddenly consuming a lot, so we have no intention of being caught out.

I bought two Roomsters last year, a 1.2TSI 105 DSG Scout that my wife uses and a 1.2 TSI 105 SE DSG on behalf of my uncle. The brochure lists the extra features of the SE, and then the Scout, over the 'S'. For the Scout it lists rear discs as an additional feature, for the SE it doesn't, implying that the SE has rear drums. In fact both of the above cars - same drive train - have rear discs.

The 105 goes very well, it's my wife's car really but I love driving it. Less so at night it has to be said. The headlights are acceptable on main beam but I find them poor on dip, which is the projector lamps. Part of that is what seems to be a low cut off, even with the adjuster at its highest, so I intend to get the adjustment tweaked to try and improve it. In fairness, they might seem worse to me than would otherwise be the case as my own car has HIDs which are like daylight in comparison.

I think that is the same as saying you are better off in the UK than you would be elsewhere - otherwise you would be off? To the general point - the problem with a binary referendum like this is that is implies a right, and a wrong, answer. The reality is that either result can be the right answer if they get on with it instead of perpetuating a largely imaginary division.

40.1 over 1762 miles on a 1.2TSI 105ps DSG. Some short journeys, but some decent runs in there as well. That is using the actual fuel added and miles covered, not the computer. The last tank included a four day holiday in Norfolk, 140 miles each way and pottering in between, and came out at 42. Somewhat disappointing compared with the official combined figure of (IIRC) 49.6, which I think is about the same as the 86ps anyway. The computer seems reasonably accurate on ours, only about 1-2 mpg optimistic..

We already have a bonkers situation where NI, Wales and Scotland have their own parliaments but England doesn't. That should come before independence. Wee Eck and his band are all over the place as far as I can see - they want to be independent of the UK, but to be in the EU - which is only going one way, towards a United States of Europe (some independence). Yorkshire had more people in it than Scotland last time I looked, and they have never elected a Conservative government either. It makes no less sense for Yorkshire to go for independence than it does Scotland. I hope Scotland doesn't go, but if it does, then unless it has its own currency I can see it sliding into uncompetitiveness, and in any event ending up worse off in terms of living standards after it has blown the oil money. To say that they haven't thought it through is an understatement.

No question that the flange gives more options, the question is do you need them? You'll find the detachable part is quite heavy anyway, and the flange version will be heavier still and a bit more awkward to stow. Height - you should not need a height adjustment plate anyway, and if you do use one then it may not be type approved. When fitted, the centre of the ball should be 385mm from the ground, +/- 35mm, with the car in the laden condition. If you fit a towbar and attachment designed for your car that should be achieved. I know of one case where the ball was far too low and it turned out that Witter had supplied the wrong attachment, which was replaced. Something else to consider is electrics and what type of socket you need. The current standard is a 13pin ISO which in my experience is more reliable than the 12N & 12S 7 pin types, and you only need one socket for both lighting and caravan wiring. If you have a trailer board or what have you with a 12N connector, I'd still go for the 13 pin type and use an adaptor. I had assumed that nobody had 12N fitted any more until a friend of mine actually specified one recently! New UK caravans have had 13pin plugs on since 2008, and other European ones from long before that. If you are wanting to cater for possible future caravanning, make sure the correct wiring kit is fitted. The best option, though not the cheapest, is a plug in kit from the manufacturer which should ensure that trailer stability control works, parking sensors are disabled when towing, etc. Do check though exactly what wiring is provided. It used to be the case that VAG wiring kits didn't provide battery charging and fridge power for the caravan. I hope that Skoda have fixed that now, particularly as they have won Tow Car of the Year. At the very least I would go for an aftermarket dedicated kit rather than a universal one - the dedicated kit will be cheaper than the manufacturer part, but should have all the right functions and not require any hacking into the wiring. That's fairly generic advice by the way, but hopefully will help you to ask the right questions. The last towbar I had fitted was a detachable swan neck to a Mitsubishi Outlander I bought three years ago. A detachable is essential on the Outlander as the lower tailgate will not open fully with a towball in place. I had the Mitsubishi parts fitted by the dealer, which turned out to be a Witter kit anyway. All the electrics worked perfectly, and still do (13 pin socket).

Some FWD cars' back tyres last forever, or at least until they should be 'retired' through old age. The modern wisdom is that new tyres, when only two are fitted, should always go on the back - one incidental benefit of that is to finish off the otherwise everlasting back tyres. I prefer to move them around so that they wear evenly, and to replace them all at once.

I've the same square section bars, but different clamps for roof rails that don't need the brace bar. Very sturdy and good value, from the same source.

Glad it's fixed anyway. The Sheffield bulk mail address you wrote to looks like Capita who must operate the 'customer service centre' for Skoda UK. That would make my heart sink! Quit while you're head and enjoy the car

I'd be very happy with that. Our 1.2 TSI 105 Roomie has to be driven very carefully to beat 40. I suppose the frontal area will account for that in part, but the combined figure is 49.6, only about 2.7mpg behind the Rapid Spaceback. It's going to Suffolk next week, 140 mile run, so we'll see what it does then and with some running about in the flatlands! 1200 miles on the clock now and I'm thinking maybe it should be driven around in S mode a bit more - I can't see how it can ever be run in using D, which seems reluctant to use more than 2000 rpm!

Sounds like fairly normal behaviour for any auto to me. Harder acceleration will result in a higher shift point. The corollary to that is that if you ease off it will sometimes drop into a lower gear. I have often done that to nudge a car into top gear (and/or lock-up on a TC auto). The observation I have about our Roomster DSG is that it changes up earlier than I expect in D, and later in S! I am 'adjusting' to it - slightly brisker acceleration in D makes it hang on longer. I suspect it might be adjusting to me, too, but perhaps the poor thing is getting confused - it's 'her' car really and I just use it when it's handy.

The light pattern you can see on an empty road can be deceptive, especially with HIDs for some reason and I get the same impression sometimes with the Outlander's. I think it is because they are so bright in the foreground that they give the impression of not illuminating well further ahead, unless there is something for them to light up - hence they seem brighter at the sides when there is literally nothing head. 100 yards ahead, the road surface is virtually parallel to your beam, so you aren't going to see a lot of reflected light. Question is, do they illuminate a distant lorry? I don't know how the adaptive ones work, I should add. I had a CRV and before that a Ford Scorpio that would do that with the climate control. Never occurred to me to check the heat on the dash around the sensor. There will be a little hole or a grille on the panel, in all probability, that 'sniffs' the cabin temperature. ICE gets hot, which is one reason I guess whey they are usually mounted above the CC panel. How loud are you playing the music;) The thing that seemed to fox the CRV was bright sunlight. There's a sunlight sensor on top of the dash as well as the cabin temperature sensor(s). No reason why you shouldn't put either problem to the dealer though, if you are not happy. Now I think about it - I never solved the CC problem on the CRV, but on the Scorpio there was a reset routine that seemed to work for a while.

The key to this is that the footbrake disengages the clutch, but the handbrake doesn't. So you won't have that hiatus if you use the handbrake; the clutch will go to the bite point when you release the footbrake, hand brake still on, bring up revs as necessary while controlling handbrake pressure with lever. To the OP's question though, that doesn't really solve the close manoeuvring problem, when on a really steep slope. If you use enough gas to move, then you risk overshooting, and if you don't use enough, the clutch will release and you will roll back. Delivery drivers are very familiar with this problem on automated manuals and it can be really difficult to get them onto transporters (and off, when the driving wheels are in the slots on the deck). Described here: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=101179&v=t&m=1093176 A simple hill start is easy with either HHC or handbrake. I think you have highlighted a non-obvious problem with DSG - that it is more or less possible to drive it like a conventional auto, but there are particular circumstances where that doesn't work well or heats up the clutch - HHC is better than handbrake for hillstarts, as it gradually releases brake pressure as the accelerator is pressed and the clutch takes up. There must be many people coming from conventional autos who don't get the advice they probably should. The handbook isn't especially helpful - all it says is that you should not hold the car on a hill using the accelerator. That is essentially what you are doing trying to parallel park backwards into a tight space on a steep hill, so frankly it's best avoided if you want to preserve the clutch even if you can avoid smashing into the adjacent car.

There clearly will be a point at which non-standard spacing will make the plate difficult to OCR or even to read by eye. The specs are in DVLA leaflet INF104 http://goo.gl/eO7noU I have two cherished plates in use, and wouldn't think of messing with the spacing; but it doesn't bother me when other people do it. It makes them look a bit prattish to me in some cases, especially when tactically placed bolt heads and deformed characters come into it as well, but it's not the crime of the century.