Leaderboard

There are lots of reasons folk may wish to disable certain features on a vehicle, I don't really think it is productive to simply say don't order one that has feature X if you don't want it. I have a Superb on order that features keyless entry as a standard feature on the car, and I too want the option of doing a permanent disable at times. Me and the missus go camping a lot, and our security solution for the eternal 'Where to store the car keys?' question (all other valuables stay locked in the car overnight) is that there is a particular part of the tent where we can hang the keys so they are not possible to get to without entering the tent itself or climbing right on top of it (It's a large tent and that would be impossible without falling into/collapsing the entire thing). This is a serious thing, as I have been on campsites where a stanley knife has been used to silently slice open a little gap in the side of a tent to gain access to valuables. So, in this scenario my keys could potentially be moving when we are turning in sleep, if it is a windy night etc. The car is usually literally almost right against the tent, so it is reasonable to assume that keyless entry will very likely work due to the close proximity. I personally will want the reassurance of disabling the system altogether while I am away on holiday. I don't want to muck around checking I have temporarily disabled the feature every single time I come and go from the car for something, come and go for my evening shower, come and go to put something back in the car before bed, come and go to do that before bedding down for the night, etc etc etc. Far far far easier, stress free, and risk-free to simply disable the feature permanently for the times I do not wish it to be active.

Summer Solstice.

As the title suggests, after getting the tow-bar fitted it was time to take the Carré-du-Vin for a little jaunt. Had a wonderful weekend in York, and drank far too much wine on the banks of the river. I have to admit, I was HUGELY impressed with the Octy as a tow car, although I think I need to get the weight balance right on the caravan (Two gas bottles up front made it a bit nose heavy (but still under nose weight). The Cruise control made it a hugely relaxed experience, much more relaxed than my old Freelander, and having more than enough torque meant the car didn't struggle at all. Even better I averaged 27mpg whilst mainly on back roads.

I see it exactly the other way around. 😀 There’s no way I’m buying a new €60.000 car in a color I don’t like. What difference does €6-700 make when we’re talking that kind of money. But to each their own. 👍🏻

Argh AC stickers, George you'll give me twitches!! A mate of mine lost it in an AC forecourt when they kept putting stickers on his car when it was in for warranty work. It was a Fiat Brava so it was in quite a lot.

What an utter shambles of a dealership. I have used two skoda dealerships in my time owning skodas and both were great at the simple things and woeful at other things like fixing things and fitting things. The fact on top of your experience of the dealer and their inability to provide you with a service that isn't anything above effing crap, your lease company also appeared to sold you down the river too from your original post. I have to ask, have you been in touch with the lease company since? Also, are you still paying them? If you are, I would be pressing for skoda to cover any costs for your lease payments whilst still trying to get their head out of their arse. Should add that I have a leased kamiq (just over a week now) and I just hope I don't experience anything bad. My heart goes out to you for having to deal with these idiots.

Hi all, Again apologies for the late reply but it's been a bloody turgid affair to get to the point where I had my car returned to me today. Sounds like great news (which it is.) but... So, I submitted the independent report requesting a courtesy car and the Dealership promptly replied - 'We reject its findings and don't agree with it'. They were still of the opinion that the only way the damage could have been caused was by 'user error' despite how clear the report had been - that came directly from the Workshop manager at the dealership. They rejected the reports findings that this fault was present at the 'point of sale' outright. At this point my family were trying to coax me down from the ceiling by offering me various sedating medications and a G&T to calm me down. In all seriousness I was pretty despondent to be honest. Anyway, I tried something I've never done before and got the e mail of the CEO of the particular Dealership I was dealing with and e mailed them directly and explained the situation. To their credit his Executive Assistant phoned me within 5 minutes and was brilliant. She assured me that she would contact the Branch Manager and that they would be in contact with me within the hour. The Branch Manager did indeed contact me within the hour and clearly had been 'briefed' as he was almost too nice. He apologised and said that he was unaware of the issue at his branch and this was the first time he'd been made aware of the situation - that in itself was a pretty big warning sign for me. Although I'm a Paramedic I manage a big team and I NEVER like surprises, so I'd definitely want to know why there was this issue brewing that my team had not briefed me on. Anyway, he then informed me that although the dealership Head mechanic disagreed with the report, as a gesture of goodwill they would complete the repair under warranty, refund the cost of the independent inspection and provide me with a courtesy car. Great news. It took another 4 days to get the courtesy car, I still haven't had the request for my bank details to make the payment for the inspection and when I spoke to the Service manager again (4 days later) he was still saying that the Head mechanic didn't believe the report. Thanks to another forum member he PM'd me with some very useful information which I'll paste below: "HI, Just seen your post about clutch issue with the Kamiq, did you get it sorted in the end? Depending on what gearbox you have fitted and the date the vehicle was made this may help, The Information is from a Skoda tech webinar from September 2020. hope it helps, Vehicle specification  Model: Octavia III, Scala, Karoq, Kamiq, Fabia III  Engine: 1,0 TSI (EA 211) in combination with the manual gearbox MQ200  Complaint/Fault symptom  Clutch slips, smell of burning from the clutch area  After having been removed, the clutch is found to be burnt or degraded/fallen apart Technical background/Cause  Due to anticorrosion protection applied to the flywheel and the clutch, the friction value increase is much more slowly. This may lead to premature clutch failures.  Despite optimizing measures (plate lining of the clutch S308, the diaphragm spring of the pressure plate with temperature stability and decreased rpm in the transport mode), the premature heat overload of the clutch still sporadically occurs.  The clutch failures occur in the range from 10 km to several thousands km depending on how the vehicle is operated.  Measure/Production change  Parts without Anticorit have been fitted to the vehicles since CW 20/2019 (except for Fabia III, where the measure has not been implemented yet). After I sent this, would you believe it the Service manager contacted me and said that the engine mentioned in the above report corresponded to the one I had in my Kamiq and the damage, was, after all, caused by this manufacturers fault - he then asked me where I got the information from. It took every inch of my willpower not to chuffing explode. However, I dug deep, confirmed everything was being repaired and replaced and that it would be ready the next day. So, on Weds 16th June I went to collect the Kamiq from the dealership and brought it home. It drove perfectly. That is until I got to a set of traffic lights and had to stop to suddenly realise that when the engine was in idle there was a profound vibration coming through the steering wheel and the seat. I genuinely thought for a second that I was going nuts. I continue the drive as I'm nearly home, stop the car and ask my wife to get in and start the Kamiq up. Hey presto about a minute later she says WTF is that vibration and judder? Thank you Lord - it wasn't just me. I get straight on the phone to the Service manager who if I'm being completely honest did everything he possibly could (bar calling me nuts) to convince me that it would settle down. I point blank refused to accept that and asked him to read out to me the road test result and quality control report after the fix to the gearbox and clutch before the Kamiq was released back to me. Conveniently, he didn't have access to them. So, he arranged for a courtesy car to be delivered to my home address the next day and he would take away the Kamiq to get it looked at. 2 days later I hadn't heard anything (there's a pattern here....) so I called him and he confirmed that a high pressure pump had failed which was causing the juddering. They'd ordered the part and would have it fixed by today and get the car returned to me - which they did. After all the grief I'd gone though with this dealership they didn't even road test the bloody thing before they returned it to me?! As I keep saying I'm not a mechanic but this has to be a quality control issue surely? Time after time on these forums people talk about shoddy technicians and poor customer service. The car is back and well, it's different. It drives perfectly well, there is no judder but the old car just purred when it was in idle - it's a 1 litre petrol engine after all. Now, it's just that bit noisier and louder on acceleration. Is it something I can send back? No, but it's not the same. I hoping some of you will be able to reassure me that it'll settle down. Well, they still haven't asked for my bank details so they can refund me the cost of the inspection and despite 2 requests they haven't sent me a single copy of a list of the actual works carried out which my lease company are, not unreasonably, wanting. The bloody car didn't even come back with a valet!??!? Yes, a cursory sponge was put on the outside but the inside was filthy. If I was the service manager I would have had it come back looking like it had stepped off of the production line. So, there you have it. I will write back to the CEO and give them my experience. It won't be in the format of a complaint but it will be from the perspective of a very patient and reasonable service user that was treated like crap from day one, took the intervention of the CEO's office to intervene and even then they continued to **** it up. One last piece of advice please - it still stinks of a burnt clutch from the outside. It's fine when I get in the car but from the outside it still smells. Is that normal for a replacement clutch or just a hangover from the original smell when the thing was knackered. Lastly - thank you. Thank you to all of you that have taken the time to post and send me advice and encouragement. It's the internet at its best and I'm very appreciative of you all. Best BC

Is all about calibrating your right foot, do love having that sort of power available

Got mine done end of last year. Now up to 193bhp Love when the torque kicks in at 100kph but you’re then hitting silly speed in a couple of seconds. If I had a 280, I’d have no license 🤷🏻‍♂️

I put a Bosch EFB battery on our 2015 Fabia this April (to avoid changing the type from the Moll 59Ah) and during a chat with The Batteryshop I was told that Varta and Bosch batteries are made in the same factory in Spain. (It seems Moll went bust about a year ago, so exact replacement was not possible) Out of interest I put the old Moll battery on a CTek CT5 a few times and tried various test on it: charged up voltage was initially 13 volts, but was down to 12.5 volts in a couple of days, then It seemed to self discharge much more slowly after that - in 15 days it was down to 12.25 volts. The next discharge was into a 21Watt lamp - 1.71 Amps to start with - to get some idea of what the battery capacity was at "end of life". According to the internet the nominal Ah figure for a battery is a 20 hour discharge down to 10.5 volts, and the 21Watt lamp got it down to 10.5 volts in 23 hours. The current had reduced to 1.45 Amps by the time I stopped the discharge at a voltage a bit below 10. So maybe 1.5 or 1.6 x 23 about 33 to 37 Ah remaining, give or take, from an original 59 Ah After a very long charge - 48 hours - the battery voltage stayed up at 13 volts on a self discharge test and 23 days in the voltage is still up at 12.44 The voltage measurement charts were from a "BM2" battery monitor, and the current figures are timestamped snapshots of a digital meter. Battery voltage is affected by temperature, but it hasn't been very hot or cold lately - you can see it on the charts in the afternoon sometimes after a cold night. Draw your own conclusions - I don't know if the really big discharge helped it, or the longer than usual charge, but it does seem to hold voltage better now. When I was charging the car during "lockdown" it was never left on "care" for long, so maybe the battery would still be happy in the car if it had been given longer in "care". (comments from the Skoda garage on the last two services were "battery OK but needs a good charge", or words to that effect.) Regards, John H

this was my thoughts exactly, I wasn't impressed by any of the colours. This was an issue I had when I ordered my Superb II L&K back in late 2013, the best I could get was Storm Blue which was discontinued not long after. So when I got my Superb III Sportline I rebelled and got Dragon Green (you know the yellow one )

Or worse still in that gap between the windscreen and the dash!

Glad you solved it. An inspired guess or some logical tracing with your meter? Often a dash lit up like a Xmas tree is a temporary phenomenon due to low or disconnected battery. A drive around often extinguishes most lights, and an OBD reset should do the rest. But thankfully you didn't involve a dealer to recover the car and attempt to fault find, they could have been mega expensive, changing all sorts of random expensive bits along the way until they either give up or you run out of money

Ok so I solved it. After re checking all fuses today, I decided to go after the relays. The 645 relay in the inner fuse board was blown somehow...(was most likely me hitting something off the body while removing the gps kit) Went to the local Skoda garage, no stock. Rang local VW garage, €24 + Vat each. So off to the scrappy I went, got 3 relays from a 2019 wrecked Octavia for a fiver. Popped these in and bobs your uncle, dash sprung back to life. So after all this the dash was like an Xmas tree, and my Delphi is only a Chinese clone,wouldn't clear the faults. So off to the local Skoda garage again to give them 40 quid for a diagnostic reset. All's right as rain again. I'd like to thank everyone for their help and input into my problem. On a side note, is vcds worth the $$. Seeing as my Delphi can't keep up any more, time to upgrade my kit.

If you don't get a response from the dealership (or agent representing the seller you entered the financial agreement with) in a 'reasonable' amount of time, write back to them stating what you want, in that further to your previous communication dated ***, 1, An independent evaluation has found and stated in writing that the operation of the clutch system was defective and the fault has been identified with the mechanism outside of the excluded wearing parts listed in the vehicle warranty statement and present since the vehicle was built/prior to your ownership. 2, Under terms of the warranty, you expect the defective parts to be repaired or replaced and all other parts damaged as a consequence of the parts failure to be replaced at no further cost to yourself. 3, You allow them a stated time period to respond to the request with an appropriate plan of action (1 week from the date of the email/letter for example) 3a, (optional) You require a courtesy vehicle whilst yours is Off Road. (If you have one of theirs, it can speed up their decision making process) 4, If they fail to acknowledge the defect was present when the vehicle was built within the time stated or they fail to commit to carry out the repair to meet your reasonable expectations, state that you will make arrangement for the repair to be made elsewhere but you will seek to recover through legal means (Small claims court) ANY out of pocket expenses such as the cost of the repair, vehicle recovery services moving the vehicle to another repairer, time spent dealing with this issue at national minimum hourly wage rates, documented phone calls, costs of reasonable alternative transport arrangements made (bus, taxi, hire car, fuel@45p/mile and time of somebody else moving you about). Make a detailed record of your time and expenses accumilated whilst dealing with this since you presented the vehicle to them on day one of the failure. The more you detail, the more pressure you put on them to sort it out as they can see your costs are escalating. Don't get angry with them, it doesn't help. Be prepared to do what you state in writing to them otherwise they will not fulfil your expectations.

Race blue! Always the best colour

Hi all, I had my windscreen replaced some months ago by my local dealer. Everything went well, except... I didn't noticed they had broken (and glued to hide their mistake 🤬) the retainer for park tickets! Since, I was not able to prove this several months later, I've bought a new one to replace it on my own. A good opportunity to make a tutorial. P/N : 3V0 867 333 - 0.72€ First of all, wash your hands before starting to avoid dirty finger prints on the trim panel, especially if you have light grey or 'ivory' interior, To remove the A-pillar trim panel, use a large and flat lever (a wooden spatula should be ok too ). Insert it on the upper part between the door seal and the trim panel, so that you can push approximately the center part of the panel on the rear side to unclip it: Then repeat this at middle height of the trim panel to keep on uncliping the trim panel. In red circles below, the 2 clips once the trim panel is uncliped. Now, you just need to pull the trim panel upward to remove it completely. Once this is done, if you have a sun roof, start uncliping the water drain hose of the sunroof (red circle), to get a better access to the spreader rivet which fixes the park tickets retainer (both in blue rectangle): Then you just need to pull the spreader rivet head (if necessary, use a small fork ;)): Now put the brand new park tickets retainer in place and press the spreader rivet head to fix the retainer. You can now start reinstalling the A-pillar trim panel. Be sure to engage correctly the lower outer corner in the door seal and the lower inner edge in the dashboard: Then get out of the car and stand along the A-pillar and adjust the trim panel height, looking thru the windscreen: Check the lower clip is in front of the slot in the A-pillar. Do the same for the upper clip Then just press firmly the trim panel, starting with the lower clip. If necessary, don't hesitate: A firm hit with your closed fist 😁! Press the trim panel at the upper side to completely clip it. You may then have to make some slight adjustments to get a nice positionning (no bump, no dent under your fingers, when sliding your hand along the trim panel). Done! 😎

I had to remove the front cross member to be able to remove the 4wd transmission unit to replace the DMF & clutch, I thought I had repositioned it in the same position but had not realised just how much clearance there was on the bolts for the factory alignment, the person I had helping acting as my eyes (I am partially sighted & seeing close up whilst simultaneoulsy being dazzled by the flourescent pit lighting is a challenge) and we thought it was correct from the clean paint marks under the washers but it wasn't. What surprised me was how far out it put things, driving the steering wheel had to be held 15-20° anti-clockwise to drive straight on, so much that I questioned whether the rack had dropped out of the clamp whilst unsupported & had gone back in a different position. Not knowing if the tracking had been mucked about with before I started by counting the turns lock to lock either side of the central position, dead equal at 1.5 turns each way, then I measured the exposed threads on each track rod, again dead equal at 20mm each side so I was confident that the vehicle was stock & I had misaligned the cross member. I then did a home 4 wheel alignment check first with a MK1 eyeball & even this half blind geezer could see it was a mile out! then with a 3m straight edge, then a laser spirit level on a metal rail attached to the wheel spokes (photo below). I used a paper target on the B post held in place by the closed door for both the front & rear axles, the rear was a little bit out which I will correct later this week and which makes me realise that most 4 wheel alignment checks start out from a bad datum of the rear wheels. The front was massively out, 6mm from the laser spot to the drivers door directly beneath the waist moulding, 73mm on the passenger side Anyone whose front subframe has been removed for a clutch job could be driving a vehicle that crooked and all a garage would have done would be to take the error out by tracking, big-big mistake!! Looking at where the bobbing is bolted to the chassis rail above the wishbone (access hole in wishbone for the fixing) I could see the paint marks where it had not gone back in the same position, these could not be seen from the pit. In hindsight i would now spray a contrasting paint over these 2 points before unbolting. I needed to move the subframe slightly to one side and to twist it to the limit of the bolt clearances to get the laser alignment spot on. The car now tracks perfectly and with the steering wheel central, in fact better than it ever has as the subframe was not correctly aligned before further confirming my suspicions that the transmission had already been removed (loose bolts, broken solenoid connector etc). I still have the rear axle to tweak very very slightly to have a die straight ride. The laser level works very well for checking if the subframes are aligned, definitely check this before making any other adjustments like camber correction. Finally the kits of stepped washers sold by specialists to "remove the tolerances and align your subframes central where they should be" are snake oil sold by those who dont understand why the clearances are there in the first place and how the front and rear subframes should be aligned for the correct wheel geometry. A small amount out makes a huge difference!

we have it and the sequel (the gruffalo's child) and stickman. and nearly all of Ms Donaldsons other books the unsuredness was whether it got a groan or a laugh for the reference.. anyone fancy tea? in a logpile housssssse....

As the Tesco ad says.... 'every little helps'

no the intercooler is behind it its a pack of 3 items, the radiator on the inside , then the intercooler then the ac condenser closest to the bumper

An extra 60Nm on mine pre map on a RR torque was down and bhp was slightly up on stock figures. I read a topic here about a blown turbo so being slightly paranoid I asked my tuning guy to keep it ‘safe’ and not max the sh1te out of it. a regen sorted the only fault that showed but that was due to the massive soot build up during lockdown. 7 months later and, touch wood, it’s been great.

I run 18" Summer and 17" winter OEM sizes and yes there is a difference but a lot of that is down to the tyre. The winters are a bit softer. There can be a big difference in tyres on the same rim. I found it when I went form the crap OEM Dunlops to the PS4 on 18" the ride was a lot less harsh. Before you look at spacers, VW OEM wheels tend to run a high 30s/low40s offset that puts the wheel 10-12mm in the right direction without the bother of spacers

I'll take a guess that they meant to say "the anticorrosion treatment reduces the surface friction of the clutch plate, causing it to slip and overheat, which excess heat then causes the clutch diaphragm springs to fail.

It is the button to release the semi-automatic trailer hitch

Light alloy wheel SHELL 14 "for ROOMSTER, FABIA II 6.0Jx14 ET37 https://eshop.skoda-auto.cz/cs_CZ/kolo-z-lehke-slitiny-shell-14-pro-roomster-fabia-ii/p/5J0071494C+7ZS Sheet metal disc 14 " 6Jx14 ET37 https://eshop.skoda-auto.cz/cs_CZ/plechovy-disk-14-/p/6Q7601027C+03C Skoda Fabia 2005 1.9TDI – Generation: Mk1 (6Y) [1999 .. 2007] – Power: 99 hp | 74 kW | 101 PS – Engine: 1.9L, ATD/AXR, I4, Diesel Tire Rim 165/70R14 82T 6Jx14 ET37 2.4 185/60R14 82H 6Jx14 ET37 2.3 / 2.4 195/50R15 82H 6Jx15 ET43 2.2 / 2.3 195/45R16 82V 6.5Jx16 ET43 2.2 / 2.3 205/45R16 82V 6.5Jx16 ET45 2.1 / 2.2 205/40R17 82V 7Jx17 ET45 2.1 / 2.2 Skoda Fabia 2005 vRS 1.9TDI – Generation: Mk1 (6Y) [1999 .. 2007] – Power: 129 hp | 96 kW | 131 PS – Engine: 1.9L, ASZ/BLT, I4, Diesel Tire Rim 195/50R15 82V 6Jx15 ET43 2.2 / 2.3 195/45R16 82V 6.5Jx16 ET43 2.1 / 2.2 205/45R16 82V 6.5Jx16 ET45 2.1 / 2.2 205/40ZR17 82W 7Jx17 ET45 2.1 / 2.2 185/60R14 on 6Jx14 ET37 rims is a Skoda approved size for the Fabia 1.9TDI 101PS. However, 185/65R14 would also work well and is a Skoda Roomster approved size. Dunlop Sport All-Season 185/65R14 86H https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rshop/tyre/Dunlop/Sport-All-Season/185-65-R14-86H/R-435489 The Dunlop Sport all-season tyre is non-directional, so the spare wheel can be fitted in any position. If your car came with 165/70R14, then you will notice a lot more grip from either 185/60R14 or 185/65R14.

Looks to be a bracket for the boot trim area that allows the car to be fitted with the bag hooks that run on rails (see link below). luggage compartment trim SKODA KAROQ (ilcats.ru) If you have them it looks like they may not have been fitted properly...

I forgot; another excellent check is on the MoT history, but you'll need details from the last MoT certificate to do a web lookup.

First off, the DVLA data on this vehicle are: Vehicle make SKODA Date of first registration April 2008 Year of manufacture 2008 Cylinder capacity 1896 cc CO₂ emissions 135 g/km Fuel type DIESEL Euro status Not available Real Driving Emissions (RDE) Not available Export marker No Vehicle status Taxed (to Jan 2022) Vehicle colour GREEN Vehicle type approval M1 Wheelplan 2 AXLE RIGID BODY Revenue weight Not available Date of last V5C (logbook) issued 11 January 2021 I'd be wanting to ask why the colour is recorded as Green when the official paint colour is Silver Grey (best way is to check the VIN on the V5 with the VIN in the bottom left corner of the windscreen), and also why the seller is wanting to part with it after only 6 months ownership and after spending (at a guess) around £1,000 on service work. Parkers data are: Skoda Octavia Estate 1.9 TDI PD Classic 5d 2008/08 Private Price £735 - £1,105 Dealer Price £1,505 - £2,095 Based on 140,000 miles with no optional extras "Classic" is the base model so don't expect many toys; I'm not sure if it has electric windows in the front or not. General comments: car looks clean and key items seem to have been covered (full service history, 4 new tyres, waterpump, cambelt, brake pads and discs all round, new shocks and springs all round); have a good lookast the service history to see if it was regular, at what intervals and by whom. This may also tell you if the car was a taxi, in which case look for higher wear. The other big maintenance item is the dual mass flywheel. If that's been done, you will save around £500 in garage charges. Listen to the engine ticking over and check for noises like metal scraping on metal (try a youtube search for examples) which would suggest an imminent failure of the DMF. Cosmetically, is that a scrape or a reflection on the driver's door? Also, the left hand door mirror is missing a cover. No piccies of the back end? You should check for rust on the tailgate around the number plate lights. As long as it hasn't penetrated the metal it can be touched up (and it's not normally visible) but it is a known weakness. Overall, the 1,9tdi PD diesel is pretty reliable with good fuel mileage so if the car is a good one and the price is right it's worth a look.

Mine lives in a kessy pouch in my jeans pocket and I rarely get the key not found message but it has happened a few times. The pouch has an inner (blocked signal) pocket for the key when at home and an outer one that lets the signal out, I just move the key between the pouches when I am gonna drive the car.

I have a pre fl 4x4 machine, had similar probs with a main dealership and an independant here a la frog both denied a replaceable filter in an Haldex 4 unit, I tried arguing the toss but they know better than anyone else here, so after 68k miles and 7 years did it myself, the filter was not bad at all and the oil murky but, as far as I can tell, no probs with the system as of today, I take the car down onto an adjacent beach when the tides out of course and give it some stick when starting from rest. Always evidence of all wheel traction, so I'm pleased!!

Didn't go for the SPS. 99.9% of the time it's only me that drives the car.

The max towing limits of my manual 245 are either 1600kg or 1800kg depending on the incline, I think the DSGs are the same. This is what Skoda state it can pull without damaging the drivetrain, so think towing a broken down car where the tow car's kerb weight isn't relevant. Hitch a caravan up and that's when the tow car's kerb weight has to be considered, hence the (outdated) 85% guidance. Based on no actual data, 85% to 100% seems more realistic these days due to improved stabilisers, car and caravan stability programmes etc... On paper I think I'm at 96%, but haven't been to a weigh bridge to get actual weights. The Freelander will have coped with the weight of the van more effectively than the Octavia. Did you have the boot loaded up? I did this when I first started towing the caravan, but have since realised a bit more weight in the caravan (low down, over the wheels) actually improves stability. Can't exceed the caravan's MTPLM though!

No it's not. Smartlink is simply Skoda's branding for the car's compatibility with Mirrorlink, AndroidAuto and Apple CarPlay.

Sensational news folks! Problem fixed! The culprit was fuse No.23 30A. It was a loose terminal connection where the blade plugged in. One connection was solid while the other was loose and it was corrected by slightly bending one leg on the fuse so it make a solid connection. Car has been road tested and is as good as new!! Many thanks to langers2k for his patience and guidance: wino for more recent help and to all others who chimed in!

Fabia mk1 wheels need to be 5 bolt 100 PCD with 57.1 centre bore I think any will fit from 15 to 17 inch (from memory 14 inch also existed, but not on estate). I think wheels from Polo or Ibiza might also fit Obviously tyre technology has moved on in 17 years, but need at least 82 for load rating. It appears you are In Northumberland so either get all season or winter tyres. 195/50 R15 82H or 195/45 R16 82H tyres, optional 205/45 R16 82V or 205/40 R17 82V. might find limited choice in some of these sizes nowadays

I disagree, if the brakes have been badly bled in the past leaving air in the ABS unit it can cause strange braking issues including loss of brake effectiveness with a hard pedal. But I do agree it sounds more like a servo assist problem. If it is lighting the CEL then there should be fault codes logged in the system. That is where I would start.

Is it possible to drink too much wine?? Carre du vin, genius lol

I guess I am a bit picky . I am often told I am also a car salesman nightmare!

If SmartLink is not active then you have either to contact your local Skoda dealer for having it activated or the unit must be hacked.

might not be everyone's cup of tea, but i had a abarth spider on holiday it was tremendous fun and sounded great 2018 Black Abarth 124 Spider 1.4 MultiAir Spider Auto 2dr for sale for £19250 in Petworth, West Sussex (autotrader.co.uk)

Yes it did survived. A mile did no damage to it. Plus the oil was still coming out of the sump when I arrived at my residence. So probably there was still oil in the system which kept it going till I made it. Thank you all for your valuable input.

the rear bench (the thing you sit on) or rear seats (the thing you lean your back against)? I took out the first one, you pull up on both sides and it will click out, than you have to pull it towards you while pressing downwards. The first bit was super easy, the second one took me a lot of time, my couch didn't want to unhook. There are loads of videos on youtube. If you mean the rear seats then no clue hey I have more pics but the system doesnt allow me to post them. I'll try to pm you

they where balanced by an independent tyre place, been around for years and very trusted by garages all around. they balanced last time - I saw the machine say OK readings against all conditions against all wheels. this time they put them on the machine and they still showed not balanced 🤯 did them again and this time fitted backs to front and viva versa. I took it for a drive and the wobbly feeling has gone 🎉🙏🏻, but this car has DCC and should float over bumps and poor roads. Mine doesn’t, it more crashes over potholes. Floats, but wallows a lot too. has anyone had poor experience after a number of years with their DCC suspension systems.

I’m so sorry! I was reading this on my phone and thought emoji was a clap! I was trying to say thank you. Now corrected. Opticians appointment made :-).

Hi all, New to the community, have had my fabia since November last year. I am used to building and working on motorbikes so cars are a new realm to me, massive fan of mighty car mods so will be looking to do a little bit of modification to my Fabia. I hope this is the place to be. Fabia is a 2016 model 1.2 tsi the 83 KW version.

We have both......... But if I'm honest I prefer the Karoq. I don't think you will be dissapointed !

ABS converted from Bosch 5.7 to 8.0 heat protection for brake and clutch lines

Soooo here we go, it’s on. that’s Day 1 done. More fun tomorrow.