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Having long had a purchasing policy of buy brand new but buy cheap, we've continued the same way after relocating to Tenerife. Importing cars from the UK is expensive, second hand cars on the island are expensive, so a cheap new one was the way ahead. After researching the market in the Canaries, it seemed the likely choices were old stock i20 or Ibiza, or brand new C3 or Sandero. Having driven 3 of them already we tried the Sandero Stepway at our local UK Renault dealer. First thoughts it's a nice car, though the demo was the top of the range one. Modern inside and out, well equipped, and a good drive. The 1.0 triple is gruffer sounding than VWs, but seems to have better torque than my 110TSI. It's also a big car, 4 inches wider, longer and higher than a C3. Roomier than the other choices, and the interior matches SEAT/Skoda for quality and comfort, whist being much nicer than the 2020 Citroen/Hyundais. So, Mrs Spyyder chose the Sandero, but shortly afterwards I found out about the 5/6 month wait for one 😮 so I wasnt hopeful. Luckily, and unlike any UK dealers, the Tenerife/Gran Canaria agent had about a dozen in stock, so instead of ordering the lower spec one we were aiming for (and waiting forever), we spent a little more and grabbed a stock vehicle which was delivered 7 days later. Our bi-fuel car has an LPG system which improves the engine from OK to very nice. Smoother, quicker, cheaper to run and greener. In the UK theres no price premium for it either, so I wonder why anyone is buying the petrol . Is it really still cheap? Well the stripped out and slow 65PS Access was £7995 but Dacia UK have binned it. The range entry is now £8995, but again its only 65PS. You have to have the 90 or 100PS engine really so the Sandero in mid-spec now is more like a 10.5k car. The SUV-look Stepway is another 1k on top, but most seem to be buying the higher Comfort or Prestige models of that one, which whilst loaded can get up towards £15k. Ours is middle of the Stepway range, and only lacks blindspot warning and satnav options from the highest spec (but has Carplay/Android Auto so who needs integral nav?). These prices are for possibly the biggest supermini on the market, nearly the size of a Golf, and the price competition are mostly tiny citycars, or very basic editions of comparable hatches. It's still real value for money whatever you choose, but no longer old tech, this is based on the current Clio/Juke platform and is genuinely a modern car. I can see why its #1 in European sales, and I'm glad we beat the rush, as stocks in Spain are dwindling now too.

I suspect that there's possibly a generational thing going on here. Younger people are much more used to absorbing information which is presented in a Digital format - indeed, many of them are unable to read the time on an analogue watch or clock. There is also a (possibly spurious) illusion of greater accuracy - a Digital display may say (for example) 63mph, whereas an Analogue dial will at best be somewhere between 60 and 65. (I'm no spring chicken, but I'm firmly in the Digital camp. When driving a car with both displays, I never look at the Analogue display).

Fitted the Koni Special Active, made such a difference. Stock springs and roll bars.

I can't help but think the current charging regimes are akin to the old Blockbuster type setup regarding membership. Surely a better idea (for the customer) would be one clearly marked price for each speed of charger and maybe a PetrolPrices style app collating multiple sites?

I have been looking at switching from my diesel to a petrol, I miss the refinement of a petrol car. I do around 15-18k a year though, not sure I could cope with the fuel bill with half the economy. Plus, the petrol models tune very easily.... the diesel doesn't so was a wise choice for me.

The Kodiaq's 340mm front calipers are the same as the Octavia MK3's 340mm front calipers, except the colour is sometimes different. The Kodiaq uses red or silver, whereas the Octavia MK3 only uses red. 340mm TRW Front Calipers 5G0615123B (Kodiaq, Octavia MK3) https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/7488952 340mm TRW Front Calipers 3C0615123 (Kodiaq, Superb MK2, Superb MK3) https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2184642

For the sake of £5 it has different functionality but works much better than the paid for Skoda Connect.

£5 eBay vw plug works perfectly. The app has some cool features. It maps your journeys, rates your driving, shows fuel costs etc. Here's screenshots showing some features.

Has the car had the Software updates that were introduced? Best get used to the car as it is. If you really want to try that reset method then no harm in doing it and you will be the one that notices as difference or thinks they do. ??? Is it a Skoda approved used car? If so or even if not check what if any software update it has. Check the service and warranty work and service campaign record on the Skoda System. You might want to know if the car could have been one previously rejected by an owner because of how it drove.

Get them to explain the personalisation and keys, still not got it fully worked out but at least I am the only one who drives it.

Thanks for this. I've pulled the trigger on Vrs petrol and have gone for DCC and Canton. Dealer asked why I wanted DCC as it's not a common option . I said once you have it you will want it all the time especially on crap UK roads.

Hi guys, quick update. Car is fixed. Total cost £1150 in the end. Worth noting for anyone with a Fabia though, the Mk3 Fabia's from 2014 to the end of 2015 all came with DMF's that were prone to premature failure. These were switched on later Mk3 Fabia's to single flywheels. Not just due to premature failure but apparently due to the earlier Fabia Mk3's cutting out too easily and frequently when at low revs (crawling speeds - 0 to 12mph from my experience). Just thought I'd add this part guys. There was indeed a recall on my model of car yet I still had to pay full price to get it fixed via the dealer! Long story short, anyone after an mk3 Fabia made from 2014 to the end of 2015, watch out and make sure that it has had the single flywheel conversion lol. All the dealers I've spoken to concur that many of the 14-15 Fabia's across the board were coming in under warranty for flywheel issues. The recall doesn't affect Mk3's made from 2016 onwards though.

If you order the Skoda factory extended warranty, does this imply they screw it together a bit better?

I remembered this thread so just thought I would add for anyone trying to decide .... I took out the 6th year warranty with Skoda for my 280 which cost £387. Power tailgate packed up looked like the struts which was confirmed by dealer who have now had authorisation for repair so saved me around 1k. I'm very glad I didn't just put the £387 in the bank !

I was on the verge of ordering one from one of the car buyer sites, I'd specced up a vRS with heated screen, seats, leather, variable damping and got it to £28,800 - not an insignificant sale, but if I'm spending that kind of wedge I want it to work and not be back and too with the dealer. Decisions decisions. Im not bothered about adaptive cruise, lane assist etc, I find I'm a worse driver when I don't concentrate as much.

My dealer wanted to swap the loan car too, but I stuck to my guns as it were, as I wanted a car the size of the Octavia estate or bigger. In the end I kept the Octavia for another few weeks till I got my own back. The dealer hadn’t sold it though, so I feel for you. There are going to be cars somewhere in the Škoda network that suit your needs; perhaps a call to Kate may help in sourcing one? Maybe they’d cover additional fuel cost of a petrol. Worth asking.

@Low-man Just spotted you have a 2016 Fabia. You can not see that if on a phone. There is a thread on the Mk3 Fabia section on Modifying Mk3's, a resent post in it Also a thread on Turbos there. http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/433171-modifying-fabia-mkiii/page/41 http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/481489-turbo-swap-choices-for-ea211-12-tsi

Vrs intake pipe should work to get more cold air in. You can deflap the airbox too. Stock airbox works very well, with a bit of fettling it works even better. Some airfilter have a cotton sock over them, if you were after a bit of extra noise I'd remove it, and remove the drain on the bottom of the airbox. K&N do an airbox for fabias but it is literally just a deflapped version of the standard box. Basically repeating whats already been said but heyho.

Thanks. I’ll try. It’s got to go back in for some other stuff so will see what they say.

The stock cold air intake is already more than big enough so you won't gain power replacing it. Save the money for something useful.

No way is it just VW, the car trade has always been a bit like the tobacco trade, deny it for as long as possible then move the lies to a different market territory and get promote more sales there. Things have swung back towards when Ford allowed it to be cheaper to pay lawsuits for people burnt than sort a build issue and company (and other) doctors told people smoking was good for your throat. The diesel scam publicity probably helped distract from a few other issues being widely known about. Any international company that trades in USA or worst still based in USA knows the cost of litigation and how to avoid it. Motor trade, and tobacco and sugar, have very powerful and very well resourced lobby groups so over very many decades they got used to how to pull the strings to their benefit.

25 again..... https://www.skoda-storyboard.com/en/press-kits/skoda-octavia-press-kit/history-60-years-of-the-skoda-octavia/

I wonder if the Mk2 Octavia 17" pegasus or 17" VRS would fit. I'd imagine they're quite inexpensive at breakers these days (Ditto for other previous generation models) and if they do fit they'd be a simple way to test with a set of all seasons/winters on over the winter. If you like them you have your answer and if not you can sell them on as winters for a similar amount to your outlay.

This "big mph" question has popped up frequently on the forum over the years. If I'm driving, I much prefer an analogue presentation which quickly answers the question "am I going faster than X". Even in your lower peripheral vision, you can be aware of the angle of the speedo needle. My father's Citroen only has a "big digit" speedo display (in the car centre, out of the line of vision) which you glance at, then have to work out in your head whether the speed is too fast. I find this much more cumbersome. It also means that passengers can easily see the speed, which isn't always a benefit.... If I occasionally want an accurate speed, I can look at the satnav display. I note that even in modern "glass cockpit" aircraft displays, there are often synthesised analogue needles on scales for easy reading of critical functions at a glance. So I don't really understand why people in the UK want a big display of MPH on their Yetis, especially if it's no more accurate than the analogue speedo. ( i.e. not very) Over to you, "big milers".

Same for me too on my sportline tdi 150 dsg est., can highly recommend

Unless it's specifically optioned on the car, or was ordered with the 20" Ignite alloys (MY21 onwards) then it will 99% be indirect tyre pressure monitoring.

Speed Cameras 😀 (Joking in case any diesel fans get upset!) Looks a nice car, whether you realised it or not when buying, it looks to be the original spec 245, so gets a few extra toys as standard such as the electric memory seats, power fold mirrors, front park sensors etc. You'll also find Sports dials in the infotainment system with it being the original 245. There's not a lot that causes issues with the petrols, waterpump/thermostat leaking is relatively commonplace so keep an eye on your coolant levels from time to time but otherwise mine has been fantastic.

It looks like a rehash and rename of the Lodgy which is/was available and popular in mainland Europe https://www.dacia.fr/gamme-vehicules/lodgy-monospace.html I see Dacia scored fantastically well in the WhatCar reliability coming second overall behind Lexus and Skoda, SEAT, VW and Audi were mid table. https://www.whatcar.com/news/2021-what-car-reliability-survey/n23397 Rank Make and model 1.Dacia Sandero 2013-2020 100% 2.Hyundai i10 2014-2020 99.6% 3.Suzuki Swift 2017-present 99.3% 4.Hyundai i20 2015-2020 99.0% 5.Honda Jazz 2015-2020 98.1% 6.Mini Hatchback petrol 2014-present96.9% 7.Ford Fiesta petrol 2008-201795.0% 8.Volkswagen Up 2012-present94.8% 9.Renault Clio 2013-201994.3% 10.Kia Rio petrol 2017-present94.0% 11.Kia Picanto 2017-present93.9% 12.Audi A1 petrol 2018-present92.2% 13.Skoda Fabia 2015-present91.7% 14.Vauxhall Corsa 2014-201990.6% 15.Seat Ibiza 2017-present90.5% 16.Volkswagen Polo 2018-present80.6% 17.Ford Fiesta 2017-present74.9%

04C260849E (RIBBEDBELT)

Interesting, I wonder if something else like the tensioner changed design causing the difference. Or just an error in ETKA. The latter is quite plausible, given that the last two lines of the table in that page shows the same part number 04E 145 933A as two different lengths, 1000mm in the penultimate, and 1873mm in the last! What was the VW group part number of what TPS supplied to you, please?

Just Email the Dealership and ask them to send the vehicles history and Service Campaign Recall Actions history. Never assume that a Dealership carries out TPI's /Recall Actions or even ones that are RECALLS on the DVLA / DfT / Gov recall site. 'Safety Critical ones'. Because they might not have. (Never assume a car was put back to Factory Setting either as people remap, change Brake Assist, Steering Assist, XDS / XDS+ settings etc etc. then trade in or return leased cars set as they have done.) https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-recall http://skoda-auto.com/services/recall-actions

Yep, finally sorted! Oddly enough the former owner of my car took it in for cutting out at low speeds 3 years ago and was told there was nothing wrong with it. The official paperwork from their local Skoda dealer reads "advised owner to be given tutorial on how to operate the vehicle efficiently" lol. You take care and hopefully I won't be complaining on here for a while lol. Smooth riding from here on out, fingers crossed.

Ordered week 20 (May) and was told building week 27/28 and delivery week 31 and was also told that car was built before week 31 but missing chip, but now on the way to dealer 😀

I have an Octavia combi 1.0 Tsi eTec. Production date June 2021 with software version 1803. Touch on wood, EVERYTHING WORKS!!! I think they have sorted the issues. I have also travel assist and traffic jam assist. Works flawlessly. Mobile app also works with remote lock/unlock. Hope it gives some confidence to those who are worried.

I'm away to put on all season Pirellis so should be perfect about spring / autumn time for absorption

Hi from Barcelona! I haven't changed the springs thereby the comfort has been unchanged. Yesterday my wife drove the car and she didn't notice or complain. The body raised a little bit, but will settle over time, it's really hard to notice.

The systems are not mandatory for manufacturers to fit as standard and will not be until next year and on new type approved cars, along with other mandatory systems. They will still be able to be switched off when they are fitted, the thing is they will be there as Factory Settings when the vehicle is started. You would hope before the systems are required by EU Legislation that the manufacturers had sorted out the horlicks that some have fitted currently. http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/486388-lane-assist-is-dangerous http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/487234-lane-assist-frequent-faults http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/494175-lane-assist http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/488677-how-did-cars-end-up-with-so-much-tech-fitted http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/495705-mandatory-requirement-on-new-cars-from-2022-speed-limiters http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/496539-welcome-to-isa-intelligent-speed-assist-limiter-uk-to-follow-eu-adoption-on-new-cars-great-new-safety-measure-or-big-brother

Curious indeed, i always "feel" car feels more lively after an oil change and filters etc. I dont know for a fact as I've not yet had experience before and after this service procedure, but if the dsg had an oil change, they might have had to run through a diagnostic reset procedure that recalibrated the clutches pressure points. This is often reported on the forum to smooth out the gear changes and characteristics. Glad its better for you now, my 2.0 TDI dsg certainly idles at 750rpm and on take off, it just creeps away even off my drive that is slightly downhill.

AFAIK they used the same TRW caliper on all the 340mm cars up until the MK4 in 2021 part number 5G0615123B. There are offset changes with the FL but that should not affect the radial clearance

Thanks Mark, not too far from you. From the other posts it sounds like 18's wont make too much difference but I appreciate the offer. Might be interesting to see the difference all the same 🙂

Sunset, Beachy Head tonight: About 20 mins before the thunder and lightning arrived. Gaz

Aside from the tax fraud aspect, you have no paper trail and no comeback if you have a problem.

Not via the menus. Safety regs, same as why they all default to Normal driving mode. I believe it is so anyone else getting in and driving the vehicle after you is not met with any surprises, i.e. wanting the car to use lane control and finding out (to their cost!) that someone else has turned it off.

Glad to see its still going Trev!

Intercooler all cleaned and sprayed and looking great, ready to go on anytime now, been out for a nice drive too

Whilst this is still ongoing I wanted to take time out to thank you to the members of this community. When I posted this issue I only just had the accident. The speed at which members of this community responded and advised on what to do speaks volumes. So Thanks All

I find opening any single window causes a very uncomfortable and unbearable beat in the car, even at remarkably low speeds. We have a Mk 3 Octavia estate and for me the only thing that works is to open a front window and a diagonally opposite rear window. Experiment with the amount the windows need to be lowered to get the required airflow. Funnily enough this was the recommendation from a recent (British I think) study to get the best airflow in a car to reduce to risks of Covid transfer.

When we were looking for a compact camera for my wife one of our requirements was for it to have a viewfinder. She had prviously had a Canon Ixus which only had a screen and she found it very difficult to see what she was taking a photo of in bright sunlight. After much searching for a camera with a viewfider, as they are getting very rare, we bought a Panasonic TZ70 which has a viewfinder, 12.1 Mpixels and a 30x optical zoom. It is also "Wi-Fi Certified" but we have never used that function. It does allow you to control the camera from an app on your phone which I have tried once and then never used again. It takes good quality photos and we are happy with it. Looking online the price new appears to be about £200 but I think that we bought ours a a Grade A refurbished model for less.

Did a bit more on the Fireblade yesterday Afternoon after work, Went through the rest of the Bike... : Removed RHS Rearset & Pillion Footpegs, Stripped, Fully Degreased and re-assembled. : Replaced the Front Brake Pads as they where around 60% Worn, Rear Brake Pads are like New and are Sinters. Went for some EBC HH Sinters which I won on ebay. They where bought in error by someone and I paid 50% of what they normally sell for. Happy days. : Brake Calipers & Pins degreased, Cleaned, Pistons pushed back by hand. : Lower Fairings Degreased, Cleaned and Hand Polished. : Re-Aligned the Exhaust, It was slightly off centre as can be seen in my pictures earlier in this Thread. Cleaned the Carbon Fibre and Titanium Link Pipe. : All Plastics/Fairings and Tank Hand Polished, Touched up a few Small Chips here and there. : Noticed a Bolt Head Cover/Cap was missing just below the Seat, Popped onto Fowlers to look at the exploded view of the Parts and found a Genuine Honda item for £2.80. Couple of pictures... Missing Cap/Cover...