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There you go...

Seriously - being in the industry - you must be stark raving bonkers to think that full self driving vehicles are 'the near future' for much of the population. Yes there are a few places where they are being trialled but not without faults / problems and only in very small geographical areas. Whilst the industry (and certain well known billionaires) are prone to make extravagant claims they don't currently stack up and don't reflect reality. There is then the issue of interior cleaning / sterilisation etc. between users (eg the drunk coming home from the pub who throws up int he back, or the person going to the hospital with a contagious disease). Add to the above a human being's natural self preservation instinct and lack of trust, plus the differing nature of many parts of the UK (many don't live in cities which are where full self drive will be commercially viable) and we're decades away from it.

1967 VW Type 3 Variant 'notchback' I spotted on my travels today. I prefer the Kombi ('Squareback' as the Septics call 'em) and the Fastback myself but I'd settle for one of these. Yours for just €16,990 or £14,565 of your finest British pounds (as Henry Cole might say).

All the 5s on the Octavia. Unfortunately, I missed it with the Vauxhall Omega.

So your AC system has a leak! First in line will be the condenser, but leak source needs to be found before replacing parts. A trip to or a home visit from, your local car HVAC operator.”

Just for clarity, the kit 57A093860C, also fits the 2WD Karoq, enabling a full size space saver wheel to be carried. It sits flush with the boot floor on my 24 Sportline. It does not come with the correct length plastic locking screw, but has not been a problem for me. I think the longer Locking Screw for a Passat will do.

Thanks!!!

One would expect a full range of vehicles including cars or vans with the ability to have mobility scooters to be able to be loaded and unloaded. One family member obsessed with cars or van with side opening side doors, battle between VW Buzz and Kia PV5. Being 6 and a half feet tall adds to requirements !

Will this scenario work getting two people, two suitcases, Dog plus food and a mobility scooter from Lancashire to Devon?

Just to add that I run on Michelin Cross Climate 2 225/40/R19. They are a great tyre, work well in the dry/wet and good on snow and ice. Also, the wear rate is really good, as a bonus 😀

The Autohold function is very effective - was sitting at traffic lights in my Karoq 1,5 DSG and the stationary car behind me decided to accelerate into me at full throttle (auto, she pushed the throttle instead of brake!!) and my car did not move at all, so avoiding being pushed into the vehicle in front 🖕 Also, mine is 71 plate and will only free wheel/coast in Eco mode.

Thanks George for the info about Fort William. Will be interesting to visit their again as last time, several decades ago, it was as part of my Officer Character Training, we got a "white out" on Ben Nevis, it was mid spring and snow line was at about 2k feet so 2.6k feet to climb and descend in snow. Oddly back in to Fort William at 2300 in time to catch the Chinese Restaurant opening times. Surreal. I don't think that that form of one's residence is not going to matter ie home charging availability in the near future. 36 million cars, 42 million vehicles, not including motorbikes etc, is probably a peak and as Self Driving cars become a thing then those that hold a driving licence, I reckon, will have one or no cars. Maybe a small car to do the trip to the shops, or hairdressers etc. Journeys of any length will be mostly done by a FSD car being summoned from the local car hire company and it will arrive in your road and you will pop yourself in the back. In some cases, longer journeys, this FSD car will take me to the Solihull Birmingham interchange station where I can get on a train that does two or three times the speed of a car on UK roads. The near future travel concerns, i reckon, is not having one's own car as that will become increasingly difficult and expensive, but weighing up the cost of which hire company to order ones FSD car from and whether to do all the journey in a hire car or a hire car and train journey combo. Funding it for UK citizens will be an issue looking at the UK's general lack on money. Welfare state under stress, Uk industry largely destroyed in the 80s. The Triple lock is already being questions, several political parties wishing to cut the UK Welfare bill so travel maybe more of a social divide not on driveways but a UK society that is more frugal with its welfare money it hands out and less tax reliefs, and more taxes, meaning less people can travel as much as cannot afford it. I started with nothing, a £25 loan from my Dad which I repaid in a couple of months. Technology will solve no driveways but by FSD cars, BEV of course.

I think you made a great choice in both counts, model and drivetrain. There is only to gain in all fronts, except tight manouvering and obviously fuel consumption when pinned against a TDi. As for the rest ... ❤️

Have a look on Amazon. Search Skoda superb inner door handle 2005. All from china by the looks of it. and three weeks plus delivery. Not sure if its the same or what the quality will be but around £25 Alasdair

Just a small update, I have this mat installed for about 2 months now and drove the car is those inhumane heat waves we're having recently and have no problems with cooling whatsoever. Thanks everyone for tips and discussion!

This really is misinformation; it is not typical for many drivers/owners. These scenarios are, and we get what you are saying, but they are very personal to your situation. If you seriously want ICE vehicles to be replaced, you need to clearly demonstrate to others that if you were not able to home charge on your own drive, running an electric car is still both doable and affordable in order to get more drivers to make the switch. Cars charging on your own drive or at a proper charging hub are within an equipotential zone where every metal structure should be safely bonded to each other in that location. Extending your supply outside of that area via footpath, gully, etc. may well be introducing possible risk of fatal electrical shocks to others. This is a clear example of where a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. This is not scaremongering; it is a real fact and is why some local authorities are reluctant. to approve the installation of these gullys. I provide this information in the pure interests of public safety and people's awareness of the newness of electric transportation and to show why I have been saying that there are many aspects of such that require resolving before making it compulsory. The following document gives more information and is 15 pages in length. HEA-EV-Touch-Potential-Guidance-Note-Iss1.1-2026Feb18.pdf

Google says A4 is about 5" longer?......so those skirts in the pic might reach the ends of the sills on the Octavia?

Same here, no notification available.

Hello All, figured i'd make a post now i've rejoined the fold! Many moons ago i got seen off with possibly the worst Octavia MK1 to ever grace the roads of the UK, faults multiple and various (Including a mirror bodged into the warning lights, to allow the check engine light to be hidden!) which soured me on VAG stuff as a whole for the longest time. Fast forward 10 years, Missus finds a twofer - a Mk1 VW LT35 horsebox, and a Polo 6N2 for me to run round in. Huh, maybe VAG stuff is ok and i just got a bad one... fast forward a little more, and i'm now the proud owner of a 2012 Fabia MK2 Scout (105 Hp CAYC 1.6 Diesel, cause what could go wrong with that :) ) Special laptop based diagnostic tool is in the post, already fixing bits (blower resistor changed literally 5 mins ago) Apologies to all the Fabia owners here, but i'm definately gonna be picking your brains over the next couple of....well....i guess you're stuck with me now!

About a month or so ago I started getting update messages and continually hit update. There is no feedback as to whether it installed or not and I can find no reference in the handbook on installation process. I was going to ignore but it has recently started making intermittent warning sounds — four short beeps followed by a tinkling sound — which I’d never heard before. After investigation by internet I found that My Scala, a 20‑plate, now out of warranty, and is still running Amundsen firmware 0278. The car has never successfully installed an OTA update. I had a main‑dealer service on 24 July 2024, but the infotainment firmware wasn’t checked or updated, because it isn’t policy, even though the successor version 0363 had already been released. The dealer has tried to help, but because the car is out of warranty they’ve quoted £336, as ODIS shows the update as a two‑hour install. From what I’ve been able to gather, this appears to be standard VW Group practice and policy across their vehicles: infotainment firmware is treated as a non‑service item, dealers don’t routinely check it, and owners aren’t notified when new versions are released. Updates only seem to happen if you report faults. If you ask for an update it is chargeable. I also can’t find anything in the handbook explaining how OTA updates work, how they install, or that some updates require ODIS dealer installation. To me, this feels like a terrible way to treat customers, because there’s no way for an owner to know their car is stuck on outdated firmware until faults appear — often after warranty. For anyone with a Scala or other MIB3 cars: have you had similar experiences with firmware updates only being applied if you complain, and has anyone had success with Skoda out of warranty?

Never mind, I found it with some extra googling and a little help from the AI we all hate.

I used wurth silikon spray. Its okay from then.

Nope, I just followed the instructions and script took care of everything including VCRN read. I did no additional steps. Attaching photo of terminal after executing script on dumped binary, you can see VCRN is loaded there. So basically your work is just a monkey job to dump the binary, patch it and save back to chip :)

Isn't the Octavia a longer wheelbase than the A4 - the rear legroom is MUCH greater on the Octavia?

Meant to add not holding gas thanks for replying.