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The 'Slimer' is now more or less complete (my initial wee bits n bobs done **copy&pasted to original post to keep adding to it up there): Windows tinted Skoda main dealer timing belt&pump, AC service & Brake fluid change Official Skoda rubber mats Team Heko wind deflectors Front lower bumper gloss black trim piece Extra gemini alloy sourced and refurbed with the other 4 to all one colour (BMW A22 Sparking Graphite) 4X Michelin PS4's on freshly refurbed wheels New colour coded and black round Skoda badges front and back Black rear vRS badge Rear lettering banished (have black lettering but not using it) My reg of course Start Stop deactivated Skoda LED number plate lights fitted and coded New front and rear cameras fitted and hardwired Additional 12V sockets and USB charging port / charge station installed in glove box Android head unit fitted (AliExpress job) Front splitter fitted (The AliExpress special) Official Skoda rubber winter mats New Bosch wipers all round New rear wiper motor, arm, blade, end cap and grommet (when in Rome...) New Varta battery (factory one retired due to age / fear) Skoda main dealer service & headlight adjustment A scattering of pics to cover most of the above:

So the guys who did the M4 video posted a little earlier also posted this one. Looks a hoot

Narrow chisel hammered at 45 degrees downward on left of head. Should loosen fairly easily.

Unfortunately I don't have the part numbers anymore, it was a while ago To be honest you are just as well looking it up on ETKA, or phoning a Stealer/TPS depot with a reg number of a car off autotrader. That is what i would do if looking now. I can confirm the 21.7x3.6 Golf 7R rear bar fits on an Octavia 4x4 and works. The only ones I can find for the 21.7x3.6 size bar are 5Q0 511 305 BA 2wd 5Q0 511 305 BF 4wd (there is also a 21.7mm bar that is 3.0mm thick that I believe is the std GTI bar which is not what you want.) Also facelift vRS with the wider track may have a different bar

I have called the RAC Care Legal team and had a good conversation with the call centre which is 24x7 btw. They told me to draft the letter with the intent of legal route, quoting sections 23,10 & 49. Booked my car in for an independant check/report for Monday. Thank so much for the suggestions

The Kamiq has been thrown outside temporarily whilst I prepared the boss's car for winter. all done now and pretty pleased with the result of two days work. Hope you agree. Steve

Buy up the cheapest secondhand cluster of same part number you can find. Learn how things come apart on that one and salvage the relevant motor. Then remove dodgy one from your cluster...

Definitely get an independent inspection! Haldex units are extremely reliable IF serviced regularly (even more regularly than stated!) I'd not be surprised if a young apprentice did the haldex and drained and filled the wrong one, it's very easy to do! The haldex is hydraulic oil and is NOT a lubricant as such, but the diff oil IS a lubricant, if he's drained the diff and put haldex oil in that it would definitely cause it to blow in a very short time! Normally if the Haldex fails for any reason it just won't work, diffs however will overheat, sieze then blow.

All higher riding vehicles like the Yeti compromise handling and comfort. If handling is a top priority then you can end up spending a lot of money on a Yeti to try and "improve" it, but you won't overcome the basic characteristics. Far better surely to buy a car designed with the handling characteristics you yearn for to start with? In addition having spent money on the 'improvements' you will likely be faced with higher insurance premiums and a big reduction in the financial value of the vehicle. I know this from bitter experience having tried to polish a t**d in my younger days by spending a lot of money and effort "improving" a much prized Triumph. The hard lesson was buy a car designed with the attributes you want, that's why I bought my Yeti's with 16" wheels. I can absolutely understand why someone would change 17" wheels for 16" wheels for the improvement in comfort. But carefully consider the total cost (up to £1000) before deciding. Perhaps just changing tyres to Michelin Crossclimates or Goodyear All Seasons would be a more economic solution?

I have my own system with any of my VAG group cars over the years still have 3 in the house. It’s been discussed here also. I only ask for an oil service becoming quite rare now at dealers. Thankfully my Skoda one and I convinced a Seat one to do just that, supplying my own oil and filter, genuine parts of course. They do that and also a free health check(as good as an inspection) and wash/vac for around £60-80. That’s included picking the car from my house and dropping it back. My book gets stamped too. Air and pollen filters I do myself, brake fluid and fuel filters I always pay whatever they ask all inc parts to replace. Just personal choice about how dirty I want to get my hands. When you compare on paper the major and minor service I don’t see you get that much to justify the near double cost. Even always going for minor and then paying the extra for the odd filter may work out cheaper. Even with air filters I replace a lot more aggressively than the advised intervals. Pollen 2 years or 1 again your choice.

Well, that happens when you are using only distilled water. Corrosion. Will that affect the cylinder head and block? You bet. Here is a cylinder head that needed welding because it was so badly corroded.

I use 88 thermostats and 85-80 fan switches in my vehicle. the vehicle does not see 100 degrees at all (max.96c) "In a problem I encountered before, the clogged heater radiator decreased the cooling performance."

Ok, Car is 38 months old and, out of warranty, with 37500 miles done, so was due its fourth fixed service. First three done by Meadens Skoda in Brockenhurst in Hampshire and all good there. I have owned it from new and I did the fourth service yesterday:- 4 litres of oil and new filter. Filter at the front of the engine from below, twist off/on. Oil drain plug is 19mm at back of engine. Spark plugs required at 40k miles so did them as well. They were a good colour but wanted doing. You need to remove the four coil packs carefully to get to the spark plugs. Only pull straight out and not at an angle. To change the spark plugs you need to remove the air filter housing, with the air filter due at 60k miles. I changed the air filter as well, perhaps this didn't need doing, as it was fairly clean with only one leaf inside the housing. Front tyres at 5 mm but changed for new ones at 27k miles, with original rear tyres down to 4 mm. Tyres rotated. Front brake pads at 10 mm and rear pads at 8mm, with all brakes stripped, cleaned and regreased. All disk faces are clean, flat and have no rust spots/patches high points. All are original brake parts. Bosch filters, NGK spark plugs and tradeTec oil came to less than £80.00 with 1 litre oil spare. The car wanted 0.5 litre of oil before the first service but has not consumed any oil since. Both service and inspection warning messages reset. Scanned car and no faults stored. All good, can't complain. I have had nothing go wrong with the car so far. Still like the car and as usual for me I will keep for a long time. Thanks AG Falco

Hello, I'm going to be the proud owner of a Superb 280 L&K on Monday. It's a 2018 and i haven't actually seen it yet add it's in Edinburgh and I live near Manchester but it's at a Skoda dealer and they sent me a video so I'm happy with the condition etc. A couple of questions, I think it hasn't got paddle shifts, are they easily retrofitted? Is the DCC an optional extra and if so how do you know if it's fitted? I've come from a 450bhp Audi S6 so once the warranty has expired I may want to get a bit more power. Is there a preferred map or tuner and what sort of power can be liberated with just a map? I don't want crazy power, but a bit more oomph would be nice. I've had a few VAG cars in the past but this is my first Skoda. A colleague has a Sportline 220 estate which i liked so I'm looking forward to getting it. I'm sure I'll have more questions once I've got it. TIA

All cars are a compromise. You can't tow a caravan with a Ferrari! I bought the Yeti 9 years ago because I wanted a smallish 4x4 for rural winter driving as I'd moved house & commute to work on untreated roads at 5am. I've driven hot hatches & later quick turbo diesels for the first 20+ years of my driving career, but loved the Yeti when it came out. The fact that it was based on the vastly improved Golf 5/6 platform made it a definite shortlister. I was blown away by the interior quality too, but mostly how well it drove. The only thing that came close was the Kuga back then, & I tried all the Yeti's main rivals, & it was head & shoulders above the rest. The fact that the 170tdi 4x4 Elegance was ideally specced for my needs & was roughly £2k cheaper than it's rivals was the icing on the cake. The only reason I fitted the Eibachs wasn't to modify it but because I had a rear spring snap & I also had leaks on the front struts. I'd also used Eibachs before on an Alfa 156 & they transformed that car immeasurably without compromise, so it can be done. The Eibachs were also a fair bit cheaper than genuine standard Yeti springs & the combination of Eibachs & Bilstein B4s give the same normal road ride quality as standard, better infact over really sharp bumps & potholes, the Bilsteins are better quality & the damping feels more sophisticated than the standard dampers. The only compromise is I've lost about an inch of ground clearance, but as I don't do any more off-roading than normal farm tracks, it doesn't affect my requirements of the car, so it's perfect for my needs. As I'm oldish & we live in a low risk area, insurance with mods declared (including the stage 1 remap) is never more than £240 fully comp with protected NCB, so even that's not really a big compromise. The car's done 132K 100% mechanically reliable miles, 80k on the remap & economy is about 5% improved over standard, so once again, no compromise.

Completely agree, seems very nicely specced for the price

I've just compared the price and spec of the hatch to a pricing and spec brochure dated 13th November 2018, which was the month I picked up my early MY19 245 DSG. OTR £28,045.00 Extreme 19's £655.00 Heated Front Seats £255.00 Columbus £1,075.00 Front Parking Sensors £400.00 Adaptive Cruise £580.00 Kessy £410.00 Total £31,420.00 So in reality it's actually not a massive increase.

Ah wicked thanks again, I'll do the same then I guess and just periodically check them, cheers again mate

Snap. The door and boot glass is made by Saint Gobain whereas AGC has the quarters so I can understand that difference (although I think it's poor form by skoda). The boot does look lighter, but on the Saint Gobain website the light transmission for tinted glass jumps from 15 to 35 and don't think the change is that much.

I love your car and the vast time and effort that's gone into it so far. The yellow wheels aren't for me (but what do I know!) It's your car, go for it.

You need an extractor set. Simply drill the head out and then a small pilot hole to fit the extractor in. They are cheap enough to buy.

Not OK. It will be a nightmare to get it out from the coolant system. If nothing helps with overheating, then it might be possible to have a small crack in the head gasket. By the way, what is the temperature in Egypt now? Minimum and maximum.

Tres posh... We've used a hotel once in Coral Bay, (really cheap deal in November), usually we stay in Tala, about 5 miles inland & 1000 ft up from Paphos. Cooler up there, albeit windy, not many tourists + good local shops etc. Very much expat country.....

Watch this on netflix: Rust Bro's http://www.rustbrosrestos.com/ Flight to Canada and shipping/import still be cheaper than some in the UK

well if i have an accident and the assessors are to inspect the car you have reminded me to rip the visor off and toss it out the window thanks. (ps this is the most depressing/ridiculous topic of 2020)

How about a really nice, restored big-block Challenger or Camaro?

Cleanest bumblebee around lol some job it is mate well done

Makes sense, I saved approx. £8.5K by buying my ex-Skoda Superb. Not such a good deal as yours, but it was only approx, £27.5 K new back in 2012............

I've no idea where you're staying but from past experience October in Cyprus can be quite warm, unless you venture up to the mountains. Frozen hail-stones & 4 degrees in Troodos (when compared with 20 degrees in Pafos) was a surprise, especially 'cos we weren't properly dressed.... Ayia Napa is OK in the off-season, Cape Greko & Protaras probably worth a visit too. If you are going to rent a car, (I always do if only to get to / from our digs.) you'll find Cyprus is a fun place for drivers, a really useful motorway network, entertaining main roads & some twiddly routes through the mountains. It's a country of many contrasts, from posh shopping centres, supermarkets & upscale beach resorts to derelict villages (remnants of the Turkish / Greek conflicts) in the hills. The EU has funded much improved public transport too (no trains though...), cheap local buses + long distance coaches too. If you do want to visit the Turkish occupied zone, it's best done in Nicosia, just walk north on Ledra Street (pedestrian only road) there are Customs Posts either side of the Nato no-mans land. (Bring passport, of course.) There are other border crossings that would require a car to reach them, but rental cars can't visit the Turkish zone, 'cos they wouldn't be insured. I've visited Cyprus 6 times, so I've learned a little about the island & since I'm not a beach person, I'd really recommend some exploring.

Nice mods so far try not to get too carried away or I will call you Sasha 2.

That sounds similar to the other tales of woe that I have read after garages servicing the Haldex, I did maybe 300 miles and I now consider myself very very lucky to have noticed the increasing final drive noise & to have investigated and tried to put things right the next day. I have diff noise but have done 7k miles and its not any worse (yet!) and may even be lack of soundproofing or tyre noise, whenever I go any distance especially when towing I have anxiety, in many ways I would be happier for it to worsen so that I could fit a second hand diff unit.

I've phoned a couple of local(ish) VAG specialist garages and they charge about £150 inc VAT for an oil/oil filter/pollen filter change, so that beats Skoda whether or not they include pollen filter in their £199 asking price. One of the garages said they upgrade the filter to an anti-microbial one as well. They reckon it's ok to start an annual regime now, so I could be having my 2nd service when it's over 2.5 years old. Interestingly Skoda seemed cheaper for the 2nd service but I'm not sure of the exact breakdown of what they both do.

Or the terrified terrier?

Not the kids????

Personally I wouldn't leave it 12 months for an oil change. I changed my car to variable service and did my own oil and filter change at 12 months. I might look for a VW specialist for the 2 year service because like so many I find the dealer charges excessive. Air filter wise I fitted a Pipercross because they're £40 and cleanable so I can do that myself, Pollen filter I cleaned by vac at 6 months and again at 12 months, but I will order a new one next time I'm ordering any car parts. For the oil change I used a Bosch filter and Manol oil. I doubt any dealer takes as much care as a proud owner. I will reluctantly have the 2 year service to keep the warrantee - and please don't tell me the garage will be inspecting the used oil filter and oil and determining it's been changed previously

My Superb is 18 months old and just under 14,000 miles yet the first oil change is still 3 months away according to the onboard computer. It will get the Inspection service at around 42 months and whatever the mileage is then. I bought the car last December with 2 free services however.

Finally washed after many many weeks n weeks!! Also, I was feeling a bit "foggy" - so I vinyl tinted it in light smoke black, and got fog light frames 😊 Next I'll b vinyl tinting the rear tail lights in light smoke black too. They r however more complicated to do with complex lines n curves.

Annual oil and filter based on your mileage and usage all the way. Variable is made for fleet owners watching costs.

Love my heated seats but can’t keep them on level 3 for more than about 5 minutes! Level 1 seems nice for the 30 minute drive to work these cold mornings though.

U'll know u have DCC when u select the Driving Mode and u have Eco, Comfort, Normal, Sport and Individual modes. Or physically looking at the shocks to c a tube/cylinder (size of a small redbull can) sticking out the side of the shock itself. Enjoy ur new ride 👍

How many miles had you driven since they did whatever it was they did and what sort of miles, motorway, short slow urban journeys etc? I think I was very lucky indeed having done a couple of hundred miles mostly high speed on the motorway and autoroute loaded quite heavily, it was towards the end of that journey from the UK to France where I started to hear the differential noise, it was the beginning of the confinement so no journeys were permitted which also helped, if I had been doing my usual journey profile the noise increase would have been gradual if apparent at all, I thnk it was only because I got it super hot, most others seem to have failed catastrophically without any apparent warning, I suppose it depends on how much mechanical empathy the drivers had.

Do it mate I did colour coded white on white on one of my last vrs 👍🏼

The RAC told me to put: "I have been in touch with the RAC Legal Services and understand that the problems with this vehicle are all covered under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 specifically "Section 9 - Goods to be of satisfactory quality", "Section 10 - Goods to be fit for particular purpose", and "Section 23 - Right to repair or replacement". Other sections might apply in your case obviously, but if your car went in with a perfectly good diff/haldex and came out with an exploding one that act will cover it because it covers both goods and services. It'll probably be in Section 39, it's here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted I'm almost certain it'll say somewhere that it's the garage's responsibility to show that it wasn't their fault, it's not your responsibility to prove it was unless a certain length of time has passed. So saying "it's a one off" simply won't hack it. Ring the experts at the RAC!

This diagram posted on the other thread shows clearly the mistake that I made & the one I believe that the servicing garages have made whenever there has been an exploding diff straight after a Haldex oil change : The correct Haldex drain plug looks identical to any of the other casing retaining bolts around it, it has a completely different head to the other 3 filler and drain plugs, if you correctly identify the Haldex filler plug No 2 then you look directly underneath it and find an obvious drain plug that has the same Torx head, the correct one is hidden at the front of the diff, does not resemble the others & looks like a casing bolt, its very hard to find with a vehicle jacked up but would be easier on a ramp but far from obvious. If you do have an independant inspection then make sure they see that diagram, if you are able have a look yourself.

I had totally different issues (engine) but I did get in touch with the RAC Legal Services and they were brilliant I thought. You don't have to be a "direct" member to use them. Number one on the list is to do everything you possibly can via email or letter so you have a paper trail. I'd suggest going back to the service coordinator and requesting an email covering everything he's/she's verbally told you. But do ring the RAC a.s.a.p - they'll give you a rundown of all the consumer laws a garage has to abide by, there are a lot of them, and even suggest wording for your emails. It could be an invaluable phone call.

Drop the subframe a few inches or alternatively drain the gearbox oil and remove the driveshaft cups, once the box is ready to come out separate it from the engine dowels and rotate it counter clockwise, this lifts the back of the gearbox up were the driveshafts connect which gives clearance to allow enough room to pull the gearbox away from the engine so the input shaft disengages from the clutch, if you don't rotate it the back of the gearbox will just hit the subframe and you won't get it to disengage from the engine. I've always use a block of wood on a jack to hold the engine up and an engine hoist to take the weight of the engine as they are pretty heavy. The above is for the 6 speed box in the VRS, I've had the gearbox off 7 or 8 times now and think removing the driveshaft cup and rotating the box is the best way.

And now our journey is coming to an end with the Citigo. We managed to get it to 360BHP and it is currently in our competition to raffle off for a MASSIVE £15 per entry :P . So if you fancy it...

I had the same concern. Swaped from 190 DSG sportline 4x4 to the new IV. If you can't do without the great acceleration and strong pulling power always being available then you may well be disappointed. You can get about the same or slightly better acceleration in the IV in sport mode, but that will not be there UNLESS you have battery power to support the petrol engine - so on short trips you're OK anything after the battery is gone will be petrol only. The 1.4 engine still give 150bhp but the IV is a bit heavier so you will not get the same performance, plus you will really start to hear the engine which the TDI will not have. Having had the 4x4 TDI for 15 mths I never got it to go to 4 wheel drive mode (auto / intelligent setup) so no idea about the potential for worse grip in IV.

I drove two journeys last wekend fullylaiden car, 2 big kids, 2 adults, full boot and 2 dogs Worked perfectly fine and still pulled when needed

its weird isnt it, how colours can be brilliant and not look right. i recall someone respraying a mk1 octy in "mk2 Race Blue" and it didnt look right. yellow on a FL mk2 octy vrs is nice but not quite right. the rare yellow mk1 vrs though.. looks brilliant if its been maintained well. i love the mk3 rallye green, on a mk3. it wouldnt look right on a mk2 though (imo)