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I've just had the timing belt replaced on my wife's Citigo ( 2013 model with 36,000 miles ) and asked my local independent garage for the bits that they took off. I had inspected it a few weeks ago and it looked perfect - no gaps between belt and pulley teeth and no fraying, etc. The work was done as the car was 10 years old and local Skoda dealers recommended every 5 years, independent of mileage (which is a bit odd) I knew they were original parts because we bought it at one year old with 16,000 miles (an ex-hire company car) The original belt was in excellent condition - no visible wear on the teeth (tested by pressing the belt onto itself so the teeth engaged with each other) or signs of fraying. splitting, etc. I recall my old faithful VW Passat B2 1.8 litre showed small gaps between pulley and belt teeth - but that was at 175,000 miles and umpteen cambelt changes. The tensioner and idler pulleys were also in fine fettle - not loose, rough or rattly - just smooth with a slight tightness to indicate that the bearings were largely unworn and lubricated. The charge was £454, of which £180 was labour - a lot of money for something I used to do myself, but I suppose that is the cost for peace of mind ?

I was given 2 Options full settlement or full settlement less savage value and keep the car. I chose the later and purchased the car back for £400 then got wing from the scrap yard for £40 to fixed it up as at the time I was struggling to find anything reasonable as I didn't want to rush to buy something. I just sold it this week and made a small profit on it.

I think it must be a 230 ps because for the VED it is 149 g/km. A 245 Estate is 144 g/km.

Graham, Just a very quick example of the potential difference in costs between insurer repairs and non-insurer repairs. I recently had my swift damaged whilst parked. I don't know where t happened and clearly the person that did it did a runner. The damage was a dented front wing above the wheel, a very small 1" scrape on the front bumper down to the plastic in front of the wheel and a tiny scuff on the front drivers-side wheel decal (the car has red 'accents' on the diamond cut alloys. The initial quote from an insurance-based repair outfit I had used before and contacted direct, and not via insurance, asking for a cheapest repair possible was £715 for the paintwork and a further £400 for the alloy plus £175 for a set of replacement decals. So a total cost of around £1,300. Asking around I found a well regarded local bodyshop who did the work for the sum total of £270, about a fifth of the original quote. The work is indistinguishable from the original, unrepaired elements alongside from any viewpoint and in any lighting. I realise your situation is slightly different but it gives you some idea of the true cost of the work vs what the insurers will tell you.

Okay there are a few issues here to unpack. 1) Determine who is at fault for the accident. == Status: Resolved == The third party is at fault, no further action needed to determine an outcome. 2) Determine what the exact damage to your vehicle caused by the third party == Status: Unresolved == A full report detailing the extent of the damage is needed. 3) What is the cost of repairing the damage to your vehicle as a result of the third party's fault? == Status: Unresolved == A repair estimate detailing the cost of repairing the damage to your vehicle as a result of the third party's fault is needed. 4) What is the value of the vehicle if it was undamaged by the third party? == Status: Unresolved(?) == An accurate market value of the value of the vehicle prior to the accident is needed. 5) Determine if the vehicle can be repaired cost-effectively == Status: Unresolved == Cannot be determined until 2), 3) and 4) are resolved. 6) What is the settlement value offered by the third party? == Status: Unresolved == No settlement figure has been stated. I could go on, but these are the most pressing questions. I think it would be really helpful to try and fill in some of the big gaps in information when asking for advice on here, @Graham Butcher I'm seeing a lot of, understandable, moaning about being hard done by, but not much detail as to what you're actually complaining about. Yes, having an accident is unpleasant, even worse when it's though no fault of your own. Yes, dealing with insurers is a PITA. They want to take as much money from you as possible, and pay out as little as possible. You may be surprised to learn that this is not a new behaviour by insurance companies. Do make sure you are methodical in working out the best way forward to resolve this satisfactorily for you. Hopefully my list of issues/questions will help. If you can answer them on here, you may find people are able to advise further. 👍

The old battle bus...

I understand the reflexive reaction to reach for the jump leads as a solution, but...first you need to know why you have a flat battery. Is your can being regularly used? Is your battery being charged correctly by the car? Is the battery faulty? Jump leads will get you out of a tight corner, but it's worth making sure your car battery is healthy and the car is charging it correctly.

The legal requirement is to always overread but by no more than 10%, so manufacturers try to get a vehicle to overread by around 5-7% when on brand new OE size tyres to allow for wear and tolerances.

Weather certainly changing this evening - clouds are whizzing by! Lovely sunset too............

I ordered my Octavia 1.5 SEL Etec DSG on 6th September 2022 and picked it up on Monday, they quoted 37 weeks+ but it came in 29 weeks.

Absolutely. Please feel free to periodically message me as a reminder.

Thanks you both for the update. In the case that Joe does not need the screen anymore, if Mark could kindly find it in the next few weeks maybe we can arrange that I can get it if possible? Thanks.

Cheers think I will start looking for an engine and take a chance 👍

You mzy hzve already done, in which case its me who should apologise, my vision has been very bad so I could have missed it, somewhat better now I'm pleased to say, almost normal typo service is resumed!

Cheers! It may not be a Skoda but here's the other lady in my life (although she's up for sale ATM)

Goes to the stub on the side of the EGR, via a flexible rubber hose that pushes onto a spigot just near the serpent mouth end of the narrow one in your pic.

I guess you mean the narrow one, not the fat serpent? Isn't it a filtered feed to the EGR valve?

Wait, is he talking about that little vacuum pipe? Doh!

The car is in oldbury, near Solihull. Around 130miles from me. As I say, I'm trying to compile a list of things/questions for when I speak to them again next week

Yeah, that's what I thought. I was wondering how @J.R. managed to wrangle the insurance company into the prospect of paying him to store their car.

@BT_11vRS Where in the country is the car? The DSG Service of a DQ381 is not due @ 40,000 miles. The VAQ Service was @ 3 years / 30,000 miles. With Arnold Clark you have to be sure you get what you are paying for. So if they have the Service History have them send you it. They bought in the car knowing or not knowing the Service History and paid accordingly. They have ripped me off or tried to and i worked for them way back when Sir Arnold was alive. They have sold me a car and the 2nd key was not there and then neither was the salesperson any time i called. He got a surprise when i just turned up and sat down at his desk. They failed a car i bought at the first of 2 free mot's and services on things it failed at the MOT before i bought it. My Motability Corsa Electric has now been with them for a week. No call since they received it off a recovery truck last Friday. They ball-esed up several attempts at services and fitting drop links. They are not all hopeless, only the ones that seem to stay working for them, anyone with any ability moves to someplace where they give a damn.

Sorry. I've been useless. It's currently buried in the garage with little likelihood of finding it in the next few weeks.

Seconded re battery on its way out

Thanks all! Helpful suggestions all round. Battery not fully dead, I should clarify. The electrics work, but trying to start the car makes that horrid wrenching noise that says the battery is too low. Effectively it just slowly discharged over time, which is totally my fault (annoyingly!) - it's been a very very busy time for me, and the car simply hasn't been for much at all in months, including not once in the last 5 weeks. This has included a few very cold snaps up here in Edinburgh...! So my secondary concern is getting the car back to good shape for a summer of heavy use, after sitting for so long. Fuel injector cleaner with the next tank of fuel, and will give her a full service in 6 weeks when I'm moved out of Edinburgh and back to the countryside. Not to hijack my own thread, but any great tips on that are all welcome.

Hey @toot thanks for that. Dived into this DSG rabbit hole now well and truly. I mistakenly thought they were referring to the 1st recall (MCU oil change) I was wrong I think the previous owners had the accumulator/pressure issue fixed. the new recall from 2019 however, is there any more info on this as I’d be keen to see if I’m affected.

@JamesGornell Is it a 7 speed DSG so a DQ200 on a 2014 car? It should need nothing done if it is one of these. The Recall was on 2009-2012 DQ200's to Replace the MCU in New Zealand, also use Mineral Oil instead of Synthetic. So not this recall on a 2014 car unless a new one started at some point. There was another Service Campaign started 2017 to do a Software Update on 2013-2015 cars. Maybe that was done. Then in Australia a Recall was started again in 2019 covering cars that were already part of the 2 Recalls already covering cars. You would need to ask Skoda / VW NZ or main dealers what might have been done on your car.

Yes, this could be changed with no tokens too. And about warranty - I doubt if anybody in service checks this. If You don't mess with engine or gearbox - then nobody cares.

Wow, so much really useful advice being offered up by everybody, I'm overwhelmed by it all, give yourselves a huge pat on the back, especially @skomaz, @J.R. and @EnterName . Over the years I have had a few accidents and have been with many different insurance companies and IIRC they have all operated similarly, i.e., sent a hire/loan car and then a transporter from the appointed body shop to collect the damaged vehicle and I cannot recall a single time when the assessor came to me to inspect the car. I assumed that was because to be certain that there was no structural damage that they would require to inspect beneath the vehicle, so needed either a pit or a lift to do so. In all but three of those accidents, I was driving company vehicles, so I never thought twice when the same approach was used on this occasion, after all the only thing that had altered was that I now owned the vehicle and the insurance policy was in my name. In fact since I purchased the vehicle upon my retirement, I had my first accident in this car, again not my fault, a lorry pulled out from the slow lane to avoid a stationary car and sideswiped me, the second in this car was when I stopped at a roundabout to allow vehicles already on it to continue, another rammed me in the rear, (again not my fault). On both of those occasions I was asked to drive to the body shop, and then they gave me a courtesy car. So as you can see, there was no reason for me to react in any other fashion, it just seemed to flow naturally along the same line as the other had done before. I have a different insurance company this time around, though. Perhaps the whole culture has changed for the worse now with all these accident chasers trying to get in on the action for a quick buck? For instance, after the other driver and I changed details like, names, phone numbers and registration numbers etc and taken photos of both cars, we went on our way. Later that evening I got a text message from the AA about the accident saying that they would take care of the accident, pick up my car and get it repaired FOC. This I thought was the because the other person was insured by them. I never acted on the message straight away and in the morning I received an email from Tesco Bank who were claiming to be the insurers for the other party and after a quick phone call the other party confirmed that Tesco was the insurer and AA were they were with the AA for breakdown cover. So it was confusing at the start of it. All of my accidents have been not my fault though and none as far as I can remember have resulted in either the loss of NCD or a hike in premiums, this one being the exception.

Timpsons? tom

This is genius! 👌

Is the gear shift knob different depending on which DSG is fitted? On the Octavia 3 they all look to have the same gear shift knob regardless of the actual DSG model?

Cost to replace will depend where you get the part from, whether it is new or 2nd hand, and your local labour rates. If you want to know part price for genuine new from skoda, message me your VIN. (Or just phone your local dealership parts counter, obviously).

That is good news Toot, 3years is far too long! I've tried locating service history from a vehicle in interested in from Skoda uk chat function: they have sent me a list of dates/distances with the service names against them. Unfortunately, this doesn't actually tell me what items were replaced. And the first mention of Haldex seems to be much later than expected; more like 4yrs/60k as a stand alone event. Is there a way I can find detailed invoice information out for these services? Enter Name, From my experience working at VAG main dealers, it all depends who you have working on your vehicle. I test drove every one unless told not to. Others were more interested in time saved bonus and just took then to be washed 😏

I forgot to say, now they have posession of your vehicle they will use it against you, when you try to negotiate they will say that their offer is final and if you dont accept within X days you will have to pay daily storage fees for your vehicle, I have done the opposite and charged them when I kept hold of the vehicle, a revised settlement value was quick to appear. The answer to your question in the thread title is YES! and is why I only ever have the minimum cover required by law, if I crash my car then I pay for a new one, if its the fault of the 3rd Party then I claim from their insurers using a solicitor and always come out on top.

I would be worried that the previous owner does not know the difference between a rear subframe and a lower suspension link! If he is to be believed then he has slavishly Lanoguarded and Snake Oil treated the suspension arm or arms and completely ignored the very rusty proverbial Elephant in the room right beside it. I would be looking at the exhaust clamp, all the suspension bolts that will at some time need removing to replace shock absorbers and springs, the front & rear brake disc backplates and the inside hidden friction face of the brake discs, these are all areas where corrosion has caused me problems or cost money. Also look for zinc inclusion scabbing on the door bottoms, almost certainly likely to be present, if not look for repairs, overspray etc.

One simple question... Have you told the insurance company that their write off settlement value is too low and does not reflect market value. If you cannot find a similar car to the written off one for the settlement value they have offered with similar spec and mileage then you need to do the above and show them examples of similar spec and mileage cars in sale for higher prices and tell them they need to match them in thier settlement. From past experience with my dad their first offer will always be far too low. You should not be running around talking to thier assessor etc. However if you've already accepted the low settlement offer your stuffed unfortunately and will need to put it down as a life lesson.

I’d be more worried about who has the other key.

Ah yeah sorry meant 2260 kg

On a new Karoq there is option listed (in driver assistance) to have a third key, it is £40 https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/c63f4efb-a760-4a48-931f-baad88d42aa6 So basically they are charging a fortune for a copy to be made up and reprogramming it. Realistically either ask the seller for second key, ask them to split the cost of getting it, or try ringing a few different dealers for a better price.

Check blade fuse 2 on right side (as you look) of the fuseholder on the battery (second nearest fuse to front of car). If that's intact, unplug the connector of the radiator thermoswitch (often near radiator bottom hose connection) and short the terminals of the loom plug, fan should spin up (mind fingers/hands).

Went with local independent who fitted a pair of Monroe shocks for £275. Quick, professional and polite as well as offering excellent value for money.

Do you know for keyles system?

like i said with coding tool only

Ventilation, there are membrane flap vents behind the bumper to expel air and for when you close a door.

All the screen options appear to be identical between the two models Roomy and Fabia mk2 (years picked as being close to your car):

It looks a little cleaner now I’ve removed half of the Yorkshire Dales from the arches & sills. IMG_4922.mov

Never given them a second thought until this thread started. I still can't understand all the fuss.

This video helped me with mine:

I've got PHEV and heated seats and steering wheel turn on when starting at <14c