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If there were Briskoda awards for procrastination and lengths of projects I'd like to think I'd be in with a shout? Anyhow (insert normal excuses here.....) I'm still doing bits and bobs with the car. My not so secret plan with the interior was based around a custom trimmed Cobra Suzuka GT racing seat for the drivers seat only, but trimmed in the OE Fabia vRS material. To cut a long story short I've been dicked about by the trimmer something rotten so that plan has been shelved for now. However, this does mean that i could do some work on the original drivers seat. Now bear in mind the car is 15 yrs old, had 4 owners and has done 108k miles, the standard drivers seat had held up pretty well. There were no holes, burns or tears, and coupled with the fact that the original owner specified factory fit heated seats and side airbags, meant they are worth looking after. I could feel the metal rod from inside the bolster foam under the material so it would have only been a matter of time before it would have worn through the cloth and ruined the base material, and i felt this when i bought the car 7 years ago. For once i thought ahead and in 2015 I purchased a new seat foam base from TPS, and it's been stored in the loft ever since ( and been through two house moves!) The seat foam bases are now no longer available so I dropped lucky at the time in getting one. Using the excellent guides on here i stripped the base material from the foam, cut the hog rings off and gently eased the heated pad off as well. Quite surprising how bad the foam was when uncovered... The new foam was then offered up I gently glued the heated pad back in place at the front and back edge and then set about the tricky task of securing the fabric back over the now very firm foam with the hog rings and hog ring pliers. There is certainly a knack to doing it but once I had worked that out it went ok. I secured the seat fabric back round the edges of the seat frame and built the seat back up using new plastics on the bases, again sourced recently from TPS. The finished construction of the seat base is now complete and the original fabric is now stretched tightly over the firm foam base, exactly how the seats were new. Please be aware that the seat itself is now due a deep wet valet, where all of the dirty marks will be removed, this is just to show you how the base looks with new foam :-) I'm currently repainting the seat runners so when they are refitted and the seat has been deep cleaned I'll present the finished article.

Hi George. We've tried the Pashley style ones previously on the Monsal Trail and she's found them too unstable, top heavy and easy to fall off, especially with a normal saddle. The advantage with the recumbents is they have a much lower centre of gravity so are inherently more stable and more difficult to overturn. Also, given they have a proper 'chair' type seat she can have a harness to hold her onto the seat and stop her and the bike parting company. It was a good suggestion though all the same. In terms of the side by side bottom picture we've also considered those and the occpational therapist has suggested trying them but figured a trike would give her a bit more feeling of independence, although one of us will always need to be cycling alongside just in case...

In my experience it should be fine as long as it reacted and dried. Years ago I did exactly as you on a very old car and never got around to putting any paint on it in any way. I didn't see any rust whilst I still had the car. If you want to be sure lightly abrade the surface, then reapply and then prime as per the manufacturers instruction.

We've got a couple of sdis in the the family. Dad has a MK1 fabia and I have a MK2 caddy. They can move alright when they want to, just have to use a bit of driver ability to stay on the power. The best thing you can do for them is get the cambelt changed and timed up well if it's not had one recently. They can stretch older or cheaper belts, which results in a lot of power loss. It's never going to be fast, so just enjoy it for what it is. I probably have more fun driving my 68?hp caddy than my vrs that's got about 100hp more.

If you just want "exciting", sell the Skoda, learn to ride, and buy a motorcycle.

Really pleased for you @Nosnehm . I still have the hire Kuga I was given by Skoda in early April and it’s been very good (apart from what appears to be a parking brake failure resulting in it rolling into my garage wall this week….ouch). Will take possession of a Ford Focus Active X Estate tomorrow and dearly hope for a return to software glitch free motoring.

My Amundsen sat nav/radio/information centre recently failed, just repeatedly turning on and off every few seconds. I posted a query here and @pab567 suggested some ideas about repairing it. He explained how to remove the unit and send it to him in Poland. I did so and was very pleased that he was able to repair it, at a reasonable price, and sort out the customs forms needed when sending from the UK. I wish to publicly thank @pab567 and recommend his work, which saved me a great deal of money had I gone to my main dealer.

I have a 2009 1.9 TDI, same BXE engine but in the facelift body. Overall it's been very reliable. The only "big" job it needed was when the DMF gave out at around 40k miles but other than that it's been great. Like you say, no DPF and I find that it still gets better fuel economy than modern diesels do.

Get lazy all those Ctrl+'s 😍... Will use paint next time 🤣. De... dar (I do date back to CP/M you know and ICL George 3 operating system, IBM 360, PDP8s... they don't make them like they use too ;)... know a few replication punch card tricks that the youngsters don't know, very handy these days)

Hi Jim. As I understand it from your posts you are generally pleased with the car and unless I have missed something this is the first significant issue you have encountered - the failure of your vehicle to save favourites. So I am intrigued by how quickly you seem to have moved to requests to repair or replace etc. I also have several faults which Skoda (here in Australia) have not been able to rectify in the three weeks I have had the car and I am wondering whether to give them a similar ultimatum. So far I have preferred to keep it friendly rather than businesslike. The details are in my topic: In neither your case nor mine do the faults seem to be a serious safety issue or mechanical failure, although mine encourage me to take my eyes off the road which reduces safety. But, like you, I worry about the likelihood of further software issues down the track, including as unexpected side-effects of a normal update. Especially when I read reports on this forum of more serious issues.

Went to look at bikes for you daughter earlier this week... with her epilepsy etc. it needs to be something stable so thinking of a Hase Trigo Up with a couple of adaptations... Very nice bit of kit and nicely engineered! Can be retrofitted with a Shimano e-motor but means I'd probably need to invest in a trailer to transport it. They do a similar version that folds but it's nearly three times the price!

Didn't find anywere so as the title says here is how to remove acc cover Remove these caps. Put a screwdriver in to the hole press it and push forward. Acc radar.

Thanks, I was just reading the Wiki page, they are both PQ35 platform cars hence the similarity, every day is a learning day. It's very usefull to know the other more popular vehicles for Ebay parts searches

Gave the car to a friend to take to Crail at the weekend for German Invasion. Was the busiest i've ever seen it so hardly any runs. Best was a 13.880 @ 106mph but they had constant issues their timing gear so not sure how accurate that is. I did take it for one run myself thought as i couldn't resist it. Also managed to get the 0-60 down to 5.8 seconds and 0-100 mph in 12.5 seconds

I have Thule bars from February and they are always on. Mainly for carying bike. They are great, at speeds above 130km and glass roof, you do not hear nothing...

It's the 2.0 TSI I've ordered.

To Ken and my fellow ebiker, the answer is the power of the internet. I copied a comment from an ODB2 codes site https://www.obd-codes.com/p0301 Beware the American internet experts who look knowledgeable.

If you can’t fit anything in it you might as well get a 2 stroke go kart and thrash around a track, at least you won’t bump into any speed cameras or tractors.

The topic is merely a duplicate of the advert. I shall look into turning this off as I don't need it necessary.

I managed to fix mine .. held the eject speaker and setup key at the same time after restarting it .. to restart it hold left right and speaker

Thanks @Squible - good to hear you've had trouble-free motoring. I'd imagine there's a good chance the DMF could well have been replaced on this one at 122k.....

Aircon issue could be the compressor or a hole in the condenser, usual common failure with age and not usually worth repairing unless you plan to keep the car for a while.

@SashaGrace i second this. would love to do this and maybe a VC to my 2016 mk3. but dont know here to start with parts, or finding if in need a diff bcm ect.

As ever with Briskoda, lots of useful information. Out of curiosity, did you post the same question on BMW forums, and if so what was the response there?

Yep. My cards a Sandisk Extreme Pro parameters attached, no problems. Free space 520mb with the maps on.

IIRC @SashaGrace has used the CarPlay2Air.

why waited that long when links were known two months ago? +1

New badges

Bolero out pioneer in

Just taken a quick look in the brochure for this period. The colour is Island Green. The non-body coloured door mirrors and door handles are features of the Classic model. Equipment highlights are that the front windows should be electric, the door mirrors should be powered and heated, standard fit ICE was the Stream with single CD, MP3-capable and 4 speakers, central locking (not remote), and height adjustable driver's seat. For a 13 year old car, the body looks remarkably tidy in those pics.

🤣 The other half also gets a little car sick and likes it chilly - the kids got it from somewhere I guess!

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever actually specified a car colour before. I always shop around for the best lease or purchase deal which tends to mean a pre-orderd pre-specced vehicle, so you have to take it or leave it. Colourblind people must find car shopping easy, lol.

Understand where you are coming from, however cant you just take the misses our for the day, drop the car off, enjoy the day out with out moaning or will that cost you money?

Are you looking to fit a dashcam or a reversing camera?

It is - once you release the glove box lid!

With the torque from the TDi, you should have no issues Its a theory I have been testing throughout lockdown.... results so far are inconclusive, must try harder!

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

I used to get this in my Karoq if I had the key in my pocket and is probably why they provided a slot in the centre console for the key to sit in ,this had nothing to do with the back up position but it started every time the key was there and hit and miss if in my trouser pocket For reference the battery has nothing to do with locating the key and allowing it to start its purely there to activate the locks you can remove the battery and the car will start

If it was my money, then a Fiesta ST, if you can't handle the ride, then you're asking the wrong questions maybe, and stick with the Octy. I've had a remapped Leno Cupra 280 previously, stupidly fast, but ultimately boring as way too quick for UK roads, unless overtaking slower traffic is your thing. All VAG chassis the same, safe and predictable, but ultimately anodyne and not very unadjustable. The only way to tell that you're at the limit of grip is the sound of screeching tyres, as the balance and steering won't give you any clues. FWIW, I've been thinking about remapping my 245, but frankly can't be bothered, the thrill of just acceleration in a straight line soon wears off, and all you are left with is a paranoia of premature engine failure.

It is worth remembering a proper hot hatch from the VW group which is still a sensible family car. Polo GTI,s from 2015 on with 1.8 or 2.0 TSI,s.

Speed cameras ,speed humps massive amount of traffic ,i think its things like this that takes the fun out driving now ,and years ago you knew the quick cars on the road ,but even the family wagon is a fast thing nowadays ,its all become less involving .

Well you're not alone with this and I'm still having trouble with my Mk3 and I can't wait to get rid of it now, but having seen all of the issues and problems that Mk4 owners are having I'm afraid that I'm not considering having another Skoda at the moment unless there's a major step change in the reliability and satisfaction of owners on here.

You won't get more airflow, the stock system is already more than adequate, even for a modified engine. As is so often the case with kits like these, they move the air intake into the hot engine bay where it will pull in hot air and reduce power. You can rationalise all you want, but all you'll end up with is less power and a hole in your wallet.

5E0035874A seems to be an MIB1 Amundsen. This thread is for the Columbus so you might want to try the maps here: You'll also need to use an appropriate Skoda/VW SD card

Would you be able to write up how to do this? It looks amazing and I need it

Exactly same thing on our 1.5 Monte Carlo. Had to drive it 750kms to get it home from the dealership, over two days. Light came on at 730kms. So it made it home without refueling and that's a brand new motor not even run in. That wasn't on a motor way either, but a mix of town driving and open road stuff heading up to alpine where we live and driving it normally i.e. 110 kph, using Adaptive cruise and reasonably aggressive passing other cars when necessary etc. I was pleasantly surprised. Showed 5.5L/100km on the display first day. The headlights are nice too, good if not better than the Kodiaq's on high beam. I find the DCC sport setting better for twisty open road driving in both the suspension firmness and steering feel than normal too. A VRS Kamiq with even the 140kw 2 litre motor would be interesting alternative to a Polo GTI.

Work is progressing, fear not weary reader. I have had to enlist the help of a professional for the next bit of wizardry for the car, this will be unveiled when they have done the work for me, but in the meantime i have been making and adapting some things inside the car which will kind of give away what is happening. A sneak peek just to keep interest bubbling at fever pitch...

I thought this was worth sharing - it's probably been discussed numerous times before but I think it's worthy of mentioning again. (Mine's an Octavia 2 pre facelift estate.) The outside handle stopped working, the cable had come loose and I could only open the door from inside. To repair you must take the handle off and I struggled to find clear instructions so here goes... - DON'T take the door card off the inside, there's no need, it doesn't get you anywhere other than a drive full of broken trim clips. - You will need a Torx t20 that is long and slim. I tried with a t20 bit in a screwdriver bit holder and couldn't get it to work. I found that a right angled t20 (think of an allen key with a torx end) worked very well. - Open the door, on the edge of door you will see a small grommet that is covering a hole about 8mm in diameter just below the level of the door handle. Access that hole. - Insert the Torx key try and slide it parallel and underneath the end of the door handle, the bit of the handle that doesn't move when you open the car door. You looking for a T20 bolt that fixed to the underside of the handle. I wrongly assumed that the bolt was a grub screw - it's not. I assumed that it was threaded in to the actual handle and was aiming too high. It's actually a fixed bolt that doesn't move but as you wind it, the thread drags a tiny vertical fin or blade fore and aft. The movement of this fin allows you to remove the fixed 'thumb' part of the handle. It's not the easiest of tasks to find this screw but a bit of wiggling should find it. - Unwind (anticlockwise) no more than 12 rotations (I got to 10.5 turns and found that was sufficient to loosen the 'thumb' part) - The smaller end of the door handle should be able to be prised out. It's cast, it looks pretty brittle, be careful you don't drop it. - the end of the cable can be seen - it's black, a resin or plastic with serrated grips that fit in to the corresponding channel in the door handle. Flick it out of the way. - The handle can now be slid towards the open end of the door, pulled away from the door skin and rotated out of the door. The repair took 10-15 minutes, and cost nothing, once I solved the riddle. The mess I created from taking the door panel off will require purchase of new clips and I doubt it'll ever be the same again.

Mine was delivered today. Love it, great gearbox.

I have just driven my new (owned it for 2 weeks) Kamiq 1.5 tsi dsg, from mold (ne wales...in case you were wondering,,,its an actual place), to Prestattyn and back ....got 52 mpg. goddamit, i'm a happy beaver ... this was my 1st proper run, with with wife and dog. All other runs had just been to work and back.. a trip of 1.8 miles (27.8 mpg)