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After a heavy downpour and some nice beading with the Autoglym wax polish applied by the dealer.

From Madrid,Spain. Regards!

Well after 3 years and 6 months justice has finally been served on Volkswagen! A legally binding decision by the Financial Ombudsman has upheld my wife's dispute with VWFS. This was not where my wife wanted to be having ordered her Tiguan in good faith in October 2016 before taking delivery on 3 March 2017. The attitude of the dealer, VW and VWFS combined was to ignore my wife's genuine concerns, baffle her with claims of 'normal characteristic' and to frustrate her with delay after delay after delay, whilst the Motor Ombudsman, our legal representatives and the Financial Ombudsman attempted to obtain relevant information. On 16 September 2020 the Financial Ombudsman in her 7 page report confirmed that "Mrs W’s car was not of satisfactory quality"! The FO also stated "My overall impression is that these noises do not appear to be in line with what a reasonable person might expect from a car of this price and description" - "I think Mrs W should now be allowed her final right to reject the car" The full 7 page report will be available on the Financial Ombudsmans Website in due course. Relief is an understatement, we are elated! After 3 years and 6 months we can now finally move on with our lives. It gives us tremendous pleasure knowing that the 'little man' on the street won a dispute against a large car corporation who knew they were wrong in the first instance but they continued to heap financial stress, mental distress and great inconvenience upon us for daring to take them on! This decsion also proves that our concerns with the noise issue that is affecting many Tiguans is not acceptable. I sincerely hope all other Tiguan and other VAG brand owners who have encountered a similar issues or experience with Volkswagen or any other car manufacturer draw the strength to take these car corporations on and get the justice you deserve! I think its fair comment to say that we will never be purchasing another VAG car in the future after this regretable experience!

Aye, only I’m not afraid of what my car looks like underneath it. 😂

Funny how all the journalists end up saying the same thing.........the grill is growing on me but then beards appear and are mostly not what I want but they still grow on me but it doesn't mean I want or like beards.

It's really not a bonny car. Grill too big, wheels too small. Might be a bad angle I suppose. It's probably lovely if you look at it from behind a brick wall.

So back in the day job now, so a few little things prepped after work (for those that might still be following and who are mildly interested). It's all in the details, and will make sense when it's all together.

If I'd bought a Sport I'd have to agree with you. I'd like to think I've made the gentlemans choice Some more good new for me though. Since I have the RR with the smallest alloys there are proper off-road tyres available. the 21" and 22" alloys don't really get anything knobbly at all. My mate boasts about having to pull a Discovery out of mud with his ancient Subaru. I'm not having that

Some goodies arrived today. SuperSkoda. Will be a few weeks before I get a chance to fit them. Have to wait until the paint guy is finished before adding the new bits. Car being debadged for a 2 stage Polish to remove swirls that the dealer put on car with weekly washing. Then being nano coated with the self healing stuff. Then I will fit the new stuff. Most excited about the backlit door sills. But the new black badges ( still can’t believe they don’t come standard on a Sportline), and the mudflaps will make a big difference to looks.

It’s your choice given your annual miles, a service every year that includes an oil and filter is recommended by me and others, ask to switch to fixed rather than variable servicing. Your engine will thank you for it. Variable is for fleet owners looking to have fixed costs and save money.

Yeah - Pity none of the (cheaper) VAG PHEVs are 4x4... Plan A is to buy our car at the end of the lease or maybe a V60 B5 AWD. Plan B would be going electric but not sure if I should downsize to an ID.3, wait for an ENYAQ RS or save up for a Polestar 2! PS - I missed this 272 vs V90 - Fifth Gear Shootout on Fith Gear earlier this year: -

Let me introduce to you my latest project. It's Amundsen MIB2 made from SEAT NAVI SYSTEM unit. Thanks to it: - it has CD drive so you can play music from CDs - it supports 6 channels (4 doors, subwoofer, central speaker) driven directly from the unit (without any external amplifier), in SEAT it's called SEAT SOUND SYSTEM - it supports 5 points equalizer (125 Hz, 250 Hz, 1 kHz, 5 kHz, 10 kHz), although it doesn't look perfect as it is a mix of SEAT and SKODA skins but it works perfectly Original unit model number is 5F0035858C so it has DAB but does not have MOST => no support for Active Info Display (Virtual Cockpit), however it can also be made based on units equipped with MOST (e.g. 5F0035877). It has been flashed with Skoda SW 0478. So if anyone's interested in relatively cheap unit that supports AID (VC), has built-in CD drive and can drive subwoofer and central speaker please contact me on PM Some pictures:

Dropped in here because I've chanced across a Mk1 Octavia that hasn't been butchered, 82k and virtually bone stock. Seems Briskoda is the font of Skoda knowledge, time for a little sip!

There is a mobile fitter works out of Derby, he installs for PF Jones Mc/r, I had a Westfalia fitted and coded by him - all works fine! He also works privately if you are interested, I can probably find a tel no for him!!

They must have deliberately left it off the lower spec car to force people to choose & pay for a higher spec together with stuff that they probably didnt really want or need, the saving to them of not enabling it is the extra cost of 2 remote keyfobs, probably a couple of quid to them. A great result though, I wonder how many people are driving around without realising their car has factory fitted unenabled extras? It could be any of us especially with poverty spec vehicles like mine.

My Yeti is set to annual fixed and I can check the oil temp in the maxidot?

He probably had bypass wiring done to save a few £ instead of the dedicated electrics

Cheers for that, I'll go google the detailing forum and have a look

So no new module required?

I am replying to this as a current Octavia owner, so my reply might not be totally relevant: On a fwd car, with normal loads, I would tend to run one or two psi higher at the front than the real. For high rear loads, particularly for high loads combined with extended periods of high speeds, those pressures might creep up a bit, with 2 - 4 psi extra being the maximum. I don't know what it says on your filler cap/in the manual, but I'd start from there (unless it says something about winter tyres in the manual, when its likely to be bollo misstated nonsense, although, slightly fortunately, no on seems to take any notice of what it says). 31 fr and 30 rear sounds about right for 'normal' use, but YMMV. Those dealer set pressures are mad, unless you are frequently transporting small elephants, and then it won't ride well. whatever pressures you set.

Useful links however I prefer as OEM as possible so the knob from the Kodiaq with the same letter logo and identical text as the Superb suits me fine. I browsed a used parts website one hour ago and there were 3 such knobs from Kodiaqs in very good condition (essentially like new, at least from the pictures), cost: 100EUR so I ordered one and will be looking into fitting it in the coming weeks I will update with the results

Well after 3 years and 6 months justice has finally been served on Volkswagen! A legally binding decision by the Financial Ombudsman has upheld my wife's dispute with VWFS. This was not where my wife wanted to be having ordered her Tiguan in good faith in October 2016 before taking delivery on 3 March 2017. The attitude of the dealer, VW and VWFS combined was to ignore my wife's genuine concerns, baffle her with claims of 'normal characteristic' and to frustrate her with delay after delay after delay, whilst the Motor Ombudsman, our legal representatives and the Financial Ombudsman attempted to obtain relevant information. On 16 September 2020 the Financial Ombudsman in her 7 page report confirmed that "Mrs W’s car was not of satisfactory quality"! The FO also stated "My overall impression is that these noises do not appear to be in line with what a reasonable person might expect from a car of this price and description" - "I think Mrs W should now be allowed her final right to reject the car" The full 7 page report will be available on the Financial Ombudsmans Website in due course. Relief is an understatement, we are elated! After 3 years and 6 months we can now finally move on with our lives. It gives us tremendous pleasure knowing that the 'little man' on the street won a dispute against a large car corporation who knew they were wrong in the first instance but they continued to heap financial stress, mental distress and great inconvenience upon us for daring to take them on! This decsion also proves that our concerns with the noise issue that is affecting many Tiguans is not acceptable. I sincerely hope all other Tiguan and other VAG brand owners who have encountered a similar issues or experience with Volkswagen or any other car manufacturer draw the strength to take these car corporations on and get the justice you deserve! I think its fair comment to say that we will never be purchasing another VAG car in the future after this regretable experience!

A dirty car uses more fuel because of extra drag though.

Just had a quick look on eBay and found this for £48. You can't beat owt for nowt though.

Trouble is with this, you're unlikely to get many contributions from people saying e.g. "I was busy on my mobile whatsapping a hilarious youtube link to my mate Dave when the XYZ safety system cut in and definitely prevented me crashing head-on with a car coming the other way. You should have seen the other driver's face, he looked terrified LOL" … "Great safety systems in these cars, innit". And yet those 'saves' might outnumber the false triggers by 100-1 for all we know.

You mean not every part is made to fit a Superb??? Outrageous... However I was just told from my dealership the "566 713 123 E EXY DSG 4x4 Black KODIAK" knob costs 230EUR and i may have to re-think about it, but then again my birthday is next month....

I do get quite a few cars pushing a bit, either that or they just like driving close and looking to overtake when there's no chance. I have had exactly what you describe Rooty, an Audi cabriolet of some description, 4 pipes at the back. We were stopped at traffic lights and when they changed he raced off and left me for dead. The fact I had stop n start on, was in eco mode, and don't race anyone in a 30 limit ever probably didn't stop him being convinced he left me for dead. (It was pretty quick to be fair though!!)

George simple question when and what was your last Skoda? A SEAT Alhambra is not a Skoda BTW.

At a guess, the trim at the base of leather cover/boot is a different size/shape. Once you have the old one off, you can compare for any obvious differences and then make a decision if you need to transfer the leather cover/boot

That’s just the internet though. A place to live out a life you don’t live. Did I ever tell you about the time I had Nelson Mandela over for a curry and a pint..?

What did you do in the end to enable the function Sasha?

See, if the Blind Spot Monitor is still enabled. They probably forgot to connect the car to the computer at the dealership after solving your issue. Nowadays the cars are like virgin ladies. Cannot touch too much. Every time for example you disconnect the battery you have to recode the ECU. Some features might not work because of this and they just need to be resetted.

@ewlmr I think by next may there will be many more phev and bev options. I am sure you'll be able to find an AWD one to suit.

New models are often a bit flaky. With so much tech it's not really a surprise that the majority of issues inthe future will be software related. There is probably nothing wrong with that camera module, it's probably not compatible with the car software update, or the update is applied in the wrong order. If you've ever worked on computers for a living all these issues start to sound familiar

So something really weird has happened soon after I posted this. I realized by chance that the "Rear Traffic Alert" and "Blind Spot Monitor" assists were turned off without me remembering to have done so. Only explanation is this happened couple months ago when the car was dropped at the dealership briefly for another reason. I re-enabled them (I wonder how I didn't notice the Blind Spot being off all this time...), then gave another go to the Virtual Pedal and it worked like it was working since the beginning. I opened/closed it a few times and all worked at first try (a sign I hadn't forgotten the technique). Now I can't see why either the "Rear Traffic Alert" or "Blind Spot Monitor" assists would be a prerequisite for the Virtual Pedal to work but turning it off and trying my foot failed to open the boot! Re-enabled them, turned off and on it boot and Virtual Pedal was again working... Maybe it's a bug and these assists (probably just the Rear Traffic alert) need to be on on vehicles that come with them? Need to experiment some more but all i know is it is now working fully all the time as before after I enabled them, will keep an eye and report if it ceases again. Just for people who come across the same issue, check your assists are all ON! you never know...

So glad it worked for you. Also... I'm in Australia.

Somewhat of an understatement, - Light years better than a Haynes manual! I gave up with them 2 decades ago when pretty much every procedure read the same: "Replacement of the air filter/heater matrix/topping up the engine oil etc etc requires special tools and dedicated workshop equipment and is beyond the scope of the DIY mechanic and should be entrusted to a main stealer"

contact a local scrote who will open it faster and doing less damage than a locksmith?? probably cheaper too...

For such low annual mileage, annual changes will be better for the engine and turbo as if you do lots of short journey the oil may not always get fully hot enough to burn off water vapour.

@Raymundo91 Gorgeous pics!!! Thanks for sharing !

That's great and all, not really sure how it relates to my post about a hybrid Octavia though

The only way the engine can turn but not the cam pulleys, is if the crank pulley is not turning with the crank. Unfortunately that would result in the pistons hitting the valves, so a major rebuild would be required. Hope I am wrong.

Just installed new Aurora spherical bearings in Ground Control camber plates

The ID.3 / ID.4 or the Enyaq will not arrive in the UK with all Season Tyres that might suit the use all year from the length and breadth of the UK, so to get the snow performance it might well be a tyre change required. Then as far as Heat Pumps, there can be very different weather / winter conditions around the UK where the EV's might be used. I have All Season Tyres on my e-Corsa now because Michelin Primacy 4 are just a nonsense on an EV IMO. Maybe fine for WLTP Figures. But then the AC needs to be on or the car steams up, and that reduces range. A Heat Pump is there and the instant heating is a wonderful thing IMO.

Important to note that there are 4 different NHS's in the UK, and NHS England is only one of those.

Just a quick update. The car already had a decent enough exhaust system on when I got it. The trouble is, the backbox was massive and knocked against the NSR spring. This was really annoying and my OCD couldn't handle it any longer. I took the car to my local exhaust specialist who's worked on a few of my cars beforehand. He replaced the exhaust from the cat back as it's a 200CEL cat anyway and here's the new system. As you can see, there's a twin exit tip, a much smaller back box and there's no more knocking against the rear suspension. The car sounds a lot better now and seems to spool up more freely than before. I was thinking that there might be an issue with the rear O2 sensor as my fuel consumption has increased considerably, but then the Mrs pointed out I was probably just enjoying myself a bit too much..... I could have lived with the old system in theory, but I'm glad I haven't and now I can move onto other things that need doing.

I was in Ohakune this weekend so popped over to Smash Palace for a little pick over the Coupes they have there. Got a nice condition dash surround and some spare switches. I went there about 3 years ago and pulled quite a few parts off the white Coupe Quattro but didn't have enough cash for everything. They put a pair of Frankani tail lights aside for me and I planned to collect them soon after. When I called back they couldn't find the lights, they were somewhere upstairs, which as you can see from the photos is a rather packed Aladdin's cave of car parts. I called a year or so later and had a look myself, no luck, so I assumed they had been sold to someone. This time I thought I'd have one more look, and after 15 minutes going over every shelf with my phone torch, right at the end I spotted them on the floor! Absolute score, and they're better than the ones I have, except for a hairline crack on the side of one. But I am very pleased!

17/10/20... Small update on the Golf, Done a bit of Mileage in the Car over the past Week as I went down to Peterborough from Sheffield last Weekend to visit Family and then from Sheffield to Cleethorpes and back on Monday. Car covered around 500 Miles mostly Motorway and averaged 63MPG which is exceptional. Reason for the trip to Cleethorpes was that I managed to bag a bit of a Bargain off ebay and got a set of 4 x 16" Winter Steels fitted with Dunlop Winter Sport 5 Tyres in 205/55R16 fitment all with 5-6MM of Tread remaining. The Wheels & Tyres were used for 1 x Winter Season on a MK7 Golf but the Seller was changing Cars so the Wheels/Tyres were no longer required. I only paid £170 for the Wheels/Tyres Collected which I was pleased about, I also purchased a set of VW Caddy Centre Caps for just £10 off Facebook Marketplace which are Satin Black and 5x112 so slot over the Wheel Nuts and tidy the appearance. Happy Days! Early start Today and fitted the Winter Wheels, Also gave the Car a bit of a Maintenance Wash including Full Rinse, Pre Wash inc Snowfoam, Wash using 2BM, Autoglym Polar Seal application. Fitted the Genuine Rubber Floor Mats too now that Winter is fast approaching.

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