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DSC_0051 by T00mm, on Flickr Finally on coilovers, firm and handles superbly.

Cleaned the car at the weekend and been driving around all nice and shiny for the past week as the weather has been relatively okay! Driving to work today through a small town and overtake a lorry dropping off a delivery when I heard a hideous noise like something hit my car (thought something had possibly come off the lorry) and to my sheer horror I look at the passenger side of the windscreen and see I have taken a beating from a squadron of seagulls! Bloody vermin have royally **** all over my car, got the screen wash onto it straightaway and that actually cleared most of it. So got out when I arrived at work to get the rest off the top of the windscreen with a cloth I had and I retorted yet again seeing that in fact my roof, windscreen, whole bonnet, headlight and wing was covered in ****! No exaggeration! Every bird in the fleet must have taken a **** at the same time, aiming for my beautiful shiny green car you would honestly think they do it on purpose! Wish it was legal to take them all out... And although I've managed to get most of the **** off already, at least it's another excuse to clean the car again this weekend

Out with the old, in with the new Collected my Superb Sportline estate 220 TSI DSG this morning

'Their Body Paint Guy', So a Panel beater / Sprayer, Qualified or not, but not a Paint Expert / Warranty Manager, or the Independent Experts as Skoda UK use. It might be the RoI, but it is a Manufacturers Paint Warranty, and Skoda Ireland will need to get a 'Paint Expert' to test the paint. Cars all over the place have 'Stone Chips', but not the Top Coat peeling.

If on PCP be very careful what is the accepted outcome & have a good read of this. Its VW Fair Wear & Tear. Peeling Paint is not mentioned - this would come under manufacturing fault. Excessive stone chips would be liable as customer responsibility. When we Voluntarily Terminated (VT) our Citigo it was treated to full wash, luckily no scratches. Vacuum it inside & out. Took plenty of Photo's before handing it back to dealership. If PCP VW finance? so it will fall under this guide. If trading for another car dealership might be 'more lenient' to you maybe, tell you its ok etc... But ultimately someone from VW finance will try bill you further down the line, once the car fails the inspection..... VW_Fair_Wear_Tear_Guide_v3.pdf

http://www.volksbolts.com/faq/basics.htm Work it out for yourself from this, the tensile rating should be marked on the head of the bolt. Stainless is markedly more brittle than steel and prone to fatigue failure, I would not use it in a critical suspension application.

I thought they wouldn't look right when I initially fitted them. But now I don't even notice them. Maybe it helps if your car is black as they just disappear.

Im glad! That waiting me, also

They probably do look a bit grandad spec, but meh. Less dirt = for me.

But does the car look less sleek with the flaps? I think so, and will accept a bit of mud and road grime to avoid the ‘Volvo Estate mudflaps look’..... Each to their own though......

Having had a pre-FL without them and now a FL with them, they’re a great purchase. The amount of crap they catch before it hits the lower bumper on the rear or the sills/doors at the front is unreal. Makes cleaning much easier.

DSG, sunroof, heated screen. LED rear indicators, TSR, off-road info, ATA warning, auto aircon fan speed, 4-flash overtaking - all seem to be enabled, somehow...! 5000 miles on it since September and getting 45 mpg on a decent run!

Well the cable came today and it works Now to figure out how to use the thing!

I've had mine 5 weeks In that time I've done 1500 miles, collected my first car-park dent in the wheelarch and discovered paint chipped off the bottom of the tailgate where the dealer fitted the boot lip protector. The car is awesome and a total pleasure to use and live with. Its effortless and feels quite nimble despite its size. The acceleration when pushed is best described as 'brisk' - the drag race away from the Tamar bridge caused at least one boy racer to re-evaluate his views on Skodas :-) I am totally delighted and still can't really believe its mine considering I had the same Vectra for 15 years. Dentman is comming next week for the wheelarch as obvs the culprit buggered off and I'll need to pay up. Dealership is covering the paint on the tailgate as they fitted the Skoda official protector and didn't adjust the tailgate stops accordingly. I am kicking myself I didn't check but I didn't think I'd need to. I've sorted the stops out myself so it won't hit now, and they are down for the paint. All in all, you chaps are in for a treat...

Playing with angles

Sadly it won’t matter what you buy, it’ll be the same. I can climb out of my 2003 Mercedes CLK (which for some reason appears to be stocked with switchgear from the Ford Transit parts bin; hardly Mercedes’ finest hour) and into my friends GLC220d coupe and although there is a lot that is better in the new car, my 15 year old has noticeably superior seat material, carpet, aluminium trim etc and no squeeks or rattles. That GLC is riddled with rattles and funny noises. Have to say, my Octy is solid as anything even after me pulling a great deal of the interior apart and it’s nearly 83k miles. Some seem to be better than others.

I didn't see it but this is what I imagine most Tory broadcasts with TM are now

Comfort upgrade time! Having had cars in the past with centre armrests for the front seats, I found the Fabia a bit lacking in that area, so I bought some brackets off SeanW on here, a complete new golf mk4 armrest kit and set to work. Not too bad a job but the car is so much more comfortable on the long daily drive, possibly the best value mod I’ve ever done!!! The SEAT Ibiza Sport seats are holding up well from a dirt perspective after the winter, I will give the interior a good wet vac when the summer is here.

I see the odd car with similar problems over here, but it's usually a car that's at least 6-7 years old, dark coloured, and been left in the sun permanently. Only certain brands, too - not VAG ones.

Got mine last month, 450 miles on her currently. Corrida Red Estate, no options other than a spare wheel Quick pic after putting some 'mirror' glaze and wax on it.

First one spotted in the wild this morning in Glossop. looked pretty good in petrol blue!

PS. Do not spend a single Euro on getting a report done on the car, or getting any work done. The Paint Warranty covers it unless you caused the damage, or some vandal did, it is a Factory Prep and paint failing. Stevie Wonder can tell that.

I stopped using the creams about ten years ago. These products leave the Halford sourced stuff in the dark ages just as Nanolex Washcoat, Gyeon Bathe+ and CarPro Hydrofoil have left the old days of wash'n'wax far far behind. As with any chemical from car shampoo, fallout remover, tar remover, etc... don't let the product dry on the surface, if it starts do, either apply more or remove it and repeat. So take into account how much needs doing, weather and temperature conditions, how easily and quickly you can work the product before it starts to become an issue.

Poorboys Black Hole is a glaze, so you'll need to put a wax over the top, try their Natty's paste wax, I think they do one now for Black cars and it isn't too expensive.

Wow, I'm converted, got a chance to try the Autosmart Tardis today, the whole car was covered in tar. 30 minutes later if was completely clear. Can't believe I've been messing around with the creams for years. The best £35 I've spent!

http://www.drivelife.co.nz/2018/04/2018-hyundai-kona-elite-car-review-intrepid-adventures/

Hello everyone. I've owned my Skoda Felicia 1600 GLX for 7 years now. I'm just starting to have problems. I'll look around the site. Thanks for adding me.

Should look good those, if the quality of the finish on them in anything like the badges you’ll be really happy. I don’t think I could have got them this good at home myself. They are honestly amazing (I am aware I am preaching to the converted here!!).

I always say gunmetal grey

Metal grey for the badges right??!!

Great stuff. I can’t wait to return to petrol, after 10 years of running a diesel Yeah I think the Canton system is great too. Defo worth it IME

Quite fancy the mudflaps...

Hi @PanoYeti, @Goose35 Apologies, I've been away for a few days, but it looks as if you're both on top of it now. Yeah, the sealer is funny stuff. When I'd completed the final treatment, I left it to dry for a few days before testing it. Initially the water rinsed out quite a milky residue. Alarming perhaps, but now with the benefit of hindsight, it proved nothing to worry about. I did also pack some blue tissue paper behind the screen-pillar trim on both sides so I could pull it out after a week or two to check the integrity of the repair. Again, all was well. @PanoYeti, "I wish access was a bit better on the outside channel" - you and I both. You'll see now why I initially elected to remove the roof, but it wasn't necessary. Even though the needle pointed away from the joint at an obtuse angle, capillary action (the enemy in service) came to the rescue. Full marks to you BTW for doing this outside ... Per ardua ad astra, eh? You may consider a 'top-up' on a fine summer's day though as an insurance policy. But only when the lawns are mowed, the hedges trimmed and conditions favour this kind of nonsense. Happy days, eh?

Agree with you on that apart from my Dads 52 plate C240 which he bought in 2004 with 6k on and has now done 85k .... It has practically rusted away on the outside. Don't know what they got so tragically wrong on those C class in that era but most I see look the same.

Duplicate topics merged.......

@TissMe - Hiya. How the H*11 have you been quine?

Hopefully have our house sold next week.... and then try to work out dates for moving and thinking about Xmas dinner with Auric in the new Gaff! Davy

Jeff, i think you have it right. My annual mileage was relatively low and my wash routine was extremely regular. I have just had my Fabia Mk1 VRS wheels powder coated and the chap told me specifically not to use chemicals cleaners .................instead just soap, water and gentle power wash if I felt inclined. As a contradiction to my earlier point I bought some Poor Boys wheel wax and gave them 3 coats prior to reattaching to the car!!! As you say, regular cleaning with a bit of turtle wax should keep them fine.

Is that the book that sits in the glove box taking up space that no one takes any notice of ? I read the section on 'auto-hold' and it definitly made it a bit clearer, still had a slight issue though, I don't want to turn 'auto-hold' off as I find it great when sitting at lights, in traffic etc. however when reversing yesterday 'auto-hold' engaged as it does (too hard a right foot on the brake obviously), so thought I'll disengage it by pressing the button on the centre console and low and behold the hand brake came on Oh well all this modern technology that's designed to help

The dealer examined the car with their body paint guy yesterday , they said they see the damage as caused by stones , BUT they looked at other same models and see that the stones only leave a small chip mark - on metallic paints. mine is flat colour - and the ' stones' seem to bring about a peeling of the top coat that they do not see on metallics. I don't agree on this , but it seems they do see a problem. so they said they took photos and are taking it up with skoda themselves for advice on it. i will bring it for my own assessement anyway. i advised skoda themselves of this exam , and also i advised that the PCP is up in a few months and I will hand it back to them to keep if its not fixed. what worrys me is if they fix it - does this mean a strip and repray of the whole car ?

Are you referring to the well known 3rd variant of Murphy's Law? You know the one. Leave 5 mins earlier than you think necessary and you will arrive 15 minutes before schedule, leave 5 minutes after you wanted to and arrive 15 minutes late.

School run, followed by a rush-hour commute in to central Wellington. Turns out the heater doesn't work.

That sounds like you are a professional life painter haha I worry to over paint with removing wheels. Would never ever attempt through the alloys! So heat down, you must be da vinci's descendant :D. I have 18's too. Did you remove rust prior painting? P.S.: Just read that this paint requires no removal prior painting :=). my bad

To be done right you need the correct shape Bolero fitting and coding correctly. Fitting one which isn't correct for your car is difficult and unnecessary. Like I said, the Bolero fitted to your car is a specific shape just for the Superb (possibly the Mk2 Fabia also but I'm not sure) so there isn't a fascia to make a different Bolero fit. If there was then doubtless they would've fitted the same shape Bolero to all the cars rather than manufacturing a specific shaped one.

Oil is the lifeblood of an engine, never let it go low, never leave it in too long. A regular change of oil is one of the best investments in the longevity of the engine that can be made. My car has the 1.0 3 cylinder engine, currently 14,660 miles, just booked it in for second service including oil change for early June, by then the car will have driven around 17,500 - 18,000 miles. Oil does deteriorate with age, it absorbs moisture and reduces engine protection, 12 months / 10-12,000 miles max, I know some say long life oil is OK to use, it's a user chooser situation, and my money is on regular oil changes.

Im Ireland so it a very different market, but ended a 3 year PCP on a Superb II and had 8k equity to use against a new Sportline. The new car was 7k more expensive than my old one, but the PCP payments only rose by 40 euro per month as Skoda were offering 0% cpp Sounds like a great deal, but in reality the new car will probably drop 8k in value this year, so the smarter version of me would have bought my old Superb II outright by paying the 13k owing, and then keep it another year at which stage it would have been worth at least 13k. The only issue I had was that Skoda were charing 5.9% apr to refinance the old car - which was the lowest finance around and it didn't suit me to dip into savings. If I was in the U.K., I think buying a pre-reg or 6 month old car with less than 10k miles, and then keeping till its 4 years old, makes the best overall sense- you get an almost new car plus its still in demand when you go to trade it in again

You could always try selling privately. There are people out there willing to buy. You get more that the dealers trade in, they pay less than forecourt prices. Everyone is a winner. The spec of your car will likely play a big part in how easily it will sell of course.

Filled the car and checked my records yesterday, over the last 9 months it has averaged 57mpg - calculated from miles travelled / fuel into tank. The computer is optimistic. It easily does 800 miles on a tank and has been close to 900. Had it since April 17 and it has done nearly 21k, at least it is run in now. Most of the mileage is stop-start since my commute (Rugeley - Romsley) includes J11 of M6 to J3 of M5 (and reverse in the evening). I tend not to rush, and when I have the time on motorways cruise is set at 65 (Why is everyone in so much of a hurry - chill out and enjoy life) in these cases have seen the trip computer over 70. Tyre pressures are 2,5/3.0 so on the hard side but not at full load level, most of the time there is only me in the car but about 10% of the mileage is the biannual trip into France with the car full.