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Signed off by the Consultant today. No more trips to Stanmore (today was seven hours, all told). Hip precautions lifted, and a nice Nurse removed the final stitch in my groin, which despite the local Nurses concerns that it was attached to something, was actually just a single stitch, where my skin had healed over the knot. Consultant said the main wound is tickety boo, and I've the go ahead to start using an exercise bike to try to restore some of the muscle wastage and stamina. They don't want to see me again until the year anniversary of my op, and all being well, that'll merely be to discharge me. Very happy moment - Woop woop!! Gaz

Important clarifications added inside square brackets, as I understand the reality to be. People shouldn't be scaremongered into thinking they won't be allowed to drive anything but EVs and hybrids on the roads ten years from now, that's just not true. After all, if you buy a petrol/diesel car in 2029 you're going to be rather cross if you can only use it for one year...

https://deadline.com/2020/11/netflix-declare-uk-revenue-tax-1234622834/ Netflix to start paying UK tax. Probably the start of others doing the same. They're being sensible and probably smeling a windfall tax that was coming for them. It'll be interesting to see if the other biggies like Amazon start to do the same. Of course we just pay for it through higher prices but it's the principle innit

I think you are both right, and at the same time wrong regarding EV charging hubs. There are two distinct use cases and must be thought of independently I think. First I'll call town and country driving. This is the usual commute to work, shops, etc. In this I think you are correct that there will be a significant amount of overnight charging at home which will reduce the need for "filling stations". But here will still be some need since around 60% of uk households don't have a driveway to charge at home, and lamp-post and workplace charging is quite some way off from national availability on every street and office. The slower charging times of EV's at filling stations will offset the reduced demand for them due to home charging. So I think that overall we'll see a similar number of local charging stations as there are ICE filling stations at present unless 350KW/hr+ charging becomes the norm at these chargers (and in cars). The second use case is long haul motorway driving. If we look at the number of pumps at motorway service stations and take that as representative of long haul demand - since no-one pays the extortionate motorway fuel prices if they can avoid it, and motorway service stations wouldn't incur the excess maintenance costs of more pumps/tanks/etc. than the demand merited. Then we can see a problem looming when everyone switches to EV's. They don't have the equivalent range to ICE vehicles, so more "fill-ups" will be required on long haul journeys, so more chargers will be needed than current ICE pumps to meet demand. EV's also take longer to recharge than equivalent ICE to refuel, so more chargers again will be needed. Again 350+KW chargers & vehicles would reduce charge times and so reduce the pump requirements, but unless EV range dramatically increases they'll still need to charge 2-3 times as often, so that part of the equation would stay the same. And I'm talking about times stopped and occupying a pump/charger rather than just time stopped at present in the services. Many ICE drivers will park at the services to use the facilities without ever using the pumps. I know when I drive south I hardly ever use the pumps, but do use the facilities. Indeed, if you look at the number of cars parked at motorway services at any given time you could easily argue that is the number of additional rapid chargers that each services will need over and above the number of pumps they have at present. These are the people not using the pumps in the usual "well I need to stop anyway in an ICE car for 20 mins to use the loo/get coffee after a couple of hours" argument that many EV owners use to excuse the shorter EV range.

In 2017 within a week of owning my 63 plate Octy Elegance 1.4TSi DSG with 17" alloys, I scuffed an alloy badly (only cosmetic but still ugly). I bought a new one and needless to say scuffed a spoke on the new one on a steel petrol station island surround (serves me right for using both sides to fill up - misjudged the distance). Anyhoo the old scuffed 17" alloy sat in the garage unloved. The car came with a spare wheel and jack but it was a 16" black and yellow steel wheel and limited to 50MPH. On a recent service I was informed that one of my front tyres was marginal, not wishing to take chances with winter approaching and there being a deal on Michelins at Costco I replaced both front tyres and the better of the two (which had plenty of tread left) was put on the bare wheel. I now have a pukka full size spare (I thoroughly cleaned it before I had a tyre put on it) and it fits fine under the boot floor in the recess that 16" spare sat in. I'm well pleased and I'm very grateful for the advice of the forum, some users of which suggested the idea to me. It only cost me a valve and balance, which was less than a tenner. So far I've been unlucky and in the 3+years of ownership I've managed to have 3 punctures requiring me to use the spare. If it happens again I know that I can put the spare on and carry on as normal. Once I had a puncture before a 200 mile return journey so I had to abort and get the tyre done which meant I missed an appointment. Thanks forum for your excellent advice and ideas.

Well, picked up my new Superb iV L&K estate in Business Grey this morning from Rainworth Skoda in Sheffield. Very impressed so far. Got to say the journey home was not what I expected. The wife and I drove to Sheffield from Manchester this morning, setting off just after 07:30, arriving at just gone 9am for a 10 am collection appointment, We'd set off a little early due to the weather forecast. Drove over the Snake Pass, no problems, could see a little light snow covering right on the tops, but it was dry and roads clear. Set off home just before 11am, and headed back the way we'd come. It was raining a little by now. As we were passing the reservoir in the Derwent valley, the rain had changed to light snow. As we climbed, it got heavier and was starting to cover the road. We got to a set of temporary lights at some road works and could see cars turning around. a guy in a Range Rover stopped and told us about several lorries now stuck ahead, so it was a quick and easy decision to turn around and head back to Sheffield, where we picked up the M1 heading North to the M62 back to Manchester. So, the car got a longer run than intended, which I'm not complaining about. Added about an extra 50-60 miles to the trip, so in hybrid mode returned just over 50mpg average from a 75% battery on set off. Wife had the heated seat on most of the way home too! and I did try the heated steering wheel out too. As has been mentioned by others, I was a little disappointed that the removable torch has gone from the boot, but that's all I can complain about for now. It's now charging up overnight, and looking forward to the next drive.

Dear all, Most of us folk with Haldex5 - know that (after reading postings here and elsewhere on the Internet) - that VW group garages are *only* doing HALDEX oil changes at around 40k miles instead of actually taking the pump out, cleaning or replacing the filter, fitting two new O-Rings and then refilling the HALDEX system. In my quest to educate my local Skoda Garage, we eventually got to a point where I have now told the garage how to do this job - properly. In the usual madness that is VW group, they advocate that they will only change the oil - but not touch the pump and filter. This is the equivalent process of changing your oil but not your filter. The upshot is that you could have nice clean oil in your HALDEX, but the HALDEX system would fail to activate due to a blocked filter (and that all the crud that builds up on the filter will be deposited back into the HALDEX mechanism). If the block filter continues, you will end up with a failed pump. Therefore, as from today (03/12/20), West End Skoda in Edinburgh will performed a FULL Haldex service for £148.20 for any customers who want this service (you have to ask for it). I have been the guinea pig and they are happy now to perform this work. It is perceived wisdom that the first HALDEX service should be done as close to 20k miles as possible - not at 40k miles. I was satisfied to say that the oil colour and state of the filter was very poor (prior to change); I don't even do that much off-roading, so I would recommend customers who have a 4x4 Haldex system to get this done on or near the 2nd service (and every 20k miles afterwards). You will also be satisfied that the work will also attract the standard Skoda 2 year warranty. Result.

Inside in the warm with no wind resistance or hills is great post op. But you should try real cycling yourself?

Off topic but the blue mobile hut is what I have been doing up recently, I need 3 of them to store my stuff when the house sells in the UK (mainly my garage equipment) and I am collecting the last of them tomorrow. The German ones with the curved roof are much better.

Kilen 25061 and Lesjofors 4095079 are the same spring and made in the same factory in Sweden. They are both an identical replacement for OEM part number 1K0411105AQ or at least they should be as Kilen/Lesjofors both match them to OEM part number 1K0411105AQ and no other part number.

worried about that, just yesterday i bought two fire extinguishers, one for the trunk and a second for under my seat. noo kidding, look!

Problem solved! the wires from alternator to battery and to fusebox were very bad and the connectors, replaced all that and problem gone!! Thank you!!

VW Engineer just got back to us and he has it at £29K before he even starts. Says it needs a new shell to get it to a good standard d as it was before, Now lets see how good Skoda insurance and Skoda GAP insurance is

This is the key to enabling people to travel in EV without worry about mid-journey rapid charging. The number of chargers at those locations need to scale proportionally to number of EV’s on the road. And selfishly as someone who can charge at home, I think this should be where most of infrastructure investment should happen. Get all those who can charge at home into EV as soon as possible. Then simply mandate all new housing to include cabling for any allocated parking spots. It won’t cost much to lay down the 40amp cable while the houses are built.

I was watching a review video on YouTube and told the wife I’ve ordered one, she laughed as if I was joking. So I will just collect it and turn up, there will be plenty of space in the boot for when she throws my belongings out the window lol

Or a colonoscopy, Lol.......

There was a story in the local rag about a family in a nice area where they were sitting at home one evening and heard glass smash at the back, the Dad rushed to the back to see masked men breaking into the conservatory. Where you'd expect them to flee seeing the homeowner they just continued, he locked the back door between house and conservatory and started shouting, his wife and kids ran out the front and alerted neighbors and rang the police. The robbers smashed the back door and threatened him with a hammer and a knife for the keys to his Golf R. They got away with his lease car but left the family terrified. It was in a nice area. Whatever security you had you'd give it up in those circumstances.

So here's a conundrum, Gridserve have confirmed price as 24p/kWh at the EV charging hub but they also have Tesla Superchargers on-site which charge at 29p/kWh (unless special price for those). What are they going to do when Kia e-Niro man comes in and finds all the Gridserve chargers full of Teslas charging as its cheaper? This is a problem @e-Roottoot has found in Scotland too, Teslas charging on the free CCS 50kW chargers right next to a bank of Superchargers. Just wondering, as these will be problems to be worked out by operators.

They do, on the Kodiaq if you press the lock button on the remote, then press the KESSY lock indent on the door handle the indicators flash confirming KESSY is disabled. You need to use the key fob to unlock.

Welcome OP! Be prepared for a lot of mixed answers. It all comes down to your engine. Whether it's Petrol/Diesel and also engine size. Some engines have water pump on other side of the engine, some have chains instead of belts and some belts can last 210,000km without a time limit and others 210,000km or 5 years whichever comes first. Add to that the debates about how Skoda in Germany, VW and Audi in USA/Canada don't have any time limits on the same diesel engines and it all gets a bit messy.

This is what will improve EV adoption, not one or two possibly working chargers at a motorway service station, perhaps ICE'd, perhaps not working, who knows. But regular dedicated facilities with multiple points and different speeds. https://youtu.be/FoN4WCpuxHY

Mindful of the season : here is a Safety Guidance for your Christmas Crib. The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the way we conduct our lives, with many new rules and restrictions governing our health and safety. One area of concern is your Christmas Crib. Although there are several weeks to go before Christmas, you will need to start planning now. You will need to begin with a thorough risk assessment to ensure your Crib is COVID-secure. Here is some further guidance: 1. A maximum of 2 shepherds only are permitted in the Crib. 2. Shepherds must wear facemasks (unless exempt) and strictly observe social distancing (2m or 1m+ with mitigations). 3. Jesus, Mary and Joseph form a family bubble and thus may be placed together. 4. The ox and the ass need Declaration of Non-Contamination Certificates, obtainable from the Department of Agriculture. 5. The Three Wise Men, since they come from a non Schengen Area, will be subject to a 14-day quarantine, whether or not they have tested negative for Covid. 6. The straw, moss, palm branches and other decorations must be disinfected, with hands washed for 20 seconds after handling. 7. Angels flying over the Crib are now forbidden, owing to the aerosol effect produced by the batting of wings. 8. Shepherds are permitted provided they are not more than 70 years old or suffering from underlying medical conditions or in another vulnerable category and come from a Tier 1 area. 9. The inn, along with other businesses in the hospitality sector, is closed until further notice. 10. For 2020 only, a Pontius Pilate should be added to the Crib to explain to authorised participants the protocols for washing and sanitisation of hands.

Drove past one of those hand car washing places a little while ago. No customers so several staff members all huddling together centimetres apart with no shelter from the drizzle. "Pfft, not much social distancing going on there" observed the missus from the passenger seat. "Probably cos of all the detergents they use" I replied. "What are you on about?" she says. "They're probably all in a bubble" quipped I.

Hi Carleton and Wino, Thank you for all the information I appreciate it.

Unfortunately 5Q0035819 does not support rear view cameras - it doesn't have video chip. You either have to use special external adapter or replace infotainment unit with Bolero 5Q0035840x (non-DAB) or Bolero 5Q0035842x (DAB) or Amundsen 5Q0035864x (non-DAB) or 5Q0035874x (DAB). x means letter (A/B/C). There are also Bolerow without letter at the end but I do not recommend them as they don't support SmartLink but only MirrorLink.

Under-

Maybe because they are springs for a Honda & they use handed ones? The Lesjofors cross references are also different part numbers.

You cant see me and I am not getting mad, I have sympathy for you.

Got the good tyres already. Michelin PS4S in 235/35/19. Slightly wider than the standard 225/35/19 to get more rubber to the ground, as well as trying to protect the alloys from pothole damage.

No idea of the ground clearance but one good thing with an EV is when the roads are flooded and you can just drive through. I have done that and cars followed and i have seen they then got stuck as they never made it. Sensible wading height obviously and not where water is going to come in the doors. Skoda have lots to do before delivery to customers. Surely they will not release them from the factory before VW Group sort out the Software failings. (Not just putting them out with snagging faults because they need them registered to get the C02 g/km average figures needed by the group.)

I'm not going to order one. I don't need one, mine is on 13k miles. They do look nice though. But it would be madness. I wonder if, no never mind. Anyway, what would the wife say? If I got a white one would she notice? I want one!!

"Question 4: Would you consider death as an option to alleviate pain and reduce your burden on the state? Answer = Yes Of course Absolutely show me to the nearest suicide booth I'm already dead don't worry about me Not applicable I am a Conservative minister"

Why would it? MPI was added for emission reasons in the first place, not to prevent carbon build-up. With GPF's present now there is no need for additional costs hence the MPI removal.

Liberty

Thanks Wino...that's greatly appreciated 👍🏻 Can't believe I didn't spot that the instructions were for the 1.6. The clue was also in the pictures which had a completely different egr cooler...and probably the instructions I'll crack on with that repair then and come back and let you know how I got on. Again thanks for the info and mostly pointing out that I don't need to take half the car apart.

And your insurance co.

I do not want to waste my time puting key in n out of a puch everytime I would need something. Its easier to update the kessy unit or disable kessy locks through VCDS

Updated look with Brembo BBKs in the fronts and new Veemann 19" lightweight rims in matt black.

Artistic pic when it was -5c a few days ago. Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

My new Toyota with keyless entry has a simple solution to the 'relay' problem, you can disable the RFID function on the keys simply by pressing the two buttons on the keys in the correct order - no need for a Faraday box/wallet. Don't know if VAG/Skoda have a similar feature?

my white sportline on 17" winter wheels

Even if your new car has 17" wheels the 16" wheel will be fine for a spare as the rolling circumference is the same, but you will be limited to 50mph when on as it is not the same size as the other 3.

A few years ago when I was working for an automotive consultancy one of the development engineers at Ford Research Dunton expressed the opinion that he would never buy any new model in its first year as, in his opinion, new models were usually rushed to market before they had the bugs fixed.

Some 8 years after starting this thread...

I do agree. From my humble experience regen takes similar times (~16km and around 20mins) which can be annoying. Specially once it starts just when you are about to park (around 90% of the cases in town )