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We took an (lhd) Epiq for a test drive, and were quiet impressed. There was plenty of room inside, I'm 6' tall, and there was still enough room in the rear when set up for me driving. It was comfortable, and responsive. We are seriously thinking about getting one to replace our current Karoq. The model I drove was a 55 Edition.

I think the automatic braking is my least favourite feature on my Superb. I do want to leave it on most of the time "just in case" it is ever needed, which is fortunate because you cannot permanently turn it off. But it is far too sensitive and erratic for me to be comfortable with it. Here are some places where it has fired off for me: Reversing into a parking bay with a footpath that ran across the back of the bays. The path was separated from the parking bays with a fence, I was edging back slowly, and was still more than 3m away from the path when a pedestrian walking along it set off the automated braking. Going up a curved ramp on a multi storey car park. This time going forwards at walking speed. I think it was the raised kerbs on the narrow ramp that triggered the brakes. The driver behind me was not at all pleased that I appeared to brake check him on the ramp. Backing into my garage at home. I need to remember to turn off the automated braking every time or the car will never let me into my own garage. It is a little tight through the doorway with only 20cm to spare on each side, but (unless the car is going to jump sideways) there is no chance of actually hitting it when reversing in a straight line. However, the brakes always come on if I forgot to disable them. Today's example must win a prize! It happened while slowly reversing at 2-3mph along a shared drive with at least 2m clear on either side of the car and over 15m clear behind. The paved drive is surrounded by houses on either side and garages at the end, so nothing like bushes or tall grass to set it off. The brakes fired, so I checked surrounding in case I had missed something. It was all clear so I started to reverse ... and the brakes fired again, and then again. The only thing that was moving behind the car was the vapour coming from my exhaust in the cold air. I wonder if the camera saw this and decided to brake in order to protect the vapour from being injured? Now, these false alarms would be annoying but acceptable if they were just warnings. My Mk3 Superb did just that, leaving plenty of time for me to brake manually and decide whether it was safe to proceed. But instead we get violent braking (I can think of no better word) whenever the car decides there is the remotest possibility of hitting something. My back and neck are still sore from this morning's event; perhaps that is why Skoda decided to put massagers into the chairs? Some future software update might fix this behaviour, but I really don't expect that Skoda will ever do anything about it. I suspect instead that their designers and programmers are all high fiving each other about all the wonderful safety features they have built into the cars. What examples of unexpected slow-speed manoeuvre braking have you experienced with your car?

Yeah i need to get them adjusted again when the weather calms down a little bit. I'm hoping it will fix it but i have to say i never noticed it before.

I think the TV tuner was only offered for a short period. Missing spec: TV tuner Rear blights Remote folding rear seats Sleep pack. Virtual cockpit Not bad really!

I doubt it. They didn’t do them for RHD. I guess it’s similar concept but just using battery power.

Dammit - I knew it didn't look quite right!

Could have sworn I replied to this. I didn't change the hubs - felt like that wasn't something that was known to benefit and, as you see, it starts to spiral into a requirement to change other parts. You don't need to do Shocks and springs unless you were already intending to - the subframe is needed to be dropped for the arb and also for the nearside lower arm if you have dsg as the gearbox casing gets in the way of removing one of the bolts. On that basis, if you're aiming for one, its best to do all of them, along with a 4wa after. That was @OccyVRS 's original point. Rears: arb is a good one to tighten up rear roll. Technically, its going to move the handling towards oversteer but you'll only find that on a track. Get one and put it on the stiffest setting. It will also be more communicative on the way to the limit. Opinion appears divided on whether the rear droplinks are good enough. I never had a problem, but since fitting the Superpro ones, I've definitely noticed more solidity so I'd say its worth it for that. Superpro, Hardrace, Whiteline, Racingline, APR, 034 - all fine. They're a bit fiddly - and be prepared to jack up the control arm underneath to compress the spring in case access to the nut (and centre triple square) is blocked. We also found jacking up the other side helped too. Videos make it look nice and easy, but on min it looked like the bottom bolt had been done up too tight, pinching the droplink and stopping it from seating nice and easily. We ended up attaching to the arb, then trial and error with the jack o the other side to make the arb force it into the arm. You also need to torque when the suspension is under load instead of drooping, so either on ramps, or jack the hub up until its starting to take the weight and then finish it off.

Better the other way round so you can watch it while driving

Now it’s perfect 🤌🏼

Webasto type thing?

Did my Octavia master a few months ago and its not that easy without garage ramps etc. Its one of those parts you can see but getting to it is another matter as the DPF is in the way. Have done three now in my Skoda cars plus my sons Fabia due to similar symptoms re gear change and its cured them all. Only one was leaking at master The other three reckon fluid was getting past seals on master an a random basis. Didi the slaves at the same time. Alasdair

(Hopefully) final update - after picking up an Asda PAYG SIM (they run off Vodafone), the system works as expected every time. Within seconds of starting the car, a data connection is made and traffic data begins to pull in. Clearly a problem relating to O2. The O2 SIM works fine in a mobile phone so it seems to just be a compatibility issue with the CarStick / car itself.

Thanks Alasdair, really appreciate your advice! I've already decided to replace both the master and slave cylinders, just to be on the safe side. The slave cylinder on my Scala is also external, located below the battery. Hopefully replacing both will solve the intermittent clutch problem. I'll also make sure the mechanic checks the seals and hydraulic connections during installation. I'll post an update once the work is done. Thanks again for your help!

Massively helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond in such detail

I might be doing something similar this afternoon but hopefully if will take it via the import. The dealership messed up my radio icons. I never asked them to do anything on that. Get the car back with the UK icons wiped. Irish ones OK. Theory they were trying to be helpful spotting my logos were old BBC ones, deleted them, we'll just pick them off like mib3... errr oh its not mib3 but mib2... what I reckon they did so I'll try for my very first mib2 high icon update 🥰. Fingers crossed.

On a 2005 Octavia Mk2 (1Z5 estate) with dual-zone Climatronic, the wiring is different from the manual Climatic setup because there is no separate 4-speed resistor pack (N24) in the ducting. Instead, the PWM blower control module (J126) is clipped directly onto the fresh air blower motor assembly (V2), and the whole unit is fed by a single 6-pin connector (T6z) behind the glovebox. 1. Factory wiring and pinout at the 6-pin blower plug (T6z on J126) - Pin 4 (T6z/4, thick 4.0 mm² red/black or red/white wire): permanent 12V battery feed (Terminal 30a) via splice B322 from fuse SC22 (40A) in the dash-end fuse box. On some later MY2008+ diagrams this 40A blower fuse moves to SC40 or SC38, so check both 40A maxi fuses in the dash-end panel. - Pin 3 (T6z/3, thick 4.0 mm² brown wire): main earth (Terminal 31) via harness splice 374 to earth point 617 on the lower right A-pillar behind the kick trim. - Pin 1 (T6z/1) and Pin 2 (T6z/2, thin 0.35/0.5 mm² wires): PWM speed demand signal and diagnostic feedback between the blower regulator (J126) and the brown 16-pin plug (T16l) on the back of the Climatronic panel (J255, pins T16l/15 and T16l/6, routed through the 10-pin coupling plug T10e behind the dash). - Climatronic panel (J255) supply fuses: SC4 (10A) for switched ignition (15a) and SC16 (10A) for permanent memory supply (30a). - From the J126 controller, two short heavy fly-leads (red and black) plug straight onto the brush tabs of the V2 blower motor. 2. How to test why it is cutting out intermittently 1) Check voltage under load at T6z Pin 4 and Pin 3: unplug the 6-pin T6z connector under the passenger footwell foam cover (twist the locking tab and rotate the motor assembly clockwise to drop it). Put a 21W/55W headlamp bulb across Pin 4 (+12V) and Pin 3 (earth). If the bulb lights brightly and does not flicker when you wiggle the plug or fuse SC22, your main power and A-pillar earth (617) are sound. 2) Check the PWM signal on Pin 1 / Pin 2: with the ignition on and the Climatronic fan turned from minimum to maximum, the control voltage from J255 on the thin control wire should vary smoothly with fan speed demand. 3) Why intermittent failure happens on a 2005 Mk2: - Sticking brushes / water ingress in V2: rainwater getting past a blocked scuttle drain or poorly seated pollen filter cover drips onto the top bearing of the blower. When the bearing drags or the carbon brushes stick, current draw spikes and the J126 controller trips its internal thermal cut-out (and usually logs fault code 01273 - Fresh Air Blower (V2): 010 Open or Short to Plus, or 003 Mechanical Failure, in VCDS Address 08 Auto HVAC). - Dry solder joints inside J126 (3C0 907 521): the regulator module on the fan frame suffers from cracked MOSFET legs after years of heat cycling. You can test the motor (V2) on its own by unplugging the two heavy motor tabs from J126 and feeding fused 12V directly to the motor pins. 3. Part numbers to watch if you buy a replacement If the commutator is worn or the bearing is dry and you decide to replace the unit, make sure you get the right-hand-drive Climatronic version: - Complete RHD Climatronic blower with regulator: 1K2 820 015 (superseded by 1K2 820 015 A, D, G and H). - Blower regulator (J126) on its own: 3C0 907 521 / 3C0 907 521 F. - Avoid 1K1 820 015: any part starting 1K1 is left-hand drive; the blades and housing scroll run in the opposite direction and will barely push any air through a UK right-hand-drive heater box. Also avoid 1K2 819 015, which is the bare 2-pin motor for manual Climatic without the J126 controller mount.

Thats something else. I would be afraid to get in it in case I made it dirty plus god knows how I would cope with all the gadgetry. Saying that your getting a lot of car for 20k and just under 61k miles with a full service history if I had the money I may well be tempted. Alasdair

I have downloaded the latest database. My Audi Harman MQB2 high wont accept it via SD update. I get a conflict error. So I and rename the stl.1vw file to VW_STL_DB.sqlite and update via More Incredible Bash tool

Nope. No good. Hasn’t got a telly….

👍

Thank you DerekU, I have seen lots online with the same problem but not always the same year, but Fabia mk 1, 2,3's. I have had advice from the CAB and used it to send a letter outlining the problem and detail about the 'incidents'. I paid £13k for the car and I'm not going to keep it with the fault. I've had the car for 4 months! Under the consumer rights 2015, which are there to protect their rights, and do state that if a repair can not be done then you are entitled to a replacement. If the dealer will not then I will take it back to CAB to level 3. I am loathe to use the ombudsman just yet as you have accept the result, that's it the end. But if all else fails I will use it. Yes I understand that they are saying that it can't be fixed, but I think they could do it just don't want to, a common behaviour it appears. The car has been to the Skoda dealership service centre the 1st time and I assume EMG are using this time.

At the moment Skoda appears to be holding it's own in the market place. Unfortunately the VAG group as a whole has financial problems looming, which will lead to plant closures and lay offs. I did read recently that VAG might drop the Seat brand and continue with the Cupra brand only. All of Europe's car manufacturers are going to come under more pressure from Chinese imports and I guess they will all be doing what VW are doing. This week I read that Volvo will lay off 2500 people over the next two years. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/volvo-cars-swings-third-quarter-loss-plans-job-cuts-2026-10-23/

Skoda reported stronger financial result earlier this year, record EV deliveries and 2nd Place best selling car brand in Europe. Great success and maybe not much passed onto the workers behind that success. Record year after record year. Maybe just the After Sales and correcting snagging faults promptly needs addressing.

MOT test today. Pleased to see a relatively minor fail followed by immediate pass. Interestingly the only fails it has ever had is this one and one 5 years ago for exactly the same thing!

MOT day today. Pleased to see a simple fail and immediate pass following adjustment of the headlight aim. This was with the LED bulbs fitted.