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A few from Yorkshire Sculpture Park today............

Jackdaw and kestrel

Not much use for a jack when you have no spare wheel. You only get the jack etc if you order the spare wheel from the factory. You need 8D0 012 44A to remove the bolt caps https://www.akstuning.co.uk/shop/home/2095-all-categories-selected-template.html

Thought my second half posted Anyhow. Off the ferry, dropped off the engine and went up through Scotland. Up to Stirling,through Glencoe, then to Fort William, then Inverness. Fair spin. Next day we did the Isle of Skye which was fantastic. Day after that we went to Durness, which was also fantastic. And on the last day it was Applecross pass. Stunning views the whole time Roads up to the top were quite steep and not helped by people dicking about doing 7 up the hills. Next day it was the trek back to the ferry Aside from the views, there wasn't much drama, Just ticked 165k as I got home. Got decent Economy the whole trip, didn't make a fool out of myself I don't think, car took the roads quite well all said. The ST suspension is fantastic, it's really the best of both worlds. Even with an engine in the back it didn't bottom out. It held the road well throughout.

Pah... That's no excuse! If it's not raining the roof should be down... And only takes about 30 seconds to put back up even if it does start to rain... And if it's light rain just keep driving and you stay dry!

You will need a 17mm socket for the bolts. The Superb also has a 5x112 PCD bolt pattern which is different to your V70.

I’m an idiot. The info was in front of me all the time. Is on the coolant expansion tank!!! It says G13. Thanks a lot.

Back in the late-1980s/early-1990s I owned four VW Golf GTi cars in succession. All of these had alloy wheels with a steel spare-wheel as standard, except the last one (a 1.8 16-valve) had the skinny space-saver type. During a short trip to France, staying in a privately-owned gite located down a very rural narrow country farm track, I noticed on the Sunday that one of that car's rear tyres was flat. I put on the skinny spare-wheel and immediately realised that its overall diameter was significantly smaller than the standard alloy wheels as the car was now visibly lower on that rear corner. I next found that I couldn't drive down the farm track that had a prominent ridge in its centre. The gite's owner saw me looking disconsolately at the car and, when I explained the problem, said "I'll phone my son". The son came over and said "I'll phone my mechanic/blacksmith pal". He then drove me and the wheel with the punctured tyre to his mate's workshop who removed the tyre (a large metal staple was found in the tread) and carried out a very professional repair. I said "What do I owe you both?" and the reply was "It's midday, so you can just buy us a drink." Off to the local bar and, when I returned to the gite much later, I was well drunk (and my wife was not well pleased!) To guard against a repeat episode, I bought a wheel and tyre that matched the Golf's standard alloy wheels size-wise, but, although this fitted OK in the Golf's spare-wheel well, its width prevented the boot floor from closing down properly. When driving in the UK, I carried the skinny spare-wheel and when going abroad I carried the full size spare wheel. Of course, after that, I never had another puncture with that car.

What do these actually mean? What products are used, and what is covered to what extent? Just stating the questions your post makes me ask.

Unless the engine builder is in Stirling I wouldn't have gone that far East. Better to take the M8 West, M/A898 and onto the A82 there.

Have a look on your expansion bottle it might have a G number, G13 I'd guess, The Germans have to have their own specifications (same for oils) in addition to anyone else's and it's comical, so what took over from G13 and is the latest and recommended, G12evo of course, and that's pink but take no notice of coolant colours as they can vary anyway (G13 according to this chart is violet). They also like to keep the quantities well hidden. G12 evo is VW spec number TL 774 L, VW part number (I think) is G 12E 050 A3 (at least it is for the 5 litre bottle of premix for -35c I have in front of me). Table below for you to enjoy the previous twists and turns of the VW engineers, you need never be short of a spec number.

Sounds like a way to get an extra £200 off people ordering from the factory.

Thanks guys all good info. @Ootohere, yes of course, but the car is like new, and my first attempt to remove one of the caps with the wire spring thing ended up me putting 3 scratches in the nut well so I stopped and ordered the removal tool I think Gizmo mentioned. A boiler I can handle all day long but vehicle mechanics are a bit alien to me, just the minimum. Regarding the sticky rope system, yes, a temporary repair, but in the adventure biking fraternity I'm more familiar with, there are many records of people doing tens of thousands of miles on them, my Caddy has one such repair and I'm waiting until the tyre is worn before changing it as it has good tread, partly out of stinginess, and partly to see if those wanton claims by fellow bikers and truckers are true. It may come back to bite me, but at least the Caddy has a spare, so I can afford to risk it, so far I've had 4000 miles out of it.

@semiroundel Did you not think of taking off a bolt cover to see if the socket / tool you had did fit?

Still cured it seems, a trip form Lanarkshire down to the coast in Northumberland and around for a week and still all good 😁

Just seen your comments on Facebook 😂

Yes I have it in writing and a dealership which Skoda recommended I should go to to get it resolved who failed also confirmed that Skoda stated its team where trying to resolve this issue. Dealership is Meadens of Brockenhurst.

I added Progressive Steering and Dynamic Chassis Control to my MY21 Sportline, which seems to be the equivalent to the current performance pack. The progressive steering affects the linkage between the steering wheel and the front wheels, so that it is reasonably direct when driving at speed, but turns the wheels faster when approaching full lock. The DCC on mine certainly gives you extra damper settings, letting you choose between Sport, Normal or Comfort. I opted for this because of all the complaints about the 19 inch wheels affecting the comfort, and you certainly get more of a floating - almost under-damped - sensation in Comfort mode. It's great for wafting along a well-surfaced motorway, but not so good on windy back roads. Chris

So with AC off but fans running there’s no funky sounds? I was going to suggest changing pollen filter anyway, do it the correct way by using cardboard underneath the pollen filter then withdraw cardboard and pollen filter together!, when it’s out you can shine a torch in by the fan and check there’s nothing in there (it’ll be tight so small mirrors might be needed) If that’s all clear and only works with AC on then I’m outta ideas

The tyre repair gel much like the string repair is NOT a full repair but is a temporary get you to a place of safety solution. it should never be treated like a full repair and will need a proper mushroom patch which is done from the inside so it has mechanical and adhesive strength.

Throttle body had a good 24hrs to dry so fitted it All back together with the ecs intake pipe and racingline panel filter, I did contemplate getting an induction kit but as it already has such a good oem airbox it seemed a waste, shares the same airbox as tts and rs3.

Read the t&c's very closely, as I believe they're often not worth the paper they're written on. New car protection detailing is absolutely not to be trusted to a main dealership 👎 You need to find a professional car detailer. Chap I use was recently commissioned to detail a car before it left the dealership, which he did. The car cleaners (contracted) at the dealership had completed one car before he'd got everything out of his van and he was taken aback at what they thought was a good job. I don't think the stuff used by dealerships to protect paint and fabrics are worth it. A good detailer will know what to use. The vRS's NCP was done in a day, but with the GTI I went the whole hog and it was three days overall (wheels off, top to toe). Gaz

@Lee a 10 year revival. Love it.

Check with @pab567

Yes that's what I did when I recently took my car over to France. It's a bit misleading that it's labelled 'interior monitoring' in my opinion - it's more about ignoring external movement really.

What was wrong with the roofs of the MX5s... Broken?... There were at least two sunny photos there where they had the roofs up!

Oh dear, thats not good news. I think I need to read my comprehensive policy gain. Many thanks.

Definitely a professional detailer will do a much higher quality job and will last longer.

No you are not, you don't know until the first time, none of us are born knowing and have to learn for a first time, then as you get older you to have to relearn repeatedly as you forget. 😄 Best never to mix different makes let alone types of coolants and as you never put the current coolant in unless you have some sort of evidence like a bill or receipt for the coolant type you can never be sure what it is so don't top up unless you really have to. If it is VW's (or others) G12evo then it's claimed to be life time fill, who or what's life time isn't stated but I'd leave it in 10 years before a full hot drain, cleaner pack and refill (under vacuum pressure). Personally I take very little notice of the VW recommended oil or their specification numbers as a good suitable oil is a good suitable oil and will probably have that it covers the current VW numbers whatever they might be or changed to. If you are in a hot part of Greece I would recommend a better oil to cover the heat and give more protection for longer but always annual or 10,000km, whichever is the sooner, engine oil & filter changes particularly if you do lots of short journeys where the oil temperature does not reach 90c before the end of your journey. I also recommend an appropriate battery charger and maintainer and giving the car 12v battery preventative chargers before the battery gets too low as even if the engine starts, the headlights seem bright enough and you have not yet had any warning lights or messages the battery can still be too low for the computers and they can make you suffer for this mistake. Usual first sign of low battery is the start/stop not operating when it usually would, by the time you get warnings the battery is pretty low and will take more to recover on charging, difficulty starting the engine first time and the battery may not ever fully recover, engine not starting often means most will want to replace the expensive battery (it may or may not be recoverable in reality). Good luck.

There's this sign at the end of the adjoining road. https://maps.app.goo.gl/iwLvqVMSWesWwpnM8 If you spin round through 180º there's a ticket machine on the corner. It's not clear what area is covered by the charge and I thought I was out of the area. To make it clear, they need more signage. Yellow lines wouldn't work unless they repaired the surface as they wouldn't last 5 minutes on a loose and potholed surface.

I know, probably same batch from same ship as my car. Same spec apart from paint colour. Good to know any possible problems from higher mileage usage. That’s the only reason I subscribed. The opinions expressed in his videos are very one-sided just like the channel title. I do my best to ignore them. So far, with his car, I remember a broken MCU, a stone caused water in headlight, rear hatch alignment due to something with hinge. For me, I’ve only claimed warranty replace rear lights due to mist in lights. I’ve been keeping a very close eye on rear hinge. But they are all general car problems, could happen with any car regardless of powertrain. No servicing required for EV powertrain. Unlike ICE with clutch/auto, I wouldn’t whether if car was driven with mechanics sympathy. At 2 years old, most are going to be off-lease isn’t it? Hard to find a cherished one. Dealer should do whatever needs doing before putting up for sale.

According to the manual I got with my car... "By double locking within 2 seconds."

Hi I have a 2020 Scala with sports seats, full glass back and 1.5DSG. I've had it since new and done 77,000kms 1.) I do plan on having car for a long time. Are spare parts expensive/cheap? - I've not had to replace any parts here and still under 5 a year warranty, but suspect they are similar to any other VW parts 2.) I tested Scala with a manual transmission, but will be buying 1.5 gasoline 150hp DSG. Is it smooth, does it work/shift well? - Yes, no complaints really. Works great in sports mode. 3.) I am thinking about buying the version with spoiler and extended glass on the rear hatch door. However, is it more likely to get damaged in case of somebody rear-eding my car? Or does it not make big difference with regular one? - Looks much better and no damage to date. No issues with it. The tinted glass helps cut out heat. 4.) What is fuel consumption at speeds of 160-170kph? I travel a lot through Germany and i love Autobahn without speed limit. Would you guys (and girls) say that the car is fuel efficient (if driven by speed limits outside of germany?) - Long term average since new is 5.7L/100km . On motorway/open road driving I can get as low as 4.5L/100kms. I have a mix of motorway, peak hour traffic, all sorts. 5.) Would you consider this a good car for someone who drives at least 20-25 thousands kilometers per year? - We do about 22,000 per year (the car sat unused for some time over Covid lockdowns soon after we got it!) . No complaints at all. Power is good in such a light car - overtakes well and quick off the mark. Sure, every car maintence is gonna cost a lot after 200.000km, but do you guys think Scala can make it up to 300.000km, with proper care and regular maintence? - So far 77,000km and no faults at all. The engine is fairly common across Volkswagon family, so best see the DSG and 1.5TSI are like in general across the ranges. 6.) Is there anything you really love/hate about this car? - Good family car for 4 of us and small enough to park easily. Good size boot and legroom 7 Sports seats - We have the sports seats. Im 180cm, my wife is 158, so same as you basically. Neither of us have any issue and I really like them. Hope that helps.

I've been offered, and declined, the same on the last two cars that I've bought new. You're far better off, in my opinion, having a new car protection detail undertaken. I've been very happy with the results on my current GTI and previous vRS 👍 Gaz

I was, I thought you meant the belt side. I'll take a look this morning. Thank you for taking the time to help!

His is under 2 years old. September 2022 first registered. There are going to be plenty Tesla cherished and loved and cared for cars on the used market, and loads of fleet / lease / rented, never serviced or much done, maybe not even cabin filters changed. It will be a buyers market.

Not today, but we've been away with the Superb for 22 nights on a road trip to Lithuania. We went out on the Stena ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland, then went east past Hanover, Berlin, Poznan, Warsaw, Bialystok, Kaunas and finally to Klaipėda for 11 nights, where we rented an apartment. We went on to the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, for 3 nights and returned past Alytus, Bialystok, Warsaw, Dresden, Cologne and spent the last night in Calais before taking the ferry to Dover. The car didn't miss a beat and it all went very smoothly. The only additional expense was a parking fine in Klaipėda received when we were visiting father-in-law and the car was parked here. https://maps.app.goo.gl/noCLZsM84cPucmkJA I noticed parking ticket machines in another road, but I didn't see any signs that you need to buy a ticket if you park here. SWMBO's brother lives nearby and has parked there many times and he's never had a ticket and he didn't know you needed to pay. The ticket was a flimsy printed paper that would have been washed away if it hadn't been dry as the weather was hot with a few very heavy thunderstorms. I showed the ticket to my brother-in-law and he paid it for me. I probably would have got away with not paying it, being in a UK registered car, but the ticket was only €1.50, so it was hardly worth taking the risk. It's strange that it was so little as I should have paid €1.50 for a ticket, so there doesn't seem much point in buying one if you stand a chance of not getting caught! The record of our road trip. We're taking a break at the motorway services at Kaunas in Lithuania. The car had to endure some rough roads on our trip. We are leaving Lithuania and entering Poland, where the Polish road ahead is excellent but the Lithuanian road is a rough surface where they're carrying out improvements.

I was told the same thing but worked out that you can have the winter pack with the charging pack. You have to forgo the heated steering wheel and screen but you get heated seats and washer jets. I wanted the premium pack but accepted this compromise as it is so much easier to power a dashcam. Incidentally no one at ŠKODA uk cust service or ŠKODA cz cust ser or the dealer suggested this but my dealer was allow ed to order the car like this. I know that’s not much help now but it might help a future buyer

ECE 5 2024/2025 worked fine in my mib2.

1973 White/rust Vauxhall Viva 1256 bought for £50 in 1982 with only 60k miles on it - but Inner wings had almost vanished even at 9 years old and sills weren't far behind re rust, so I learn't how to weld. Ignoring the rust munching going on I actually ran it for a couple of years passing two more MOTs and it mechanically it was surprisingly reliable doing 12k miles/year - slow as hell though couldn't go up hill especially in a head wind(hated the A66!). Finally gave in when rust advanced much further weakening structure near front and rear suspension attachment points. Rust In Peace! Bizarrely I still have a bit of a soft spot for a Viva HC whenever I see one, saw an immaculate one the other week in Bridlington.

I've borrowed a shed space to get on with the job list over Winter. Talk about shed envy!

I just picked this up a couple of weeks ago. 2018 SEL Executive 190 DSG. Loving it so far!

Finally got round to washing my Superb for a pose.

Finally nice complementary environment for our new toxic dragon

The wisdom seems to be to avoid downloading to an Apple Mac due to the way that the OSX operating system creates invisible files which makes sense. I downloaded to a Windows PC and unpacked the downloaded Rar file using the free application 7Zip: https://www.7-zip.org/ Format your media to ExFat and copy the unpacked files (should be two folders and a file) and look something like this. Finally, if you are not confident in doing the manual update yourself then I would just wait for the OTA update to make its way to you. It's not like there is any new functionality so the "If it Ain't Broken...." adage is appropriate. I have read that those using Android Auto have had issues with version 1941 so possibly this update fixes these but as I am an Apple person I can't comment so will leave that to Android users to report back on.

Thanks. Seems from an earlier post that the very latest production has removed the option to switch it on or off - so I'm going to have to talk to the dealer it seems.

Thanks. I know exactly what it is. I was asking if anyone knew a way to turn it off.

This is a simple procedure that anyone can do as long as you have access to axle stands, ramps, car lift etc. I'm writing this guide to pull together all the tools needed and steps required to carry this out. This was my first time and I spent more time going back and forth looking for sockets etc than actually doing the work! Required: torx head screw driver (screws that hold plastic under tray) 14mm socket (bolts that the under tray) 1/2" drive preferred 13mm socket (drain nut on oil filter housing) <<< this might actually be 12mm, I'm going by memory. But you need to use a 1/4" drive, 1/2" socket in same size doesn't fit. 32mm socket (to open the actual filter housing) 1/2" drive required 19mm socket (to open the drain plug on the sump) 1/2" drive 1/2" and 1/4" extender bars (to reach the oil filter housing) New oil (I used 5w30 fully synthetic) Oil filter Container to catch old oil (minimum 5L in size). Funnel for container (I used a wide mouthed bucket to catch mine so didn't need a funnel) Old clothes / overalls (the oil WILL splash no matter how careful your are) Optional: cable ties to hold back wires and pipes cardboard or sheets to catch oil spills rubber or latex gloves kitchen roll/blue roll Small hook or pick set (like this: https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/garage-essentials/rolson-4-piece-pick-hook-set) Scissors Step 1. Get the car raised up. I used a set of ramps. If the car is cold, let it run for a few minute to heat the oil a little. This will make it flow out faster. Step 2. Remove the under tray. Get underneath with your torx screwdriver. The plastic under tray has 3 bolts at the bottom (towards the middle of the car), and 4 at the top (towards the front of the car, 2 on left and 2 on the right). The torx screws are located along the side of the tray (3 on each side) and 3 along the top (between the 2 sets of bolts on left and right). 9 screws in total. Mine had less as some must have been lost during previous work. Set the screws safely aside and grab your ratchet and 14mm socket. First, loosen all the bolts and then proceed to remove them. When you're down to the final 2 bolts, use your arm to press up against the weight of the tray, otherwise it might fall and possibly snap at the last bolt or might just hit you instead. Set the bolts aside for later. Step 3. Replace the oil filter. The oil filter is located towards the front of the engine, just behind the fan. Look up from underneath and you should see this: I used cable ties to pull the wires and rubber pipe out of the way so I could get better access. Then I grabbed my 1/4" ratchet, extender bar and the 12mm or 13mm socket. Put down your cardboard or rags and grab your oil collection container. Open up the small drain bolt in the center and catch all the oil that comes out. Next grab your 1/2" ratchet, extender bar and 32mm socket. Open up the oil filter casing, catch the oil and then pull out the old filter. Your new filter should have 2 rubber rings, one tiny and one large. The tiny one is to replace the ring on the drain plug, and the large one replaces the ring on the filter housing. Do this now, and use some kitchen roll to clean them up a bit, especially the treads etc. I couldn't get the old rubber rings off, so had to use a small hook tool to grab underneath. Insert your new filter into the housing, then replace the drain plug on the housing. Now screw the housing on using your hand, tighten with the 32mm socket. I didn't use a torque wrench, just went until it was lightly tightened. IMPORTANT: If you used cable ties to hold back wires and pipes, grab some scissors and cut the cables ties now. I forgot, finished the job and replaced the under tray and then had to take it off again! The cable ties / wires etc could possibly foul the radiator fan and cause some trouble. Step 4. Drain the old oil Pop your bonnet and open the oil filler cap. Grab your cardboard or rags, 1/2" ratchet, 19mm socket, and container for the old oil, slide back towards the middle of the car to find the sump and drain plug. You should this: Loosen the bolt with the socket and then open it the rest of the way by hand, have your container ready as this is gonna fly out fast. Once all the oil has drained, replace the sump bolt and tighten with the ratchet (not super tight!) Dispose of the waste oil at your local recycling center. Step 5. Replace the under tray and fill with new oil. I put the bolts in first, by hand and then tightened them up with the 14mm socket. Then put the screws back in. Now fill up with new oil. I think the 2.0L Octavia TDI takes 4.6L of oil, but don't quote me on that. I bought a 5L of oil, filled it with 4L, let it sit for a few minutes and checked the dip stick, then topped up a little, let it sit, checked the dip stick again. I think I used just under 4.5L. Don't forget to replace the oil filler cap once you've filled it with new oil. And you're done! Put away the tools, get the car off the ramps / axle stands / whatever and get cleaned up. If I've missed anything out or made any grave mistakes, let me know. I changed my oil and filter yesterday. Was going to do the fuel filter too but had got the wrong one. Will get it changed next week.