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Well... it has finally arrived. 5 and a half months after ordering and 4 and a half months after being built, we picked up our Karoq on Saturday. This time we treated ourselves to the electric seat option. I have to say that its an absolute winner. Especially the lumber support. I also like the ability to lower the front end of the seat squab. I prefer to sit high in the car, not like those who wear their trousers down around their knees and sit as low as possible, the only problem with this stance is that the front edge of the seat used to cause muscle pain at the back of my thigh on long journeys. Whilst fiddling with the radio / media player (we went for the Canton option) I found that there is a Dolby digital surround option! This will (probably) be the last new car we buy, as I dislike the option of electric vehicles. I think they are being miss sold, a bit like the push for diesels years ago. I am not convinced about the ethics of digging up the limited supplies of rare minerals, nor the whole battery production, useful life, recycling process. And of course the availability of sufficient electrical supplies to recharge said vehicles. Sadly we are no-where near being able to produce electricity using renewables in sufficient quantity. Looking at UK generation mix as I type this reveals that just 12% of our requirement is being produced by renewables (Wind 7%, Biomass 5%, Solar 0.1%). Gas accounts for 57% and we are BUYING 9% from France, Holland and Belgium....

Quick update.......... And a basic "How too guide" (Background) i'm no mechanic but will have a go, and im not used to working on skodas either........ Tools needed; 32mm socket socket extenstion 3/8 ratchet container to catch oil (500ml New top and bottom seals Torque wrench New Crankshaft sensor 9mm multi head socket t25 torx bit Jack car up or use stands (i used stands stands) either way ensure its safe and secure! Remove under tray (if its in place) with the t25 torx bit and pull towards rear of car, store under tray and screws safely. Locate bottom of oil filter, behind radiator and more or less central to your view there is a 32mm plastic nut identical to top of oil filter housing. Gently unscrew this and let the oil slowly drain out for a few minutes, then return and remove, it comes out quite easily, don't remove any other pipes just this. Next move the metal cooler element to the side and from the top you can unscrew to 9mm nut securing the crankshaft sensor. Wiggle it out gently, raise the removed sensor and wire following it up to the connector this just clips out at end, plug new sensor in and route wires. Clean around the sensor housing and install the new sensor and retaining nut. Now move your attention to the filter screw you removed clean with a lint free rag or paper towels ensuring spotlessly clean, pick the old seal out gently (This is the smooth one) apply some fresh engine oil and secure in place. Now move to the oil cooler metal part and remove the other seal that has rubber seating holes, again clean/lubricate with fresh engine oil and locate the holes onto the raised pins (There is no orientation) as long as its in place and secure. Go back under the car and raise the metal cooler part to the oil cooler housing, looking from directly underneath you can see when its in place, not gently put the the shaft in whilst holding the metal cooler part in situ. can be a tad fiddly but you will get there. Hand tighten it up then torque to 20nm remove car from stands etc and on level ground check oil levels and replace as needed. Clean all around where you have worked including pipes (This makes spotting any new leaks easier) clear any old codes, take for a test drive 20-30 mins on return jack car up check for leaks around area you was working in then replace under tray when you are confident you have no leaks hope the helps someone, please don't slate we all have to start somewhere..... Anything i have missed please feel free to correct me

Check the diameter of the front brake discs. The Octavia MK4 might have a minimum of 310mm/312mm diameter front brake discs. If so, a 15" rim won't clear the front brake calipers. Skoda sell a space saver for the Octavia MK4 125/70R18 Spare Wheel https://eshop.skoda-auto.cz/cs_CZ/kompletni-rezervni-kolo-18/p/5E3601011B Spare wheel replacement kit (includes polystyrene box, fixing screw with rose, retaining strap, jack, jack handle, wheel wrench, luggage compartment floor support) https://eshop.skoda-auto.cz/cs_CZ/sada-pro-vymenu-rezervniho-kola/p/5E3093860

Small update today! The wee car was beginning had been feeling a bit flat when driving it at times. I had removed the air filter and held it up to the sun and... no light came through. Now, I should have replaced the air filter when I changed the oil and oil filter and I had intended to do just that. However, the company I ordered from sent the wrong one and I already had to pay for postage to send it back and honestly couldn't be bothered, plus the air filter was not bad at the time. But by now, it was more choked than someone with hay-fever mowing their garden. A new filter was necessary for my red nugget and at the totally expensive cost of £4.60 I procured a panel filter for the car from my local TMS Motor Spares. After fitting the filter, I took the car out a small journey (also to get petrol) and the throttle response was much sharper and the revs are now more free-flowing compared to before... so it was clearly bad... So after that journey, some black magic voodoo malarkey had occurred and I was seeing a whole 57.6MPG apparently*. *it's not that I don't trust the trip computer but it seems a tad too optimistic.

@Lofty just wanted to say a personal thanks!!!!!! swapped out the sensor yesterday, and as i'm no mechanic but adapt a have a go mentality...... The information and a bit of research was invaluable and now the cars running again! I am going to write a short "How too guide" just on the off chance someone stumbles across this thread as i couldn't find a whole lot of information about it. The advice of getting the seals was absolutely spot on! Cheers Lofty 😃 ill be sure to check out project dafodil as i'm slowly improving mine.

I used a bottle of Archoil AR6400-D Max at about 15,000 miles that seemed to smooth out and give a bit more response especially at low revs. I now use 50ml of Archoil AR6900-D Max with every fill of diesel and am happy with the results VAG DPF is showing so will continue to use it.

Visited RAF Coningsby earlier and was lucky enough to catch a few members of the memorial flight returning to base HwVideoEditor_2021_09_19_210635774.mp4

I booked with the dealer's central booking service. I recall asking about the cambelt, and was advised 'at the 5 year service. When I dropped the car off, the work was confirmed. When I picked it up, a different service person confessed his surprise that the work wasn't needed. Big John.....I remain delighted with this car. The power is so effortless and much more than enough for my needs. Even after nearly 5 years, I can still frighten myself if I put my foot down!

From day one I thought the shiny smooth cover to the storage compartment in front of the gear lever was annoying as seemed the logical place to put keys or glasses but they would just slide off especially with the holes in the surround. Normal non slip matting is too thick to allow the cover to slide with this type of mat in place. A piece of pond liner is the solution! I pushed a piece of paper down onto the cover to trace the shape and then cut the liner with a blade and steel rule leaving the front edge 15mm longer so that it tucked under the gap the cover slides into. It is held in place by a 10mm strip of double sided tape under the end nearest the gear shift. I measured the thickness of the liner I used and it is 1.07mm thick so say 1mm. The Cover slides in and out perfectly.

I have had to replace the drivers window mechanism like so many others and apart from a video in what i suspect is Russian I was amazed that there was nothing explicitly for the superb 2. I have produced a pdf of the procedure that I hope will help others (despite it taking me four hours to do the job) which I will email to anyone requiring it, on the condition that it is not then posted in part or whole on line in any format or on any site. surprisingly I could not find a local supplier for the genuine or pattern spare and so had to use fleabay. the seller I chose who advertised "same day dispatch" did nothing of the sort and had to be prompted the next day to send it. it was sent rubbish royal mail on a 48hour delivery and arrived 4 days from ordering. complete rubbish service so I do not recommend that you buy from "vantastic"= LR trade parts selby.

Just found this out on Youtube.....fantastic!!!

@nta16, yes that screwdriver is also intended to be used to assist with refitting the wheel bolts, no real damaging torque needs to be applied via it, it is just meant to help hold the wheel bolts and help offer them up into the recessed or counterbored points in the wheels, especially the alloy wheels as the bolts end up almost flush with the outer surface of the wheel - a lot easier than using the wheel brace, though I've never ever used car's supplied wheel braces, always added my own. Maybe that comes from lessons learned many many years ago on Land Rovers, all that you could expect from the factory supplied wheel brace was for it to fold its handle round, and that was on LRs that had regular maintenance and correctly torqued wheel nuts, similarly the screw jack would rather wind its second section down into the ground than lift the first section up under the axle, good old BMC controlled LR at its classic best. I think I also ended up buying some crazy sized Torx socket bits, and yes again US Pro rings a bell - good and strong, but they needed plenty space to get into the fixing, something that is normally not always available. If I'm being kind to "makers of stuff" Torx and Spline/Multi Spline/XZN and Ribe came about as they are able to handle higher torque and more useful with industrial tooling including automated tooling.

Buying Mann filters cheaply just means buying what VW Group fitted at factory, but now being bought without any VW Group identity on it, same for cabin filter, I've been buying Mann Frecious cabin filters for a few years now.

Found a few pics I took when I first got the car, and a few more from me putting it back together. Felt I may as well upload them here. For a 100 euro junker its proven itself to be as tough as a brick wall, rather a concrete drinker given thats what I hit. Trust me, the drinker lost that fight.

Thanks

Wow, we must have very different driving habits or roads... On my 245 vRS, the last three fill-ups have been 424, 418 and 430 miles apart running 95 fuel, pretty sure the last two fill-ups have been E10 too

It's also to do with the UK leaving the EU, if you want a badge on the plate, can't remember what it is you have to have, but the old ones are going to be illegal in the EU.

You're not, it'll only apply to plates being sold/fitted after the introduction date. So for brand new cars there'd be no excuse not to have a 145e plate but anything older than the introduction of the legislation updated standard, would be difficult for them to do anything about in practice as they'd struggle to prove whether the plate was fitted before/after the change. Full on show plates without any markings at all will be taking the same risk as they've always taken really.

I think it will fit, judging from the numbers here: Skoda Octavia - Specs of wheel sizes, tires, PCD, Offset and Rims - Wheel-Size.com

The guy at Bilstein was very clear. He said he'd been doing it for years. If there were no errors appearing I would have to take the dampers off the car and send them in to be tested. He said that was the "only way" they could be tested. I guess I would warn people that they are very much on their own buying these dampers as Bilstein practically speaking don't want to know. I am wondering whether there is a plug and play issue with these dampers and it needs new software or what. It's all very frustrating.

A 10 year old tyre is not perfectly good; it's close to the end of its life, even if it's never turned a wheel. 195/65 R15 will be 2.8% faster rolling than a 205/60 R16, and skinnier in width - 7.68 in rather than 8.07 in. ET (offset) needs investigating, too. Inflation kits are certainly mostly useless. I'd flog the wheel to someone less fussy and get a new spare.

🥱 yeah alright. You've not understood what I was saying. But we'll leave it there eh? do you really notice the different with standard fuel when you add things like EcoMax? I assume it's a bit more of an improvement than adding something like Redex power booster.

Hi mate, I previously owned a very early mk3 2013 VRS estate, it had the Pictoris wheels. They were definitely 18”, I quite liked them as they were different to all the Gemini wheels. The car won’t have sat nav or cruise control as standard, they were options. It did have rear parking sensors as standard.

I was meaning in the price per litre, not price per tank

I would suggest you use stronger concentration for top off, so the quantity including the plain water is about correct concentration. Then check it in few days time, to see if level has gone down (might be airlock, but might be leaking), if keeps going down then leaking.

Agree with above. Normal water is better than no water. Top up, drive home, then draw a little off and put concentrated coolant in. Mine needing topping up in the summer and the level has remained ok ever since.

Ken, I didn't quote you because I was referring only to the erroneous claim that it's a built in safety effect. You're in the wrong room for an argument, please head back to the lobby, sit down facing the mirror and wait until you see someone angry-looking.

hi, can you please specify exact charger name and model that you bought. tnx

Loving all these warm welcomes lol, thanks man! I am slowly starting to fall in love with this like properly, just needs more oomph and to stop f**king creaking !!! lol So, did abit on the weekend, when i say abit i mean not a fat lot atall haha. I will apologise in advance, i really do forget to take pictures on whats being done so you'll have to deal with just the one for the time being paired with a very wordy update post Conclusion? Replacing ARB bushes are an absolute nightmare without ratchet spanners... Best part about it, it didnt fix the creaking! Either way, after bruised knuckles, cut up fingers, and aching hips from sitting with my legs crossed for 2 hours i finally managed to get them in, even though the ones which came out didnt even look that bad. It didnt fix the creaking but amazingly the way the car drives is night and day, it handles so much nicer now (not sure if just a placebo effect) Didnt get round to doing the top mount bushings purely because i didnt have an impact gun to get the top nut off but after replacing the ARB's the steering wheel seems to sit straighter, still pointing to the right slightly don't get me wrong, and when ive got a passenger in, it points further to the right, so by process of deduction, with the creaking, knocking, steering wheel sitting off centre to the right and because im convinced the passenger topmount is properly fubar'd, it would make sense that all these issues are being caused by that, no? Next on the list of purchases, new front wishbones because why not, set of coilovers because it needs new suspension so might aswell upgrade at the same time, have a Bosch oil filter on the way aswell as picking up this ... (i hope its decent) So yeah, all in all, good enough Saturday, not the most productive but had to get it all tied off before an hours drive to Northampton where according to the trip i managed to average 36 mpg? H O W. Hopefully will be some more updates in the coming days/weeks Cheers!

Bugger, sorry to hear that. That pretty **** poor for them to say that the only way to b sure is to remove the shocks and send it to them to test!! Either the Bilstein's valve electrics r not understanding the car's DCC signals.... Or ......the Bilstein's valve electrics r just a gimmick. There is a massive effect (not placebo) between Comfort and Sport modes with the DCC shocks, even with lowered springs. I'd expect the same with the Bilstein Damptronics - it's the whole reason why u buy the more expensive Damptronics version so u can still retain that comfort control.

The DQ200 has been getting used on Front Wheel Drive cars with a max of 250 Nm from the factory since before 2009. So they were on Fabia Mk2 1.4 TSI Twinchargers with 180 ps / 250Nm (& Audi A1 Twincharger 1.4TFSI 185ps /250 Nm) Also on VW Polo GTI 1.8 TSI's with 192ps & 250Nm when the DQ200 was fitted and 320 Nm when a manual. There is a Service Campaign started in 2017 on some DQ200's from 2013-2015. This is a Software Update '34H5' VW Group never made it a Recall Action' or a RECALL in Europe. It is a RECALL for the 2nd time in Australia, started in 2019. So many were missed from the Recalls on 2009-2012 cars that was World Wide excluding Europe, and the Service Campaign in Australia which has now required the RECALL. Re the Sealed DQ200. Yes from the factory there is no Service Schedule or Guidelines on Oil Changes. There are 2 oils., in the box and in the MCU. (Wet Clutch DSG's have just 1 oil doing both functions.) The World Wide Recall excluding Europe in 2013/14 was to change the Synthetic oil from Synthetic to Mineral and do a software update. Then from 2013-2015 the reason for the Software Update was that some of the cars leaving the factory with the Synthetic Oil were having DQ200's cracking or leaking, it was a heat and pressure issue. So basically the Oil can be changed, some people do it DIY. There is a thread in the Fabia Mk2 section on doing it, one thread 'Famous DQ200 DSG Clutch Slip' where a member does it, and another in the General Maintenance, Also there are TPI's on DQ200 DSG's and there were clutch upgrades. That is covered in the 'Famous DQ200 clutch slip thread.'

Yeah apologies, getting my values mixed up. But as you say, the average motorist won't notice. The petrol companies have only told people to cover themselves for when someone fills up their old 2 stroke bike or old car and it causes fuel system trouble

Yeah, that kinda describe what Im feeling as well. But only that one time when the engine is cold. Or that's the one time that's "really" rough. I would love to hear if new oil is gonna fix your problem mate. Please let me know.

Dead pump caused by lack of oil/filter change is the normal cause.

I'm never sure if mine will even get me home. So many faults, Skoda should be ashamed and need to do something very quickly to prevent all the old Skoda jokes coming back to haunt them.

Viaduct over the tweed

That’s because they’ve been fully and expertly trained to be Customer Dis-service and Dis-engagement for at least 10 years. It’s a shame.. When Skoda was trying to establish itself as a “proper” manufacturer in the early 2000’s, (we’ve owned Skoda’s since 2003) the whole organisation and most of the dealers were fantastic; they really went the extra mile - and often beyond it - to keep customers happy, getting problems solved quickly some of the time at no cost to the customer, even when it was out of warranty (the whining diff was replaced FOC on our 1.6 Octy is a case in point) and because of this, they were able to use owner-drivers as an extension to the very positive corporate PR campaign. However, as Skoda became more successful, that ethos soon disappeared and they finally became just like any other manufacturer. Actually, they’re probably worse; there’s no acknowledgement of emails, no follow-up, no single person owning an issue and now, stupidly, they couldn’t give a hoot if you bad mouth them to friends and family. Sad really as the product is great but they just don’t care, as 80% of sales are now in the corporate market and probably 70% of those are via leasing or contract hire. After my terrible experience with two dealers last year AND two dealers this, I’ve given up on them and will just be using a fairly local, excellent independent VW specialist.

Really? Think you'll find if it's not a manual, and not a 2.0 (Petrol or Diesel), then the DQ200 is one of the most common DSG's in Octavia's from 2014. Our 1.8 Polo has the DQ200. It's worth a search on here, for threads on failing DQ200's. @e-Roottoot might have some useful pointers/info on '34H5' and '34F7' which may be relevant to this car. Gaz

I was wrong in thinking it was the same model, but the Duster gets a good write up in this week's Express too. Positive nod to LPG as well:

@tonypr Best ask Newcastle Skoda's Dealer Principal why an employee is saying you can not have the order number.

60k ish miles, early 2017 (66) vrs tdi overheated on me for the first time, dial to 130 and a beep/warning. Fluids and levels all correct. Dealer booked me in under extended warranty stating parts would be ordered in anticipation. Will update when I have more to tell.

Price was right so ramair fitted

Exactly, it's nonsense.

Yep, cylinder 1 at timing chain end. If you take all three spark plugs out, you may well be able to turn the engine by just pulling on the auxiliary belt.

Many thanks to all for the advice! At the moment I only have half an aerial on the roof and I'm pretty sure that's a good reason the radio can only find a few stations and loses signal/gains noise the moment I go over a hill. When it does have a signal, the sound quality is fine, which should indicate there's not much wrong with the circuit from the aerial to the radio once it actually finds something to pull in, shouldn't it? I've ordered a 23cm replacement aerial (allowing for threading into the roof mount, I think) and will update when I've fitted it; should arrive by midweek at the latest. I did read a few threads suggesting there can be water/corrosion problems with the mount, and that would be my next place to go if the new aerial doesn't fix things. I've also read a couple of threads indicating that 'fit a new aerial' can be a little more physically challenging than just unscrewing the old one and screwing the new one in, and I'm prepared to wrestle with it. 🙂

Yes, that vid looks useful at first glance. The official stance is that you buy the timing locking kit (1 crank lock pin and 2 cam locking pins), remove crank sensor to fit the locking pin in there, then try to fit (and screw in with the M6 screws) the cam locks into the same slots that can be visually inspected; but just observing the relative orientation of the two slots in the cam ends is usually adequate to detect a slip/jump. Bear in mind (managing expectations here, sorry) that not only is it quite a mission to get into the chain to do anything about it, but on the 12-valve engines valve damage is quite likely as a consequence of the mistiming, if found.

Regarding the seat, just store the seat memory position on your seat position memory number and when you've opened the car with the new key, press the original stored position before making all the adjustments in your driver profile. Hopefully that's the theory anyway and you can continue to adjust radio settings too.

Saint could be Sainte or St according to the village or town, also it could be a commune of a town or a lieu dit which would only present itself as an option amongst the streets of the correct town when selected. I live in France but get incredibly frustrated trying to set my Chinese shatnav when in a different area and have to use the map to see where I am going wrong, often I am spelling the name incorrectly or have not realised its part of a larger agglomeration, sometimes it will need the hyphen if the name contains one, I have not found accents to be a problem, if you use the right letters it will present the options including accented letters.

My L & K Diesel Estate 170 DSG is being sold as my new Superb Hatch has arrived just hope the new one is as good as the old., Car listed in classified ads, but it means I will be moving to the Mk 3 forum, thanks to everyone who has helped me over the last 7+ years of ownership of the very best car I have ever owned.

Ok for anyone that is interested. I have managed to get my phone on Android 10 working with wireless android auto .. (a lot of frustration and Google searching later) and should work on most phones. First open the android auto app on your phone. Click on the 3 dots to bring down the about menu. Tap on that heading 10 times to add this app to developer mode, then open the app and turn ON wireless projection. Then delete the phone from the head unit and also delete the head unit from your phone. Reconnect as if it's a new connection and (you must have your WiFi, data and GPS turned ON on your mobile) And that's it. wireless android auto should now work. Hope this helps.