BigJakk

Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience taking out 'small claims' type civil claims in regards to pothole damage to their vehicles. Long story short, I work on an industrial estate where the access roads, whilst publicly accessible are not adopted by the local authority. The roads are not well maintained at all and for the second time in just over a year I have struck a pothole which has caused instantaneous deflation of the tyre and damage to the alloy wheel, which has buckled. The buckle is on the outer edge of the wheel and cannot be repaired. I don't particularly want to make an insurance claim through my insurer given the implications of that and to keep costs down I am on sourcing a second hand wheel to mount the new tyre to. However, I cant help but feel a bit aggrieved by all the hassle and outlay on this. I am aware that other vehicles have suffered similar damage on the same pothole in the days after my incident, and it has now been filled in which to me is confirmation that the road surface was defective. I have the incident where the damage was caused to my vehicle on dashcam as well as 'daytime' dashcam from the next morning showing the pothole more clearly. I have attempted twice to contact the property management company who are responsible for the site in writing, however had received no response almost a week on. Out of frustration, a bit of google has led me to the HM Courts and Tribunals 'Money Claim' which seems to deal with such 'small claims'. I've been through the online eligibility tool and this seems to suggest that the circumstances seem to fit their service, however I just wondered if anyone on here had had any experience with it and could advise if its worthwhile? Thanks in advance, Cheers

Top tip on tne accessory catalogue. Ended up getting back onto the dealer. The guys on the phone weren't clued up to it but once I finally.managed to get to someone on the parts desk they were aware of the 'Accessory Catalogue' They managed to get them to find the part number from the 'Accessory Catalogue' which came in at £230. The only caveat is it's coming from Czech Republic so they reckon the lead time will be a couple of weeks. The OEM part would have been available in a coupleof days apparently, but £640+ was just too eye watering for me. Cheers guys 👍

Thanks Carlston, I'll try running that past the local dealership tomorrow, see how I get on. My current ones are anthracite so looks like they're still in the catalog If there's no joy with the dealer, Ive LLLSpares online who stock them, has anyone had any experience buying from them by any chance? Cheers

Hello folks, Have had a stressful morning st the tyre fitters who advised theh can't get a wheel to balance and think it might be buckled. Taken Offending wheel to a nearby repairer who have confirmed it's got a very slight buckle which can't be repaired due to it'd location. I've rang Skoda who've quoted £600+ for a new Gemini. Had a look on Ebay and there are a few but none local and all look rough and om wary of getting one used to find a similar issue. I wondered it anyone on here was aware of any decent replicas for the Gemini design that might be a touch cheaper? Cheers

Hello folks, The individual driving mode allows setting of different 'Engine Sound' modes from Eco-Sport I actually quite like the sport Sound however the dashboard vibration from the soundaktor is very annoying. I've set it to Comfort, which eliminates the vibration/rattle but the engine sound is much less noticeable. I just wondered does anyone know if these settings affect anything else or is it just the soundaktor - (I dont think there is anything active in the exhaust on these cars) I was considering getting obd11 and deactivating the soundaktor and then putting the Engine noise setting back into 'Sport' but if the only thing this setting is changing is the soundaktor I may as well just leave it in comfort. Cheers

Update from my mate earlier in the week that the SOS was going off pretty much every journey and the infotainment was taking forever to load up. He's been in to Skoda today who have applied some updates and replaced an antenna and this appears to have fixed the SOS and infotainment issues. He has now been able to connect to the car using the Skoda app, however as he only has one key cannot become the primary user and smartlink is still showing as "not available" He's been quoted for a second key, but isnt particularly bothered about having two keys unless it will fix the smartlink issue. Just wondered if anyone knows if two keys/becoming primary user will fix access to smartlink or is it like on older models where there is an additional fee required to activate smartlink thereafter? Cheers

Roger dodge - I've let him know, see how he gets on with them. Cheers 👍

Thanks 👍 It's only a small triangular slit in the boot seal and a area about an inch or ao long on the drivers door sill where it looks like the previous owner has kept scuffing their foot against it getting in/out so was thinking application using a needle or toothpick or similar would probably work and saves leaving an unsightly mess all over the seal. Cheers

Hes still having no joy with it, he has managed to get the car setup with the app and connected to his home WiFi. When he tries to link up the app to the car the headunit shows "Sorry unable to load your settings" He's tried searching for updates but it just sits spinning for ever showing "Searching for updates" He's sent the "Software Information" screen through, which is attached below. I'm no expert on the MK4 but it looks like it's quite an old version and some of the software versions are showing as "Unknown". Interestingly, he's had the SOS button 'pop' while yes been driving about today -- can't help wonder if they are related. Cheers guys

Before I took mine in I considered just deleting the resr wiper as I know they go wrong time and time again, however the washer pipe on the hatch seems a bit of a headache as to what to do with it, didn't fancy inadvertently giving the inside of the boot a wash down one day 😝

Hello folks, The missus recently picked up a new (to her) Focus, over time we have noticed that there are a couple of small nicks in the door rubber seals on the drivers door and the boot hatch. They're quite small and there is nothing to suggest they are leaking or anything - so it doesn't justify going out and buying new seals at silly expense, however im conscious that if left they will only get bigger over time. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a sealant or rubber cement type product that is suitable for the job of closing them up and is good for quite fine application that wont look too obvious - if it looks too obvious and unsightly I'll end up getting told off! Cheers

Hello Folks, Apologies for a lack of detail, but I am asking this in behalf of a friend who picked up a 2022 Mk4 1.5 SE Combi yesterday from a used car dealership. On his way home in it he's tried to use the android auto however when trying to access SmartLink he just gets a blank screen with "SmartLink: This Function is unavailable". I know on some of the earlier iterations of Smartlink in years gone by you had to pay an activation fee for Android Auto/Car Play through the dealer but thought this would be a standard thing nowadays without an additional cost attached? It seems the garage havent reset the headunit as it still has the phone book in there from the previous keeper, so I've advised him to do a factory reset of the infotainment and register himself as the primary user for the vehicle and then repair and set up his phone. I'm about 30 miles down the road so trying to help from a distance which is a bit awkward - just wondered if anyone else had encountered the same issue and could offer any suggestions? Cheers

Just in case anyone else should have this issue -- I managed to get it replaced under Skoda Approved Used Warranty free of charge, suggesting that its a warranty-able item. As per Phoenixboys comments, I initially dook it to DSM in Middlesbrough who were useless and couldn't replicate the issue. Ended up going to the dealership in Darlo with it and they sorted it and another issue out no issues at all. Cheers

Just in case anyone else should have this issue in the future and come searching here, the lighting unit within the door trim needed replacing. I still had some Skoda approved used Warranty cover left on the car and they approved this as a warranty repair so I managed to get it done free gratis 😀

It seems we have a similar scepticism when it comes to main dealers. I've got access to a diag tool so will have a look before it goes in, even though they'll insist on doing it again if it does go in. While it does look quite snazzy it's not the sort of thing I'm inclined to spend an arm and a leg on to sort out -- struggling to find much in the way of DIY for it, a couple of folks on here and the Golf forums complaining that they've had them pack up too and sounds like a full door card off job. Cheers